Home insemination

[FSGirl]

Wondering if anyone has experience with this?
DH and I are TTC our second but he has been struggling with work and family stress - high pressure role and family illness. We both want this badly but DH is feeling some performance pressure and not ejaculating / losing erection during sex. It’s frustrating for us both when I’m ovulating and really get us both down.
I just wondered if anyone had successfully tried home insemination? I think it’s a good idea so we can be a bit more spontaneous with sex and take any pressure off but reassured that we have more chance of conceiving by adding this into the routine.
I have bought some bits off amazon (flat head syringes, “specimen” cups 😂and a cheapy conception cup type thing)
any hand holding / reassurance / experiences greatly appreciated.
It feels strange and clinical to be considering it but I am a bit hormone baby crazy and willing to give anything a go, but feel a bit embarrassed talking to anyone IRL about it because of taboo around ED.

@LavenderSweetPea i was going to ask how long between sample collection and use. So 15 minutes but leave it at room temp during that time?

We are exactly the same @CurlyWurly1991 and before we were trying it was never an issue for either of us but now TTC it was like oh wait we actually do need that bit to be consistent and that’s where the pressure comes in!

@FSGirl yeah I'd say 15 minutes should do it. Definitely room temperature, don't put it in the fridge or anything that wouldn't be good for the swimmers!

@mosiacmaker TwoPlus says leave it for 20min to liquidise.

@CurlyWurly1991 same issue for my other half! Not an issue at all when not TTC but kinda makes the process difficult 😂🙈 I'd say 90+% of the time he doesn't finish so there's no point in even putting him in such a stressful position when there's a good alternative ☺️ my accupuncturist actually thinks it's better than sex because the sperm miss the not-very-friendly lower vagina area! So more are likely to get through and onto the right place.

That gives me hope @moosey89 !!

@FSGirl I'm glad, me too! I am keeping everything crossed we all get BFPs soon ☺️

Also my “kit” (random bits and pieces off amazon!) has arrived so just need to wait to get next AF out the way and FSGirl insemination lab is open for business 😂

@FSGirl good luck! When does ovulation hit for you?

@moosey89 I think the first week in October so I will keep you posted, but I also have some of the ovulation sticks to start being more precise because at the moment I’m using my iPhones cycle tracker. Which seems to be quite accurate but when we’re talking cups and syringes I’m going to want to be ever more certain!! How about you?

@FSGirl should be in 6 or 7 days time, so not too long to go!

Hi everyone, hope you don’t mind me chiming in but I’ve ordered the TwoPlus AI kit to try my next cycle, so happy I found this tread and seeing all the success stories! Now I can’t wait for my AF to arrive this week so I can get trying!! Hope everyone is getting on well xx

Hola found this thread after giving DD7m a bottle because she's poorly and has kept me awake all night 🥴🥴 there's a 3 in 5 chance she was conceived this way! We used a Calpol syringe (now discarded!) And a little sistema pot (thoroughly cleaned and currently holding small screws in a tool box). I tried using a fertilily but it didn't work for me, found it messy and unreliable. Wasted a couple of cycles trying to perfect the technique. Good old pillow under the hips for 15 minutes! Didn't know about leaving it to liquify, we did it straight away and I made sure to orgasm as it's supposed to help things along. Best of luck to you!

Hi @Gkb90 no you’re very welcome to chime in and I’m glad finding it was useful to you! My AF is in progress so got a little bit of a wait til my first go but hoping I can update after the first few attempts!!!
let us know how you get on too!!

@TeddyBeans thanks for letting us know! That’s really good to hear and I’m glad the sistema pot got a new lease of life - i am all up for recycling but absolutely the calpol syringe was destined for the bin 😂

@TeddyBeans out of interest, is a fertilily a bit like the menstrual cups? I bought a cheapy version as I had read people using them to catch extra semen but wasn’t sure it would be necessary if I did the hips raised technique anyway (which I am planning on doing!!)

@FSGirl yes please! Let me know how you get on, I’ve honestly feel like I’ve tried so many things that this is my last resort, I bought the fertilily conception cup and it was just too messy and didn’t work for me so hoping I’m more successful with this way fingers crossed

Yeah basically! It's quite a bit shallower than a menstrual cup to keep the semen as close to your cervix as possible but I don't see why a cup (if you still want to use it) and hips raised wouldn't do a very similar job anyway

So had a very short period and out of morbid curiosity and not because I am getting obsessed I did an ovulation test (first time doing one as I’ve normally just relied upon my phone app) and had a super faint line! I’ve been poorly the last few days so no better excuse to try with the cup and syringe method!

@FSGirl don't try it too soon though if the ovulation test was negative!

thanks @LavenderSweetPea Yes just been reading up that a faint line is a negative - I thought no line was negative so clearly getting over excited!
my app says fertile period should start Tuesday so I will hold my horses.

@FSGirl keep testing every day (or even twice a day once you think your getting close) and you'll get that positive. Once you do it's 24-48h to ovulation so time to get the cup and syringe out 😉

@FSGirl good luck with your ovulation tests getting darker… I use the Premom app which is great for getting numbers and anything above 0.7-0.8 for me I consider basically a peak. I did get a 0.97 this cycle just gone which was great.
Just finished another failed cycle of this method (mixed with usual TTC) and am on to cycle 6. It can be hard to keep going when you’re not sure if you need to change something but sounds like from this thread that it does work and is worth persisting with 🤞

@CurlyWurly1991 sorry to hear this month wasn’t the month but I’ll be keeping everything crossed for the next one for you.
feeling a bit deflated tonight because I am in my fertile window, according to my iPhone health and the Premom app and have been diligently doing the ovulation tests for 4 days. All very light lines on the sticks up until now which is fine, but today I haven’t even had the faintest of lines?! These are super cheap ones and I’m wondering if it’s the me or the tests?
for context CD8, 9 and 10 were 0.35 average and now I am CD11 and my line is getting fainter, and barely registering on the Premom app.
I have a pretty regular cycle so a bit perplexed. (Also new to this so may be confusing myself massively!)

@FSGirl personally I'd ditch the cheap tests and get the easy@home tests that are recommended with the pre mom app. I used some super cheap ones before and they were hopeless. Make sure you're testing after a 3+hour hold, and never first thing in the morning.

How is everyone going?
I did my first at home insemination this evening! And obviously I’m already like am I pregnant yet? Had a good read back through this thread to make sure I’d not missed anything - so thanks for all the excellent tips 😁
The tracking using ovulation sticks was genuinely driving me bonkers so I’ve waited for my normal ovulation signs.
My only worry is that there was a little bit of leakage after I’d removed the syringe so I am hoping it’s actually worked - did this happen for anyone?