Water Hysterosonography: AKA H20 Ultrasound

Many times, before your fertility clinic will proceed with any type of treatment, there are certain tests that need to be done, to help ensure the treatment has the greatest chance of success. One of those is the HSG exam which you can read about here. However, there is another test, called a Water Hysterosonography, or in short, an H20 ultrasound. This may be done in exchange for the HSG exam or your doctor may request that you complete both. Either way here is a little bit of information about the H20 Ultrasound.

 

A H20 ultrasound is basically a specialized procedure that is used to examine the inside lining of your uterus. It can check for abnormal bleeding, endometrial polyps or sub mucosal fibroids. Checking for these things is important before moving forward with a treatment such as an IUI or IVF because if the lining of your uterus does have any of these things, it can prevent a successful implantation of the embryo.

 

The procedure it self is pretty basic. First, your doctor will perform a pelvic exam using a speculum to identify the cervical canal. From there a small catheter or tube is positioned in the cervical canal and into the uterine cavity. At this point your doctor allows a sterile saline water to be injected into the uterus. This basically blows the uterus up like a balloon and then a transvaginal ultrasound is performed to look at the lining of the uterus. Once your doctor has seen everything he or she needs to, the catheter is removed and you are all done.

 

I had this procedure done twice before my first round of IVF. Most people don’t need to have it done twice, but I was lucky enough that, due to a mix up in my cycle days, I had it done twice! My experience with it was actually really good. Everything went in the exact order as spoken about above and I didn’t experience any pain at all. Things did get a bit uncomfortable when they had the ultrasound wand and catheter in because it gets a bit crowded, but it most definitely was not painful. It was also a bit of a weird sensation when they filled my uterus with the saline water. It kind of felt like I was being frozen from the inside out. By far the worst part of the whole procedure was when all that saline water had to come out. I imagine it’s a lot like having your water break! After the procedure, I did experience a bit of cramping throughout the day, but nothing severe and if you are super concerned about it, just take a few Tylenol before starting!

Overall, it’s a procedure that you don’t need to get too nervous about! It is definitely worth having done, and, after just a quick 15-20 minutes, it’s over and you can have peace of mind knowing that nothing inside your uterus will prevent those little embryos from implanting.

- Kamryn