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 ✨💚

@eloiseislost defintely darker!

Back from GP. Had an external and internal exam as well as another pregnancy test.

Test was clearly positive again even though it is very far from first thing and I had to squeeze out a sample cause I went before I left home, external exam was fine, but internal exam wasn't as encouraging, so she booked me in to the EPU tomorrow morning for a scan.

If nothing else, this has made dh very clear finally that he really does want kids afterall,(I am holding back the the fuck couldn't you decide this less than 11 years into our relationship when I'm really quote old!!!!! comments - but only just)

@DinkBoo I hope your GP appointment went OK! How are you feeling?

@DinkBoo Sorry, we posted at the same time! It's good that you are getting a scan tomorrow, that should give you answers and I pray it's the answers you want. ❤️

@eloiseislost I decided to seperate my excitement for you from my longer less cheery post

I think you should feel able to tell someone at work, even though it's early, the first trimester can be awful in terms of worry and how you feel, having to pretend nothing is going on just adds stress on top. Add covid on top when your immune system can be being a knobhead, and you have plenty of reasons to ask for consideration.

@Oilyoilyoilgob it’s nice we are both in our fertility week together 🥰 I hope your little swimmers are on their way to the egg now too! I’m only CD13 (normally ovulate on CD18) but last month it happened on 14 so doing it early, I’m having awful cramps today and my OPK looks dark but is in the ‘high’ not peak yet so will do another SI tonight!

If you do have the red raspberry leaf tea you must not drink it after you ovulate...

‘Raspberry leaf balances hormones and helps to prepare the body for ovulation when taken during the follicular phase.’

@eloiseislost oo the rooibos tea sounds nice I’ll have a look into that too!

@DinkBoo hope the appointment goes well so glad you got one!

Thank you everyone who wished a good fertile week 🥰 you guys are so lovely xx

@Lori23TTC Since I've shared so many links with you 🤣 here's one for my favourite spiced rooibos tea:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00835OP0A/ref=cmswwrcppapifabccmgvTFbKJ5V119?encoding=UTF8&psc=1

🫖

@eloiseislost that's a good progression on your line! 😊 I work for the NHS in MH, and our guidance says you're not considered at additional risk from COVID until 26 weeks+, but if you're dealing with anyone who might be violent etc. I'd really recommend telling your line manager/the ward manager early. They'll need to do a risk assessment for you but should still keep the news confidential. Not to lecture you, and you have to make the right choice for you, but this is what I would do!

@DinkBoo glad you've seen a doctor, will be crossing everything for good news from your scan tomorrow! Please let us know how you get on.

@Lori23TTC and @Oilyoilyoilgob will be crossing fingers for your SI and FW and swimmers getting to those eggs! 🤞🙏

@MrsKin90 Thank you, fellow NHS employee! You are absolutely right and I didn't for a moment felt I was being lectured! 👩🏻‍🏫
Our clients are in the ward because of incidences of violence and aggression, so I will speak to my manager immediately. Right now she's off with COVID, along with other staff, so the ward is in lockdown and only allows nursing and medics in and therefore I'm working from home anyway.
I honestly don't mind telling people, I'm terrible at keeping secrets anyway, it's just that I'm not sure I have processed it properly myself!

@eloiseislost thank you for the link that looks yummy! X

@MrsKin90 thanks lovely... how are you getting on? Xx

@eloiseislost if you're working at home it isn't so bad! I think maybe telling someone might help it to sink in if that's what you want 😊

@Lori23TTC oh I'm okay thank you, over here in crazy-ville AKA Symptom Spotting Land. 8dpo today! Trying not to read into them but it's so impossible 😂 you'd think by now my head would learn.

Hello ladies! Love coming to mumsnet and finding plenty of posts to read from your lovely selves 🥰

@DinkBoo keeping everything crossed for you for positive news and so sorry you are going through this stress. Let us know when you know more! 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼 & @eloiseislost look at that line!! Definitely getting nice and strong.

@MrsKin90 oooh 8DPO, exciting - but also totally nerve wrecking, I bet! Hope this is your cycle. ❤️

For everyone in the fertile week, good luck! 8dpo for me today, supposedly ovulating in 4-5 days but uber confused by digital OPKs and ao now I think it might be sooner. We inseminated last night and plan to do every other night. We got the vaginal applicators - I really like them!! The rounded shape is so much nicer and somehow the wider opening makes me hope that maybe there’s a smaller chance of sperm damage?? The things we get excited by while SI-ing 😂😂😂

Sorry, I’m CD8, not 8DPO duh!

@primrosechill I'll be interested to know when you ovulate! Fingers crossed for you! I looked at the vaginal applicators but couldn't believe they have the same suction ability 😂 do they?! I'm glad they're working for you 😊

@eloiseislost that is most definitely darker, how exciting! I’m delighted for you 😊 tell work when you feel ready and I wouldn’t worry if it’s before twelve weeks. With Covid and any threat of your personal safety it’s better to err on the side of caution.
Pleased to hear you’re working from home at the minute, hope that carries on for a bit.
The chai tea sounds amazing, I love chai or spiced flavours. Definitely getting!

@DinkBoo I really hope your scan goes ok today, thinking of you and sending positive thoughts your way. Take it easy 💚

@Lori23TTC hello fellow fertile week partner! I hope this is our week ☺️ I did an opk yesterday aft which was dark but not on par with the control line and did another last night that was fainter. I’ve been bad this month and not done them but I’m not beating myself up about it. I’m currently si as I type. Wishing you lots and lots of luck for this week 🥰

@MrsKin90 I hope you’re ok, don’t send yourself too mad symptom spotting! As ever over this journey and reading your updates, I’m sending lots of hope and positivity through the airwaves 💖

@primrosechill good luck over the next week or so inseminating, I hope this is your month too! I haven’t tried our digital opks yet, they look confusing! Even if your ovulation is sooner every other day is great! Better to start early ☺️

Can I please check which applicators you’re using again? I still have our 200 syringes I bought by accident as my husband buys the cups that also come with syringes. We look like syringe perverts 😬
Sometimes the tip can be a bit uncomfy esp first thing in the morning. Thank you xx

Hahaha @Oilyoilyoilgob we also have one of these 200 syringes boxes - in fact I think we might even have two because we ordered different sizes.

We bought these applicators: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07FT92XLQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?psc=1&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&ie=UTF8 To answer your question, @MrsKin90, I found the suction to be just as good on these. The only issue is that there were some extra air bubbles, so if you're one of those people who are super concerned about these, it might not be ideal. But yeah, the rounded shape was super nice compared to the syringe.

So my digital OPKs gave me a static smiley today (peak) - I am utterly confused because when I dismounted the test, the test line was nowhere near as dark as the control line! Same on the cheapie. I will continue testing on cheapies and if I get a darker line, I'm officially a CB non-believer haha. But I have also decided not too obsess about OPKs too much and just stick to the every-other-day approach - round two tonight!

@primrosechill I'm not 100% sure on the specifics of this, but the CB digital sticks are not like normal OPKs because they measure two hormones against a recorded baseline. So the two lines are not test and control, they are both test lines for different hormones. If you look closely, there's a wee circle on top, divided in two and there's some dye in there as well. No idea exactly how it works, but I'm fairly sure you're not supposed to interpret them as a regular OPK.
Having said all that, I hated CB digital and switched back to OPKs because they worked just fine for me!

@MrsKin90 hope your not going to mad with symptom spotting (I’m the same) we have been ttc pretty much the same amount of time so I know what you mean about shouldn’t I know my body after all this time but every month seems to being something different and then the hopes go up! Fingers crossed for you. Re the applicators I really do prefer them (I also have a box of 100 syringes 🤣) I think they suck up just fine but do it slowly, I just push the bubbles out the top and off I go.

@Oilyoilyoilgob I have also been doing OPKs and I’ve had high for 4 days! This mornings one didn’t seem as dark as yesterday so I’m non the wiser but we have SI everyday since Monday just in case. Yesterday I had cramps and was bloated which is ovulation signs for me so I feel like I have but my bbt hasn’t gone up 🤷‍♀️ Not sure if I should skip tonight and so tomo but I’ll see how I feel!
How often are you SI? Do you always do it in the mornings? I do it before bed but then I always feel so gross as it all dribbles out 🤣 I never no how long to leave it before I go for a wee?!

@eloiseislost really well explained! @primrosechill I’ve never used a CB test I just stick with the cheap ones! Good luck! X

I only buy 20 syringes at a time 😂 am I being too hopeful? If no success this cycle I'll look into the applicators 😊

I did go a bit crazy with symptom spotting 😳 but I'm 9dpo and most of them have gone away so must have been just reading into it! I had more terrible cramps yesterday, the kind that make you gasp or stop mid sentence so I'm sure people at work think I'm nuts 😂 they're not entirely wrong! So I was hopeful I'd wake up feeling pregnant but nope.

@eloiseislost that's really interesting! I always knew they worked a bit differently to cheapie ones but didn't know in what way 😊

Thanks for all your good wishes, I was genuinely thinking of you all giving me a virtual hand hold whilst trying not to freak out in the EPU.

We have a bean with a heartbeat! . And either a collapsed cyst, or a bleed of some kind, or a lost twin (suspicion seems to be the latter).

I should be about 7 and a half weeks, but measuring 5.5 which I think I was more worried by than they were.

Another scan booked for around next week (my brain may not be back to fully functioning yet) to check up on everything. I may have to actually start believing I am actually pregnant (with obvious reservations about not counting chickens).

Thank you all again so much, you have no idea how much I owe to you all in getting to this point. I did a lot of lurking on the first thread

I hope from the bottom of my heart that everyone has their lucky month very soon.

And am now off to collapse in a big heap with a brew.

@DinkBoo YESSS! I'm so thrilled for you, must be such a relief

@eloiseislost thanks for your input - I think the bottom line is, even if I know to the second when my ovulation starts, it still doesn't guarantee a pregnancy so might as well do it every other day, hope for the best and stop stressing about the weird - and may I add, VERY expensive - OPKS! ;)

@DinkBoo congratulations that’s fab news!! 🥰 xxx

@DinkBoo Doing a victory dance here!! 💃🏻 So happy for you! I hope you have a well-deserved relaxing evening. 💞

@primrosechill You are absolutely right, if something is stressing you out, there's no place for it in your life. Especially if it's pricey as well!
Best of luck, looking forward to hearing happy news from you and everyone here!!🤞🏼💞🧚🏼‍♀️

@DinkBoo Amazing news! Have been thinking about you all morning. A little heartbeat!! How lush. Super congratulations 😊