?s about at-home AI with frozen sperm!

wedinpitt

anyone else doing/have done AI at home with frozen sperm? can I pretty please pick your brain?

my wife and I will give our first try a go next week and I'm being optimistic and hoping we'll only need to try this once my plan is to try to O before and after insemination, take mucinex for 5 days prior (should I take it after too??), lay down after, use softcup..

should we use preseed? why we should/would we? any insight on this?

we're planning on inseminating 12 hours after +OPK as we can really only afford one vial/month right now.

I purchased a speculum but am not sure if we should use it or not. suggestions?

any other tips you have would be so much appreciated!

thanks everyone and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

trisholio

We are using a known donor and we do the insemination at home.  We use a needless syringe and a sterile cup that he puts the sperm in for us.  My wife does the insemination while I have my hips propped up.  We do not use a speculum, but I am sure it wouldn't be a bad idea.  We usually cuddle with my legs up for about 10 minutes and then lay down talking for about 30 minutes.  Try and pee beforehand so you don't have to go right after.  That is our experience.  We haven't gotten pregnant yet, so I don't consider us experts by any stretch of the imagination.  We have done quite a bit of research, so I am pretty sure we are doing everything right :-)  I would expect a little cramping afterwards and even for a few days.

Good luck and keep us updated! :-)

Jazibel

Hi - Good luck on your upcoming try.

I've done IVI's with frozen sperm, and more recently we've used a KD.  We did ICI's which I greatly recommend.  We ordered supplies on line which included a needless syringe and catheter. We also used egg whites (left at room temperature for 1 hour) instead on pre seed, a soft cup for after insemination's, a speculum to better place the sperm, and a headlamp for my wife who was in charge of the process.  Ideally you will want to get the sperm as close to your cervix as possible. With the ICI you place the sperm with the needle and catheter right into the opening of the cervix.  This way it minimize the distance the sperm need to swim to get to the egg. This is not an IUI (which needs to be done by a midwife or doctor) and the sperm are still swimming through the cervix and the liquid that accompanies the sperm does not enter the uterus.   Google at home insemination supplies to find supplies if you are interested. 

A book I'd recommend is Lesbian Guide to Conception, Pregnancy and Birth available on Amazon.  

I'd also recommend using OPKs several times a day to find your peak surge in order to better time your insemination window. Frozen sperm supposedly live 12-24 hours. And ideally you want the sperm "waiting for the egg" in the Fallopian tubes. Of course you have to account for swimming time too though an ICI cuts 6+ hours from the sperms journey.  Anyway as you can tell I've done a LOT of reading on the topic.  

Again good luck :-)

aslmander

I just reserved "the new essential guide to lesbian conception, pregnancy and birth" at the library. I was honestly surprised they had it! Thanks for the recomendation! Hope i can get alot of good info out of it, i feel so lost!

So you are going to be able to do it with frozen sperm at home? ive been searching and searching for a place that would allow you to do it but they keep saying it has to be a special circumstances and you have to have written permission from a doctor to be able to do it or they wont release the sperm to you or they just flat out wont do it at all. but im from the midwest so i feel like we have weird rules out here.

Jazibel

One of the banks we used was the Sperm Bank of California. We did several IUI's with a midwife at home (we did get pregnant but lost the pregnancy).

redrockmama

We didn't use a speculum. I've heard that you have to be really careful when you take it out because you can bring a lot of the sperm with it. Unless you are doing what Jazibel described and then you might not have that problem. 

I wouldn't take the Mucinex after. You really just want to take it to thin your cervical fluid so the sperm can swim through it. No need to take it after, and make sure you get just the expectorant. It was surprised with how hard it was to find. 

My other advice would be to have an orgasm after you inseminate and try to relax and have a good time. I was a nervous wreak with each insemination. Good luck. Are you trying in December?

wedinpitt

thanks for the replies, all!  i neglected to say that i've read the lesbian guide to conception and found much of it helpful.  we also have needleless syringes and catheters ready to go.  headlamp is good to know!  @jazibel - would you say then once i get the first +opk, wait 12 hours, then inseminate?  and we hope to try to insert slightly within the cervix... will practice in the next couple of days.

@aslmander - yes, NW Cryobank ships directly to your home.  you can even purchase an AI kit from them but it's overpriced and i've heard the syringes are too small.  the actual vials are more reasonably priced than most anywhere else at $300 a vial.  a little cheaper on the shipping rates too ($165).  i'm in the midwest too!  i'm in nebraska.  

@redrockmama - i found the right kind of mucinex without all the unnecessary crap at walgreen's.  found a store brand too so it was a bit cheaper.  and yes, we're trying this month!  our dewar ships tomorrow and should be here wednesday.  eeeeeee!!!

i've finally read up on preseed and it does seem to be a good idea.  is it best to suck up the sample in the syringe and then put some preseed in the vial to allow getting as much of the swimmers out as possible?  but then can you still insert slightly into the cervix??  that's what i'm unsure of now.

Jazibel

@wedinpitt - I think 12 hours sounds about right - but it all depends on your chart. I can't remember are you temping/tracking your BBT temps? For instance I generally received a positive OPK (say at 10am) and my temps rose the next day. My peak time to inseminate would have been within that 24 hour window - probably 5-10 hours after the OPK to allow for swimming time. My close friend would receive a + and not have a temp rise until the next day (so closer to 48 hours). I've read that many women actually ovulate late at night.

I hope that's helpful - I've definitely spent a lot of my TTC days analyzing these details - lol!! ;-)

wedinpitt

@jazibel - that helps, thanks!  i felt like i was starting to get a handle on things and then i realize i don't really know what i'm doing!  :-<  and our swimmers get shipped today!!

so i've been temping for 5 months now but only practiced with the OPKs for one of those months.  my temp does a distinct drop the day before it rises... would i just take OPKs once i see the dip and once i get that smiley face indicating a +OPK, wait about 12ish hours and then inseminate?  

any good resources or websites you have about narrowing down this window would be so much appreciated!  thank you for "listening"!

redrockmama

My wife and her boss made quite a few very detailed charts to narrow down the window and pick the best time. My temp always rises the morning after a +OPK. I got a + at around 1pm and we inseminated at about midnight. My temp was already high at 7am. I worried that we did it too late, but I guess not. 

You might want to start OPK's before you see the temp drop, you don't want to miss it if it's early. 

Jazibel

@wedinpitt.  I would also use 2 OPKS ( I know it sounds like over kill but since the other costs of TTC are so high we usually invested a little more trying to narrow down timing).  I used Wondfo's (found on Amazon) or other dual line OPKs because I could watch the line getting darker and then also lighter and thus get an even better sense on the timing.  Good luck this cycle!! :-)

aslmander

Oh wow! thats not bad at all! i will have to check them out ! Nebraska? awesome! im in KC, MO

wedinpitt

@redrockmama - i will definitely start the opk's before my temp drop.  i'll use the whole box if i have to!  

@jazibel - when you say use 2 opk's, do you mean to see when i'm NOT ovulating anymore?  i'm assuming i'd want to wait the 12ish hours after i stop getting +opk's, right?  we don't have the line opk's but now from the way you explain, i can see why those would be desirable!  we got the smileys but once you eject the stick, you can see the actual line.  i hope that helps in narrowing it down!  

and @aslmander - you definitely should!  they have really great reviews from what i've found and a family limit of 25.  i like the profiles you can browse for free especially because of the donor essays.  the detailed profiles ($25 extra) and baby/child photos ($25 for 1-6 photos) are nice too.  www.nwcryobank.com  

aslmander

@wedinpitt - I checked it out and it looks great!! Prices are really reasonable as well! It looks like we will be going with that one once we get closer to our TTC date! (Feb, getting closer every day!!)

wedinpitt

yay! I'm glad best of luck!!