August IUIs - Page 5

[blueyezz4]

Originally Posted by songbird45

peeonastick.com has a great explanation of why you can use an OPK as a HPT. Not sure how reliable it is, though. It seems like a "just for fun" sort of thing.

I'm one week into the tww. Relatively calm so far.

Songbird - thanks for that link!!! I did look at it and you are right, it is a good explanation. Thanks, that helped. As i said above, i broke down and took a test (hpt) this afternoon and got a BFP, but i know it is a false positive. I just hope it stays positive for a long long time!!!! Thanks again.

[jazcat]

Hi girls.... First time posting here. I'm onto my first IUI after over a year of trying. May I ask you a question?

For those doing an IUI without a trigger - do you get it done on the day before you ovulate? Or the day of? My doctor said I'd be coming in the day after my first positive OPK, but I'm worried it would be too late, or too borderline. What do you think?

[by-the-lake]

Jazcat- The day after LH surge is standard. It takes 12-36 hours after LH surge to ovulate, So, the 24 hr mark is what is used. Your egg can live up to 12-24 hours, and sperm for IUI usually lives about 8 hours post wash in your uterus. Its like throwing a dart at a balloon. Many variables. The success with well timed IUI's are nearly the same as well timed intercourse. Which makes me wonder why the human race is as profilic as it is (for some).

[blueyezz4]

Originally Posted by jazcat

Hi girls.... First time posting here. I'm onto my first IUI after over a year of trying. May I ask you a question?

For those doing an IUI without a trigger - do you get it done on the day before you ovulate? Or the day of? My doctor said I'd be coming in the day after my first positive OPK, but I'm worried it would be too late, or too borderline. What do you think?

jazcat - I know the first time a RE spoke with me about doing an IUI without a trigger (or any medicine actually) I was suppose to wait for a pos OPK and then call the office for them to schedule the IUI like the next day. I wonder why they wouldn't be monitoring you especially since you are on clomid??? I know with my first cycle of clomid (100mg a day last month) I was glad they were monitoring (Ultrasound) me b/c it ended up thinning my lining too much, so if we would have done the IUI it would have been such a waste of money since your lining is suppose to be like at 7 or higher to have it thick enough for the egg to be able to implant. I also have read that once you get a pos. OPK it could take up to 24-36 hrs to actually Ovulate. Hope that helps. Good luck to you!!!

[jazcat]

natrualmom - Sperm live only 8 hours in the uterus post IUI? Where did you hear that? If that's true, no wonder IUI stats are so low per cycle.

blueeyez - Interesting about your lining. I was monitored on 50mg of Clomid the first time I took it and everything looked ok. This is my 4th cycle, total, not consecutive. Never gone above 50mg.

The way I'm seeing this timing thing, I read a study where none of the participants got pregnant if the only time they had sex was AFTER they ovulated. In other words, the sperm need to be waiting there before the egg pops out.

So getting it close, before ovulation is optimal. Doing it a day before ovulation might be ok (or maybe not if the sperm only live 8 hours!). But doing it after ovulation would be a waste.

Any thoughts?

[by-the-lake]

Jazcat- My RE and OB says the sperm only live about 8 hr inside the uterus. Mind you, this is washed frozen sperm. If you had intercourse or ICI (intracervical insemination) with fresh sperm, they can live up to 5 days (at the latest) in your cervical mucus outside the uterus, and swim up whenever. The rational for IUI after LH surge is because after the surge, you ovulate 24-36 hour after. So lets say at 10:00 Thursday morning, your LH surges, and you have a pos OPK. Friday morning, 9-10:00, you have your IUI. Your egg could be released anywhere aroung that time, sperm hanging out, waiting. Thats the theory.
We use Letrazole (same idea as clomid, a bit different) for ovulation induction). Then we look for a dominate follicle via ultrasound on the 10th cycle day. If we see it , I take a trigger shot, with IUI 36 hrs after. The trigger shot is suppose to trigger ovulation 36 hrs later. Then the timing should be more refined.
There are so many vairables with assisted reproduction, as well as natrual reproduction, its amazing there are so many of us running aroung.
Hope I could help you

[jazcat]

I wonder why washing the sperm would reduce their longevity by so much. Interesting. They must be feeling pretty darn dizzy after a good washing

There have been a few occassions that I ovulated on the same day (or before I took my temp the next morning) as the first positive OPK. That is why I'm nervous about missing it. I guess if we miss it, we miss it. Better to increase the odds as much as possible.

Another question for anyone - does your OB do an ultrasound to check your follicles before doing the IUI? Would you even be able to see on an u/s if you already ovulated or not?

[by-the-lake]

I would love if my OB would do an U/S before the IUI, but they don't. Have you heard of this? The one thing my OB did say if they did the U/S for follicle study, they can tell if ovulation occured by the shape of the follicle.

I think the sperm die off so soon is because the semen is removed, and the semen contains nutients for the sperm to live off of while hanging out in the cervical mucus. The cervical mucus itself is an enviroment the sperm get nutrients from as well. And yes, they are probobly dizzy and disoriented too hahaha

[blueyezz4]

Jazcat - We had our first IUI this past Monday and when they did the wash it actually increased our swimmers motility which I thought was kinda weird b/c you would think it would do the opposite. Went from like 48% motility to like 75% so who knows.

So has anyone had an increase in your temps after doing a trigger shot? My temps seem higher than normal and even higher than they were last cycle on 100mg of clomid (no trigger shot or IUI), this month was only 50mgs with trigger and IUI. Don't want to get my hopes up so I thought I'd ask if anyone else has experienced it.

[jazcat]

Very exciting! How did it go? How do you feel about it? When are you testing?

I'm thinking Monday or Tuesday will be our big day. My main concern is that DH spent a few hours in the very very hot springs several weeks ago. I guess if they take a look and it's not worth doing they'll let me know.

Originally Posted by blueyezz4

Jazcat - We had our first IUI this past Monday and when they did the wash it actually increased our swimmers motility which I thought was kinda weird b/c you would think it would do the opposite. Went from like 48% motility to like 75% so who knows.

So has anyone had an increase in your temps after doing a trigger shot? My temps seem higher than normal and even higher than they were last cycle on 100mg of clomid (no trigger shot or IUI), this month was only 50mgs with trigger and IUI. Don't want to get my hopes up so I thought I'd ask if anyone else has experienced it.

[jazcat]

Good to know - thanks! I hadn't heard anything about it...just seems like it would make sense. Why proceed with an IUI if you've already ovulated, ya know?

Originally Posted by natrualmom

I would love if my OB would do an U/S before the IUI, but they don't. Have you heard of this? The one thing my OB did say if they did the U/S for follicle study, they can tell if ovulation occured by the shape of the follicle.

[Angi]

My RE took a blood sample and did an TransV u/s so look at the ovaries. And apparently my left ovary is somewhere near my lungs. :

That was to figure out the timing of the trigger shot. They can also tell if you ovulated because there will be "free fluid" in the tubes. It's part of what the follicle releases when it spits out the egg.

At least that is how the RE explained to me.

[blueyezz4]

Soc - aka: cycle buddy!!! How did your IUI go?? I see on your chart that you had it done. I was thinking about you and hoping everything went well. Fill us in when you get a chance. : for you!!!!

[soc]

Originally Posted by blueyezz4

Soc - aka: cycle buddy!!! How did your IUI go?? I see on your chart that you had it done. I was thinking about you and hoping everything went well. Fill us in when you get a chance. : for you!!!!

Ahh, thanks blueyezz!

Yep got the IUI done on Wednesday.
OMG, the girl doing it was horrendous! I've been for many a pap smear - and really don't mind the whole procedure - but jeepers this girl made the whole thing almost traumatic! :

So there I was legs up - she tells me that she's gonna wipe me with wet cotton balls that are cool. As soon as she wiped I gasped with the coldness... I told her, that having something THAT cold certainly made the whole thing of trying to relax 'down there' alot more difficult.

She then inserted the speculum - again that was COLD! There I was trying to focus on just relaxing... she then told me she'd be wiping the inside and cervix with some more wet things. COLD COLD COLD!

Then she started moving the speculum around... apparently my cervix was playing hard to get, and disappeared! She said that she needed to use a different speculum... so out the 'old' one went, and in the 'new' one went.

She then started prodding and probing, trying to get to the cervix. Now when you have a speculum up your who-who, and someone is knocking is about, the vibration causes some real discomfort... she could see that I was trying real hard to relax. There I was staring at the ceiling, and scratching the skin on my chest - just to move my focus away from what she was doing...

She then declares... 'I need to get some help'. GREAT! She then up and leaves me there, legs up and a friggin speculum still hanging out of my vagina!!! OMG, the discomfort was horrendous.

I was left there for about 3 minutes before she finally came back with a Doc, who asked what the problem was. As soon as the Doc sat down, and removed the speculum, OMG the feeling of relief that surged through my body was unbelievable.... and I told them that! The nurse was all apologetic... all I could say was, 'I hope this works first time so I don't need to go through this again for a while!'

The Doc then re-inserted the speculum, which felt FAR more comfortable, and found the cervix immediately... she actually said, 'I don't see how you couldn't find the cervix' to the nurse. The Doc then was prodding and probing for a while to get the cathetor up the cervix to deliver the package... after a while I felt pressure and asked them did they inject the sperm yet - the Doc told me that if I could feel the pressure then the sperm were going in the right place.

So that's my story... the SIS (saline infused sonography) that I had at the very beginning of my journey with the RE was far more easier than this!

At the moment, according to FF I am 3DPO - but I don't feel any different... I don't have sore boobs, or any bloated feeling. In fact I'm finding it really hard to keep the negative thoughts at bay.

How you doing blueyezz? Any signs or symptoms? How about the rest of you guys doing?

[blueyezz4]

Soc - wow, that sounds even more traumatic than my experience. You poor thing!!! I know before they put the speculum in me they put it up against my leg to make sure it wasn't too cold or warm. I'm sure all of those cold things made you tense up even more than need be. Hopefully you won't have to go through it again!!!! :

AAM- I've almost made it through one whole week of my tww!!! It wasn't too bad b/c we have been pretty busy at work. My temps have been really high compared to normal so i'm not sure if that is a good thing or not. It might just be from the trigger shot. They weren't that high last cycle when i was on the 100mg of clomid so i don't think i can blame it on that since we lowered the dose this time. Who knows. I didn't get any sore boobs either! I guess that is a good thing but at least it would be a symptom or a sign to look for when we did get prego. I took a FMU prego test this morning and it was pretty much neg, so i think that the trigger is pretty much out of my system by now. I went this morning for acupuncture and then felt really nauseous afterwards, who knows what that was. So that is my scoop. Not much exciting going on, just the waiting game now until the Tues after Labor day, but i'm sure i'll break down and test earlier. What about you Soc, when are you going to test???? Take care and to everyone!!!

[jazcat]

Wow, I'm sorry you had to go through all that Soc. I wonder if it was that nurse's first time. At least she had the sense to go get help, what seemed fairly early. I've read stories where they try and try and try and try.

Soc and Blueeyez, crossing my fingers for you guys! Anyone else have testing on the horizon?


Afm, no positive OPK today. If Clomid doesn't mess with my cycle, I'm expecting a positive tomorrow or Monday. Too bad we couldn't do the IUI over the weekend because I could have gone in at 9:30, whereas weekdays I have to be there by 8:30

[soc]

Originally Posted by jazcat

Wow, I'm sorry you had to go through all that Soc. I wonder if it was that nurse's first time. At least she had the sense to go get help, what seemed fairly early. I've read stories where they try and try and try and try.

Yeah, I just wish she knew what she was doing from the start! :

Originally Posted by jazcat

Soc and Blueeyez, crossing my fingers for you guys! Anyone else have testing on the horizon?

Thanks!

FYI (and you to answer you as well Blueyezz), 3rd September is my official test date - I have to test on that date, then ring the clinic with the results.

Originally Posted by jazcat

Afm, no positive OPK today. If Clomid doesn't mess with my cycle, I'm expecting a positive tomorrow or Monday. Too bad we couldn't do the IUI over the weekend because I could have gone in at 9:30, whereas weekdays I have to be there by 8:30

I assume the earlier start on a weekday is because you have work to attend to?

Going through this whole process is difficult when you work... the number of appointments I had to attend during work was unbelievable (the clinic didn't offer any before or after hour appointments!) - this is another reason why I wish we could have succeeded the 'natural' way... then the only appointments I'd have to attend during work hours would be because I was up-the-duff. :

[blueyezz4]

Originally Posted by soc

FYI (and you to answer you as well Blueyezz), 3rd September is my official test date - I have to test on that date, then ring the clinic with the results.
:

Soc - That is one day after my test date!!! So do you think you will test early or do you have some mad will power????!!!! I wish I did, but I don't. I think I may start towards the end of next week, but I'll not get hopes up until it is officially the 2nd. We will see.


Here is a question for all of you out there that have done IUI's or IVF...

So since we did our IUI last week I've been kinda afraid to dtd (just for fun that is) b/c for some reason i'm afraid that if I do have a sticky one in there by dtd it might cause like contractions of my uterus and dislodge the little egg or something. I know that sounds funny, but does anyone else feel weird about dtd after a procedure like this??? Or am i just weird... don't answer that!! haha

[jazcat]

My clinic (HMO) only does IUI's at 8:30am! I suppose they're tyring to accommodate people that have to be at work, while at the same time keeping their costs down by scheduling the sperm wash people one time per day. It's a bit early for us.

[jazcat]

Got a positive OPK this morning so the IUI is tomorrow! Anyone else doing one this week? I'm a little nervous.