Making Decisions

ticktock0903 · April 2014

Hello all,

I am having a frustrating day at work so I thought I would share some news to put myself in a better mood. I have decided on a fertility center to do my IUI...FINALLY!!! I have also narrowed the list of sperm donors down to three potentials and I am waiting on my DW to narrow her list so that we may compare. I start temping in June and will have my first appt with RE in July, looking to inseminate in early September. It seems so far away but it will be here before we know it...my excitement is mounting!!!!

8->

JGY · April 2014

What great news, good luck! Just a question, is there something that is keeping you from beginning the temp now? For me it's always a "More info is better" situation. But if you're on BC on something that would keep that information from being particularly useful then I understand.

Just wondering, not criticizing at all.

ticktock0903 · April 2014

No not really. I had read that 3 months before starting was a good time frame. How soon before did you start temping?

Thanks for the well wishes!!! @JGY

AandStilltrying · April 2014

Best of luck! Use us to help answer questions, calm fears and share experiences.

JGY · April 2014

Hah, well ... 3 years. But I'm ridiculous. And we had a long journey to the point where we moved forward on TTC (obviously). I think it's just good to have as much info. as you can prior to meeting with your RE. For example, if you tend to ovulate early or later than day 14 (I generally ovulated around day 18), your RE should know that so that they can run the appropriate tests on the appropriate days. They might not pay as much attention to 1 month's worth of charting/temping, but if you have a few consistent months then they won't want to ignore that.

Hopefully that makes sense, if you have more questions you can always PM me or just ask them in this thread and I'll try to check back to answer what I can.

ticktock0903 · April 2014

You make a good point @JGY. I am completely baby crazy so once we get to Sept I don't want to have any delays. I would totally do it tomorrow if that were an option. Did you also do the OPK tests? How far ahead did you start using them if so.

ATXmommas · April 2014

It's great to have a plan in place. Such an exciting time! Looking forward to your updates.

ticktock0903 · April 2014

Thanks! @ATXmommas

JGY · April 2014

I used the cheapo OPKs for many, MANY months (perhaps years on and off). When we got serious about TTC, I switched to the more expensive digital ones.

I'd start now, if you can. Use a tracking ap or website, like www.fertilityfriend.com to record your temps and your opk results. If you purchase a membership (it was SO worth it for me, for the 2WW if nothing else) you can also track lots of other things as well. That can be really useful when you're trying to decipher what's normal and what's "New."

Make sure you bring absolutely all of it with you to the RE, and make sure they look at your info. Also, I would recommend asking simple questions about test timing. For example (and in particular), when they schedule your progesterone level test, you can ask "Just to double check, does that date line up with my typical ovulation timeframe based on my charting?" You can be gentle about asking, while still reminding them to pay attention to you, the person in front of them, not just you a random patient.

Of course all of the above is colored by my own negative experiences, but I just don't want anyone else to go through the same things that we did, since they were so easily avoidable. Aside from the heartbreak of BFN fter BFN, who has that kind of money to throw around? Not me!

Good luck! No go run out and get yo-self a good basal body temp thermometer!

ticktock0903 · April 2014

Yes ma'am @JGY! lol Really thanks though for the info and suggestions. I appreciate it and am definitely taking copious amounts of notes.

StacyLH24 · April 2014

I used OPKs for a few cycles before we started. I attempted temping but I felt that my sleep schedule was not regular enough to trust temping. Having a plan is exciting! The time will fly by and next thing you know you'll have your first IUI under your belt.

ticktock0903 · April 2014

Thanks everyone for the advice and encouragement! Please continue!!!! I can't wait to get started!! Any suggestions on good brand of prenatals? @StacyLH24 @CrazyAunt84 @JGY

JGY · April 2014

I used the generic walgreens brand of prenatals with a seperate DHA pill. They were gentle on my stomach, and on the lower side of the $$ range.

StacyLH24 · April 2014

I am just taking a kids chewable multivitamin. I was already taking it and my RE said to stick with it. As long as it has folic acid, that was his main concern. I have heard that the kids chewable has the same ingredients as a prenatal. I take a kids chewable because the adult multivitamin has too much calcium for my body. I would take it and then feel like I was going to throw up about 15 minutes later.

ticktock0903 · April 2014

Is there much of a difference between taking a daily mulitvitamin and taking prenatal vitamins? Or are they pretty much the same thing???

StacyLH24 · April 2014

A friend of mine used to work with pregnant teenage moms. She said the daily vitamin is the exact same thing. A lot of them would take one because they couldn't afford prenatals. You could probably check them out at a pharmacy and compare ingredients. I wanna say that I did that before and they are the same.

Laurenblum · April 2014

My wife takes Rainbow Light Prenatal One. They are a food based multivitamin. A little spendy but she loves them because they easy on her stomach and 100% natural.

healz413 · April 2014

Before we got pregnant, (since we weren't sure for a while which of us would end up pregnant), we each took a daily multivitamin plus a folic acid pill. Once we were pregnant, both the RE and the midwife prescribed PregVit5 which is a prenatal with 5 (mg? Mcg?) of folic acid. Our midwife wanted @Manada to take this whether we were having a singleton or twins because she is familiar with studies that show that folks with higher BMIs do better with more folic acid. Our RE had M take it as soon as we found out there were twins. After first tri our RE says M can go down to a prenatal with the regular folic acid amount but we are gonna double check with the midwife.
I would say that you're fine taking a regular multivitamin that either has folic acid in it or adding a folic acid pill until you're pregnant then your RE, OB, or MW can talk to you about the specific vitamins and nutrients you need like iron, calcium, and folic acid. You could put any money you save now on prenatals towards CoQ10

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