How Did You or DP/DW Get Pregnant? - Page 2

[sotohana]

Less than 6 weeks! That's so awesome Cananny! You two are triply lucky!

[cordelia15]

Before trying, I cut back on caffeine, started eating/drinking whole fat dairy products (which supposedly helps regulate Ovulation) and went to a fertility acupuncturist.  I am on my 2nd pregnancy and did this both times.  I also took chinese herbs twice a day.  I think my acupunturist is a miracle worker so if anyone is in the NYC area and needs a reference, let me know!  I went once a week except for the week it worked when I went twice, including the day of O.  And then once a week for the next two months too. 

This pregnancy I got pregnant on the 3rd try, using shipped sperm from a KD.  I tracked using ovulation strips (the smiley ones and the CBEFM which someone gave me)  I also did temping to make sure the Ovulation indicators were matching up.  We did two insems each cycle, one on the day of surge and one day of O (since were using fresh this seemed to be a good timing)  I sat in bed for at least an hour after, and lay on each side.  (My cervic is really high up and far back so I had read in the Brill book this could help to coat the cervix)  Who knows?  I usually had an O after the first 15-30 minutes.  

I think that's it! 

[Sphinxy]

Got a BFP during our fourth cycle trying (earlier cycles were not as well timed). On day 2 of my cycle I started drinking raspberry leaf tea (both Yogi and Traditional Medicinals brands) and continued 3 times a day during menstruation, and tapered off to once a day for the following week, then none right before ovulation. This was my first time trying any herbs. I had already been taking Naturemade Prenatal Multivitamins with DHA for the previous three months. We did not use any medical or natural interventions such as medications, triggers, acupuncture, or massage. I have always had good general health, regular cycles, and a decent diet/exercise routine - cardio workouts 2-3 times per week, lots of organic vegetables and dairy, limited processed foods and refined carbohydrates. I do eat moderate amounts of meat and fish most days, usually pasture raised and/or organic. I'm 31 years old at the time of conception.

The week of Ovulation:

CD18 - In the evening, small amounts of EWCM arrived, and cervix was high and soft. 

CD19 - I got almost positive OPKs at both 11am and 2:30pm, followed by lots of EWCM at 2:30pm. I got positive OPKs at 5:15pm (with both the cheap internet type and the ClearBlue digital), cervix was high and soft. I went for a workout (about an hour of heavy cardio), and then did the first insemination around 7:30pm. 

CD20 - Lots of EWCM throughout the day. Second insemination around 6:00pm. Lots of emotion/mood swings around 8pm that I attributed to the wave of progesterone post ovulation. FF later confirmed ovulation for CD20.

Each insemination was done via IVI at home using a syringe with a 1cc raw/unwashed vial of frozen sperm, 46 million motile swimmers. I had orgasms both immediately before and after each insemination. I then spent 15 minutes lying on my back with my hips elevated, followed by 5 minutes lying on each side, and then five minutes lying on my stomach. After that, I stayed in bed for a couple more hours with hips elevated before using the toilet and going to sleep. 

Starting on the day of ovulation this cycle, I decided to switch my prenatals to some thing more natural, so during the TWW I was instead taking Rainbow Light Prenatal One multivitamins and the Nordic Naturals DHA supplement. I completely abstained from caffeine during the TWW (never consumed much before anyway) and I had a couple glasses of wine on occasion, but no alcohol after 6DPO.

Here is a link to my FF chart: http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/3d8708 

Edited by Sphinxy - 1/29/13 at 9:34am

[RStelle]

My DW got pregnant on the 4th try, we did a self insemination with  a friend as our donor. She ended up having miscarriage at 20 months, and then 3 months later I got pregnant on the first try. I wasn't charting my ovulation or anything. It was kind of spur of the moment because we had always planed of DW to be the one to get prego, but she felt like she wouldn't be ready to try again for a while. We were in the same state as our donor, and we just figured we'd give it a try. We stopped buy his house and he did his thing into a shot glass and passed it off to us, and voila. I was shocked when it worked, I spent the first 5 months freaking out and feeling like we weren't ready, but it all worked out in the end.   

[southernfriedkarma]

I got pregnant on our second IUI with frozen sperm.  That seems so short when you don't consider the fact that we spent almost a year working on my underlying health/hormone issues before we were given the clear to actually inseminate.  I was on a vegetarian, whole foods diet (kind of like the PCOS diet even though I don't have a PCOS dx) and wasn't eating any sugar substitutes, soda, highly processed foods, etc.  I was doing yoga and getting thai massage and chiropractic care and working out 3-4 times per week.  I was still overweight by BMI standards, though.  I took a high quality whole foods prenatal, Floradix, vitamin D, Vitex, B complex, metformin, and a low dose aspirin.  Because I have Cushing's Disease, we were high intervention from the start.  With both IUI cycles, I did femara, bravelle, and hcg trigger with ultrasound monitoring.  Progesterone after insem for a month.  

During the insemination itself I used a mixture of breathing and meditation techniques . . . and I turned on the Indigo Girls just to help start our little gayby off on the right foot :)  

[planet]

I think this is such a cool space to share our various stories!  It's inspiring to see all the different experiences out there.

We got our BFP on our 2nd cycle trying, natural IUI with frozen donor sperm.  The IUI was performed by our naturopath.  We did two insems that cycle (we only did one the previous cycle).  We didn't start our IUIs until after about 7 months of temping, charting, acupuncture and Chinese medicine to help regulate my cycle and identify ovulation.  Along with temping, I used digital OPKs to help pinpoint ovulation.  I also quit caffeine, started drinking green smoothies, and took a billion supplements as recommended by my ND: fish oil, prenatal vitamin, vitamin D...I know there were more but I am having a hard time remembering what they all are right now!  I also drank "fertility tea" every day: nettles, rose hips, oat straw, red clover, raspberry leaf, and some other herbs (I can dig up the exact blend if anyone is interested, just let me know).  Of course, it's hard to know if all of these herbs and supplements were truly necessary, but they obviously didn't hurt! 

looking back, I feel the acupuncture and Chinese herbs were probably the most helpful preparation that I did.  It helped me learn about my cycle, and my charts truly started to regulate after a few months (nothing was wrong, but my charts looked nothing like the charts in the books when I first started, there were no high and low periods, it was just all over the place.  After a few months of acupuncture, my charts looked like they were "supposed" to look).  Also crucial was telling/reminding myself that I am fertile, that just because I am queer does not mean I am less fertile or will have a harder time getting pregnant than a straight woman.  This was truly important and necessary for me, because the more I read about ovulation and OPKs and charting and this and that, the more lost and overwhelmed I felt.  I tried to just trust my gut and my body.  Finally, Stephanie Brill's book about conception was an awesome resource.

Good luck to all of you who are  TTCing!!!!!!  May you soon find yourself bouncing a swaddled newborn on a yoga ball while playing a You Tube video of white noise at 4 in the morning. ;-)

[planet]

Oh yeah, and one more thing.  Have you guys heard about the pineapple thing?  Eat a slice of fresh piña every day for five (?) days starting with the day of insemination.  Who knows if this truly helped or not, but I did that with the cycle that worked for us.  Even if it didn't really help, it was yummy.

[esenbee2]

I heard about the pineapple thing for after insemination.  I was already drinking pineapple juice for more alkaline CM for a boy sway, so I continued to drink the pineapple juice after the insemination.  Wasn't sure if it would help in the same way that a pineapple core/slice would, but figured that at least some of what is said to help would be there in the juice too...

[carmen358]

I did the fresh pineapple thing most months but not the last 2 tries....I still got pregnant but I always file it under 'can't hurt, might help' so it's worth a try :)

[southernfriedkarma]

I ate lots of pineapple, too.  It was summer, and the fresh pineapple from our local international farmers market was divine.

[granite]

I've been referring to my current pregnancy as our "one-hit wonder", because it was our first insem, but my DP keeps reminding me how inaccurate that is, as I did *a lot* of prep work in the year and a half leading up to that insem. So, without further ado, here's how we got our BFP:

• ACUPUNCTURE. Lots and lots of it, for a long time. I started in the autumn of 2011, going to my local community acupuncture clinic (find one near you) weekly at $10-20 a pop. I took a break through the autumn of 2012, then in winter began seeing a private acupuncturist who specializes in fertility, at $50/treatment. The BFP cycle, I saw her 2x week, including the evening of insem day and two days later to encourage implantation. She also did a lot of moxabustion on me, and had me do it on myself every night. She was the first to tell me I was pregnant, at 8 DPO! She made me look at my face in the mirror, giggling over how puffy it was and how I kept coming up with non-pregnancy reasons, LOL. I adore her.
• BREAST MASSAGE. Heh heh... But no, really, I'm serious! Leading up to O, at my acupuncturist's suggestion, I had my DP massage my breasts for 10-20 minutes each night. They were too sore by the day before O, so it was maybe 4 sessions. I don't know if this helped, but it was fun.
• DIET. Starting in the spring of 2012, I mostly cut gluten from my diet, though realistically still ate some every week at some point. Then the week of the insem, I was eating a doughnut a day! Still, maybe it was good for all the prep my body needed to do in the months before that. Also, I saw a naturopath a couple times, and she told me that one of the best things one can do for fertility is to maintain a steady blood-sugar level, as it sends the body the message that all is well: I tried my best to keep that in mind, and always have healthy snacks on hand so that I never get hungry. For the record, I still drank a couple glasses of wine every couple days right up to the insem. However, I did stop drinking caffeinated coffee in 2011, and stuck to one cup green and one cup black tea a day.
• SUPPLEMENTS. I take Vitamin D & C, a B-complex, iron, fish oil, selenium, and folic acid every day, and have for a couple years. For about 8 months (spring-summer 2012) I also took Pregnancy Prep too, but it didn't seem to have any effect on my crazy cycles and I discontinued using it.
• HERBS. I drank a lot of an herbal tea blend made from red raspberry leaves, red clover, etc... All the usual suspects. It was from a local herbal dispensary, and I just made a big batch of it every couple days and kept it in the fridge.
• EXERCISE. I have a very active job (electrician), in which I'm constantly carrying very heavy items and climbing stairs/scaffolds/ladders. So, I didn't do anything extra for TTC, nor did I cut back on the strain my body is usually under.
• MEDITATION. I listened to the free guided fertility meditation from Anji, as well as other guided relaxation meditations, during most of my acupuncture sessions. I actually didn't do this in the BFP cycle, but by then I'd memorized most of the words, and it's become habit to go to that place of peace when I'm getting needled. I also went infrequently to yin yoga classes, which focused on slowing the mind: I think these were all very helpful in preparing my body for conception, because I am otherwise a loud, fast, and boisterous personality.
• HSG. I had a hysterosalpingogram in July of 2012, which was crazily painful and caused awful cramping. It showed that my left tube was blocked, but the doc suggested that this was likely a false positive due to the spasms... I guess he was right, cuz my BFP egg came from my left side!
• DRUGS. Due to PCOS, I took 100mg of clomiphene every day for seven days starting on the 3rd day of my cycle. This helped me to produce one big follicle.
• MONITORING. I had ultrasound monitoring of my cycle at the local fertility clinic. My first was on CD14, which showed the follie at 18mm, then again on CD16, when the follie was at 22mm. I was doing OPKs as well, but mostly for fun.
• SPERM. We chose our donor because he was WTBK and because his reason for donating was a family experience with infertility. Nice guy, hey? Also, he has a daughter, which seemed like a good sign. The sample's post-thaw motility was 77%, which was high enough to incite a reaction from the doc and the assisting nurse at the clinic... They both said it was a really good sample. I don't remember what the sperm count was.
• IUI. In Canada, our only option for using donor sperm from a bank is to go through a fertility clinic, which must do the insem. So, we had an IUI performed by a doctor who specializes in getting people pregnant. The day of the insem (CD17), I had an orgasm early in the morning, then had the IUI at the clinic (they'd thawed and washed the sample right beforehand), where I lay around for about 20 minutes afterwards. I went to work an hour later, after texting DP "I'm all full of sperm!", LOL. (She couldn't make it due to work commitments.)

With all the recent BFPs over in QC, I'm stoked to hear more about what others have done too!

[CocoBird]

I got pregnant three years ago after our first try with at-home insemination, but miscarried after one month. We took a break for maybe four months before trying again because I was so heartbroken. We only tried a few more months and then decided to stop trying. The timing was not right for us. I was depressed. Had only gotten off psych meds a month before I got pregnant that time, and I think I needed time to find more stability. After a couple years, I began trying to accept the idea that we might not try again, and I was trying to be okay with the idea--my wife's youngest daughter has accepted me as her second mama and we have a wonderful relationship, so I was already a mom. But after Casey and I had a wedding, she began to talk about trying again--just a few times, she said, and if it's meant to be it will be. I can tell you I was super excited to try again!

We used a known-donor--a good friend of mine--but we are trying to keep that quiet. I started tracking my cycle in July--which is pretty easy for me, because I can usually feel when I am ovulating, and I've had a pretty regular 23 day cycle for years. I didn't do anything fancy this time to help with fertility and neither did he. Well, he stopped smoking weed a few months ahead. I've been clean and sober for nearly five years, and off of psychiatric meds for three years, so I didn't have anything that needed to be cleaned out of my system this time. I did drink some herbal infusions--raspberry leaf, nettles, oatstraw--that I continued to drink after conceiving. We tried in September and boom! First try again, it worked. :) Our donor friend would come over to our house, do his business in the bathroom while we watched TV on the other side of the house, then exit with a high five and "good luck" so we could try right away. We had specimen cups for our donor to use and we used a syringe. My wife and I would make love just enough so that I was significantly aroused--I've read that for some people having an orgasm works best for some just getting aroused, and some people don't make love at all just do the insemination. We didn't want the sperm to wait around too long, so we were pretty quick. I did stick my legs up in the air afterward, felt pretty silly but we don't mind being silly. And then laid with a pillow under my butt. We actually tried two days in a row during the same ovulation period, so I can't be sure if it was 16th or 17th that we conceived. But we DID! And now we're 28 weeks along!

[CocoBird]

granite, what is WTBK?
 

[granite]

WTBK = Willing To Be Known
At the bank I chose, all this means is that he checked off a box indicating that he'd be theoretically willing to meet future offspring; there's no current framework to facilitate this or otherwise reveal his identity.

[sotohana]

Here’s a bit of history about what it took for me to get pregnant: this was my 4^th try, but my wife’s and my 7^th try total. When we first began this journey (2 years and 2 weeks to the day prior to getting our BFP), my wife was going to be the first to carry. The decision was simple for us- she’s older by 7 years, so it only made sense. However, she tried three times with clomid and had no luck. We were still going to try more times with her, but last year was really, really rough. Both her father and eldest sister passed exactly three months apart. After all that grief her period totally stopped. She went back to the doctor about three months ago and they put her on progesterone to kick start her cycle again, but since that period she hasn’t gotten one again. In the midst of all that, she told me that she wanted me to start trying. I was very hesitant as I really didn’t want to steal the spotlight. We’d been so focused on trying with her that her request made me fear that she would never have a baby like she’s always dreamed of. I had never dreamt of being in this position- with a wife that wanted to be pregnant- but I very strongly wanted her to have what she’d always dreamt of. Wrapping my mind and heart around this was really, really tough. Eventually I was able to accept this change, though.  My first try was in August 2012. It was unmedicated, but I did chart that month. We did our insem using frozen WTBK donor sperm from OHSU andrology at Alma Midwifery and Insemination Clinic.

My second try was January at home (ICI) using frozen WTBK donor sperm from NW Cryobank- unmedicated as well.

My third try I moved on to Oregon Reproductive Medicine just to have some suspicions confirmed or denied. From tracking my temp, I was pretty sure that my luteal phase was too short and that I had a weak ovulation because of a stair step temp rise after O. The NP did a vaginal ultrasound on CD12 and prescribed a trigger shot. Progesterone was tested on CD7 and it was super low, so she put me on suppositories immediately. BFN.

Finally, my fourth try we got lucky! I was able to start 50mg of clomid at my NPs suggestion. She did test my AMH, but I started the clomid before getting the results. Turns out it was a good decision to take the clomid because my AMH was .16 and it should have been above 1.0. I took it on cycle days 5-9. CD12 ultrasound showed two almost mature follicles- one on each ovary and a third one on the right ovary that was almost mature. Trigger on CD 13 and insem CD15 with the same WTBK donor from the last two tries. Afterward I rolled onto each side for 15 minutes. Immediately I started worrying and that worry didn’t let up until we got the results of the blood test on 11DPI. Also, I started taking the progesterone on 1DPI.

I’d gone in that morning and asked the phlebotomist not to call me until the end of the day. My wife was out of town and didn’t get home till 6:45. She called and left a message anyway at 3:45. Those three hours were pure hell. I couldn’t turn off my phone because my sister was on the verge of going into labor and she needed to be able to reach me. Somehow I survived until she walked in the door. She actually had the audacity to ask if she could take a shower before we listened to the vm. Lol. Of course I didn’t let her.

That moment that we heard the news was soooo surreal. I remember pumping my fist in the air and screaming at the top of my lungs. Then I just collapsed in sobs- the ugly cry for sure. Ha ha J After I’d calmed down a bit I looked over at my wife and she was crying too J It was so amazing. My beta that morning was 18.77, so I took an HPT at 7:30 and it read the most amazing word ever: pregnant! Beta on 14DPI was 114. 

[lovestreet13]

Oh wow, Sphinxy, thank you so much for recommending this thread!  I'm sitting here sniffling with tears on my cheeks-- reading these stories was so inspiring and lovely and exciting!  Especially hearing the stories of the people who were in the forums with me when I was trying.  My heart is just bursting for all of you!  I can't believe Cananny is having triplets!!  And PokeyC is preggo, too!  I'm beyond excited for you all. 

Since I have to start trying at home, it's really encouraging to hear your success stories.  And also get all these wonderful tips!!  I won't feel so "lost in the wilderness" maybe, if I feel like I'm following in your successful footsteps.

Congratulations on all your beautiful babies, ladies!!

     

[Sphinxy]

Good luck, lovestreet! I'm so glad we all can be of help and hope for you. I know I speak for lots of people here when I say, if we can help with any questions at all please feel free to ask away! I also read your post on the QC thread - at-home insems rock! You can do it! 

[poiyt]

Hey everyone!

I dont feel comfortable posting in the DDC as I am the NGP but here seams like a good place to start!

We got pregnant so easily that I am paranoid something is going to happen. We did 1 try (OMG!) with a known donor and a syringe and it took. We did do months of charting to figure out when she was ovulating, but it shouldnt have happened to easily. We almost feel, well, do feel, guilty that it was so easy for us, and so much harder for other people.

[pokeyAC]

poiyt-I understand what you mean, but you shouldn't feel guilty for being fortunate.  Sometimes it works the first time.  Those stories give us all hope.  Is your partner pregnant right now?  Feel free to join us in Queer, Pregnant and Parenting.  We have a few NGP's over there who post regularly.  Congratulations on building your family!

[granite]

Oh, poiyt, I know what you mean... We got knocked up just a week or so before you, also on the first insem!

To deal with the guilt, I do my best to remember exactly what Pokey says above: Stories like ours give others hope. I know that I for one definitely *needed* to read of these easy successes when I was still in the thinking-it-through phase of the TTC rollercoaster, because it seemed like there were just sooooo many blogs and forums full of queers who'd been trying for *years*. I have so much fierce love for those people, for their tenacity and unrelenting hope! And also gratitude for folks such as yourself and your DP, for sharing how it can sometimes be easy too.

I'm finding the DDC too busy and chaotic, and much prefer the cozier atmosphere at QP&P... Also, as I wrote in the DDC, I love hearing at the BTDT tidbits from queers who are already parenting, and like Pokey said, also getting the input from the NGPs who participate.  Thanks to their contributions, my own DP and I have had many long talks about what she's going through, which I don't think would have happened if I hadn't had a reason to think outside my own little pregnancy-focused brain.