First cycle of Clomid with HCG trigger - ovulation symptoms?

Hello everyone!  I'm 35 and my husband is 36, we've been trying for 2.5 years without luck and have found out we have unexplained infertility.  

This month is my first cycle trying clomid with the HCG trigger injection.  I have a 28 day cycle and started spotting on March 7th, flow began on March 10th and clomid was taken March 12-16.  I had my vaginal ultrasound on March 18th and had one dominant follicle in one ovary and two non-dominant follicles in the other.  OB/GYN was very pleased and feels like everything is on track, dominant follicle average 15mms and should be ready for ovulation tomorrow.  HCG trigger was given a few minutes before 7pm last night (March 20th) and I just had an ovulation pain on my right side.  I've not noticed any cervical mucus though and thought I would surely be seeing that if I was truly 12 hours or so away from ovulating.  Has anyone else noticed this when using the HCG trigger?

Insemmination is tomorrow morning (March 22nd) and we're super excited!  Hubby and I have been taking in plenty of fluids and eating well balanced meals in preparation (have abstained since March 18th too).  We're so ready to enter our first TWW!  

[Hopefulcb]

Good luck with the IUI!! I'm embarking similar treatment but only on day 5 at the moment and taking Femara, Gonal F and Ovidrel.  Let me know how it goes!  Did you have to stay off work afterwards? Keeping my fingers crossed for you?

[myranc]

Hi Hopeful,

I planned for taking the day just to make it special for us and less "wham, bam, you're inseminated"!  :)  Neither my husband or I had a good night's sleep last night as our dogs kept pacing all over the place, probably picking up on our excitement and anxiety.  Needless to say, we were dragging a little more than we would usually be.  The worse part of the day was waiting around for the sperm to be washed.  Thankfully I've married a very potent rock star of a husband so we had a 1ml washed supply containing 14 million sperm with 76% motility - my OB was psyched when she read the report.  She sent about half of the sample towards the right tube and the other half towards the left tube and then reclined me back and elevated my hips for 30 minutes.  

As for the procedure itself, it's just like having a pap smear - a bit uncomfortable, and I only had some mild menstrual-like cramping for about 10 minutes or so when the catheter was placed.  My cervix must have been a little high as she had to pinch it a little when putting in the catheter, so I had a slight drop of blood spotting the pillow.  Overall, it's an extremely easy procedure and you will do great with it!

Other than being sleepy (we grabbed a nice lunch out afterwards then came home and took a 2 hour nap), I've not had any symptoms that would cause me to miss work.  From start to finish, the whole process (including hubby's donation and sperm prep) took around 2.5 hours.  Hope that helps!

And now, the Two Week Wait begins!  

[Hopefulcb]

Thanks so much for the info! Is the IUI similar to the SONO where they inject saline to look at your tubes? They had a hard time doing mine as my uterus is apparently anteverted and to do it 3 times. Are they doing the IUI 1 or 2 times?

It's a great idea to take the day off.  I hope I will be able to when the time comes (What day did you take your trigger shot?)

Best of luck on your TWW.  I hope you see a BFP soon!!

[Ecologic]

Myranc: I had 5 IUIs, 2 with Follistim, I seem to recollect some mucus (was in 2006) but in my case it did not work so not sure having mucus is really a good sign... Good luck!

Hopefucb: an IUI is much less painful than a SONO, no comparison. The hardest is to put the speculum in place, then you'll only feel a pinch, it's very fast.

[Hopefulcb]

Great!! I'm so relieved to hear!! Thanks!!

[myranc]

Trigger shot (Ovidrel) given on CD14 at 7pm, ovulation pain started at 9:30pm on CD15, and IUI at 11am on CD16.  I'm only doing 1 round of IUI, we never discussed doing two rounds and if you're being followed by your OB/GYN or RE while using clomid and trigger shots and having the vaginal u/s around CD12 then I'm not sure why more than 1 IUI would be necessary.  I'm sure there's a rational behind it as I've seen many women post they've had IUI twice in a cycle; I've often wondered if they did not have the vaginal u/s to determine # of follies and sizes?  But I'm brand new to this and just speculating.  

Are you having two IUIs this cycle, Hopeful?

@Ecologic- thanks for the well wishes!  I'm not going to fret over the lack of CM unless this round doesn't work and then I'll discuss it with my OB/GYN.  I was too excited about the IUI yesterday to ask her about the lack of CM!  :)

[Hopefulcb]

Hi

yup they recommend two IUIs to maximize everything I guess.  This is all very interesting and I never expected I'd be doing all this.  But Im happy this increases our chances!!  Now I can't wait to be in the TWW again!!

My fingers are crossed for you Myranc!! Keep us posted!

[Hopefulcb]

So, had the First IUI today and you guys were right.  Just a little cramping and a bit of spotting during the day (mostly mucous I think streaked with a little blood).  Myranc, I didn't notice any EWCM yet either which I always get at ovulation, but don't think I ovulated yet. I believe the trigger shot (Ovidrel in my case) takes about 36 hours to trigger ovulation so should ovulate sometime tomorrow AM (hopefully around time of second IUI).  It sounds like they do the IUI before you ovulate to make sure they catch it and that there is DH donation right there when you do,

How's the first week of your TWW going! My fingers are crossed for you!!!

Here' hoping we both get a BFP and a Christmas time baby!!

[myranc]

Hey Hopeful,

Sorry for the delay- traveling for work since Sunday!  At least the travel has distracted me some and made this week fly by a little quicker.

So, today is 10dpo!!!  I decided to do a cheap UPT on Monday and Tuesday as I was curious if my HCG trigger shot was still lingering in my system and could give a false positive (my OB warned me of this and didn't want me testing until this coming Saturday at the earliest).  Both were negative, which I expected them to be, so at least I know now that if I get a positive result that it's truly a positive and not just after affects of the trigger shot!

My hubby talked me out of testing this morning but I bought two tests tonight and will be testing the next two mornings before I fly home.  Just can't help myself!

Since Sunday night, I've started having various little symptoms each night (mostly at night too, nothing during the day) - I'm hopeful these are good signs of a BFP but still trying to stay grounded and not get my hopes up too much.  Symptoms have been some fluttery tummy/queasiness, and nipples being very tender/sensitive.  This afternoon/evening has been the closest I've been to having nausea - lots of mild cramping today.  Hopefully you'll be experiencing the same soon as it would be lovely to share a December birth plan with someone!  :)

So, did you have your IUI this week?  I believe you are also now in your TWW, right?  

[Hopefulcb]

Hi Myranc

Yup had the IUI on Sunday and Monday and go for blood test next Friday (April 9 th).  I can't wAit!!!

I'm having some lower abdomen cramping on and off, very mild, since yesterday but Im only 5 days post first IUI so I wonder what it could be.  I'm also on Prometrium  so maybe it's that?

Are you on Prometrium?  Did you get any cramping shortly post IUI??

How exciting!!! Good luck with the HPT tomorrrow!!! My fingers are crossed for you!!!