My IUI Diary

Hello, my name is Amanda and I also go by leeaman on here.


I have been ttc for almost 2 years now and am currently on my 24th cycle ttc. I came off the pill in November 2006 and started ttc in December 2006.

My cycles went right back to the normal range and to this day I always ovulate on either CD 12, 13 or the odd time CD 15, but with that being said I had a slight shorter luteal phase (LP) in the beginning than they like to see, they normally like to see your (LP) be at least 12 days or longer, mine was 10 days. This lead me to my first appointment with my doctor to discuss this matter. My doctor suggested that I start taking 100mg's of Vitamin B6 all cycle long as it can help lengthen you (LP). My first cycle on Vitamin B6 my (LP) went from 10 days to 12 days.
So we continued on with our ttc journey on our own, taking my temperature, doing ovulation predictor kits (OPK) and taking everyday vitamins. After a year of no luck, we decided it was time for us to seek help with a fertility specialist. Feb. 22nd 2008 was when we had our first fertility appointment. The first thing they wanted to do was have my husband have a semen analysis (S/A) done and a Hysterosalpingogram (HSG) done on myself, where they check your tubes to see if you have any blockage that could be preventing you from achieving pregnancy. Well my (HSG) came back clear, and my husbands (S/A) came back on the lower side of things. At this point our fertility doctor decided he wanted a second (S/A) done on my husband to be sure of the outcome of the first one and it was worse then the first. At this point I was devastated but never gave up hope and kept as positive as I could.

So the doctor decided now it was time for the next step and made us a follow up appointment to discuss our options, this ended up being a 5 month wait for this appointment and I have to say it was the longest 5 months of my life so far. The day came of our appointment and I have never been more scared in my life. He advised us that we could keep trying on our own and eventually succeed, but it has already taken us almost 2 years and he thought our best chance to conceive sooner would be to try with Intra-uterine insemination (IUI). We decided and agreed that we had enough and that this was our best chance to get our BFP.. We had to make an appointment with a nurse there that deals with the IUI cycles and sometimes performs them herself. Which now leads me into what happened at this next appointment.



At this appointment, I got my prescriptions for IUI ready to go.. All the appointment consist of was getting these prescriptions and she talked us through how an IUI cycle goes and the monitoring. And she had to let us know the risks of the injections and what can happen, which some I don't like. The one prescription I will be taking is called Bravelle, it is a highly purified Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH).. FSH is necessary for the development of eggs within the ovary and is taken by injection. The other prescription is called Ovidrel also known as Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (a-hCG), this medication is given once the eggs reach maturity in order to trigger their release approximately 30 - 40 hours later. The need for this medication to cause egg release affords the opportunity to withhold hCG if the doctor feels there is an excessive risk of ovarian hyperstimulation or multiple pregnancy due to an over-response of ovaries. Ovidrel is also a medication you take by injection.

With the Bravelle, she said there is a chance that it can cause the eggs to get way too big which I believe they call this ovarian hyperstimulation but you will get certain symptoms along with it if it happens and have to go to the hospital and if it is only minor they run tests to see and if so then they send you home and tell you to drink lots of Gatorade and they have to cancel the rest of that cycle. If it is severe you have to be hospitalized and put on IV's and same cancel the remaining of the cycle. Praying hard that doesn't happen, actually no, I know that won't happen..
Another thing she said is in some cases this injection can cause way too many eggs and a risk of having multiplies fertilized and implanted, and by multiplies the mean 3 or more babies could implant. Yikes!! So if this looks like it could happen you have 3 options #1 - cancel your IUI cycle, #2 - go ahead and take the risk, and #3 - they can go in and eliminate some of the eggs.
So we discussed all of this and hubby had to sign giving consent for his little guys to be used for my purposes. And then she explained that I will call her on CD 1 and let her know AF showed and on CD 2 I will start Bravelle injections and take the shot on CD 2, 3 , 4, 5 & 6 and it has to be taken between 4:00 and 6:00PM and the same time each day. Then on CD 7 I will go in and have blood work done and Vaginal Ultrasound to see how things are going and then from there they bring you in for all of that again a few days later til they see that the eggs are mature enough to be released and everything estrogen levels and everything else are where they want them to be. When all is ready they will tell me to go home and not bd anymore and take the Ovidrel shot that night at 10:00PM which causes the eggs to release 30 - 40 hours later. Then roughly 36 hours after that shot hubby does his thing in a cup and we head straight to the hospital where they will then spend an hour in the lab washing his sperm and mixing them with a solution that makes them more vigorous, and then once that is done they will then insert into my uterus and send me on my way. She said there is no need to stay lying down afterward though as with them being inserted all the way up there your cervix closes after it is done so nothing will come out.
Then it was time for the lesson on giving myself the injection, not fun, I felt so sick and dizzy and was shaking like crazy, when I had to insert the needle into myself to show her I could do it, but it ended up being a breeze, I can do this no problem specially when I think about why I am doing this..

We are set to start IUI in October and am hoping that our 1st IUI will be the only one needed and we will get our long awaited BFP. With all of this being said, I will keep a diary of my experiences on here to share with you all and show you first hand what it's like to go through this. I will update this diary as many days as I can, there could be a couple of days in between posts if nothing is really going on with me but will keep you all updated and my diary entries should begin the first week of October.


Thanks for reading, and please feel free to posts your comments in the thread I have created relating to this topic titled IUI and IVF Procedures...



I thought I would also add the link to Georgi's ttc Abbreviation list as well in case anyone needs to have a look at it .

https://parentise.forumotion.net/ttc-topics-f5/ttc-abbreviation-list-t20.htm

I wanted to let you all know I picked up my meds today for the IUI cycle that starts next week and I am blown away...

With my insurance coverage for the Bravelle and Ovidrel I paid a total of $2.00

The total cost for both with out coverage would have been, $1,537.26... My gawd, I am just so blown away and incredibly grateful right now for good benefits with hubbies work.. Thank God.

Well is here and this IUI cycle is about to begin..

I start with my first Bravelle injection tomorrow evening and do it everyday from tomorrow til Saturday and then Sunday I go in and have my Blood Work and Ultrasound done. After that I phone in Sunday after noon and they tell me my new orders from there, weather it be continue Bravelle shots a little longer and up the dosage or go straight to the Ovidrel shot. I will update this again by Wednesday that way I can tell you all how the Bravelle injection has gone and if there are any reactions to it. Hoping there won't be..

So today was my first day to give myself the Bravelle injection. I think I was more nervous about doing the mixing of it then actually giving myself the injection. And of course I have to do it between 4 - 6PM so I got to stew all day long about doing it and get myself worked up even more...

Well the time came and I mixed and Hubby read directions and everything to me, I guess I was a little shaky because even though I did get all the med part in the needle I didn't get all the dilution.. Oh well I guess the main thing was the meds were all in the needle.. So I gave it to myself in the belly area and it did burn going in as I injected it and was a little tender in the area after wards for a few minutes and red, but all seems good now..

But with as shaky as I was mixing, hubby decided that for now on he will do the mixing and I can just inject it.. Sounds like a great idea to me.. lol

Ok so I did my second injection last night and having hubby mix the injection was better for me not as nerve racking but I had to do the needle on the other side of my belly this time as you have to switch sides everytime and the other side actually hurt more.. Yikes, can't wait to get back to the other side tonight. lol

I have noticed light to moderate headaches since starting the injection and I am sure this can be a slight side effect to the injection, but I hope it gets better. Also I have noticed since taking the injection that my BBT temps are a little higher than they normally are at this point in my cycle, not sure if this is because of the injection or not but maybe time will tell..

Well today was interesting.

It started out with our alarm was set to go off at 6am so that we could get ready and be out of here by 7:15am to head to the hospital for 8am for the Ultrasound and Blood work, it doesn't start til 8:30 but best to be early. So hubby wakes me up screaming that it is 7:30, OMG we slept in, neither one of us heard the alarm go off at 6:00 or anything.. Jump out of bed, throw on our clothes, no time to shower or put on makeup, rush out the door and got there by 8:10 and they took us straight in for the B/W, that was not nice, hubby said I jumped off the seat when the needle went in. Well then we went down for the U/S and had to wait a little while to get in there.. Had that done, it was a little unpleasant but not too bad, didn't hurt at all just uncomfortable. The B/W I guess shows what your estrogen level is sitting at, and the U/S is to show how many Follicle's you have and their size and how thick your lining is. So then we left and I had to call them this afternoon at 3:30 for my new orders on what to do. When I call she said that she didn't know what my lining measured at but knew it was where it should be and she said I have one follicle on the left ovary that measures right now at 12mm and two on my right ovary that measure at 15mm & 14mm. I am not sure what they like their size to be at by ovulation but I have read online that they grow anywhere from 1 - 2 mm a day... So my new orders are I take another Bravelle injection tonight, which I already have done and I take another one tomorrow night and go back in for another set of B/W and U/S on Tuesday morning (Our Anniversary), and she figures that, that will probably be it and maybe that night I will be able to take the Ovidrel Injection and do the IUI Thursday morning. So now I just wait again and do my injections and see what comes after Tuesday morning.. So far though they are saying everything is looking great and the injections are working the way they should...

I forgot to add to this that I am currently on CD 7 and both yesterday and today I have already had a tonne of EWCM, not sure if this is normal or not....

Ok so I went in this morning for another set of U/S and B/W... Woke up on time too so that was a bonus to the day. So it was a longer wait this morning though, I could not believe the people there for the same reason, even though I was second to get there as it goes by first come first serve there was at least 6 other ladies besides myself while I was there.

I had to call them at 1:30 this afternoon to get my new orders, and my new orders are I get to take the Ovidrel shot tonight at 10PM to bring on ovulation and we have to be at the hospital Thursday morning for 8:00 with hubbies swimmers and then the procedure will be done around 9:00. WoW, I can't believe this is actually happening.. Please pray with me that hubbies swimmers are the best they could ever be when it comes time on Thursday.. They told me I still have the 3 follices and only one right now is where it should be measuring which is 17mm but I have heard as well that the others can still grow more by Thursday so fingers crossed they do so I have more than one..

I am glad I can now put down the Bravelle injections as I think they were starting to play a toll on my body, I have been getting the odd headache since taking it, but last night I had continuous heartburn right before dinner that I still had lingering this morning when I got to the hospital. Also I have noticed since yesterday I feel alot more bloated than usual and I believe that can be a symptom from the injection and that the Ovidrel can make that worse.. Yikes..

Well that is my latest update and I will update you all tomorrow if there is anything that goes on with the Ovidrel. If not then I will update Thursday when I get home for sure..

Ok, so I took the Ovidrel shot last night to bring on ovulation and it was easier to take then the Bravelle, except a little harder to get the needle in.. About an hour after taking the shot I had a few cramps for roughly 30 minutes and that was it so far. I am a little moody right now but may only be because hubby has pissed me off, but we won't go there, gawd why did he have to go and do that right before this big IUI moment. Well one thing at least I don't have to bd with him tonight mad. ... :lol:

So I took an OPK for fun lastnight before the Ovidrel shot and there was barely a second line, and then I took one again tonight and got a dark second line as soon as it hit my pee.. (sorry :tmi: ) I have posted a picture below to show both the OPK from before the shot and one from after the shot so you can see the difference, sorry if they look distored I couldn't get them to turn out any better than they did, but it should give you the idea. Oh wait a minute I think I am starting to feel a little crampy feeling in ovary area....ha ha ha. I have NEVER had such a dark line on one before EVER...

They also say a pregnancy test right now would come up positive as the Ovidrel basically puts pregnancy hormones in your system... Should take one just for fun.. :lol: That they will be the best they have ever been.

So tomorrow morning is the BIG day.. I am excited and starting to get a little scared if I am going to be honest. I am so worried now that I have gotten this far that hubbies swimmers aren't going to be so good.

I'm Back!!!

Ok well everything seemed to go good. Hubby did his thing this morning while I got ready and off we went. We got to the hospital and gave his little guys to the lady where they were then sent down for a count and then the wash and another count. Not sure what the count was yet, she told me to call the middle of next week if I'd like to know. So she told us to come back around 9ish, so we just went down and sat in the cafeteria and had our coffee and read the newspaper. My stomach had so many butterflies in it at this point. I was no longer worried just nervous and excited.. Then the time came to get back up to the office area. We sat in there for about 5 minutes before the little swimmers came back up and away I went into the room to get ready.. She showed me the syringe with the swimmers in it and our names on it as I had to confirm it was ours and then sign a form. Ok so not much to tell about the actual procedure it is like a pap, only this just about killed me, my gawd I felt like she was ripping my insides out... So it was pretty quick maybe 10 minutes long in total. Then I just laid there for a few minutes while she talked about waiting 14 days starting tomorrow before taking a test, she said tomorrow is classed as Day 1 past IUI so I guess 1DPIUI.... Then I got up and got dressed and left. They told me at the beginning of this cycle to take some plain ol' Tylenol before going in as there can be some pain, but I really didn't want to put anything like that into my body before this IUI so I didn't.. I started getting cramping like feeling with in 5 minutes of leaving the hospital, at times bad and other times not so bad it is off and on though. So now I am back home and I am going to just take it easy today, back in my PJ's and relaxing all day long.... So praying very hard now everyday that this works and we get our bfp in 14 days..

I will keep updating you over the next 2 weeks on my diary as things progress or of any symptoms I shall get.... I think I may even take another OPK tonight just for the heck of it..

Ok not much going on with me obviously, too early but I think that Ovidel shot must be really in my system, my temp jumped so high this morning, I have never had it this high at 2DPIUI... The cramps have all seemed to subside, yesterday I had the odd one but nothing bad, the night before (day of IUI) the cramps were bad, I didn't sleep too well that night as I had to sleep on my back and I hate that, anytime a laid on my side the cramps got really bad...

So we will keep seeing what happens now, praying for the best.. Does it hurt if I give myself some babydust? :lol: :lol:

Ok could be nothing but when I sit down and this has been going on a little while right now, I get like a heartbeat feeling in my right side. When I stand up it is gone, then I sit down again and it is back..

Well ladies, will be here sometime today, my temps are down below my coverline and it is just a matter of time.

As if that didn't make me feel bad enough my fertility doctor called and said hubbies count was on the low side of things for IUI and want me to call back and make an appointment to come in and see him, that he thinks we are now wasting our time with IUI.. WoW, I am glad I have a doctor that would give IUI one try before cutting us off at that knees... So now I really don't know what to do, I haven't told hubby yet, I don't know what's up and what's down right now and I am too numb too cry, which may be a good thing because I don't want hubby to see how hurt and frustrated I am. I don't want him to feel like it is his fault because it is not his fault at all.. I have to say I have the best husband in the world and I love him to death..

Well I am off back to bed, going to crawl into a ball and wallow to myself for a bit while I wait for to show, I think I have earned that much... Plus it is just way too early in the morning.... :cry: :cry:

Well I didn't get posting in here yesterday that I was able to convince my doctor to let us continue with IUI with the help of breaking down crying on the phone even though I promised myself I would be strong and would not do that the tears just came flowing out of me.

So my mission now is to show all doctors out there that you can get pregnant with IUI with a very low count. I am going to prove them all wrong... The nurse who does the IUI said even with our chances being lower we can still have a chance because it isn't like hubby has no count at all.

So today is CD 2 and I begin my Bravelle injections again tonight and take them straight through til Monday morning when I go in for my first set of U/S and B/W....

This is going to work, I am going to show those doctor's it can happen.... I have faith....

Well girls this new cycle on injections is killing me, I had zero side effects last cycle and starting yesterday I started getting very dizzy like and along with that obviously comes a nauseous feeling, it is really sucking right now. I had my head in the sink this morning washing my hair and got this huge dizzy spell at the time and thought I was going to pass out, everything went black and felt like the room was spinning... I am trying to drink lots of Gatorade in hopes that it helps me as I heard it can, specially seeing they say injections can dehydrate you some and you may not know it. I think as long as it isn't all followed up by severe abdominal pain then there is nothing to really be concerned with so fingers crossed that it goes away real soon because I feel like I can't do anything right now or even get out of bed it is so bad...

Well I went for my CD 7 B/W and U/S this morning and just called to get my new orders. I was hoping this cycle would be like the last one but appears it isn't just going to be the side effects this cycle. She said I have one Follicle on my right ovary measuring at 10mm and alot of smaller ones that will catch up, so I am to take the Bravelle injection tonight, tues, weds & thursday and go back in for another round of B/W and U/S on Friday morning and then again call that afternoon to see where things are at and if I am then ready for the Ovidrel injection and IUI.... I was really hoping that this cycle would play out like last cycle, if it had I would have been doing the IUI on Friday but now I won't be. And doesn't it figure it is going to be a longer cycle on Bravelle the cycle I am getting horrid side effects.. Oh well hopefully this will be the miracle cycle and I will have lots of big eggs to get fertilized... Well not all of them but a much better chance.

I am sorry to make this short but we have been so busy today... I went for my second cycle round of B/W and U/S and I am ready to take my Ovidrel tonight.. YaY.. I have one follie at 13mm on the left side and 3 follies on the right at 11mm, 13mm, & 18mm right now and they can grow at 2mm a day so there is still room for growing a little more. IUI is set for Sunday, we have to have DH's dudes there for 12PM that they are at their best and cooperate and then the IUI will be done at about 1PM.... Lots of

Love to you all. Hope everyone is having a great day..... Oh and I forgot to add as of last night my dizziness is pretty much all gone, figures last day taking my Bravelle it would go away... :lol: :lol:

Well IUI went fine yesterday, alot of cramping for the rest of the day but I knew that was coming. It was actually my fertility doctor that preformed it yesterday and so he told me to call him this morning to find out the wash sperm count cause if it is still low he doesn't want us wasting away anymore money. :( I am praying it is better this time but not counting on it and I don't think I am going to call him this morning, I want at least to have one day of hope before he guts me with bad news... Do these doctors not understand what that kind of news does to us, he for one tells you like he is telling you what the temps are outside for the day, drives me mad and seems to hurt even more getting the news.... He acts almost like it is no big deal.

Well showed for me yesterday, worse then ever before, sorry but I went through 5 tampons in a matter of 2 hours. It has never ever been that bad, but has since slowed down. I haven't had much time to digest all of this yet as my Dad has been here since Thursday night and we have been really busy fixing up our garage, which I guess has been a good thing to keep my mind off of it.

We have decided that we are going to try now on our own until the New Year before trying another IUI. I never found out yet what hubbies count was this last time as the doctor is now on holidays.. Go figure.

Well I hope everyone is doing well, I hate to make this short but my Dad & Hubby are making me watch Hockey with them. :cry: lol no I don't mind.. lol