Opinions

mallory4284

So not to beat a dead horse because I feel like a broken record asking about timing all the time, but I've officially started my period. So with my typically short cycles I'm in a time crunch to figure out when we need our sperm for our ICI.

I'm excited and nervous and all the things, but I don't want to be stressing over when to do it! My tracking wasn't overly helpful because both months I ended up with my ovulation day being the day I got my positive OPK. So I don't really want to wait and do the ICI when I get a positive OPK. Mainly because in a perfect world I'd try to do it the day before. And I'm not a psychic so it's not going to work that way!

The plus is that both ovulation days were within a day of each other. (CD 13 in Aug and CD 12 this month) So if you were to put yourselves in my shoes, what would you do? Shoot for a CD12ish ICI based on prior ovulation days or just stick with doing it with a positive OPK? Or something completely different??

mallory4284

Yeah, my only worry with waiting for the positive OPK is the fact that my ovulation day has been on the same day as my positive OPKs the last couple of months.... So I'm afraid if I wait til then, I'll miss my window.... And will have already ovulated... That's why I was thinking of shooting for CD12. On the off chance we got two vials I was thinking of going for CD11 and 13?

Twochickshavinachick

I get what you mean hun.  It's tough to know when to make the call.  Even working with fresh, we still had to arrange for at least two of us to get together within a short window of time and were worried about it going down after we'd actually ovulated.  Just remember that your first positive OPK only indicates the surge and you could still have as much as 24 hours to work with.  That being said, if you're working with frozen swimmers, you'll want to get in under the bar.

We can only give opinions based on what we'd do, maybe not what's most practical for you. But I, personally, would pick day 11.  In good conditions, the swimmers can hang around waiting for day 13 and there's less chance of missing the window.  If you decide to go early, just check that you've been having sperm friendly cm on that day.

If it helps, the month we conceived, we'd actually insem'd the day after ovulation.

Sending good luck and magic baby sprinkles your way

Amber&Reva

I never did ICI always IUI so the sperm had a little bit of additional help however I always did the IUI the day after my first positive OPK and it consistently worked for me.  So I wouldn't be to worried about doing the ICI the day of your first positive OPK. 

JGY

How often are you testing (OPK) and when during the day?

 

mallory4284

JGY said:

How often are you testing (OPK) and when during the day?

 

Twice a day.... Around 11:00 and again around 3:00.... August I got the positive at 3:00 (it was neg at 11:00) and then this month the positive was at 11:00.... And if I remember correctly I still did it at 3:00 and it was back to negative.... And this month I had wanted to continue OPKs even after my positive but I got my first positive on a Friday and we had a crazy weekend (family visiting) so I never was able to continue the OPKs...

JGY

mallory4284 said:

How often are you testing (OPK) and when during the day?

 

Twice a day.... Around 11:00 and again around 3:00.... August I got the positive at 3:00 (it was neg at 11:00) and then this month the positive was at 11:00.... And if I remember correctly I still did it at 3:00 and it was back to negative.... And this month I had wanted to continue OPKs even after my positive but I got my first positive on a Friday and we had a crazy weekend (family visiting) so I never was able to continue the OPKs...

So, I got scolded for doing this, but when I was actively TTC I tested 3-4 times a day.  I know that they say that the most accurate time of day to test is between 11 and 3, and that you should only test once, but I said F that noise.  I wanted to be able to pinpoint when I was actually surging, and I didn't want to miss it.  So I tested first morning urine (again, they told me not to, but I always had in the past and had good success picking it up then), then around 11, again around 3, and then before I went to bed.  Once I got a positive (as long as it was within the range of a normal time in my cycle) I stopped testing.  I honestly feel like if I hadn't tested in the evening, I might have missed my surge a couple of times.

 

 

redrockmama

How are you sure that you are ovulating so close to the positive OPK? temp rise? 

I tracked my cycles for quite a while before officially TTC because my cycles were so wonky. I found that I usually ovulated the same day/night that I got a positive OPK because I would get a positive and then a temp rise the next morning. They cycle that worked for us I got a positive around 1pm and we inseminated at about 1am, so 12 hours later. 

Jazibel

If you could inseminate twice that would be great to cover the largest window.  I've ovulated a few times on the day of a surge.  Often if that happened I'd see the lines getting darker leading up to my positive. I used 2 different OPK's the cheap Wondfo's (they gave me my first warning) and then a Clearblue or other more precise kind.  I would test 2-4 times a day and watch the line getting darker.  I picked our frozen up from a sperm bank but was supposed to give them 24 hour warning.  A couple times I had to pay for a rush pick up so I could swing by the same day. With our KD we had a bit more flexibility. 

If you are shipping to your house can you opt for a tank that lets you keep the sperm for a longer period of time. For instance have it arrive by the 11th and then inseminate when you get the positive. If you're doing 2 ICI's then do one when the line starts getting dark and then one when you get your positive.  From inside the cervix it still takes the sperm several hours to swim to the Fallopian tubes, so it is advised to time it so the sperm are either waiting for the egg (it gives them time to rest, and gather), or meet the egg in the tube.  

TMI Warning:

Also though we used fresh for our ICI's we used some room temperature egg whites.  (We left the egg out for about an hour or so) and placed some internally, and on the speculum and in the diva cup.  The egg whites are supposedly great food for the sperm.  If you're getting washed sperm it might be particularly helpful because they won't have the usual fluid to protect them from the internal environment and feed them as they make their journey.  

Sorry for all this extra info. :-)  Wishing you all the best in getting your BFP this cycle!!!!

mallory4284

redrockmama said:

How are you sure that you are ovulating so close to the positive OPK? temp rise? 

Yeah.... I temp and use the Fertility Friend app. It's pinpointed my ovulation day as the same day as my positive OPK both months.... Both months i had a spike the day after the positive OPK

mallory4284

Thanks for everyone's advice/input/experiences!!

mallory4284

stringy813 said:

It's funny/annoying how we all get different advice. My MW says only test OPks with first morning urine and once a day. I've been doing it again late afternoon anyway- but this cycle I never got a positive. I don't have wonky cycles- i assume i missed it. So what's this 11-3 talk?

lol it is but it is helpful.... In a roundabout sort of way, hearing what had or had not worked for others!

I don't know about the 11-3 thing! I only chose those times because it works for my schedule! My lunch at work is at 11 and then I get home around 2:30, so I chose to do it again at 3:00....