How long did it take?
My doctor called me today. He said I can schedule my first IUI in July (woo hoo!) but I have some concerns...
He's pretty conservative, as far as triggers and hormones go. I was kind of hoping for a trigger shot (and at the very least, an ultrasound to make sure the egg was about to emerge) but he said all I should do is have the semen sent to his office on CD 14, come in on CD 17 and then he'd shoot the swimmers in my uterus and we'd all hope for the best.
Considering the tremendous expense of donor sperm, I'm not terribly keen on "hoping for the best" when I could be jazzed up on hormones that speed things up a little and ensure the egg is available.
I take some comfort in knowing the donor I picked has already had several pregnancies (his swimmers are strong) and that there are no fertility issues in my family and I do surge every month, according to my monitors...
My questions, I guess, are as follows:
1) How many tries did you take before you got knocked up?
2) Hormones? No hormones? Trigger shots?
3) Did you go to an RE or an OBGYN to get it done?
4) IUI? ICI? IVF?
Would love to hear some experiences for reference! And would love to know if you think what my doctor is doing is normal or if you think it's too conservative. I have an appt set up with an RE in July so if need be I can wait to do IUI in August, but I suppose it may not do any harm to give it a first shot in July...
Bah. I wish this whole process was more exact.
Re: How long did it take?
How exciting to be starting soon! We are not working with a doctor or midwife, just trying at home, so I don't have anything to compare it to. One thing that does stand out to me though... is he is planning to go with a specific day of your cycle no matter what? We got pregnant on our first try at home, no meds, so it is certainly possible! (unfortunately that ended in MC at 9.5 weeks). We charted my wife's cycle for awhile before trying and always temped and used OPK's. Whenever we get a positive on an opk, which we use at least 3x a day when we get close to ovulation (the cheapies!), we insem at 20-22 hours and 32-36 hours afterwards. I think it's important to track because even if you have super consistent cycles, they can always get out of wack one month. For instance, my wife ovulated a week late this try, and she is usually like clockwork. We would never have known if we were not keeping track.
I wish you all the best and hopefully you will get some beginner's luck!
I was just writing out my history seeing as we're trying for #2 soon. I haven't had a medicated IUI. But did have success with an unmedicated IUI in March of 2011 (resulted in a m/c). The IUI was done by a midwife at our home using frozen donor sperm.
History below:
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IVI #1 - 12/2008 - At Home w/ frozen donor sperm ? BFN;
IVI#2 ? 1/2009 - At Home w/ frozen donor sperm ? BFN;
IVI#3 ? 3/2009 - At Home w/ frozen donor sperm ? BFN;
IVI#4 ? 4/2009 ? At Home w/ frozen donor sperm ? BFN;
IUI#1 ? 5/2009 ? Doctor?s Office, unmedicated ? BFN;
6/2009 ? HSG test, cycle monitoring w/RE. Tubes clear, was told I had polyps and needed a D&C. Took a break from TTC;
IUI#2 ? 3/2011 ? Unmedicated - At Home w/ midwife & frozen donor sperm ? BFP! ;
M/C ? 6/2011 ? Missed Miscarriage at 13.5 weeks. D&C and break;
IUI#3 ? 9/2011 ? Unmedicated - At Home w/ midwife & frozen donor sperm, unmedicated ? BFN;
IUI#4 ? 9/2011 ? Unmedicated - At Home w/ midwife & frozen donor sperm, unmedicated ? BFN;
ICI#1? 10/2011 ? At Home w/ fresh KD sperm- BFP!;
Kaden Born 7/13/2013, 9lbs 5oz, Natural Water Birth
TTC #2 ? Late Summer/Early Fall of 2013
1) How many tries did you take before you got knocked up? 10 months, 7 iui's
2) Hormones? No hormones? Trigger shots? Clomid & Trigger
3 iui's 50mg Clomid + trigger = BFN
3 iui's 100mg Clomid + trigger = BFN
1 iui 150mg Clomid + trigger = BFP
3) Did you go to an RE or an OBGYN to get it done? Used an RE
4) IUI? ICI? IVF? IUI
A
1) How many tries did you take before you got knocked up? 7 months, 5 IUI's
2) Hormones? No hormones? Trigger shots? Letrazole/Femara on try #4 and #5 and trigger on try #4. My siggy has the details.
3) Did you go to an RE or an OBGYN to get it done? I used an RE
4) IUI? ICI? IVF? IUI
Like PP said, I hope he is not assuming you are going to O on CD17 every cycle. I temped/charted/used OPKs for most of a year, and although I almost always O'd on CD19 or 20, I O'd as early as CD17 and as late as CD24, depending on the cycle. Frozen sperm doesn't live long, so even one day off means your IUI will probably be a very expensive bust. Your doctor isn't paying for the sperm -- you are. So if he isn't going to make sure things are well-timed, you should make sure yourself, or get another doctor.
1. I did 9 IUIs, and then an IVF cycle. The IUIs were all BFNs. The fresh IVF cycle was a BFP and we froze 5 embryos for later. I miscarried, we transferred another embryo, I miscarried again. So technically 10 "tries" to get a BFP, but we are still trying for a keeper.
2 and 3. I started out at a midwife practice because I wanted to stay low-intervention and I did not want to use fertility meds. After 4 BFNs, I moved on to an RE. I wanted testing to make sure everything checked out OK -- no IUI is going to work if your tubes are blocked -- and I wanted the more sophisticated monitoring that an RE provides, which makes timing easier/more accurate. I still didn't want to use fertility meds, so our first 4 IUIs with the RE were unmedicated, though we did use a trigger shot each time (again, for timing reasons). On our 5th IUI with the RE/9th IUI overall, I used 100mg Clomid. It screwed up my cycle, and it was ultimately a BFN. We moved on to IVF.
4. See #1.
If I could do it over, I would start with an RE, though I would still try a few cycles med-free before I tried fertility meds. It was important to us to avoid multiples if at all possible.
9 IUIs = 9 BFNs
IVF October 2012: 22 eggs retrieved, 17 fertilized, 5 frozen
ET #1: 1 blast = BFP; Blighted ovum discovered at 7w5d; D&E
FET #1: 1 blast = BFP; Missed m/c discovered at 9w5d; D&E
Karyotyping: normal ~ RPL Testing: normal ~ Hysteroscopy: normal
FET #2: 1 blast transferred 10/25; BFP 10/31!
EDD 7/13/14 ~ Induced at 37w4d due to pre-eclampsia ~ Born on 6/28/14
*Everyone welcome*
I agree with everyone else in that it seems very presumptuous to assume which day you will ovulate. My RE always had me start using an OPK starting on CD12 and we waited to schedule IUI until I received my +, although for the first 2 or 3 cycles I did have an ultrasound on Day15 if I had not o'd by then. I think for my last 2 IUIs, we just waited until I received my + (no mid-cycle ultrasound). To answer your questions -
1. 3 IUIs for first pregnancy (resulted in a loss); 2 IUIs for current pregnancy
2. Letrozole every cycle due to some irregularities in my cycle; I triggered for my first 2 IUIs. After that, my doctor told me that I didn't have to use the trigger since I had previously had success getting a + on the OPK. Although I know triggers are beneficial for many women, I personally felt that using the trigger wasn't allowing my eggs enough time to mature. The U/S before the 3rd IUI showed that my dominant follicle had grown much larger than in the previous cycles. I think it's one of those things that is going to the depend on the individual.
3. RE
4. All IUI
I would highly recommend going to an RE. And, if you are in an area with options, interview 2 or 3 until you find someone you are comfortable with. My wife and I did not like the first RE we met with at all - he seemed very pro maximum intervention. The second RE seemed much more reasonable in her approach and she was great to work with.
1 How many tries did you take before you got knocked up?
5 months, 4 IUIs
2 Hormones? No hormones? Trigger shots?
1st cycle just a trigger for timing, 2nd cycle the O was missed which is why we moved forward with clomid. 2 rounds with clomid and our successful IUI with femera and trigger shot. History in my siggy.
3 Did you go to an RE or an OBGYN to get it done? I visited an OB before going to the RE just to let her know of my plans and get any initial bloodwork done. Of course, the RE did a ton more bloodwork, etc. anyway. But we always planned on going the RE route for the procedures.
4 IUI? ICI? IVF? IUI.
Good luck!
1) How many tries did you take before you got knocked up? 12 months, 6 IUIs and one IVF ET
RE told us that it would take 3-6 times of IUI for success (usually)
2) Hormones? No hormones? Trigger shots?
1st iui with trigger = BFN
2nd iui with trigger = BFP - resulted in M/C at 8 weeks due to polyps in my uterus. 2 mo break for recovery from miscarriage and surgery to remove polyps
3rd iui 150mg Clomid + trigger = BFN4th iui 150mg Clomid + trigger = BFN
5th iui Femara + trigger = BFN
6th iui Femara + trigger = BFN
3) Did you go to an RE or an OBGYN to get it done? RE
4) IUI? ICI? IVF?
Ended up doing IVF because IUI was so frustrating. Every time I had 1-2 "perfect" follicles, a beautiful lining, and what my RE thought was excellent timing. They couldn't understand why it wasn't working for me and suggested I go to IVF. I ended up using my wife's egg as that was an option and I was happy with this outcome!
TTC with RE since March 2012
3 missed O's, 6 IUIs = 1 BFP then 8 w M/C, 5 BFNs
(2 unmedicated IUIs, 2 clomid IUI, 2 femara IUI)
Shared maternity/partner IVF, transfer #1 BFP!
EDD 11/28/13
Thank you, one and all, for being so forthcoming in your processes! It seems like everyone's experience is entirely unique, which I expected. I guess I'm trying to grasp for control over a process that I really have little control over in the first place...
I do have an appointment with an RE, but his office is an hour away. I worry about it being stressful and difficult to get up there, particularly in August when I'm going to be so busy. I was hoping my OBGYN could do it - and he said he would - but again, he never mentioned any therapies to monitor or trigger my ovulation which is very worrisome.
I called today to ask about ultrasound monitoring and a trigger shot. I would really feel more comfortable with 1) seeing the follicle, its size, and making sure it's good enough for fertilization and 2) having a shot just so I know ovulation will actually happen. I know it won't necessarily guarantee a BFP, but surely that's better than just trusting my OPK and CBFM (which gave me 2 different surge times, by the way - but I also learned that you can't keep using the same digital OPK tester. You have to throw it out when you get a new box because it keeps track of your surges. BAH!)
If my OBGYN won't at least do those 2 things for me I'll wait until I can see the RE in July. I wish he was closer to where I live... then I wouldn't even question it. But to drive an hour there and an hour back... it's a strain and I would rather be able to go home and relax and think positive baby-making thoughts and mentally push my ovary down my fallopian tube so it meets with the sperm.
Yes, I am crazy.
You're not crazy! I used visualization techniques too. Even kept images of a sperm inseminating an egg as the background on my phone, then switched it too the fertilized egg embedding in the lining. :