Frequency of Doctor visits

Due to the very personal nature of this subject I am about to share, I have been debating about the pros and cons of posting this on my blog for a while now. As you can see, I decided to dedicate a post to it, since this blog is shared with friends and family and serves as a journal of sorts. I also determined that maybe by my sharing this, it might help someone out there so I no longer see any reason to keep this a secret. I want to document it so I can look back later and remember what happened.

Many of you know of my horrific experience giving birth to Kira over two years ago now. To sum up, almost immediately after giving birth, I had a 4cm internal laceration, hemorrhaging of a loss of over 400cc of blood and a necessary D&E to clear out retained placenta. Unfortunately, the first D&E didn't get out all the placenta and at 6wks postpartum, I hemorrhaged again, this time loosing over 500cc and needing yet another D&E. This 2nd D&E seemed to take care the problem and I was finally able to heal properly. A year goes by and I finally start getting my periods again. Only they were abnormal. I wondered about it but let it go since we weren't really trying at that point. It wasn't until Kira was around 18 months old that I decided to start investigating.

I found a specialist in infertility in our area, told her my history and she immediately sent me for a battery of tests in the hopes that I could get some answers. I had blood work done first and that came back normal. Next was the ultrasound. That came back somewhat normal...they did find that the lining of my uterus was thicker than normal, so I was sent for a hysterosalpingogram, more commonly referred to as an HSG (google it!). What they found from that test was that my cervix was covered with scar tissue, therefore, the doctor could not complete the HSG and concluded I most likely needed a hysteroscopy to correct the problem. I was told at the time that the chances of getting pregnant with the scar tissue I have is quite small. I decided to get a second opinion. This meant yet another visit to the doctors office. I decided to see the doctor who performed my 2nd D&E and she recommended that instead of having a regular OBGYN doctor perform my hysteroscopy, I should have a Reproductive Endocrinologist perform it, since they see cases like mine all the time and are more familiar with surgery and treatment. I was happy to have that second opinion, because this doctor was the first one to put a name to my condition. It's called Ashermans syndrome. Here is a link if you're curious...http://www.ashermans.org/
Again, another visit to the doctors office, this time to see a Reproductive Endocrinologist (RE).

This RE was very nice and took time to listen to my concerns and very carefully go over my history. They conveniently had an ultrasound device in their offices so I had yet another ultrasound and he talked to me through the procedure and showed me the adhesions.  At the end of the appointment, he agreed that a hysteroscopy was my best option if I wanted to have another baby. I left the office with the promise that I would get a call within a week to schedule the procedure.

Well, at the time I this writing, I finally received a call from the RE office informing me that the doctors surgery appointments are booked through the rest of August. So my surgery date is set for September 21st. Now that I know what's going on I do feel at peace about the whole thing and comfortable waiting another month. I don't know what the future will hold, or what God has in store, but I do finally have a peace about the whole thing, knowing that it truly is in His hands and He is sovereign over the womb.

As a side note, I have to say a HUGE thank you to Mom for taking off work to babysit Kira for all the doctors visits I had to go to. Her support and encouragement meant so much to me in this uncertain time.