Ultrasound trials - A mobile, retroverted, unicornuate uterus?

My first ultrasound notes say that it was a 'tricky' examination.

The sonographer had a really hard time actually finding my uterus. She thought that it might be retroverted, which means that it lies facing backwards. This happens in about 10% of women and isn't a problem but is a bit unusual. She also said it was very mobile, which is unusual in a woman who hasn't had children.

The report that went to my doctor noted that they struggled to view my uterus and that I may have a unicornuate uterus. My doctor explained that this is where the two 'horns' of the uterus don't fuse during development and the uterus is therefore only half the size it should be. I asked my doctor what this would mean but she said lets jump that bridge when we come to it.

Of course I went straight home and googled unicornuate uterus to see if it meant I couldn't have children. It is a rare condition but the good news was that some women only discover they have a unicorunate uterus when they give birth. It increases the chance of miscarriage quite dramatically because the volume of the uterus is much smaller than it should be. I held on to the fact that women with this kind of uterus were able to carry babies.

The next test was a hysterosonogram, where a saline solution is injected into the uterus via a thin cateter. The first ultrasound was easy and I was expecting the hysterosonogram to be the same - wrong!

I started to feel faint as soon as the speculum went in and the doctor started to insert the catheter. It hurt! I felt more and more wobbly and would have fainted if I hadn't been lying down. The doctor told me to breathe deeply and I calmed down but it wasn't a pleasant experience. Fortunately, they were able to inflate my uterus with saline and see that it was in fact normal, not retroverted and not unicornuate - more good news.

At this point, I started to feel that I was in a race and needing to jump over hurdles at each stage. Having this ultrasound felt like I'd just jumped another hurdle. There were now no more tests needed for us to start our IVF treatment.