Starting ICI next month with NW Cryo

[dj12478]

Just wanted to say hello.  My wife and I have been together for 4 years and will be starting our first cycle at the end of next month.  We're spending one more month hoping to get the timing down and noting body signals along with at home ovulation kits to predict surge.  I just found this site and it's 3:00 in the morning, I keep reading about other Queer boards but Queer Parenting is the only one I can find on here.  Maybe I'm just tired...

We've lived a breathed baby for a while now and I'm just excited to finally get started.  I'm absolutely petrified about being responsible for the insemination part, we both feel strongly about me doing it and getting to be at home to inseminate if at all possible but I just wish I felt better about the "how".  I'm a little aprehensive about "practicing" with $1000 a month but it will all be worth it.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  My wife is actually a very butch lesbian and is nervous about this very feminine process but she wants to carry and have a child of her own and we're both so excited we're just overwhelmed these days.

Also - if there is another board I should check out - please tell me how to get there... my brain is mush :)

[prettyisa]

Hi, there! Congrats on getting started--the process definitely has its emotional ups and downs. You're looking for the Queer Conceptions board--everyone in there knows what they're doing and can help you figure it out. They're also totally supportive and funny and wonderful, which I found really helpful throughout the whole Trying To Conceive process.

I also think your wife might like Pregnant Butch: http://activatecomix.com/133-1.comic . I've been reading along as she adds pages and it's great!

Good luck! I hope your stay in QC is short and that you'll be joining us over in Queer Pregnant and Parenting soon!

[lisedea]

Here is the link to get to Queer Conceptions so you don't have to search!

http://www.mothering.com/community/t/1358987/queer-conceptions-august-2012

[pokeyAC]

dj!  We look forward to getting to know you.  Good luck! 

[Feministmamas]

Good luck! We just starting ICI at home last month with NW Cryo. You will be fine, the insemination isn't that hard.

[hippiemombian]

Have you checked out the forum on the NW site? It is very helpful and informative.

[dj12478]

Thank you all for your kind words.  I look forward to getting to know you as well.  This past week has been frustrating.  We're supposed to attempt insemination next month but our OPK's seemed all messed up this month.  A half dark line - is it positive or not?  No ovulation pain that was normally like clock work.  Suddenly overwhelmed at the reality and the "will it work"?  Just breathing and keeping things in perspective, there's no one else in this world I'd rather go through life with.

[pokeyAC]

I'm sorry you had a frustrating week.  I totally understand.  I think we've all been there.  It's good that you are charting before you actually start so that you have some practice at it.  I found OPK's particularly frustrating so I switched to digital. I get annoyed when they turn positive earlier than I think they should, but they are more definitive.  Are you temping?  That can help you see where O happens also.  Keep on breathing!  I hope it all makes more sense soon.

[lbbike99]

Hi there,

I'm just starting again after a year wait.  Last year my midwife recommended The Essential Guide to Lesbian Conception, Pregnancy and Birth by Kim Toevs and Stephanie Brill and I found it very helpful for all sorts of questions, reassurance, suggestions, etc.  I wanted to suggest it in case you hadn't run across it yet.  One of the parts I like is how to make at home (or clinic) inseminations special, either when you are single or with a partner.  There is a lot more in there too - I copied this from http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Guide-Lesbian-Conception-Pregnancy/dp/1555836267/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344926107&sr=1-1&keywords=lesbian+guide+to+conception

Quote:

The first book of its kind, The Essential Guide to Lesbian Conception, Pregnancy, and Birth delivers on the promise of its title. It is a step-by-step guide to the physical and emotional aspects of conception through delivery, providing easy-to-understand charts and illustrations, checklists, groundbreaking fertility information, and personal exercises geared specifically toward lesbians. Reflecting the unique experience of lesbian mothers in a manner never before addressed, The Essential Guide to Lesbian Conception, Pregnancy, and Birthis both practical, providing lesbians with everything they need to know to become mothers, and inspirational, addressing the social issues surrounding lesbian pregnancy in an empowering manner. Comprehensive and indispensable, this book will serve as a literary midwife to the growing number of lesbian mothers.

Best of luck to you two!