Anyone "do it yourself" IUI at home?

[cookie70]

Hi. My partner and I are curious if any of you have tried IUI at home without the assistance of a mid-wife or doc? If so, can you explain. We get the part about washed sperm only, catheter, no air bubbles...but other than that is it too dangerous?

Thank you kindly,
Kirsen

[pranava]

Hi cookie! DW and I tried an unassited IUI last cycle, and will do it again this cycle. Last time we couldnt' get the catheter more than 1 1/2 inches in. The catheter was a little long, too flexible, and turns out our timing was early. I think my cervix may not have been all the way open yet. DW twisted and pushed, and was frankly rather rough to try to get the catheter further in, but no luck. Luckily, I didn't feel it much at all. Some of the sperm came back out, but sat right on top the os. Check out the October TTC thread for some instructions from someone more experienced than I. I think the instructions were posted on or around October 11th. Good luck!

[ninefirefly]

My partner and I did ICI at home without assistance. It's just a little safer (my wife was a bit too nervous of hurting me to even try IUI) and obviously effective cause I got pregnant on the first try! If you were to do IUI at home I would suggest at least a midwife or other medical professional to help. Good luck whatever you decide!

[KnittingTigers]

Yes, there's a discussion in October TTC. There have also been some threads dedicated just to this subject, back in the spring (see the link posted below). We do our IUIs at home, so you can also PM me if you have questions. Having been around the block a few times with this, we've learned a thing or two...

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ferrerid=78265

[Twylightdove]

We did one cycle of home IUI. (We have since started with a known donor.) It is important that the person doing the IUI is comfortable doing this procedure. My partner is a nurse and we had done cervix gazing so had a lot of experience using speculums.
The most important thing is the sterile field. You are bypassing your body's filter, the os. Don't touch the end of the catheter or the walls of the vagina with the tip of the catheter (this can be hard) so that you do not introduce germs to your uterus. Also, you don't need to go very far in. The midwife that taught us only went in about an inch. Once you feel resistance stop. If you try to force it you can damage the inside of your uterus. Even though it was only an inch in I had no spillage because we were very slow pushing the plunger (like a full minute per cc).

[lmh222]

We did at-home unasissted IUI and got pregnant on our 2nd month.

I got most of my info online just from reading articles. One thing that also helped to reassure us quite a bit was that we met with a midwife just to do a "sterile technique" workshop. She didn't have any experience with IUI (and also felt that the state would frown on her giving any advice on something she wasn't formally trained in). She spent about an hour coaching us just on how to keep everything sterile though.

One big tip that we got from her was to put a few towels and a sheet in a paper bag and put them in the oven at about 250-300 degrees for 20 minutes to kill any germs (they'll catch fire at about 450 so be sure to stay well below that). We laid those out on the bed first to ensure that we were starting out with a clean surface. We kept sterile items wrapped until we were ready to use them.

Doctors do this procedure in their office, not an OR, so it really isn't entirely sterile even when they do it. I'm also a lot more warry of the kind of germs that you'd find in a doctor's office than the kind you're used to coming in contact with every day in your home.

[Wrkingwoman07]

I have ?'s too

Hello everyone,
My wife and I are looking into getting pregnant within the next 6 months to a year. I have tried to find sperm banks, but nothing I am impressed with. We want to be able to it at home. Does anyone have any suggestions? I am afraid that because we live in a rural area, access is going to be limited and the cost to ship will be outrageous. Any advice, suggestions, words of wisdom, whatever will be appreciated.

[astraphell]

We did an at home IUI without medical supervision or advice of any kind. I do not recommend doing this unless you know what you're doing!

Our frozen sperm shipment came with a needleless syringe and a plastic catheter. We figured putting the catheter in as far as we could would help our chances, and hey, it was washed sperm anyway and that's all that matters, right?

About 2 days after the 2nd insemination, I started feeling extremely bloated, and had lots of pain and cramping. It felt kind of like when you have a bladder infection, but there was no burning urination. Standing up straight was painful.

I went to the dr to get checked out but they didn't find anything concrete wrong with me. I didn't have a fever, so there was no infection, but I'm pretty sure we irritated something in there.

Whether we scratched something inside, or introduced germs, or I just plain got irritated by the sperm, I don't know. But it was kind of scary, and very uncomfortable.

This is not to say that everyone's experience will be like mine! We didn't take sterile precautions, and I'm sure if we decide to try again we'll study more carefully. I think from now on we'll stick to the ICI and leave it at that!

[wannabemoms]

I've always read that ICIs are ok for do-it-yourself, but IUIs should be performed by a specialist. My own family doctor wouldn't even consider doing the IUI, and refered us to a specialist.

Personally, I want everything to go as optimally as possible, and I'm too paranoid that I'd mess something up (timing, the procedure itself, whatever), so I'm very happy having an RE take us through the process step by step next year.

[wannabemoms]

Originally Posted by Wrkingwoman07

Hello everyone,
My wife and I are looking into getting pregnant within the next 6 months to a year. I have tried to find sperm banks, but nothing I am impressed with. We want to be able to it at home. Does anyone have any suggestions? I am afraid that because we live in a rural area, access is going to be limited and the cost to ship will be outrageous. Any advice, suggestions, words of wisdom, whatever will be appreciated.

I think the cost thing, while off-putting, is unavoidable if you're buying from a bank. There's some difference in price depending on the number of units you buy, if its washed or unwashed, and if it's an open ID donor or anonymous...but from the research we did, one fact remained constant: sperm are NOT cheap!!!

Most banks won't release sperm for at-home unless you've got a doctor on board with the plan (he/she doesn't have to actually be involved in the insemination, but needs to provide a release form)...I'd talk to your family doc, and then find out what the shipping prices are. Our sperm is traveling about 600km, and it's costing about 75$...not too terrible.

[Wrkingwoman07]

I appreciate the jump start advice. We definitely have a doc that has been helping prepare my body for pregnancy and I am sure she would sign a release. Are there any sperm banks on the east coast anyone can recommend? A friend of mine is willing to make a "contribution", but we are looking for sperm from a donor who is mixed with caucasin and african american. Additonally, do you think it's best to measure my ovulation through an at home monitor or through the doc? Thanks again and in advance for the support and advice

[wannabemoms]

I started taking my bbts in September to get an idea of my overall cycle and ovulation. So far, so good...I'm finding it pretty clear to keep track of...when we get closer to the day of our insems, I imagine we'll also be using the pee-on-a-stick type ovulation testers. Are you in Canada or the US?