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 ✨💚

GUYS!!!!!!!! Did I get my BFP? Lines are so faint!
Tested this morning with SMU, first with the cheapie and I couldn't believe my eyes! I ran and woke DH up and told him to get me one of the FRERs he's been hiding from me. I used the same urine for the FRER. I'm either 10/11DPO. Can you see the lines? DH can see them and I can but I just can't believe it! Are they too faint?

@eloiseislost OMG!

Also, do I remember correctly, is it your birthday today?! If yes then omg omg what a gift 🥰 (well what a gift either way!)

Can deffo see lines on both, funny that the cheapie is actually much clearer!

@primrosechill My birthday was yesterday! What's really funny is I did a cheapie yesterday morning and I could swear I saw a shadow but I dismissed it. Then, in the evening, I went on to have half a bottle of wine and a block of cheese. 🤭 My DH thought something was up when I didn't want birthday cake or pizza. Literally all I ate yesterday was a block of cheese! 🤣

So excited for you @eloiseislost :) Now give us the mandatory "what did you do differently this cycle?" summary please! Haha.

And sorry for missing your bday yesterday - how's that for a belated gift, ey?! Not too shabby :)

@primrosechill I'm cautiously optimistic, I hope it sticks! 💝 I have lower backache and slight cramps, I don't know if it's normal or not.

OK, actually I did a few things differently this cycle!

1. On the day of my positive OPK and the day after I took cough syrup to loosen the cervical mucus. It's supposed to be an old wives' tale but thought it would hurt.
2. We ditched the syringes this cycle and only used soft discs (the disposable menstrual cups, I think they used to be called Instead Cups). DH 'deposited' in there and within 2 minutes, I covered the rim with Conceive Plus lube and inserted it. Left me for 4-6 hours at a time. I believe that the fact that the sperm was not handled almost at all, might have done the trick. But who knows? 🤷🏻‍♀️
3. Kept taking Seven Seas prenatals but DH also started taking them. They're meant for women but he can't swallow tablets so I thought because they are mini pills, they are better than nothing.

In terms of symptoms, nothing out of the ordinary, apart from 7 or 8DPO when I woke up with a very sharp AF cramp. After that, normal PMS symptoms for me, although the constipation was more horrific than normal at this time of the cycle. I suppose I didn't get any spots on my skin and I didn't get more oily, but that's too vague to be an actual symptom. My stomach rumbles SO MUCH, it's really funny! That's it so far, still very early days! AF is due today because my LP is on the short side.

Hi all, I hope you don't mind me joining this group.

Firstly, congratulations on those positive test results!

Please allow me to introduce myself. My husband has a low sex drive, and has never managed to "finish" when we dtd. At the end of the summer we decided to try for a little one - I'm 36, and he's 43, so it's about time really 😂 we've therefore been using the syringe method ourselves. 1st month we only tried it about 3 times, and I convinced myself it had worked (sore boobs, nausia), but here we are at the start of cycle 4.

Despite my age, we're both in quite good nick. We workout regularly, our diets are OK (room for improvement, but we enjoy our food), and alcohol consumption is low for me, moderate (and dropping) for him.

We normally track my cycle just using calendars, but when af appeared the other day, I bought opk's (both cheapie and the cb digital ones). Our plan is to check when I'm ovulating, rather than going off when my calendar says I should be, and then go from there. If there's no success in the new year, then we'll seek medical advice.

We tend to try every day during my supposed fertility window with a 5ml syringe and plastic cup. Just read a comment suggesting swilling the swimmers around a little before insemination, so might give that a whirl this time too! I think my favourite part of ttc is post insemination and O when I can just lie there and chill out for 10 mins or so, wort part of course is af coming. The physical and mental pains are grim, but hopefully will be worth it one day!

I'm so glad I found this thread! A couple of our friends know we're ttc, but only one knows how, so it's great to "meet" more people on the same boat! X

@eloiseislost oh my goodness this is fantastic news!!!! I hope this is a sticky bean how exciting! This news has really cheered me up!! I e always wanted to try the soft discs but never have, I really struggled with the soft cup and thought i prob wouldn’t be able to use them! Do you have the link as to where you brought them??

@Birchybirch welcome to the gang! I haven’t told anyone we are doing this it’s just the people in this group! So it’s amazing to have people to talk to! Good luck on your journey! Xxx

@eloiseislost that's super exciting! Fingers crossed for you 🤞🤞 and happy birthday for yesterday 🎈thank you for sharing what you did 😊
@Birchybirch welcome! My husband can't finish during sex either and has a low-ish sex drive. We haven't told anyone in real life we are TTC, let alone how! Everyone here is super lovely so it's a nice place to be. 😊 Goodluck trying the OPKs - they should definitely help with timing everything correctly!

4dpo for me today according my BBT. Not sure if I feel positive or not really. This is the first time EVER that I have ovulated on CD14! So that's an achievement on its own.

Hope everyone is having a lovely Saturday!

@Birchybirch A very, very warm welcome! Everyone here is so lovely, it's really a place of safety, no judgement and great compassion. Good luck with the OPKs, once you pinpoint ovulation, you will be more confident that your timing is good. Apps are a bit rubbish if I'm honest, they assume women ovulate two weeks before their period, which is not always the case. My luteal phase for example is 11 days.

@Lori23TTC Thank you, I think it's very early and I won't quite accept it until I see the lines getting stronger but for now, I'm happy that the method clearly works!
I used these: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000X29GY6?ref=ppxpopmobapshare
I practiced with one and found it very easy to insert and remove. The first time I did it with semen though, most of it leaked out. Second time, all stayed in and third time some leakage. So it takes a bit of practice and the risk of things leaking I would say is always there, but it keeps the sperm flat against your cervix, shortening the journey that they have to make to find the egg.

@MrsKin90 Thank you! I keep thinking that if yesterday's test was positive I wouldn't have drunk so much wine and I feel a bit guilty. But I know it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.

Fingers doubly crossed for you @eloiseislost !! I can see a faint line!

Welcome @Birchybirch I have found this group amazing as I haven't really told anyone about our ttc and how we are doing it. Everyone shares advice which I have found super useful

I'm on CD4 so gearing up for trying next week. Might get some softcups to try and the flat syringes! Have a good weekend everyone

@bigsweetpotato Thanks! In real life, they are less faint, but my camera is not great. I'll test again on Monday and then phone my GP. I can't quite believe it!! And DH is just so calm about it, it almost annoys me! 🤣

@Birchybirch welcome to the gang! I have to say I used to be unnecessarily dismissive of forums like mumsnet but this thread has been a godsend! I’ve spent so long hiding so many things and feeling inadequate until I’ve realised how many other people have issues with sex and “normal” ttc - life’s too short to dwell on what’s not going well, I’m just glad we have alternatives!

@bigsweetpotato is it weird/creepy how much I LOVE that we are complete to-the-day cycle buddies? 😂 day 4 here too and AF is almost completely gone. We will inseminate every other day starting from day 7. Bought preseed lube which I’ve never used and we will also give it more time to liquidate this cycle. When my hubby did his sperm analysis, it says on the results that it took 45mins for it to fully liquidate! Which makes me think that what’s “liquidated” to my bare eyes is still not optimal for meeting my ladies 👀😂

@MrsKin90 yay for ovulating on day 14 this cycle and sending lots of good vives and patience for your TWW 💆🏻

Big love to you all! xxx

@eloiseislost thank you for the link! I’ve just SI with the vaginal applicators omg so much easier! So thank you to who recommended them it was a while back! Don’t feel guilty about having a drink, a few drinks can’t hurt and you know now 😀

@MrsKin90 yay for CD14 ovulation... I ovulated on CD14 last month and completely caught me off guard and we missed it as I’m normally day 17/18. I’m CD9 today and did my first SI tonight so if it happens again I don’t miss it! Fingers crossed for you xx

@primrosechill 45 mins?! I only leave it about 5 lol looks really liquid to me tho.. hubby’s is quite liquid anyway tho?! X

@Lori23TTC I think I recommended the vaginal applicators a while back, I believe I posted a link on Amazon for the ones I got. They are definitely better than syringes, they are actually designed to go in there and squirt things! 😆 Best of luck for this cycle, keeping my fingers crossed for you! 🧚🏼‍♀️

@Lori23TTC ha I know! 45mins sounds super long but in reality according to benchmarks anything below 60mins is a norm :) of course in lab setup they don’t do anything to help it, whereas at home we hold it to keep it at body temp so it probably doesn’t need quite that much!

I also bought the vaginal applicators, will give them a try this cycle!

Happy birthday @Oilyoilyoilgob 🎉 ❤️
I hope you are having a wonderful day, getting spoiled like you deserve! 😃

@eloiseislost thank you, you are full of recommendations 🧡 I hope everyone is having a nice weekend xxx

@Oilyoilyoilgob happy birthday 🎂

@Lori23TTC I went by my cervix weirdly otherwise I would have missed it too as had very little to no EWCM! We luckily did SI on CD12, 14 and 16 (just in case!). I ovulated CD16 last cycle so expected it to be similar this time.

I only wait 5 minutes for hubby's sperm to liquify. I use an "if I can pour it, it's ready" rule that I've based on zero scientific evidence or understanding 😂 I like the idea of gently swishing it... Feels like you're making the sperm dizzy and hoping it gets them into a swimming frenzy! Like giving them a caffeine boost without warning!

I'm 5dpo today. I couldn't sleep last night because I was having such bad cramps and back ache! I honestly wouldn't have been surprised to wake up to AF only it was much worse than AF cramps. I usually cramp a little after O but not like this, feel like I'm out already or something's gone wrong in there.
I've actually had cramps on and off since my cervical screening at 2dpo 😒 so wondering it's being made worse by that! They say you're not meant to cramp afterwards so wonder if I should contact the GP or if they'll just roll their eyes at me. 😒

Good morning everyone! I hope you had a great weekend!
Just took another FRER and I'm panicking that my line is not progressing. 😞
Any thoughts?

It looks like the 13dpo one is a bit more defined than the 11dpo one to me. I so hope it turns into a bright pink bfp for you soon! 13dpo still feels early to me.

Looks a bit better in black and white! I have a short LP so AF is already late but, yes, technically it's very early.
I feel fine so I'll take that as a good sign.
How naive I was to think that the worrying would stop once I conceived! 🤦🏻‍♀️

@MrsKin90 how are you feeling today re the cramping? If it’s still bad you should go and see your GP - they won’t roll their eyes it’s what they are there for and your health is more important than anything.

@eloiseislost that has got darker! Try not to worry (easier said than done I know) have you book an appointment at the doctors? X

@Lori23TTC Thanks, I hope it's a sticky one! 🤞🏼 I self-referred to the maternity unit this morning and have set me up with an online account. Now waiting for the midwife to contact me for my booking appointment, but they said this could take weeks!

@eloiseislost the black and white photo shows clear progression :) I know you want an absolute dye stealer to put you at ease at this stage but like @MrsKin90 said, it's still very early days. One thing you could consider is maybe buying a ClearBlue weeks predictor test? If you take it in a few days and it says 2-3 weeks, you'll know your HCG levels are exactly where they're supposed to be. Then again, if for any reason it comes with a different result, it's a fast track to often unnecessary worry - so maybe the best idea to just burn all pregnancy tests altogether! ;)

@Lori23TTC how is your insemination going?

I have a quick q re ovulation tests! I finally caved in and bought the ClearBlue digital tests. I'm CD6 today and the test already says I'm in high phase! (flashing smiley face) That seems insanely early - the cheap OPK is a complete squinter today and normally according to cheapies I ovulate on day 12-13 like clockwork. I will of course continue to test with CB but at the rate it's going, I might get a peak from it on CD8 or CD9. Anyone else had similar experiences with digital OPKs? xxx

@primrosechill I think you're right, there's no stopping the worry! I decided to save the money I would spend on tests and just book an early scan at 6 or 7 weeks. It'll probably end up being cheaper anyway!! 😆