When I get my HSG done they are also doing a uterine assessment. I'm REALLY hoping they find some answers this time. I am pretty much unable to take hormone supplements like anything in birth control pills. My body just can't tolerate them, plus with the clotting issue. The progesterone-only BCP caused me cysts in the first place, so I'm not a candidate to take progesterone unless I am pregnant or unless it is after confirmed O in my cycle, which I don't think would be helpful for the lining, but not really sure on that. I would actually prefer the surgical approach to paring down the endometrium because it would be "fixed" sooner than with taking hormone supplements and would definitely clear out any of the old stuff in there. I know my uterus is the normal shape and configuration that it should be, but that doesn't mean there's not something else in there that they can't detect on regular ultrasound either.

My mom had developed endometrial hyperplasia in her mid to late 20s which caused her infertility for a few years (she'd already had one child when she was 21 and couldn't get pregnant anymore), and then when she did finally get pregnant she had a miscarriage. They did a D&C on her and told her the lining was much, much thicker than it should have been, including a lot of old, clotted material as well. They cleared it all out and three or four months later she got pregnant with my brother and then me two years later. In her case it was a simple fix so I hope for a similar situation.

They for sure want to use fluid pressure to expand my left tube significantly to help "stretch" and break up the scarring around it to prevent it from narrowing further. We don't know how the right tube is. The top of my uterus where my left tube attaches is believed to also have scarring that they want to see about removing in some way if possible if it's more than just minimal.

I'm not overly concerned with my age being a factor in my fertility, just more that I have always wanted at least 5 kids and it seems like my window for achieving that is narrowed. Then again, I have a relative who had a baby when she was 48, so anything's possible.

I know everything happens for a reason and we are never given more than we can handle, but it sure is frustrating sometimes trying to understand what exactly the plan was for us to have go through some of the things we do. It always pays off in the end, though. =)

I remembered the clotting issue but forgot about not-tolerating hormone stuff. I just didn't want you to feel pushed into something that perhaps wasn't necessary. I think Allison did take progesterone post-o though for her problem. I wish I could remember! I'm sure you'll make an informed decision though.

I had my HSG and workup done today (just got home so I'm a little groggy from the sedation still). When they injected the dye into my uterus we were watching it "live" to see how it spread. The dye went in and we watched it go a little bit up into my uterus, then only continued to fill up the left side while it seemed to be blocked by something that was going diagonal from the top of my left tube down partway into my uterus. The dye then started filling in around this area and out into my tubes, the left one being narrower than the right due to scarring from the chronic inflammation caused by the ovarian cyst I had. After the dye filled in my uterus looked completely normal and you couldn't see that there was anything wrong in there. The doctor said there had to be something in there that was likely very, very thin considering the way it dye spread. He flushed out the dye and then put some local anesthetic fluid up into my uterus and tubes so he could look around in there with other equipment and also to dilate my tubes later as they found some debris in my left tube, which turned out to be just some mucus that was mostly all white blood cells (no infection) as a remnant of the chronic inflammation I'd had from the cyst. Inflammatory response of the body is to produce a lot of white blood cells to try to fight off whatever is causing the irritation. Mine was "inactive" but just hanging around in there at this point so they removed it. Right tube was perfectly fine, but they did dilate and enlarge it anyway. He started probing at the area where it showed the blockage in the dye filling. He said it was almost like there was skin there that shouldn't be. He ended up removing it (ouch!!!) with something (not sure what) and showed it to me. He said it looks like a thin layer of skin or possibly even the membrane of an amniotic sac, but very thin and definitely not "new" meaning not from the pregnancy I just lost considering the size and that it was attached to the front and back walls of my uterus and extended most of the way down my uterus, nearly dividing it completely. He is sending it to pathology to see exactly what type of tissue it is, but said it could be a form of scarring though most closely resembles skin. He said he had never seen anything like that before in the 30 years he's been a doctor!!! He said it's also strange that it's not visible on normal ultrasound, but also said that since it was totally transparent and extremely thin, that's very possible. My endometrium was also much thicker than it should have been and showed evidence of being "old" likely leftover from past cycles where it didn't come out all the way or was suppressed, such as from using birth control. He took it down so that it was much thinner and not full of "old" stuff.

The good news is that my uterus and tubes are now all cleaned out and open and unobstructed, which ups my odds for a successful pregnancy outcome significantly.

The sort of bad news is that I was also diagnosed with mild Asherman syndrome, which is uterine scarring. It's very mild and they removed and broke up most of it today and applied a layer of GelFoam to keep it from trying to scar up or form adhesions to other nearby tissue while it heals over the next week or two. It's in a small area up around my left tube. The bad news is that if an egg tries to implant in that area it won't survive, but since it's such a small area and high in my uterus my chances of this are pretty slim. The doctor believes I got this from my first miscarriage which was caused by placental abruption from trauma, and that because of that "skin" blocking off part of the uterus, that left primarily only the scarred area for implantation to occur, which is not capable of sustaining a pregnancy. On the other hand, now that everything is opened up, the odds of an egg implanting in the scarred area is very, very low due to it being so high up and close to the tube. That's an uncommon area for implantation to happen. Asherman syndrome tends to be progressive, but since it is so mild right now and they took care of most of the scarring for now, it shouldn't be a huge issue in the near term and if I get pregnant within the next year everything will expand and stretch and dramatically reduces the risk for further scar buildup. My doctor thinks that "skin" is also some sort of scar tissue reaction since it actually was coming from the outer border of the uterine scarring at the top.

Official diagnoses today:
1. Mild Asherman syndrome.
2. Transparent transfundal uterine membrane, likely scar tissue (removed).
3. Left fallopian tube stricture (dilated).

Everything should be okay with me now in terms of TTC and much lower risk of miscarriage now that they found that blockage in the uterus and removed it. I'm so happy they found something and that I shouldn't keep having these problems happen over and over.

Great news then BunnyGirl. That uterine issue sounds suspiciously like something MyrtleWarbler had. It DID NOT show up on an ultra-sound but did on another test she had done. Uterine septum...just looked it up. I wonder if that's what your doctor found too?

Well, it didn't meet the "official" criteria for uterine septum considering it wasn't located at the top center of my uterus at its origin and was coming from the side where I had the scarring right above the tube opening. He called it a transfundal uterine membrane. As best I can tell they are similar, but it seems to depend on where/how it's located. They are running pathology on it to see what type of tissue it is, but it looked like a thin layer of skin. They think it was scar tissue. So strange!!! Since they removed it today they think it should take care of my miscarriage issues, unless I get a fluke implantation on the scarred area, but the odds of that are 5% or less. We are going to try again this cycle since the doctor said it was okay, assumining I don't miss out on my fertile window since I can't have sex until Saturday because of infection risk.

Well at least it's good news that you finally have some answers, and by the looks of it it was something that was quite simple to fix. I was also thinking the same thing as Beth, that it sounded simular to MyrtleWarblers condition, but I knew it couldn't be with the fact the doctor had never seen it before! I think general ultrasounds are pretty rubbish at picking things like that up. Before my lap I had two that both said my uterus was normal, after the lap I was told I had a unicornuate uterus which means it only developed on one side. Recently I had a 3D ultrasound and he picked up straight away that my uterus is very much to the right side!

Well good luck Bunnygirl, I am sure you are well on your way to the successfull pregnancy you so deserve

I thought the dr's comment about never having seen it before was strange too, mel! But it makes more sense now. I said MW's condition was not seen during an ultrasound but I meant to say it wasn't seen during the HSG. Bunnygirl, I fully expect to see you pregnant before Christmas....or earlier!

Goodluck and God's best BunnyGirl

When he said he'd never seen it before I was thinking it was so like me to have some oddball problem. LOL! It might be more common, but since it's so difficult to find without more advanced testing nobody really knows. My doctor said he'd seen a case at a seminar a few years ago where someone had presented a case study on a patient who had a similar finding and he said my "skin" was oriented very much like that woman's and we had a similar medical history in terms of repeat miscarriages and uterine scarring (in the same basic location even). He's never seen it personally in his practice and he works at a fertility center affiliated with a large teaching hospital. The good news is that the case study patient had a successful full-term pregnancy and delivery after they removed hers. =)

Oh praise the lord! I am so glad they found the cause, BG. And removed it. To your successful 5 consecutive pregnancies and 5 beautiful children!

Christey- I was just reading your posts about your short cycle. I wanted to let you know that after my ep I had very very very short af. My AF can last anywhere from a 1/2 a day to 2 days. I've told my gynocologist and my RE. No one seems to be concerned. I atribute it to my ectopic. Before it I had normal 28 day cycles with 4-6 day af. I also, don't think I was annovulatory bc I had ultra sound monitoring that showed that I had mature egg/s each month.

Bunnygirl- I'm so sorry for your loss. I know how hard it is. I had a mc Oct. 20. Its frustrating. I know where you are coming from. You don't expect that it will be you. I feel like its a race against the clock too. I am only 27. So I know we are still young. No matter what age you are, dealing with fertility issues sucks. I always thought I'd be done having kids by 30. Now I feel like 30 is right around the corner. I think this is a test of patience. We are just waiting for our turn. I think the hsg news is great! I'm sure you will be prego soon! Best of luck to you! I'll keep you in my prayers.

Hi ladies, it's been a long time since I've been able to catch up on everything here (no access at work, computer issues at home), and when I finally logged on today I was hoping for much better news :-(

Love, Hope and Bunny- I am so sorry to read of your losses. You all have such amazing spirit and faith and I pray that the future holds much better things for you.

Hugs to all...

Hi, girls! I haven't been on in a while. I am so disappointed... my cycle this month was 34 days after two months of being 28 days and a couple months before that was 30 days..... I am feeling very discouraged, sd I thought this might be the month since AF wasn't coming, but........... oh well. What can I do? I started a new exercise program that I think might have contributed to the lateness of AF.... *sigh* I just don't know what to do except to do more BD!! (BD is very challenging for me. I suffer from vaginismus and it's an ongoing struggle.) Hope everyone else is ok and on their way to a BFP!!

Hey guys, I came on here a couple of years ago when ttc the first time, after a messy time coming off the pill. Luckily it only took 4 months to conceive the first time but used acupuncture too.
I recently came off the pill again and have started quickly with acupuncture this time also. I am cd 11 but not sure if i will ovulate this month as last time it took 4 month before cycles got anywhere close to being normal.
I think I may have ewcm, but does anyone know how to tell the difference between semen and ewcm? and also has anyone tried acupuncture? x

Welcome back Kazz....

The only way to really tell the difference between the two is EWCM will stretch alot further then semen. The semen shouldn't really stretch for you at all.

Here are a couple good threads to read while ttc...

http://www.aphroditewomenshealth.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=122405#Post122405

http://www.aphroditewomenshealth.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=280099#Post280099

Goodluck to you..

Thanks very much Leeaman. I read somewhere about doing a water test? I had a lot of what i thought was EWCM this am ( could have been semen though) and it blobbed and sank to the bottom, I read that semen should just disintegrate. If this theory is true, then I will hopefully be ovulating soon. OPK's have been negative over the last few days.
Found an old thread that I wrote on here 2 years ago saying I ovulated on CD15 so you never know? Do you know how many days of EWCM you get before you ovulate? xx

Hi everyone. I haven't posted on AWH for a really long time. My old user name was Tiff_P, some of you might remember me, I recently changed my AWH name to Lily_Blossom.

Hubby and I are officially TTC our second child. I have a daughter who will be 2 years old in April, and we would like a sibling for her. We of course want a healthy child, but are hoping for another girl, because we already have all the clothes

I am in the TWW. I will test probably somewhere between the 13th and the 19th of January if I haven't started my period. My cycles tend to vary, anywhere from 29-35 days.

yay tiff, good luck hun!!

Kazz-I just wanted to answer your question about EWCM. I tend to get about 2.5 days worth of EWCM during my fertile days. I normally ovulate the second day that I notice the EWCM. I think every woman is different as far as how long their fertile CM lasts, but I thought I would give you my experience

Kazz, I only ever noticed watery CM for less than a day before O. Even that, only after a bowel movement. Have never really seen EWCM.