The Turkey Baster Gang (gobble gobble)

[Oilyoilyoilgob]

Just starting a new thread on self insemination before our first one locks down!

39 pages of highs and lows and THE most supportive group you could wish for if you’re starting or on a self insemination journey.

💚✨ good luck ✨💚

@MrsKin90 You are right, I knew it's early and even IF what I felt last night was an implantation cramp, I still wouldn't get a BFP today.
But there's no place for logic in TTC! 🤣

I have nothing to add beyond saying dear lord you are an amazing group of women!

Strong enough to go through all you have done, with enough left over to support each other.

Didn't want to think that and not say it out loud.

Ditto what @DinkBoo said!

@eloiseislost - there is ZERO space for logic in TTC and also zero judgment on this thread for testing early - did you manage to control the urge today? ;) big hugs for your BFN but definitely not out yet so keeping everything crossed!!

CD2 today - hate this part! Just want to fast forward to around six days from now so we can atart trying again. Might look into SMEP today, I think one of you mentioned it on here! Is anyone doing this? Does it really differ dramatically from wht we’re doing already? Big hugs xx

@primrosechill Tested again today with IC, BFN 🙁 I know AF is coming so just wanted over with so we can try again.
I was planning to do SMEP this cycle, just to make sure we are covering all bases. I thought maybe inseminating once every 2 days from CD8 will turn out to be better than every day during the fertile window only.

Hey @DinkBoo 🙂 How are you feeling today? Still on bed rest?

I'm sorry @eloiseislost, that sucks.. At least you can have a totally guilt-free birthday drink (or five). Screw AF for lingering about around your birthday! xxx

@eloiseislost hope you have a fun, indulging as much as you like, birthday!

I'm ok thanks!

Still resting, but feeling quite fed up all round. Still bleeding quite often every day (mostly in the mornings), absolutely knackered, and fed up of feeling sick and having sore boobs (and burping after every drink/mouthful of food ).

Though on the plus side my appetite has made a welcome return since last night.

I've been good and not tested again yet (GP said waot till Monday), but I'm beyond the point of wishing the limbo was over and I could just move on and start again (but also not).

Hope everyone's OK

@DinkBoo I imagine that the anxiety of the uncertainty and the limited activity will make you feel quite emotionally fatigued. I pray for the best outcome for you! And then these bad days won't even matter! 😉

@eloiseislost you and hormones just got me right in the feels

(wipes away an elegant tear from a slightly pink cheek, definitely not ugly crying)

Hey ladies.. I’ve not been on here as AF got me and you know how it is... I’m CD7 now so will start SI next week. It’s so lovely reading all of your messages to each other ❤️ @MrsKin90 I’m so sorry to hear about your mum that must have been so hard, she will be so proud of how you are dealing with everything that has been thrown at you. I also get excited about months and plan things in my head it’s so heartbreaking.

@primrosechill sorry AF got you 😢 bath salts and candles sound like a good start to making you feel better though.

@eloiseislost I really hope your AF doesn’t turn up fingers crossed 🤞

I hope everyone else is ok 💙 xx

Hi @Lori23TTC 🙋🏻‍♀️ Sorry AF got you, I know the feeling very well…! But new cycle, new opportunity, that's how I try to look at it!

I just opened Facebook and was slapped in the face with another pregnancy announcement! Has EVERYONE gotten pregnant during lockdown but me?! 😱 What a horribly selfish way to react to such a sweet moment in my friend's life, but I'm PMSing so that's the best I can do at the moment!

Oh my god @eloiseislost I think our Facebooks must have synced up almost as much as our cycles LOL. On two different occasions today I was slapped with a photo of a scan and 100+ comments underneath it. I keep trying to remind myself that people only share positive news - so you never know how easy/hard it was for them really - but fuck me it really is everywhere and everyone at the moment! Gah.

@Lori23TTC lovely to hear from you! CD7 is exciting though - good luck! :)

@primrosechill That's very true, you never know if/how much a couple struggled to get pregnant, you only see the end result. But still, when you are still within the struggle, it hits hard!

I just realised I don't hate the 2WW as much as a hate the 2 days before AF! The 2WW can seem like 2 decades, but at least the hope is there. 2 days pre AF, I start getting all my usual symptoms and I feel like my heart is slowly being crushed… 💔
Not to mention, THE INSANITY!
So 7DPO I woke up in the middle of the night with a sharp cramp type pain -which to be fair is highly unusual for me- and that got my hopes up a bit. So, I cave in and test at 9 and 10DPO and it's BFNs, white as snow. The cheapies I used are supposed to be 10mlU so I should know it's over! And as I get more and more AF symptoms, I feel depressed. Yet, I want to test with a FRER tomorrow! Literally I want to pee on a fiver. 🤦🏻‍♀️
I'm an intelligent woman and yet I act like a complete clown!
Sorry for the rant, I'm having one of those days!! I'll pour myself a drink and go to bed early I think. 🍸

Aww man you guys are so great.

Well AF did get me so it's CD2 now. Still marvelling at how my temp did go down on my graph!! Such a nerd lol. I'm surprisingly calm this time round and not had a total breakdown like I do usually, just ready to start the next cycle. Fingers crossed.

@eloiseislost i know what you mean about the few days before AF! It is the absolute worst to get all my usual pmt symptoms... :(

@eloiseislost @primrosechill my Facebook is just infested with babies and pregnancy announcements too! My two cousins also just had babies and they are super cute but also make me super sad. ANd my best friend is due in Jan which will no doubt be bittersweet.

Come on ladies, we can do it!!!

I have 3 friends due to give birth any day now I just feel like everyone is pregnant!!

@bigsweetpotato the bbt is amazing isn’t it... I don’t tend to do pregnancy tests as my bbt temp always drops on day 13/14 and when it does I’m 99% sure AF is coming and I can deal with that slightly better than trying to see a line that clearly isn’t there!

I went back to my fertility hospital this week and the doctor said everything is fine with me and for a 32 year old I have lots of good eggs... she did say that SI would be lowering my chances but not massively and to keep going as it works... so here’s hoping this is a good month xx

@bigsweetpotato also so sorry AF got you but good that you are in a different frame of mind and more positive 🤍

@primrosechill @eloiseislost I can’t even cope with Facebook or Instagram it’s all it is so I try not to look! Xx

Happy Friday everyone! Chatting to my doctor later today about my husband's latest results, my shorter cycles and general recommendations.

Last night we've decided that we're going to give it our all this cycle but if we're not successful, we will look at IUI in December - COVID permitting. My husband said something along the lines of "this clearly isn't working for us" last night which slightly threw me off if I'm honest - I didn't realise he was feeling so pessimistic about the method. Even though we've managed to get pregnant once, I guess he is concerned that I MC'd - because his morphology is below average, he's worried chances of "bad" sperm reaching the egg are higher and apparently has been stressing out about another possible MC from this method. I suppose IUI helps here because they pick out the "best swimmers" for the process...

It made me a bit sad last night - I'm usually the one who's freaking out and he's the one with the "let's give it time" attitude, so this Freaky Friday moment gave me a bit of anxiety. Anyone else on here ever considered IUI?

@Lori23TTC that's great to hear about your hospital visit and your high egg reserve! Also nice to hear from an actual medical professional that it does work :)

@primrosechill I have considered IUI but we decided to give it a shot for a year with home insemination before going further with any medical interventions. There is a chance we will change our minds within that timeframe but at the moment we have too much non-TTC stuff going on in our lives, plus the pandemic of course! 😷

My GP has said that home insemination is only slightly less likely to result in pregnancy in any given cycle (due to some swimmers getting unavoidably damaged). In IUI though, they use "washed" sperm directly in the cervix, so you do get the best ones up there, very close to the tubes. The success rate is still not as high as intercourse, but it is decent nonetheless.

In terms of your husbands anxiety that bad sperm caused the miscarriage, yes, it is a possibility -it always is regardless of how the sperm got there. However, the thing to remember is that when you have intercourse or when you inseminate, the sperm is placed in the vaginal canal. It still needs to enter the cervix and travel all the way up to the tubes. And then it has to meet the egg and manage to penetrate it. If a non-optimal sperm managed to do that, it's not due to insemination, just bad luck I suppose.

Having said all that, there are no right and wrong answers here. If you both feel IUI is right for you, then I'd say go for it! 😉

I was thinking IUI possibly but my doctor did just say IVF so maybe I’ll bring it up next time. I have to have a tube test first then they will decide what next step to take. @primrosechill I hope you have some more positive results back from the doctor today for your husband. My husbands sperm are normal and we still haven’t got pregnant this way so who knows, like Eloise said it surly takes a good sperm to even get as far as the egg I would think the bad ones would have not made the journey... a MC can be a million different reasons bless him for beating himself up about it. I brought the vaginal applicators on a recommendation on here and the lube that was mentioned so hoping as I’m changing this cycle up a bit it might work xx

@eloiseislost @Lori23TTC thanks lovelies! I know that IUI doesn't technically have a significantly higher success rate than at-home insemination, but the combination of knowing they "fish out" the best swimmers + the fact that they can really pinpoint ovulation does sound appealing. Anyway, I had a chat with the doctor today: She was actually very happy with my husband's improved results. She suggested that for our next at-home go we let the sperm liquidate a bit longer - she also suggested that we hold the specimen cup in our hands to keep it at body temperature and that we slightly swoosh the sperm around - apparently this somewhat mimics the mechanical procedure of preparing sperm for IUI and might increase motility. Who knows, eh! Worth a shot. Plus she recommended we only inseminate every other day this cycle rather than doing as much as we can during the fertility days. So that's what we shall do.

I realised I don't actually know how long everyone on here has been TTCing! Do you mind sharing? So for me: Started this January, got pregnant after three tries but miscarried. MC lasted for a long while so didn't insemindate for at least two months. It's been six cycles since then. So:
9 cycles
1 pregnancy
1 miscarriage

Go on body, surely cycle 10 has got to be the one?!

@Lori23TTC so sorry AF got you. You're coming up to the exciting part of your cycle now though!
Good to hear about your fertility doctor visits 😊

Sorry for you too @bigsweetpotato! ❤️
@eloiseislost I hate pregnancy announcements and am behaving like a spoilt child every time I hear one! It makes me feel better than even my hubby is sick of hearing about people getting pregnant 😂 so I know I'm not being too dramatic.

@primrosechill that sounds really positive about your husband's results and good to have some tips from a professional!

We started TTC in September 2019, using sperm deposited in a menstrual cup and popped up there and hanging around upside down 😳😂 but didn't start the syringe method until Feb this year (roughly). It's a hard one to sort of put a number on, especially as I've had a couple of cycles with no confirmed O and longer than normal cycles 🙄 so. That's me!

We started properly ttc in August 2019 so this is our 16th cycle. We were just having sex the first few months then husband started to have performance anxiety and was getting worse each month so we started SI, feel like it’s taken year a year and a half just to figure it all out! My cycles are around 31-32 days so feels really long! Only now am I feeling ok about SI, hated it at first! But we have a routine now on what we do xx

@primrosechill Early days for us
3 cycles
0 pregnancy
0 miscarriage
Took 5 years to convince DH that having children will not ruin our lives (I hope I was right 😂) he said he is completely on board in late 2019, then the pandemic hit and thought let's wait a few months, then the pandemic kept growing stronger so we thought we are just going to do it anyway!

Ohh @eloiseislost I didn’t realise you were so early on in your journey! Very exciting :)

In march when the pandemic hit, we said “if it doesn’t work this cycle, we will pause for now” - but then it did work! After we MC’d we didn’t even think about covid anymore - there’s something about realising how complicated and time consuming TTC can be that makes you stop thinking about the overall timing 🤷🏻‍♀️