Femara/CM

misshopeful1

I've been on femara 7 cycles now and never really had a lot of CM and lately there is even less. I take fertile CM pills that can help produce more. 

I have read about hostile CM and wonder if I should ask about that? 

riveridgional

You may want to see if they can do a postcoital test (PCT), which can test to see how your DH's sperm are surviving in your environment. I haven't heard of that being a problem with Femera, but I also haven't looked into it, so that may be possible. Generally, the less CM, the harder it is for the sperm to survive. If you are doing an IUI, it won't matter, but with TI it definitely does!

Both of my PCTs were done with my CD 13 monitoring. You just BD the night before and they take a small sample of fluid from the tip of your cervix and put it under a microscope. It is fascinating to see!

misshopeful1

@riveridgional thanks for the response and input! This will be our second IUI but of course they advise Intercourse day of and 2 days afterward.
My other concern would be how fresh my DH`s semen is. It's recommended no sex/ejaculation a couple days before IUI to allow semen to build up.
But I will definitely ask. Thanks again.

bsckgb7

I had a PC test and the swimmers were dead. We moved onto IUI. His swimmers are fine for IUI. I was on Femara. IUI bypasses CM, so I wouldn't worry about it. 

 ETA: we abstained for 3 days the first time and just 2 for each cycle after that.  My RE recommends abstain for 2 days no more than 5

HBamama2B

My RE put us straight to IUI (no TI) on our first letrozol cycle bc he said it stops the production of EW CM so yes! That's why the IUI is necessary. For the BDing afterward you can use preseed which helps the sperm transit through the cervix similarly to fertile CM. even so, the BDing is more like closing the barn door, just a check in case of later than normal O and a desire to get as many swimmers as possible in the right spot even if it's just a tiny, stalwart few. GL!!

misshopeful1

@HBamama2B LOL that's a good way of explaining it! We have some preseed that we'll try. Thanks! 

What has your experience been with the IUI? Our second is coming up. 

HBamama2B

I had 2 IUI but they didn't work for us. That said, it was a fairly painless process and I didn't find the meds bad at all despite some fatigue on letrozol. I had 2 follies cycle 1 and 3 cycle 2.

My DX is PCOS but I responded well. DH has low morph on top of the PCOS so our odds each cycle were well under 10%. The RE recommended we move on due to the male and female factor issues. we are now at the ET day for our 1st IVF and I have to say the process, while much more taxing than IUI, isn't nearly as bad as I feared. And the 40% live birth rate for each cycle in our Dx/age range makes me feel much much better. Like, idk, like it's actually somewhat possible for me to get KTFU.

GL on your cycle! FX for you!

HBamama2B

^correction: except for PIO. PIO sucks.

(This message brought to you by IFRSAPIO, IFers against PIO)

misshopeful1

@HBamama2B sending you good IVF vibes. I don't think we'll be able to afford that. This will be our second IUI with my unexplained infertility. My husbands tests are all coming back good.