May IUI

LeFemmeViolette

@wifeinraleigh28, I was also nervous about the follistim/ovidril shots. I had my husband do it the first few times (mostly because I was worried about f*ing it up). I guess it helps that needles don't really bother me. Eventually I was able to do it myself. The nurse did recommend numbing the area beforehand with ice if you're squeamish. But really, the prick is so small (lol), that you barely feel it.  

I'm currently on day 2 of follistim. Tuesday I head back in for an ultrasound to check on my follicles, and then hopefully this week I'll get turkey-basted.

@ale9687, While smaller pills are fine, the large horse pills do give me trouble from time to time. (Side note- have people noticed that most prenatals are HUGE?? Glad I found some sensible-sized ones.) A trick I learned was to take the pill with applesauce. Sounds weird, but it works. Take a little single-serving cup of applesauce and drink it. Hard to describe, but mentally, you know applesauce is thicker than say, water, so your throat opens up a bit more, allowing a larger pill to go down way easier. Always works for me. Anyone else tried this?

wifeinraleigh28

@LeFemmeViolette We numbed me the first few times but then we stopped bothering because I couldn't feel the needle anyway.  I did get some pretty gross looking bruises though, so maybe numbing would help with that!  I'm sure I could do it myself, I just haven't needed to!  Might not be a bad thing to get into the habit of though...  FX that your follie check is good and you can be turkey basted this week! (lol)

AFM I'm on CD 27 today.  I usually have 28 day cycles so I'm expecting AF in a day or two.  Then we can get this next cycle started!  My mom has been in town but she flies out tomorrow and then I have to go to work.  It's going to be a sad/annoying day.  Trying to enjoy today as much as possible...

paigeed

@wifeinraleigh28 what is the follistim's job? I haven't ever had that injection and am new to IUIs. 

Im feeling hopeful and positive right now. I have another week until my period should be here and we would begin the next medicated cycle. Hooefully I will respond better to Femara than I did with Clomid. It's all a waiting game.

ale9687

@LeFemmeViolette I may need to try that trick with the applesauce! I can't even take BCP without water. That one my husband laughs at me for. All of my prenatals and vitamins are gummies, I'm sure my body isn't absorbing the vitamins as well as if I was taking them in pill form but I probably wouldn't get them down if I tried the pills. 

I started spotting today, not enough to count today as CD1 so I think tomorrow will be my CD1 and wed I'll go in for my baseline US. 

@pageed I'm switching to femera this cycle also. Fx for us!

CooCoo4U

Can I join the party??
Af arrived this morning after 2nd unsuccessful iui. I'm frustrated at this point with unexplained infertility. Something has to be wrong. Ttc for 3 yrs and nothing at all?!?!?... just doesn't seem right. Idk... I'll start my femara tomorrow. ...asking doctor to increase dosage. Quaduplets sound great right now. My emotions are yo-yoing  at this point. Is this iui thing for me??? Maybe it just isn't meant to be????????????????????????????

srh18

Just need to rant a little after my appt this morning...

Went in for my baseline us and bw. Appt was supposed to be at 7, I started asking what was happening at 7:30, started getting pretty upset at 7:45. At 8, someone told me my orders never got put in, and my nurse told me that it was because I skipped my beta last week and they "got confused." ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I knew they were upset when I told them last week I had maxed out on betas when I know I'm not pregnant (and in this case, AF came the night before my beta anyways) but I literally feel like they were punishing me for it this morning. Typing this out I can hear how ridiculous I sound but sitting there for over an hour while people came in and left as I'm still just sitting there made me so angry! DH and I have jobs and if I wanted an 8:30 appt I would have scheduled an 8:30 appt. I feel like if me skipping my beta confuses the staff so much that they can't handle starting a new cycle for me, then maybe I shouldn't be trusting them to be able to do anything. Ugh. End rant. 

On the plus side, everything looks good and I'm starting clomid tonight. This will be my sixth and final clomid cycle, I will be moving on to letrazole or injectables if this doesn't work so fingers crossed!! 

Hope everyone is doing well this morning!!

LeFemmeViolette

@srh18, i hear ya. For our first IUI, we had to have it done on a Saturday, when the office is only open from 7:30-9:30am. We were told to get there at 7:30, so we did. My husband wasn't pulled to make his "deposit" for another hour. And then it was 45min after that to wash the sperm and then do the IUI. We were literally the first ones there and the last ones to leave. We were told they were backed up because the sperm tech was in the middle of a "retrieval."

Really hoping our next IUI falls on a weekday because that was ridiculous. : (

wifeinraleigh28

@paigeed The follistim stimulates your ovaries to produce follicles.  It's FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) which your body produces naturally but this injection gives you extra so you produce more.  Really it does the same job as any other fertility med that you take for an IUI or for IVF to get ready for egg retrieval.  Usually I produce 3-4 follicles on follistim.

@srh18 That is ridiculous!!  I would be furious.  Like @LeFemmeViolette I had a similar issue.  At our last IUI, we showed up with the sperm cup an hour before the IUI was scheduled (like we were supposed to do).  They kept us waiting for 30 minutes, and I know when you do at home collections they want it there within like 45 min to an hour after collection.  I kept checking with them and kept hearing nothing.  Then a little bit later we were told that the lab tech didn't know we were dropping off for our IUI.  It made me so mad.  It made us wonder if the sperm had even survived.  They said it was fine, but they could have just been saying that to keep us from exploding.  Ugh.

Still no AF for me.  No spotting either.  Ready to get this cycle started...

srh18

@LeFemmeViolette and @wifeinraleigh28 thanks for helping me feel like less of a b****! I was so upset and felt so unreasonable. Which may still be true but oh well. Ugh I would have been so mad with both of your situations too! Good to know it doesn't only happen at my clinic...but wish it didn't happen at all!!

hopefully AF comes soon, @wifeinraleigh28 ! Waiting is so hard...maybe that's another reason I was so upset this morning. I swear I spend all of my time waiting, and lately it feels like I spend it all waiting for bad news. 

Fx for good timing for your next iui, @LeFemmeViolette ! I have had a lot of issues with weekend appts with my clinic too (I have to go to a different branch with different Drs and have been given so many different sets of instructions that I literally dread anything happening on the weekends). 

@CooCoo4U noooooooo!! I was really hoping for you to get some good news this month!! I'm sorry this journey must continue for you. Maybe May will be our month!! 

srh18

I'm totally convinced it's just a bad day for me...took my car in for new tires and they found something wrong with it so I have to drop $1000 on that today. Then I got bored of waiting, so I walked the two miles home from the shop and realized when I was walking up my steps that oops my house keys are on the key ring I gave the guys at the shop. Currently sitting on my front lawn contemplating life. Hahahaha

ale9687

@srh18 so sorry you're having a bad day! Maybe you need to get rid of all the bad luck so you can have good luck with your next clomid round!

roxgibbons

@wifeinraleigh28 waiting is the worst! I feel like this whole journey has really been a test of patience for me. Have you decided what you will be doing for your friends dinner? Hopefully you have some leeway with the shots.

@srh18 I'm sorry for your bad day and the frustration at your appt. As if this journey isn't hard enough, can the RE office just get their shit together? You were not unreasonable, I would have been livid. Hope your day gets better

@CooCoo4u I'm sorry for your frustration- maybe an increase in meds will help.

@LeFemmeViolette Good luck this week!! 

AFM: I'm waiting to ovulate. That whole waiting thing again. If my cycle is back to normal, I should O later this week and try on our own and if that's not successful then IUI in May with the next cycle. I am so ready to get this show on the road.

Monica54321

Today is cd5 for me and I took my 3rd of 5 letrozole doses this morning.  I forgot how sleepy it makes me!  

I feel totally in limbo right now - my first RE appointment is on Wednesday and I just really want to know what his plan for treatment is going to be.  I'm assuming he'll be fine to take over my IUI for this month, but I really want to know what type of monitoring (if any) he'll want to do and if he'll want to do a trigger shot instead of opk to time the IUI.  I'm starting to worry because it looks like my ovulation date is going to be smack dab in the middle of a 1 week graduate class DH & I are taking through work.  If we miss any class hours, they can choose not to give us credit (which we need for our masters degrees). As soon as I have an idea what when & how much class we might miss, I can start talking to the professor to see if we can figure something out.  I'm trying to balance telling the professor ahead of time, but not too far ahead of time, that he just tell us to withdraw and take the class next year.  

wifeinraleigh28

@CooCoo4U I apologize I forgot to welcome you to our little group here.  I'm sorry you weren't successful last month, and that this whole thing is just so frustrating  I know it's been so long of TTC for you but I hope you don't give up hope!!  I'll be holding out hope for you for May!

@srh18 Oh girl, I hope your day turns around!!  That sounds like something that would happen to me!

@Monica54321 GL with your first RE appointment!  Hopefully your RE will do a trigger shot (I think most do) and then you will have a 2 day warning for when your IUI will be.  Also, does your clinic do early morning hours?  Sometimes that can help... and you should be fine to go to your class the same day as your IUI.  Just no strenuous physical activity the day of!  I hope everything works out!

Yes waiting sucks @roxgibbons.  I try to do my best not to think about it but it's hard.  I seriously don't even track my cycle anymore.  Obviously if I'm doing IUI the RE will track for me but I've completely given up on temping and OPKs.  I have no clue when my TWW even began this past month, or when I should expect it to end.  Probably today since it's CD28.  Who knows.  I find that not tracking though helps me relax more and I feel less bad if I get a BFN.  

Monica54321

@wifeinraleigh28 - Unfortunately our class runs 7am-5pm and our clinic is an hour away, which makes things more difficult.  I was planning to take the rest of the day off because my first IUI was very difficult.  It took over an hour to perform and involved moving to an ultrasound room to help get the catheter placed.  I had a fair amount of trauma to my cervix from the tenaculum (clamp they used to hold my cervix in place) and sound (metal rod they used to to help forge a path through my cervix & uterus).  At least this time I'll be more emotionally prepared for the procedure, as opposed to last time when I was expecting it to feel like a pap.

wifeinraleigh28

Wow @Monica54321, I sure hope your 2nd IUI isn't uncomfortable like that!  Maybe you'll have better luck having it done with the RE.  My IUIs have been so quick and painless (like a pap).  I did have some pretty intense cramping from O though, which my RE said is from super ovulation (multiple follicles).  I ended up taking the rest of the day off just because of my cramps, but the IUI itself was quick and easy.  I hope you don't have to go through that traumatic experience again!

Monica54321

@wifeinraleigh28 - I'm REALLY hoping that #2 goes better with the RE... if not, there won't be a #3, that's for sure!  I've had 3 abdominal surgeries & a pulmonary embolism and this was the most painful / traumatic medical experience I've ever had (my HSG was pretty close though - that took 2 separate doctors and about 30 minutes to get the catheter placed).  My friends & I have started referring to my cervix & uterus as "Margret Thatcher" cause they share certain "Iron Lady" like properties...

BornReady

@LeFemmeViolette Your Saturday IUI experiences are exactly what I'm afraid of! I know my office also does limited hours and I have a feeling it will be a 'hurry up and wait' situation.

@srh18 Doesn't that waiting drive you nuts? I see patients for my job and I could never imagine making someone wait for as long as I've waited. I suppose these particular doctors though have quite the captive audience in us unfortunately. Hope you are enjoying your life contemplating! That key thing is something I would totally do, and probably have before in some variation. 

@wifeinraleigh28 That situation with you waiting with your sample is ridiculous. I would have been steaming sitting there. How did your DH handle it?

LMart85

This afternoon I had my follice check US...2 follices are looking good but I have 2 smaller ones hanging around....RE is hoping the smaller ones won't mature...I go back on Wednesday for another follice check US and hopefully IUI will be later this week

So I just need to rant for a moment....my RE is pregnant!! I know she is entitled to a life outside the office but wth....I just saw her 3 weeks ago and she was skinny mini....but she popped out within the last 3 weeks...of all the women in my life having babies I didn't expect her to have one too...I feel awful that I am upset about it....

Monica54321

@LMart85 - Don't feel bad! I felt the same way at my first infertility appointment with my OB who was extremely pregnant at the time. 

ale9687

@LMart85 it's deffinately normal to feel that way. I went to see my ob for my yearly pap and she told me she was pregnant. She than told me she had to go to my RE to get pregnant so it kinda made me feel better that she trusted the same RE I'm going to. 

Afm I have my baseline us today. I am just hoping the cysts from last month cleared and I can start cycle 2! 

wifeinraleigh28

@BornReady Yeah it was definitely ridiculous.  I just realized our IUI was also on a Saturday, which should be no excuse for things not running properly.  My DH was pretty upset but we moved on from it... no other choice, right?

@LMart85 Oh I feel you.  My RE is an older man so I guess that fortunately eliminates the possibility of this ever being an issue for me, but I would feel the exact same way if I were you!

Still no sign of AF for me.  I decided to POAS this morning just in case of a miracle.  Of course it was BFN.  So now my body is just playing a cruel joke on me when all I want to do now is start our IUI cycle!

LeFemmeViolette

Had my ultrasound to check on my follicles. They said I have two mature follicles again, but this time they are only from one ovary (not sure what the difference is, if any). So tonight it's ovidril and then IUI Thursday morning. : )

Observation: I've been doing Follistim shots the last few days, and had really bad throbbing headaches that would come and go. Bending down, sneezing, and coughing would make my head feel like it was gonna explode. Anyone else experience this?

Monica54321

I was thinking about going back through the this thread and creating a summary post of everyone's estimated IUI / testing dates before the tread gets too big. Then I'd update the post as new people join and people post updates/results so we don't miss anyone! I had a hard time time keeping everything straight in my head on our April thread.... the engineer/nerd in me really needs to organize things! 

freudianmamma

Month/Cycle: 2nd TI Cycle.  Little late because I had to wait for 2 weeks while on bc for cysts in my ovaries from last month.

CD or DPO: CD 4

WAYDTGKU: Protocol at this point is for 3 TI cycles and then move on to IVF for "unexplained infertility" with suspected endometriosis after finding endometrioma in my left ovary.  My insurance doesn't cover IUI so I think that is why RE is staying with TI and then moving right to the big guns... 

IUI Date: Probably between May 4-6 depending how the lil follies look.  

Testing: Agree with @BornReady - not an early tester myself. 

Any suggestions of how you distract yourself or make the most of TTC or TWW? Another user on this site recently recommended "Beat Infertility", a podcast about infertility and I have been listening to it while bored at work and while going on walks at the park near my house.  It is fantastic.  1/2 of the show is devoted to a success story and the other 1/2 is devoted to women on the journey currently.  I also started re-watching Sex and the City and it is doing a pretty good job of keeping my mind occupied during my down time at night.  

Monica54321

I stored the info I extracted from the thread in a google doc that anyone with the below link should be able to edit.  Feel free to update your info directly in the doc, if you wish.  Otherwise, I'll update it & re-post occasionally.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gdd4-xSxKa01rigjUYO-kL3nPjfpEBlczX1gJRtb7Tw/edit?usp=sharing

LeFemmeViolette

This is awesome, @Monica54321! Thank you!

ale9687

@Monica54321 that's great. 

I I just had my cd2 check and after a month the cyst is still there the RE said its smaller so he ordered bw to see if I can still continue with this cycle. I'll know tomorrow. 

wifeinraleigh28

@Monica54321 Thank you for doing this!!  It will be nice to be able to reference this since it's so hard to remember  If AF doesn't start for me soon I may need to go in and push my IUI date back.  So tired of waiting for everything...

roxgibbons

@Monica54321 I really like the chart. Thanks for putting it together. It's hard to keep things straight on a thread and remember what protocol everyone is on.It's just good info to have

@freudianmama I love that podcast. I listen to it at work too. Even if the situation does not pertain to me it's good info.

@ale9687 I hope everything works out and you are able to continue this cycle. FX!

@wifeinraleigh28 Hope AF shows up soon so you can stop waiting. Waiting is the worst, and I get how frustrating that can be.

LadyMillil

@Monica54321 awesome! Maybe we could put it in the OP so it's easy to find?

@LMart85 My RE is also pregnant. Her office is in this new medical tower and the planners put all the "lady parts" doctors on the same floor with a shared waiting room, so every time I go I have to wait in the waiting room with all these pregnant women. Luckily, the RE has set up a small waiting area in her offices and her staff try to move you there as soon as they can after you check in. 

Monica54321

@freudianmamma - I like the "Beat Infertility" podcast too! My DH liked the episodesepisodes on supporting your wife and paying for treatments.

Just made me think of something that happened yesterday... I was telling my best friend about the podcast, and she stopped me, very confused... "But you don't have infertility... your ovulating."  She thought the term 'infertility' only applied if you weren't ovulating.  It made me realize how little the average person knows about infertility, even when they know someone close going through it. Part of me still thinks she doesn't believe me and thinks I'm just being dramatic.

Drove2u

Lurking from March/April Ivf group

i went to see my GP for a check up a couple months ago and I was also just feeling really down with all this IF stuff. I knew she had just come back from being out on maternity leave. So when I gave her a quick history of what I had been going through the last 8 months she says to me "you should just relax". I almost punched her in the face. 

LeFemmeViolette

So... our next IUI is tomorrow. While I was feeling hopeful for most of yesterday, today I'm worried that we're wasting our time and money w/ IUIs. I'm only 30, so I guess technically we have the time. And our insurance is pretty good, so it's not so bad out of pocket.

I dunno, just feeling a little doubtful today. Like, why would this IUI work if the last one didn't?

wifeinraleigh28

@Drove2u Ugh, that would seriously piss me off.  Hope things are going well with your TWW!!

@LeFemmeViolette It could still work this time around, do not lose hope!  You sound like me though.  That's exactly how I felt, so I know I'm being hypocritical.  I do see success stories on these boards all the time though.  So I KNOW it can happen.

AFM I think I've FINALLY started spotting ever so slightly.  Really hoping tomorrow is CD1 so I can go in for baseline!

ale9687

@LeFemmeViolette don't loose hope yet, fingers crossed tomorrow goes well. just remember IUIs have worked for others and it can for you too! 

Drove2u

@wifeinraleigh28 things are going well. I got my bfp. :-) first beta yesterday was 174. Going for second beta tomorrow. 
Have my assistants baby shower tomorrow at work so this makes it a little easier to get through. We're still not excited sadly but if numbers double tomorrow it will make it more real. Still I won't feel out of the woods until our 12 weeks us and tests. 

madasm0530

hey ladies.. I've been MIA for a few days since the bummer April IUI news. Back to the RE today for bloodwork. I'm assuming it is going to say that I haven't ovulated and then we can start provera. The WORST part of the process is waiting -- wait a week to ovulate (i won't), take 10 days of provera and typically AF comes 5 days after that; it's the pits. 

this cycle we're bumping up the Femara dosage so hopefully that's the trick. 

I'm going to a baby shower on Saturday night. the only silver lining is this couple did 2 rounds of IVF prior to getting KU, so super happy for them. 

FX for all my May IUIers!

madasm0530

@Monica54321 thanks for the chart. perfect!

freudianmamma

@madasm0530 do you take Femara to induce ovulation?  I am taking ovadryl to induce ovulation in our TI cycle.  RE thinks I have "ovulation dysfunction" due to slow to rise temperatures, varied number of days in the cycle from 21-32, and short luteal phase.  Ugh baby showers!!!  that sounds like a much less painful shower due to the couple having been in infertility but still...  I am planning my sister's shower right now- she's 30 (I'm 33) and got pregnant her first month off the pill.  I have been dealing with the jealousy around that...

 @Drove2u Congrats on your bfp!  that is awful that a physician would tell you "just to relax".  That is the hands down most infuriating thing I have heard on this ttc journey.  It is so much easier for others to tell us that because they have no idea what it is like going through this.  So infuriating.

 @Monica54321 i completely agree with what you said about people not having a clue about infertility.  I had to explain to someone about how eggs are released each month into the fallopian tube in hopes that the spermies swim up and get them to my co-worker one time not too long ago.  People don't know until they know right?