I feel like this is a dumb question ...

anitaflora · February 2014

Does my nurse instructing me "no unprotected intercourse during your cycle" mean the birth control pill isn't enough? Should I not have sex without a condom even though I'm on the pill?

RunCC37 · February 2014

Yeah, you need to double up even though you're on the pill. It broke my heart to buy a box of rubbers while TTC!!

jaztastic · February 2014

Yes. The BCP aren't really used in IVF for contraceptives. It's used to regulate your cycle. And you don't want to go in for monitoring with DH juices floating about. Lol and as you start to Stim, you don't want extra sperm when you trigger to ovulate. So you get put on restrictions the whole time as a precaution I think.

LooneyLife · February 2014

Interesting! I've never been told no unprotected sex (not that I was ever really in the mood for it while stimming).

anitaflora · February 2014

Thank you ladies! DH is going to be bummed - I told him we could! Oh well, he'll have to settle for other fun

. Thanks again

pblge · February 2014

This is so weird! They told me nothing about the sexy times pre-ER (although that shuts down once the ovaries get sore), but post-ER it's verboten until they give you permission again**. They never said anything about using protection during any phase. Why on earth would you need condoms during the BCP? There's a near-zero chance you'd get pregnant as you're not going to ovulate. And I don't see how it could possibly affect the monitoring. Very confused.

Why is this so different for the different doctors??

*** BFP mentioned - They didn't give us permission for the sexy times again until they saw the heartbeat.

jaztastic · February 2014

@pblge I don't think it affects the actual monitoring.... I just mean (although they deal with all our body fluids anyway) I would be a bit mortified if DH jizz came running out during a ovary scan. :-)

katib77 · February 2014

Yeah, for our IVF cycle I bought a box of three condoms assuming we'd have sex at some point (but they told me for after BCP part during stimming "in case one follie ovulated early, ummm...What?!?). But I got so bloated from stims that we never ended up having sex then. So I still have those three around here somewhere. And it had been so long since we had bought condoms I was like "It costs HOW MUCH? Damn, no wonder teenagers are getting KU." LOL.

anitaflora · February 2014

katib77 said:
Yeah, for our IVF cycle I bought a box of three condoms assuming we'd have sex at some point (but they told me for after BCP part during stimming "in case one follie ovulated early, ummm...What?!?). But I got so bloated from stims that we never ended up having sex then. So I still have those three around here somewhere. And it had been so long since we had bought condoms I was like "It costs HOW MUCH? Damn, no wonder teenagers are getting KU." LOL.

Lol kati re the condoms - I have no idea how much they cost either - now I have to look next time.

Yeah, I'm really not much in the mood myself even though I'm in the BCP phase... I don't know I'm just so, so tired.

Anyway, thanks again everyone!

Milagros315 · February 2014

I thought that the reason that they want you to use protection is because the BCPs may not be enough and some of the drugs, like Lupron, are category X so it would not be good if you conceived while taking them. As if that was going to happen at this point.

anitaflora · February 2014

Milagros315 said:
I thought that the reason that they want you to use protection is because the BCPs may not be enough and some of the drugs, like Lupron, are category X so it would not be good if you conceived while taking them. As if that was going to happen at this point.

Thanks - yes I think you're right. Sounds like the BCP is meant for hormone regulation not protection.

Thanks again

Lady2010 · February 2014

Only time I have been told to refrain from intercourse is after the ER - where they specifically said not to. Other than that during stimming they have never said to abstain. Then again DH was traveling the first few days of stim cycle and then in the 2nd half I am not really in the mood... but yes, it is odd their is such variation in terms of what they have / have not said

Twinkie0612 · February 2014

I was told no uprotected intercourse once I started stims. My clinic recommended having unprotected sex the night before ET, but then no sex until after betas (maybe until first u/s? I never made it that far.).

missmarypoppins · February 2014

Twinkie0612 said:
I was told no uprotected intercourse once I started stims. My clinic recommended having unprotected sex the night before ET, but then no sex until after betas (maybe until first u/s? I never made it that far.).

I'm curious, did they say why they recommend sex before transfer?

scooteriste · February 2014

missmarypoppins said:

I was told no uprotected intercourse once I started stims. My clinic recommended having unprotected sex the night before ET, but then no sex until after betas (maybe until first u/s? I never made it that far.).
I'm curious, did they say why they recommend sex before transfer?

The theory is that semen contains prostaglandins that soften the cervix and make it easier to insert the catheter. I believe there are some studies out there that support it.

KLAlax · February 2014

my instructions say that we should have sexy time once every 2-3 days for sprem quality...they never said anything about using other protection. We have only ever been with each other and waited until after we were married so we have never used condoms, it never crossed my mind that we would have to use them now!

PrivateOne · February 2014

**warning**

Well let me me be the real world example of this. I was scheduled to do my sencond IVF in February. So, I was on bcps pretty much for the month of Jan as per my protocol and prep. No one at my RE's office ever mentioned using a back up method during this phase. Well low an behold at my baseline they discovered my bfp. So I did get pregnant while on the pill. Please know that they are not 100% effective. Unfortunately, it quickly turned to an early loss. So, I had a bfp, an early loss, and cancellation of ivf #2 all rolled into one this month. Big time bummer!

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