Yogurt pot yuppies, sexy basters and UFO discs - part 3

[eloiseislost]

Starting yet another thread on self insemination before our second one locks down!

Welcome to THE most supportive group you could wish for if you’re starting or you are already on a self insemination journey.
Remember, nothing is TMI and you are not alone. 💖

Calling the usual suspects, in no particular order (and sorry if I missed anyone 😊):
@ComebackQueen
@Makingnumber2
@Janefx40
@AdriannaP
@MrsKin90
@primrosechill
@bigsweetpotato
@Sydney1986x
@Bluey18
@Birchybirch
@Lori23TTC
@Cathie102
@Labrat3
@DinkBoo
@Oilyoilyoilgob

Let it rain BFPs!!! 🐣

@Oilyoilyoilgob Somewhat predictably, I was impatient and did another digital today (20DPO) and got 3+ 😵 I know it's doesn't say much about viability but it's nice to know there is some progress so far. Still utterly terrified and worried though, it's very early!

In terms of spillage with the discs, I found you can't avoid it. There was always a bit that escaped, but, hey, it still worked! 😄
A lot of TMI follows:
In terms of insertion, I prefer to squat over a towel on the bathroom floor. I put some conceive+ lubricant on the rim of the soft disc to make sure it doesn't get stuck or anything. Then I squeeze it in the middle so it looks like an 8 and start pushing it in. It's important that the disc is always parallel to the floor, if you tilt it, it will spill. (A lot depends on the quantity and the consistency of the semen. DH produces quite a lot and watery semen, quite possibly why I always had spills.)
Once it is in, keep pushing until it's tucked under the pubic bone.
The first time it was all a bit daunting, consequent times the whole process took 10 seconds!
Best of luck!

I'm so sorry again for your girl. 💔
You will get your BFP eventually, you are doing all the right things. It's about being patient and turning disappointment into determination to try again. Some days it's easy to do that, some days it's not -and that's OK. 😘 virtual hug 🤗

@eloiseislost oh great! Congratulations!! How exciting. Hope the next daunting days go quickly for you.

@Oilyoilyoilgob thank you! My scan is tomorrow and I am already imagining worst case scenario. It’s really not an easy journey!
Big hug also from me. It’s a tough journey (and it’s already harder for us) and I so wish you your BFP soon. Consider trying something to help relax like mindfulness or meditation. I spent a small fortune on acupuncture (not sure it helped or not!!).

@AdriannaP Good luck on your scan, I'll be thinking of you! 💞 I'm sure everything will be OK, keep us posted!

@eloiseislost oh wow-amazing on the 3+ weeks! I’m relieved for you just seeing that!
Thank you ever so much for such a detailed explanation, I’ve never used anything like this before. I think I’ll practice with a little bit of pre-seed in the disc itself to try and get to grips with it.
Thank you for the virtual hug, your kind words throughout have really helped 💚

@AdriannaP thank you too, I will get back into my mindfulness and try with some cbt to be kind to my brain. We’ll get there I’m sure on the bfp 🤞🏻
Thinking of you for tomorrow, I’m hoping and praying for you that all is ok xx

@Oilyoilyoilgob Thank you, it makes me feel slightly hopeful. 🙂

I don't know if I posted this before but this is a video for soft discs: . It explains it well and has good visuals with the see-through model!
Good idea to practice with preseed! I hope it goes well, let me know if you have more questions! 😉

@eloiseislost that is brilliant news about the CB saying now 3 weeks! Definitely shows good progression of HCG levels.

@Oilyoilyoilgob good luck with the soft discs- this was first cycle I used and only used them once out of our 5 days of SI, on the day I got my peak OPK. Hard to say if it was exactly that that made the difference but not much else had changed about our approach. I syringed first then left syringe in for 15 mins, O-d and then removed syringe and put soft disc in whilst lying down. It was very easy to insert lying down. I think that with more practice it would get easy to remove too- although as it was my first and only time using it I got panicked and was ringing a friend etc! I left it in for 6 hours before removal. Hope your trials with them and then SI with them go well!

@AdriannaP only one more day to go now- hope you're feeling ok and not too on edge. I totally agree with your suggestion of mindfulness it has helped me so much over the last 7 years since I got an anxiety diagnosis and the more you practice it the easier it gets I found.

Oh and I forgot to say my line this morning was much darker so I am starting to feel less worried 🤞🏻🤞🏻
Blue strip was first test.

@Makingnumber2 Great progression!! 👏🏼 How many DPO are you today?

I'm 15dpo today I think. Still feels like such early days- I kinda wish I could fast forward to like the 8 week mark!

@Makingnumber2 You and me both! I want to book an early scan but I'm not sure yet. I haven't even registered with the EPU. I'll give it another week!

Ahh cool- dpo buddies! I have registered with the midwives this morning because last pregnancy I was under perinatal team and I remember it took ages to get referred. I had horrendous anxiety and depression throughout all of my 1st tri last time and perinatal team didn’t pick me up til like week 11

@Makingnumber2 Oh the "you and me both" was for the wishing to fast forward to the 8 week mark! 😅 I'm 20DPO so slightly ahead of you.
I might phone the EPU, I must be brave! I'm due my second dose of the vaccine soon so best to have a discussion with midwives before making any decisions.

Ohhhh sorry- reading too fast as usual! I did think you had said you were in the late teens dpo-wise but I've never had a head for numbers it must be said!
I am sure the EPU will be super lovely and can advise you about early scans etc. Places like ultrasound direct and babybond do early scans too for like £45 for a dating scan (may have been looking at them yesterday....) I had one at 7w4d with DC1 to try and help ease my anxiety about whether everything was going as it should. At the very early ones think they only look for a yolk sac and fetal pole and if size seems online with date of LMP. It was reassuring for me at the time to see all that though.
And yes- definitely a good idea to chat to midwife before second dose of vaccination!

@Makingnumber2 Phoned the EPU and explained, the woman on the phone was lovely and she said the midwives will call me in a couple of weeks. I don't think they offer any reassurance scans though, especially not now with COVID. I will have to go private, there's a few places in the area. I'll have a think about that in a week or so.

For whoever is curious, in the interest of science 😂 I took apart all my CB digitals with weeks to find out how they work. Fascinating, really, the things they come up with to take our money! 💸

@eloiseislost I think I got offered an early scan as I had 3 previous miscarriages. I have a high risk pregnancy anyway (due to previous PE) so I expect to get 4 more scans (I did with my first pregnancy).
My SIL in Germany gets one scan every four weeks! We can only dream!!

@eloiseislost did you ever see this thread on Twitter?

twitter.com/foone/status/1301707401024827392?s=21

And this one - fascinating
twitter.com/crunkcomputing/status/1292930670583406592?s=21

@eloiseislost

How did it go *@Bizawit*? 🙂

@eloiseislostI’ll let you know in 2 weeks! I think it went ok, but no idea if I got in round my cervix. Great news on the 3+ 🥳😚

@Makingnumber2 that’s great line progression 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻.

I’m bloating so much today so must be about to ovulate. 🤞🏻 I was meant to temp this month but never remember to do it in the morning 🤦🏼‍♀️.

@AdriannaP I hope the scans give you reassurance throughout the pregnancy! 🙂 My cousins back in Greece got scans every 4 weeks with their pregnancies too. I think that's a bit excessive but the standard 2 scans from the NHS is pretty poor.

@Bizawit If you had no leakage, then it went in the right place! 😉 Fingers crossed it worked!! 💞

@eloiseislost I don't get how the weeks predictor strip manages to ping up a number of weeks on the digital display?? That bit has blown my mind a bit... Apart from that though it looks disappointingly like any other standard HCG strips!

@AdriannaP it's great you'll be monitored more frequently throughout this pregnancy- help to keep worries at bay definitely in our dreams we would be getting as standard a scan every month!

@Bizawit glad the soft disc SI went well and sounds like you timed it perfectly with the ovulation bloating just starting up. Will keep everything crossed for you!

[quote eloiseislost]@Makingnumber2 Phoned the EPU and explained, the woman on the phone was lovely and she said the midwives will call me in a couple of weeks. I don't think they offer any reassurance scans though, especially not now with COVID. I will have to go private, there's a few places in the area. I'll have a think about that in a week or so.

For whoever is curious, in the interest of science 😂 I took apart all my CB digitals with weeks to find out how they work. Fascinating, really, the things they come up with to take our money! 💸[/quote]
That’s really interesting! Thanks for showing us!

@Makingnumber2 I don't think there's any other way to detect hcg at home, or any other hormone for that matter. It has to be a strip with a control line and a test line and some dye. If you think about it, they have a similar system to do urinalyses for protein, infections, etc. So digital HPTs couldn't have been different really.
But what's amazing is that the CB digital has a second strip with low sensitivity and no control line, so it can detect very high amounts of hcg without being affected by the 'hook effect'. The density of that line is read with lasers and it tells you how high your hcg is, i.e.: how many weeks. 🤯

@Makingnumber2 oh wow, amazing lines! Fantastic!

@eloiseislost thank you for the science lesson, I love stuff like this! It’s so, so clever. Good news on just a couple of weeks more for your scan ☺️ Thanks for the video too re softdiscs!

@Bizawit that sounds a good method-I didn’t practice today and tomorrow will be my first time (not SI though) I’m going to try both ways-laying down and standing up. I’ll message you all on here if I (and the softdisc) get stuck 😅

@MrsKin90 you don’t have to answer but hope you’re doing ok xx

@Makingnumber2 great line progression! 🙏🏼🤞🏻