At home ICI

[MrsT8509]

So, long story short, been ttcing for 18month, 1 early loss last March and nothing since. We've both had all our tests done, all mine normal, husband SA all normal and on the high side except for morphology at 3%. We have a follow up with gp on Fri and he will send referral for fertility clinic which he said at last appt. 18 months has completely taken any romance out of trying. My husband over the last few months has started feeling the pressure and i'd probably say 7 times out of 10, he struggles, which leads to me getting upset and so on and so on. So we decided this month to just have sex when we want, but leading up to ovulation we would ICI at home. We set ourselves up with the stuff we would need, sterile cups, syringes etc. Well what a nice experience it was. No pressure, i just told my husband when my tests were getting dark and he just did it when there was no pressure each day leading up to my peak (today) and will do again tomorrow. Please don't judge or choice to do this. I was just wondering if anybody has done this aswell with fresh sperm and had any success?

Hi, no experience to share I’m afraid but I’ve been wondering if this might be an idea for us. TTC makes DTD so awkward and I don’t want to have to continue like this for much longer as I’m worried it will spoil it altogether.

i think it’s really strong and mature of you both to face in to the fact it’s become a problem, and address it with a practical solution that suits both of you.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you and please do update with how you get on xx

@Sierra26 Thank you so much for your kind reply. It really has taken any stress out of timings, and to be honest m, doing it this way, we've actually given ourselves more chances than usual. We will still have sex, but just as and when we feel like it and not when we have to. If it happens to fall at the right time, then thats a bonus. I think it's something you should definitely consider if you're in the same boat as me. I've researched at length and there is just as much chance it happening this way as there is with sex. I will definitely let you know x

We've been ttc for dc2 for over 5 years (including 4 miscarriages), surgeries, ivf etc and I'm pretty sure 2 of those pregnancies, definitely at least one, were from when we used a cup and syringe, one was ivf, one pre cup and syringe days. As you say, ttc sex for years is just shit, and it did us both good to do it this way sometimes.

@seven201 I'm sorry for your losses. It's reassuring to know that one possibly two of your pregnancies were a result of this method. We've done -2 O, -1 O, O day, and day after, which is the most we have managed in a long time doing it the traditional way, so i'll keep positive and keep everything crossed 🤞🏻 x

I could have wrote this out myself. We are doing this next cycle. Currently going through a miscarriage and we would like to try just dtd for dtd and not having the pressure of baby making and then on the days around ovulation and on we will be doing what you said and using the fetrililly cup too x

Have you all purchased a specific kit to do this, can you get them ‘prescribed’, where do you start?? Xx

@Sierra26 i just got my bits of Amazon. Sterile specimen pots and 1ml syringes. You can grt syringes that hold 3-5 ml aswell, but i just use the 1ml and if there is more than one syringe worth, i'll just keep refilling til it's gone. You can get kits from websites specialising in this, but the stuff i have does just the same job xx

Hi, really late to these post but just wondering how you got on?

my husband and I have now reached a point where we’ve bought a kit to try in my next O phase at end of Aug.

Any tips or advice? X