Touched by Infertility

Awhile ago I had read a blog (sorry! Can't remember who's) about all the times we've seen infertility and never really thought much about it. The thing is, until you're personally experiencing it, you probably don't even pay other's experiences much mind.

Some of the people I know (or suspect) have been touched by infertiltiy:

My grandma-She was 35 (her husband was 45) when she had her first child, after 10 years of marriage. This was in the 40's and 50's so I'm pretty sure this was not the result of extremely effective birth control. She had another child later, who died as an infant.

My great-aunt - She adopted her two children.

My cousin - He and his wife adopted after 10-15 years of marriage.

My aunt - Has two daughters as the result of IVF. I was a teenager when she was going through treatment, so I wasn't really into hearing the details, but I believe that she started trying aroung 35 and had her first daughter 3 years later.

Former co-worker, - Has PCOS, did treatments for a year (including insemination); is currently taking a break to try to lose some weight and get her mind in a better place, as she has suffered depression as a result of this struggle.

Then I also think of some of my friends who seem to have a kind of infertility not readily acknowledged: What about those women who yearn for a child who haven't found the right partner?

My best-friend who after being with a man for 4 years and planning on marrying him and soon after trying to have a baby is now single again at 31. It is also suspected that she has PCOS.

I also have two other friends, one who is still waiting for the one and another who believes that she has him, but he won't marry her even thought they have been together for almost 10 years. They're both 31.

Umbilical Cutaneous Endometriosis

Wow what a title! I thought some of you might be interested in my experience with cutaneous endometriosis (endometriosis of the skin). When I first had my hernia there was what appeared to be a small blood spot on my belly button. The family physician I saw made a comment about it but the surgeon didn't seem concerned. It almost looked kind of like thin skin that you could see blood through. I had the hernia surgery and came out with a great looking belly button but it still had that small spot on it. About 9 months after the hernia surgery I noticed the spot was getting bigger and it was now a lump, it was also painful on and off. I went to a different family physician in December 2008, she said the lump was just scar tissue from the surgery and the discoloration was within the normal range for a belly button. She said come back in 6 months if it gets bigger. I came back in June and the discolored, painful lump had now doubled in size. She said she still thought it was just scar tissue "some people develop more scar tissue than others," she told me, but she said she would send me back to the surgeon that did the hernia surgery for a second opinion.

HSG

I had my HSG yesterday. I was a little apprehensive about the test mainly because I had heard that it could be painful and also, I didn't know the person who was going to be doing the test and that always makes me nervous. I just kept picturing some young, hot, male doc walking in...thank God the doc was a middle aged lady. Before the test I took a vico.din and mot.rin. Possibly thanks to the meds the test really wasn't bad at all. It was a little uncomfortable, but not bad. The doctor said everything looked good to her. I could see my tubes and the cloud of dye coming out on the screen. I went back to work after the test..and was fine, if not a little loopy from the meds.