RP: Newbie? - Ovidrel w-w/o IUI

psuwife

I posted this on the TTC board as well.  I'm a newbie who has been lurking for a while, but now have a question of my own.

My husband and I have been trying for about 10 months.  We finally went to an RE in June, went through all the tests, etc.  Diagnosis PCOS.  No male problems.  I had a few u/s's, the last one being yesterday CD 17.  I had one viable follicle and one too small.  The RE is suggesting Ovidrel tonight and then either an IUI Thursday or we try on our own.  Does anyone have any experience/insight in choosing between Ovidrel with an IUI vs. trying yourself when there are no male problems?

 We're all out of pocket, but at the same time I don't mind paying the extra it would cost for the IUI if I knew it would increase our chances.  With only 1 follicle are our chances really that good anyway?  The RE seems to think we have equal chances either the IUI or trying on our own given no male problems but I've had trouble getting the whole story out of him before so I'm not 100% convinced.  Thoughts?

 TIA!

CBL

The IUI is definitely going to up your chances, since it's putting the sperm right in the uterus and is timed according to the trigger shot (the ovidrel).  If you're hesitant to do the IUI, I would suggest maybe starting with the ovidrel and timed intercourse.  I do think the ovidrel is important, as it will ensure that you ovulate and help you time things accordingly.

Good luck

sara1014

The way one nurse explained it to me was this:  You have 1 follicle (which I did on at least 2 cycles) and if you do IUI, only the "best and brightest" sperm make it through the wash so there may be more of a chance that one will reach that 1 follicle.  Then on your own, you may have more sperm, but the ones with the most potential to reach the egg could be pushed aside (I guess) instead of making it there.  She also said that we could try on our own for the very reason that there was 1 follicle - so it's really a toss up.

For our cycles prior to going to IVF, we always did IUI.  Even with no male issue, I just felt like maybe we had more control that way and a better shot.  That was my logic anyway! 

Good luck!! 

 

 

GreenEyedGal

We were in the exact same boat as you. My first cycle of Clomid gave me  one mature follicle and one a bit smaller. My doctor gave me the Ovidrel trigger shot when the mature one reached 27 mm and she surprisingly didn't mention anything about an IUI, I guess because this was our first cycle with fertility meds. Like you, we were also paying OOP so between all of the ultrasounds and medicines, we were wanting to wait to have an IUI for a few cycles. Anyway, first cycle of Clomid w/ the Ovidrel shot and good ol' sex resulted in a BFP! We had sex the night before the shot, the night of and then the next 2 nights--we wanted to keep all of our bases covered!

GL!

CarlyL

We did two Ovidrel IUI cycles and got BFNs.  I only ever had one mature follicle.  On our BFP cycle, we were staying out at the beach for the weekend so I asked if we could just skip the IUI and do it the old fashioned way with a few margaritas mixed in for good measure- haha!  That worked for us!  I think one reason it helped is we had sex every day for 4 straight days, whereas when we were doing the IUIs, we abstained for a couple days to get the best sample.  Also, I am pretty sure I always ovulated within 12 hours after Ovidrel, and the IUIs were scheduled 36 hours, so I really feel like we kinda had bad timing on the IUIs.  I do think it is not the norm to ovulate so quickly after the shot, but it seems that's what I always did.  We also have no male issues.  Good luck to you!

psuwife

Oh my goodness!  You are my inspiration!!!

Do you happen to remember what time you did the Ovidrel and approximately what time you BD that night? 

CarlyL

My u/s was Thursday morning for my follicle check and I had a 19mm follicle.  Since I wasn't doing IUI, they had me take the ovidrel shot on Friday morning between 9 am and 10 am.  I ended up taking it closer to 10 am.  We had sex on Wednesday night, Thursday night, Friday late afternoon, and Saturday morning. 

 Good luck to you!