Yet another timing question!

[Hulahoop]

Hi! I finally came out of lurking after three failed IUIs cause I'm freaking on timing. This cycle, my partner and I are going to try one insem at home (with frozen sperm) followed by an IUI at the clinic. I'm probably not alone in saying that the timing is what is driving me insane! After my second IUI (frozen) I got bloodwork and an ultrasound done and everything checked out great. i think the main issue is the damned timing.

I'm using the CB Fertility Monitor and OPKs, and every time have gone in for my first insemination at 11am the day I got my Peak reading (and also my OPK positive) and the teh second insemination 24 hours after. this last round, i started testing several times a day around ovulation and caught the surge at 10pm the night before my Peak reading. I'd also had lots of CM the couple days before. All the info I'm getting seems conflicting: my fertility doctor said to get the IUI as soon as I get my peak reading (11 am), while the sperm bank said I should come in for an evening insemination the day I get it. Some places say to insem the day of the positive/peak, and others say the next day. Any thoughts on this? Wisdom/experiences to share? And additionally, thoughts on how to best time a cycle where I do a vaginal insem at home and and IUI at the clinic?

sorry this is so long. My brain is so full of charts and what ifs! thanks for any advice.

[pranava]

Hi Hulahoop! Timing is so very stressful - it often makes me want to pull my hair out : How many hours after your +OPK does your temp rise?

[megincl]

I agree that timing is tricky.

But also, it's important to note that even when everything is perfect with timing, sperm stats, etc, the chance of conception is only 20%. I think it's an easy thing to obsess about because it's IN OUR CONTROL, but if there's any way to breathe a bit and know that there's a large part of this that we just can't control, it may offer you a bit of grace.

Not that I have much myself, as we've been trying for over a year here, but perhaps on my good days I can muster a bit.... :

be well,
megin

PS: A big welcome, too!!!

[Hulahoop]

thanks for the welcome!

Pranava, I actually am not temping. I tried it for 5 months when I first started planning/preparing for the insemination, and it just never worked for me, partly cause of my wacky sleep schedule, partlly i don't know why else!

thanks for the kind words.

[lexbeach]

The recommendation I've heard regarding timing and IUIs (assuming you are doing two IUIs per cycle) is to do one IUI 12 hours after you first get a positive OPK (which requires testing multiple times a day), and the second one 34 hours after the positive OPK.

When you're doing ICI, the most important thing is to make sure that you have eggwhite cervical mucous. Because the sperm has been frozen and isn't likely to live as long as fresh sperm, you should time your ICI as close to O as possible. So aim to use your last bit of cervical mucous (i.e. if you usually have three days of eggwhite CM before you O, do the ICI on the third day). Sperm *needs* ewcm to get through your cervix, so inseminating in the absence of ewcm is much less likely to work (there still may be some ewcm hanging out at your cervix after you've stopped seeing it on the toilet paper, so a speculum can come in handy).

Here's an example of how the timeline would play out for someone doing one ICI and two IUIs (with ovulation happening either on cd 14 or cd 15):

Day 11
little bit of ewcm

Day 12
plentiful ewcm

Day 13
little bit of ewcm
*ICI*
postive OPK in evening

Day 14
no ewcm
*IUI* in a.m.

Day 15
*IUI* in a.m.


Hope this helps!

Good luck!

Lex

[Hulahoop]

wow. thank you so much. this really helps. i appreciate all your feedback.

[pdxmomazon]

Have you tried looking at your cervix? We've timed both of our successful IUIs by monitoring our cervixes and inseming when they are most open and producing a nice "ladder" of fluid. Based on what you are saying, it sounds like you are inseming based on chemical indicators. As I understand it, we all metabolize our hormones and such at different rates. The OPKs never worked for us, but my cervix was most open and ready the morning I got my "peak" on the CB monitor...Figuring out the timing is the most frustrating and crazy making part of all this, imo.

Also- are you using the same donor? Some women's bodies don't click with some men's sperm.

Best of luck and tons of sticky dust to you!

[Hulahoop]

thank you! your response and the the response above about temping again inspired me to buy a thermometer and order a speculum from the maia website. we'll see what happens.

oh, and as far as donors, we used the same donor the first two tries and switched to a new one after that.

thanks!

[AngelaM]

Yup, I just want to echo what Erin said about looking at cervical opening. I use OPKs to time my inseminations, but as the OPKs can be tricky and not 100% reliable, I like to use cervical opening as my secondary piece of information. It has made a big difference for me. Though, I have noticed some flucuation in my cycles in terms of how long it stays open. Some cycles my cervix opens 4 or 5 days before O, and other cycles, it's only open for a couple days ahead of time. So for me, it wouldn't work as the only indicator, but it definitely helps to confirm my OPKs.

Good luck!

[Twylightdove]

I'm jumping in to say "whoohoo" about your plan to start cervix gazing and such.

Also I wanted to mention that the CB monitor is not always the best choice for tracking when using frozen sperm. Although with your Peak and pos OPK happening at the same time it seems to work for you!

I tried to use it for awhile about five years ago and ended up on the helpline for the product for hours. What came out of that conversation was that the first peak day may not be the same thing as a positive OPK. It wasn't for me by a couple days. The monitor is also tracking your estrogen which can peak up to a couple days before you LH. The peak of estrogen is often at the same time as the fertile mucus. This is "peak" if using fresh but way too early if using frozen.

Good luck and have fun with the cervix gazing!

[frog]

Originally Posted by lexbeach

...the second one 34 hours after the positive OPK.

34 or 24?

[lexbeach]

34. The positive OPK generally means ovulation within 12 to 36 hours. Since sperm supposedly only live in the uterus for 8 hours, you want to cover all the possibilities. A second insem at 24 hours post +OPK would not ensure that there are sperm present when the egg is ready.

Of course, even when there are eggs and sperm together at the right time, it doesn't ensure that a pregnancy will result.

Lex