Round Two of Inseminations

[amy217]

Today I had my second try at artifical insemination. Last month's attempts were unsuccessful despite a positive pregnancy test and being 4 days late with my period.  My husband and I were devastated.  I think the frustration and pressure has gotten the best of us.  Today, my husband had a hard time producing sperm.  We have another insemination scheduled for tomorrow.  Any suggestions with "performing" on demand?  We only have an hour window to produce the sperm and get it to our doctor's office and it seems the stress of this is affecting my husband.  Any advice?  I am new to all this but so far, this process has been emtionally draining.  

[kris71]

thanks for the tip on Ovridrel. I really hope i won't have to use it next time but if i do i'm going to ask my dr about it.

why do you think something isn't right due to follie growth only on the right? was the dr concerned about this?  Were you on clomid or injectables? Do these stimulation meds usually make both ovaries produce eggs? I was on clomid before my IUI for the first time so all of this is new to me. I produced 2 eggs on my left and 2 on my right and i'm really hoping ONE of them took. I just don't get why i can't get pregnant if i'm ovulating and my husband's sperm is normal.

i test on wednesday so i'm a day behind you but depending on how i'm feeling i may take an HPT on monday or tues. Baby dust to both of us!!! keep me posted!

[10_07]

Hopefully you wont have to worry about a next time with the injection, but if you do, you may want to ask your dr for a prefilled syringe like ovridel to trigger. With that one all you have to do is put on the needle!

Its hard to to over analyze every little detail. I go from feeling great to feeling overwhelmed in the blink of an eye! I woke up this morning really feeling like this cycle didnt work. I haven't had many symptoms this month just dizziness the other day and sore nipples, and now they are both gone. I am fairly certain it will be another bfp and it makes me grumpy and irritated, and a little irrational! I was a bit confused anyway because the follies that grew were both on my right side last month and this cycle so something just isnt right. Oh well... I guess I will just wait until Tuesday and see how it goes

[kris71]

I don't think i injected it wrong but i definitely didnt have all the liquid in the syringe... i just couldn't get it all in - not sure why and then i was instructed to inject into my thigh. I keep hearing everyone else injecting into stomach or butt. Hmmmm. anyway - i am trying not to over think everything. I keep telling myself - if this didn't work, we will just try again. Right before the procedure i was a wreck thinking it was do or die but honestly, I have to just let it be and hope for the best.

[amy217]

Kris,

I wouldn't worry about the injection.  When I saw my doctor for my first of two inseiminations on Thursday, I told him that I thought my husband and I did it wrong this time.  He said the only way you can do it wrong is if you hit a blood vessel and he said if that was to happen, I would be in the hospital!  I am sure yours worked-do you inject in the stomach or butt?  Mine is in the butt.  I do both-the Clomid and injection.  How in the world are we just suppose to remain calm and stress free when you have to worry and rethink every step??!!!  I'm with you-the doctor or nurse should be giving these injections.  Let's hope that we both have success so we don't have to worry about the next injection!

[kris71]

I heard that about cramping and pregnancy too and i'm hoping that is what is happening with me. With my son, i don't remember any kind of cramping. I remember having zero pms symptoms. I know every pregnancy is different so i'm just trying to keep the faith.

I had such trouble with that shot. if i have to do IUI again - i'm going to see if the dr can do it for me or the nurse... and we can figure out a different schedule so it's not 10pm at night or something because  ovulation is all dependent on this one shot and if it's not done right - then what?? i'm hoping i ovulated. i had really bad ovulation pains on the day of the IUI and nothing the day after so i'm hoping it worked.  were you on clomid or injections?

[amy217]

Kris-I had trouble with the shot this time around too.  Something so crucial should just be done at the doctor's office but mine was at night too-10:30pm.  Stay positive-cramping can be an early sign of pregnancy.  A friend of mine (who conceived on her own) had cramping and she thought she was getting her period but then learned that she was pregnant.  On the flip side, I had cramping for about a week when I thought I was pregnant after my first IUI but for me, it was just cramping and nothing to do with being pregnant.  It's really anoyne's guess.  I know this time around, I'm trying to not get my hopes up because if it doesn't work again, maybe I won't be as devastated as I was after my first IUI.  I'll find out next Thursday when I could go back for a pregnancy test-I would assume somewhere around March 5th.  

10_07,

Good luck to you on Tuesday.  I hope your test comes back positive!  The waiting is the worst part.  Hang in there, Tuesday is right around the corner!

[kris71]

10_07 - i wish my hubby would have done it at the dr's office because it would have been less stress on me. I kept thinking that all the sperm were surely going to die cause it took me a good 40 mins to get there and then when i ran in, i was rude to the poor receptionist because i was so freaked out.  I have been told the same thing - no one knows why i am not getting pregnant although I'm 38 so my RE told me i was younger with my son and that could be why. My son is now 2 1/2. we've been trying since he turned 1. good luck on this IUI. really hoping it works for you!

Amy - this whole process is awful. I also would not wish it on anyone. the clomid, progesterone, estrogen meds and then that darn trigger shot was crazy. To this day, i still don't think i did it right. I couldn't get all of the liquid into the needle so I just injected what i could get in the needle and left it at that. I really wish the dr would have dont that for me but i had to take i at  10 pm at night. anyway - good luck!! when is your blood test? part of me feels that the IUI didn't work for me. I know it's to early to tell and I'm really trying to keep the faith but i'm getting AF cramps every so often like i get every other month but hopefully these cramps are my uterus making room.

[10_07]

My dear husband refuses to to prepare for the IUI at home and insists on doing it at the lab. He does not want to have to worry about getting it to the lab in time! Kris- I got pregnant easily too, and now my husband and I have been trying for 4 years with 2 chemical pregnancy. We are finally seeing an RE so hopefully he can help. He doesn't see any reason why we can't have a baby... so why isn't it happening!!! I am on my 2nd IUI cycle and am supposed to test this Tuesday. I feel different then last month so hoping that is good. Best of luck to you both!

[amy217]

The trigger shot should be out of your system in about 10 days.  After 10 days, then you can take a home pregnancy test and the results should be accurate.  I waited only 8 days to take a home pregnancy test (was too inpatient!) and I think this is why I had a false positive.  The waiting is aweful.    My husband and I have only been married for 15 months and we want to start a family.  We are both 34 and hope to have at least 2/3 children so being 34 with no children yet, it's disappointing.  I just had my last insemination for this cycle today.  My husband and I tried to get pregnant for about 5 months on our own before I decided to go to my GYN to get some guidance.  From there we were referred to a fertility specialist where we learned that my husband has a low sperm count and either his sperm do not swim or they swim in the wrong direction.  We were told that it would be unlikely that we could conceive on our own.  To date, we are going on almost 8 months of trying to get pregnant.  My husband had testicular cancer and one of his testicles was removed.  This may a reason for his fertility issues.  My process has included taking Clomid for 5 days followed by one Noveral injection the night before my inseminations.  Next Thursday I go back to the doctor's for the reminder Noveral medication and for a cyst check.

I'm surprised to hear that you have been pregnant before with no problems.  That must be so frustrating.  I don't wish any of this on anyone.  It is so difficult and for me, the waiting feels like torture.  Have you had to take any medication or have you just done the trigger shots?  

[kris71]

When did you take the HPT? I did have a trigger shot 2 days before the IUI. I would think it would be out of my system 10 days past IUI. Am I wrong? How long have you been trying? We've been trying for our 2nd baby for over a yr and a half. I got pregnant easily with my first so this is extremely frustrating.

[amy217]

Thanks for responding.  It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who is feeling the pressure.  I was worried this morning because I too didn't see much sperm in the cup and thought that this would be a problem, which added to my stress level.  The doctor told us that my husband's sperm count was pretty good.  I have another scheduled insemination tomorrow so hopefully that one will go much smoother.  

Good luck with the IUI you had, I hope you have success!  Try to stay away from taking a home pregnancy test-I couldn't resist and thought for sure I was pregnant after my first IUI so I took a test and it was positive.  I was really devastated when my blood test came back negative since I was so sure that I was pregnant.  If you have taken any medication/injections, the home pregnancy test may pick up that and you will get a false positive.  The waiting is torture and after tomorrow, I will be playing the waiting game too.  

[kris71]

i totally know what you're going through. I had my first IUI last friday and I too have to race to get to my RE's office. Normally it wouldn't be that bad but with Los angeles morning traffic it's brutal. I was literally standing at the door with my jacket on while my husband did his thing. when he emerged it looked like there was virtually nothing in the cup. I was sooo stressed. Turned out he had a lot of sperm but low morphology so we're just hoping for the best. Of course he was sick so wondering if that had to due with low morphology. Then my dr instructed me we needed to bd that night as well. we were both not feeling well and it didn't go that well. We just felt like we had a GUN to our heads. I'm sure whatever sperm came out was next to nothing. I really wish this was easier for us and not so stressful. Bding has become very unexciting and it's taking it's toll.....