Queer Conceptions February 2012 - Page 2

[TineyDreams]

Thank you so much everyone!  It's still hard to believe it's real, and DP still doesn't really have any symptoms yet.  I just wanted to say that we know how frustrating and difficult it is to watch people continuously get BFPs and the inherent sadness that comes along with that when you're also trying to conceive.  While we are so happy with what's happened for us over the past few days, we are keeping you all in mind and the pain that comes along with this journey (especially Cananny since we were TWW buddies and everyone that's been trying for a long time).    Here's to hoping we have LOTS and LOTS of follwers this month. 

Hopeful- here's the winning combination for us:  DP took Clomid days 3-7, had a follicle scan on CD 13 as well as a trigger shot (around 4pm).  Then we did one IUI with frozen sperm (from NWCryobank) on CD 15 at around 2ish at the OB/GYN office of our doc.  We had about 46 hours between shot and insemination, which is longer than normal, but last month we definitely insemed too soon.  If we hadn't gotten it this month we were going to try 36-40 hours after trigger.  I know every body is different, this is just how DPs responded this time.  Hope this is useful!

Love to everyone. 

[mrsandmrs]

Tiney -- Congrats!!!! 

Outdoorsey & Cananny -- Sorry to hear about AF's arrival.

nos reves -- you're right, i'm testing in FIVE DAYS. that's practically nothing... i can totally wait five days............. maybe.  i didn't have much of a reaction to clomid, except for ovulating and insane, intense nipple over-sensitivity -- which hit me out of the blue. i didn't even know that was a side effect until it happened to me. 

good luck with your hybrid cycle! it sounds like it is already a rollercoaster, with the injection drama and everything.

[AnnaNotherThing]

nosreves- we're doing ok.

DW is having a weird month with her temps- they're ALL over the place, which I don't like. 

We've insemed the past 3 evenings following a positive OPK on Sunday but her temperatures haven't gone up yet... hopefully tomorrow morning's temp will be nice and high so we know where we are.

If she ovulated Monday (my current best guess, despite a temp drop today... go figure) then we're 1 DPO. Guess we'll know more tomorrow.

Today was the first time I felt really sad that we haven't managed to get her pregnant yet.

I know we're only on our 3rd try, but today I felt sad about it.

I'm better now, but I guess my energy is a bit low.  I need this infernal rain to stop. I mean, even for Vancouver this is just too much.

Blargh. 

Oh dear, that all sounds rather sad and pathetic. 

I actually had a rather nice day!!

Also, I was reminded again this evening how lucky we are to be doing this with such an awesome KD. 

mrsandmrs- you're right. 5 days is nothing at all. A mere trifle. Barely a moment.

Only 120 hours. Or 7200 minutes.  Or 432 000 seconds... 

Four hundred thirty two thousand long.... long... seconds...

Wait, is this helping at all??! 

My fingers will be crossed for you.

[CarpenterAnt]

Congrats Tiney!  WoooHooo!

AF showed up this week for me; please move me to waiting to O. Sigh. I've been bouldering my mind out at the gym so that helps.  We just started ttc last month, and I know it usually takes a while, but you hope you get lucky.

A question:  We're using frozen sperm at home, in an attempt to reduce the costs of ttc.  We've gotten mixed messages from the fertility professionals about how likely this is to succeed.  One strongly cautioned us against it, the other gave us some syringes, said thaw the vial in your armpit and go for it.  We're diy people so of course the at-home strategy appeals more, but the fact that the sperm is frozen makes me wonder if vitality (or motility or fertility) could be a big issue.  I haven't seen any real info or numbers on this.  Any advice?

[DesertSunsets]

CarpenterAnt, I saw your post and wanted to reply since at-home insems are near and dear to my heart.  

Unmedicated, no medical personnel involved whatsoever, inseminations at home were what got DW pregnant on our fifth try.  She's 25 and no diagnosed fertility issues, regular cycles.  So it's totally possible.  

After the first few insems, my mom asked, "Aren't you afraid that the sperm they're sending is like, poor quality?  Or what if it isn't even sperm at all?  What if it's just like, syrup or something?!"  To which I replied, "Uh, I hadn't considered that UNTIL NOW.  Thanks Mom."  

We ended up buying a little cheap toy microscope at Target for like ten bucks and after the last insem, DW got a drop of sperm leftover from the catheter and put it on a slide,  It took some squinting and some effort to see them, but we could see swimming sperm, so it was exciting.  After getting home from work that night, I meant to look at the sperm again but forgot until I went to bed.  18 hours after the insemination, sperm that had been sitting out on the counter still in the catheter WERE STILL SWIMMING.  I was amazed, since a lot of people say that frozen sperm only lives twelve hours in your reproductive tract!  And here ours was, 18 hours old in our 70 degree house, still swimming around.  Granted, there were fewer of them, but regardless!  

We use NW Cryobank, and on their website it claims that their clients experience success at an average of a pregnancy achieved every 2.3 cycles - of course, it doesn't specify medicated vs. unmedicated.  We were pretty excited at that, but of course people can always find ways to manipulate statistics favorably.  Like I said before, it took us five cycles but they were not all well-timed.  I think it was more like 3 well-timed cycles, but our BFP cycle was the best-timed of them all.  And the BFP cycle was the one where the sperm lived on the counter for 18 hours.  (Didn't look at it before then.)  NW Cryo has its own forum, and there are a TON of people on that forum who get pregnant all the time.  It made me feel better to see so many people having success doing insems at home.  

If you have any questions, feel free to ask here or PM me.  Good luck! 

HI everyone! 

[kgulbransen]

Why would they "caution" you against using frozen sperm at home? Because when you take frozen sperm and use it for ICI purposes, you're sending the sperm through the cervical track and up to the uterus. Whereas in their office, they're depositing it directly into the uterus. You can do IUIs at home with a catheter, but you need to be at least shown how to do that once as you run the risk of piercing the uterus and/or causing infection.

There are people on this board who have gotten pregnant using frozen sperm through ICI but studies have shown it is the least effective method of getting pregnant. If you're going to spend all that money for frozen I would do your best to put out a little more money to get the insemination done in an office.

Or move to fresh sperm. Frozen sperm lasts 12 hours, fresh sperm 3-5 days. This might not be an option but I had to throw it out there. We did 5 frozen IUIs and one frozen ICI at home and never got pregnant. But I'm over 35 so if you're over 35 your plan needs to be way different than others.

[SouthernBelle24]

Hi all! I came across this thread while I was looking for support in this loooonnng TWW! I'm currently 9dpiui and 10dptrigg. I tested out my trigger on 8dptrigg. I've gotten a faint line on a One Step test yesterday afternoon and this morning I took s FRER and had another faint line. I'm going to take another One Step this evening after work to see if the line has gotten darker from the one yesterday, but this is all so tiring! Good luck and baby dust to all this month for many BFP's!

[carmen358]

Anna: I see blue sky out there this morning so I hope that helps your energy and mood :)

Carpenter: Are you doing IUI at home or ICI with the frozen? I've heard anecdotal evidence that ICI with frozen isn't nearly as successful.

SouthernBelle: Congrats, what a great entrance into this thread :)

Afm: I'm 7 weeks today and going for my first u/s tomorrow. I'm terrified. I'll let you all know how it goes...cross your fingers for me, please.

[AnnaNotherThing]

Carmen- my fingers have been crossed for your ultrasound for at least 2 weeks! I don't know why your ultrasound date stuck in my head (I have a lousy memory mostly) but it did, so I've been mentally counting down to tomorrow for/with you.

I'm sure all will go well!! Can't wait to hear the good news! 

And yes- I opened the curtains this morning and whoopped out loud!  Sunshine in the morning apparently produces pajama-clad happy dances now. 

[SouthernBelle24]

good luck on your u/s tomorrow Carmen! Looking forward to the good news! 

[esenbee2]

SouthernBelle, I'm 5 DPO, so we're semi-cycle buddies! Welcome to Queer Conceptions! There are really great women here with A LOT of knowledge. You've picked a great forum to be a part of!

[lisedea]

Thanks for the new thread, nosreves! Sorry for stepping on your toes with posting the link...I always have trouble finding the new ones so I was just doing it for anyone like myself.

Carpenter--We started out doing insems at home (8 cycles, 1 m/c) and I feel like I wasted a lot of time and money doing it. I am not pregnant yet but I feel like my chances are better. I can also have blood work and ultrasounds done--so nice to know what is actually going on with my body! Now, you could always get lucky (obviously there are some out there that it works for--and I did get pregnant once!) but I really wish I would have just started out at a fertility clinic.

[SouthernBelle24]

Originally Posted by esenbee2 

SouthernBelle, I'm 5 DPO, so we're semi-cycle buddies! Welcome to Queer Conceptions! There are really great women here with A LOT of knowledge. You've picked a great forum to be a part of!

Yes we are! Thanks for the warm welcome and I hope your TWW goes by quickly!...I know mine is starting to drrraaaaaag out now! lol

[SouthernBelle24]

Originally Posted by esenbee2 

SouthernBelle, I'm 5 DPO, so we're semi-cycle buddies! Welcome to Queer Conceptions! There are really great women here with A LOT of knowledge. You've picked a great forum to be a part of!

Yes we are! Thanks for the warm welcome and I hope your TWW goes quickly! I know mine is drrraaaaaging out now! lol

[SouthernBelle24]

Thanks for the warm welcome esenbee, and yes we are! I hope your TWW goes quickly! I know mine is drrrraaaaaging out! lol

[Hopeful22]

SouthernBelle- Welcome to Queer Parenting! May your stay be short and sweet.

Carmen- fx for your u/s tomorrow but I am sure everything will be wonderful. Are you still experiencing those lovely pregnancy symptoms?

Anna- Good luck on your inseminations ths month. I am glad you are getting sunshine today. We are too and it is so refreshing. We are close to being cycle buddies so hopefully it will result in good news for the both of us!!

CarpenterAnt- We are also using frozen sperm from NWCryobank for at home IUI. Our plan is to do this for a few months and then if we need to we will go to a clinic, but I am hoping it doesn't get to that point.

Tiney and Desert- I am loving that both of you have gotten BFP with frozen sperm from NW since that is who we are using too! They must be sending out the real stuff and not just "syrup!"

AFM- We are offically in our TWW(T)!! We did our first IUI last night and it went rather well. We gave the swimmers a nice pep talk and afterward I laid with my hips up for about 30 minutes while DW talked and sang to the sperm.  My temp was still low this morning but even yesterday I was pretty sure I hadn't O'd and I'm still not sure it has happened yet. We will insem again either tonight or tomorrow morning depending on my O signs.

Could you please move me to the TWW?

[mrsandmrs]

Hopeful - Welcome to the TWW(T). How soon do you think you're going to test? Oh, wait, don't think about it yet! 

SouthernBelle - We're TWW buddies! I'm 9DPO/IUI and 10DPtrigger too. I'm struggling to not buy a lot of tests, so it's nice to hear that you're already taking them. :D 

Carmen - fx for a great ultrasound. I know you'll be fine. 

[SouthernBelle24]

YAY mrs!!! DON'T BUY THE TESTS. I'm LOOSING my MIND every time I crack one open! It's the worst in the mornings and right after work...I get that POAS itch that I just can't control! It's to tempting when you have them around! I pulled out two this morning but I'm not gonna do it anymore......today! lol to you that you in hopes that we both come out with BFP's!!!

[DesertSunsets]

Hooray for all the NW cryobank babies! Wouldn't it be wonderful if some of us used the same donor?!

[nosreves]

holy moly!  i step away from my computer for a few hours and there's suddenly almost a whole page of new posts.  i have a feeling that this is going to be a crazy month.

mrs² -- yikes... i hadn't heard anyone else mention the super sensitive nipples as a side effect.  did you have that before you triggered?  clomid usually makes me an emotional wreck, but this time around i've just been having headaches.  only four more days left to go!  how are you doing symptom-wise?

anna -- sorry to hear about the sadness.  i think pretty much every woman in here who has spent more than a couple of months ttc has experienced something similar, and it just sucks.  you seem to have such an optimistic, sunny personality that it's hard to imagine you being low and discouraged for long.  given today's weather, it seems that even mother nature is trying to cheer you up! how were your DP's temps today?

carpenter -- booooo to AF.  it's such a major let down when she shows up during the first round of ttc, especially when you spend the TWW(T) feeling so very hopeful and noticing all kinds of "signs" that you never noticed before.  i cried my eyes out the first month, because i'd been so sure that it had worked.  bouldering sounds like a much more productive (and fun!) way to deal with the disappointment.  in any case, i hope this month is the last time you see the nasty ole witch for a good long while.     

desert --  right back atcha! do you and your DP have a favorite color or any colors you really hate?  what's going on with the painting in the bedroom, btw???

southern -- WELCOME!!!  wow, it sounds like you might be skipping this room altogether and jumping straight into QP&P.  i'm a southern gul, too, though you wouldn't know it if you met me anywhere outside of my hometown.  most of the time i have such a neutral accent that people can't figure out what country i'm from, but the minute i set foot in south carolina, the drawl just magically reappears.  please, tell us more about yourself.   oh, and i took the liberty of putting your name in the Waiting to Know list on the first page.  i hope that's okay.  good luck with your test this evening!

carmen -- i have every single appendage crossed for you (well, not literally, as that would make typing, walking, eating, etc. a bit difficult.)  i'm with the other gals who have said that it's going to go well.  let us know how it goes as soon as you can.  until then, i'll be thinking about you and sending you lots of 

lise -- don't worry, girl, my toesies are completely unscathed. i was happy that you posted the link, as it hadn't even occurred to me to do it.  so what's going on with you this cycle?  are you going to be inseminating soon?  how about i share the threadkeeper's luck with you this month?  

hopeful -- congrats on moving into the excruciating exciting part of ttc!  this is your first month inseminating, right?  fingers crossed that you have beginner's luck!  btw, i love that all your furbabies have names that begin with "M".  are you going to continue the tradition when you have your LO's?

afm...  i almost started to think that the universe was trying to tell me to give up on this month.  when i finished teaching today, i hopped on the metro and headed for the pharmacy where my precious puregon pen was waiting.  it's normally about a 30-45 minute ride, but two minutes after i got on, the train lurched to a stopped and all the lights went out.   i knew that i only had about an hour to get to the pharmacy before it closed, but instead of freaking out, i just told myself that it would work out if it was meant to...  and lo and behold, i got there with about 15 minutes to spare.  i didn't even have to pay for it!   i am now the proud parent of this little beauty:

my first-ever self-injection took place when i finally got home, and it didn't hurt a bit!  it's all a shot in the dark (pun very much intended), as there's no one to ask about dosage, and i won't be able to have an u/s until friday, but a girl can still hope.   

Edited by nosreves - 2/1/12 at 5:31pm