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Conception

When's the best time to get pregnant? Use our interactive ovulation calculator to work out when you're most fertile and most likely to conceive.

Original poster

Home insemination

245 replies

FSGirl · 15/09/2023 20:14

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.

OP posts:
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applebee33 · 05/12/2023 09:32

Oh op I feel your pain, back when myself and Dh were younger we had been trying for 2 yrs naturally with nothing happening, our gp advised us to bring a specimen to local hospital for testing. We were told the semen had only 30 mins viability and our hospital was 1.5 hrs away. Being young and not world wise . We arrived into the carp park in the early hours our app was first thing in the morning . Proceeded to do a quick bj in the car and collected the " specimen" in a container the doctor had given us.

Proudly hand it to the nurse who looks at us oddly and our notes, to state oh sorry this specimen needs to be collected here in our private room as you've travelled a long way. We had to tell her it was only a few minutes "old" the absolute embarrassment was like nothing before. We do laugh about it now 15 yrs later .

Pozz · 05/12/2023 10:18

applebee33 · 05/12/2023 09:32

Oh op I feel your pain, back when myself and Dh were younger we had been trying for 2 yrs naturally with nothing happening, our gp advised us to bring a specimen to local hospital for testing. We were told the semen had only 30 mins viability and our hospital was 1.5 hrs away. Being young and not world wise . We arrived into the carp park in the early hours our app was first thing in the morning . Proceeded to do a quick bj in the car and collected the " specimen" in a container the doctor had given us.

Proudly hand it to the nurse who looks at us oddly and our notes, to state oh sorry this specimen needs to be collected here in our private room as you've travelled a long way. We had to tell her it was only a few minutes "old" the absolute embarrassment was like nothing before. We do laugh about it now 15 yrs later .

Brilliant! You must have been mortified! Grin

Sunshineclouds11 · 05/12/2023 12:01

@CurlyWurly1991 congrats!!!

Sunshineclouds11 · 05/12/2023 12:01

@Soulsta Easier to pick up in syringe to insem.
It's pretty thick otherwise.

Gkb90 · 06/12/2023 21:29

@CurlyWurly1991 congrats on your BFP!!

I had my second attempt of using AI today, last cycle I made a total mess of it but today it went a lot better! I’m planning on doing one day ‘traditional’ and the other AI alternating during my fertile days

hope you’re all getting on well x

Hollyhollyt26 · 07/12/2023 17:41

Omg that’s so funny 😂😂
we had some tests done recently - my partner’s came back that he has abnormal shaped sperm. Quite common apparently. Diet, stress, exercise, alcohol can have an impact so hoping he can get it back to a normal shape but at least the mobility and count is ok.

I ordered Bea AI kits - wow they’re so expensive. Second try, it malfunctioned but they sent a replacement kit so will give it another go when in ovulating again. Been nearly a year we’ve been trying with AI and still nothing 😭

I’ve done the insemination part by myself to date, but this month I’m going to get him to do it just to make sure it is as far in as it can go! Fingers crossed 🤞🏻

mosiacmaker · 08/12/2023 13:04

I think I’ve injured my cervix with the syringe. Just a warning to be careful! I was trying to aim it directly but think I must have prodded around too much. Ouch 😖

Soulsta · 08/12/2023 14:38

mosiacmaker · 08/12/2023 13:04

I think I’ve injured my cervix with the syringe. Just a warning to be careful! I was trying to aim it directly but think I must have prodded around too much. Ouch 😖

Ouch! Reading that made my stomach go all weird ....are you okay 😦

Thats a big fear of mine, When did you know you pushed it up too far up, in the moment or a little later ?

mosiacmaker · 08/12/2023 15:27

@Soulsta not in the moment but crampy later and aware of it today. Crampy but not uterus cramps more like… well, sore cervix cramps lol.

It is giving me the absolute horrible feeling like nails on chalkboard 😂😅

Please all learn from my mistakes haha.

wtbpg · 09/12/2023 22:04

LavenderSweetPea · 03/10/2023 07:07

@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.

Sorry I know this is an old comment you made... but why never first thing in the morning for ovulation tests?

LavenderSweetPea · 09/12/2023 22:31

@wtbpg I thiiiiiink it is because people tend to not produce much LH overnight so FMU is unlikely to be positive, even when you would get a positive later in the day. For people with very high LH I'm sure it wouldn't matter so much but I think most tests do advise to to not use FMU

GreenTurtle75 · 09/12/2023 23:55

This is correct. LH typically surges in the morning but takes up to 4 hours to be detected so the advice is to test around 10am–12pm (depending on your sleep schedule) or just with your second wee.

wtbpg · 10/12/2023 09:46

@GreenTurtle75 @LavenderSweetPea ahh thank you so much!! Sounds like ive been doing it wrong as I've been using first morning wee all along (8mo!)

LavenderSweetPea · 10/12/2023 09:49

@wtbpg ahhh, do you ever get positives? If it's not working for you definitely try another time of day. My peak was so short (like 6 hours) i had to test at around 11am and 5pm to make sure I caught it

username121020 · 10/12/2023 21:02

wtbpg · 10/12/2023 09:46

@GreenTurtle75 @LavenderSweetPea ahh thank you so much!! Sounds like ive been doing it wrong as I've been using first morning wee all along (8mo!)

I wouldn't say you are doing wrong. It's more common for a surge to happen later in the day but that certainly doesn't apply to anyone.

What I normally do is test once every evening. And then when I'm about a day or 2 close to ovulation (or when the test looks like it's getting towards my peak), I start testing with FMU, afternoon/evening, and just before bed.

I have had my peak reading with FMU quite a few times. so I would have easily missed my peak if I hadn't have done that as my LH seems to come back down fairly quickly.

wtbpg · 13/12/2023 23:26

LavenderSweetPea · 10/12/2023 09:49

@wtbpg ahhh, do you ever get positives? If it's not working for you definitely try another time of day. My peak was so short (like 6 hours) i had to test at around 11am and 5pm to make sure I caught it

Yes I do get positives!

LavenderSweetPea · 14/12/2023 07:45

@wtbpg that's great! As long as your catching it that's all that matters. You most have a really good strong LH surge which is awesome 😃

wtbpg · 14/12/2023 14:34

We've got no issues with performance and tbh sperm motility / morphology also fine. We've got a healthy child who is almost 2, conceived first try. This time we've been trying for almost a year. Unexplained infertility - as unexplained as it gets.

Given that there's no performance issues do you think we have more chances trying naturally or getting a twoplus syringe to get the sperm further in? Bought the kit but just not sure what would max our chances

Sunshineclouds11 · 14/12/2023 15:03

We were down as unexplained when trying for our first, we had him via IVF.

We got preg second time round, 4th cycle using home insem. I'm not sure what changed or what but it worked for us.
I can't see an issue with trying both.

moosey89 · 14/12/2023 15:49

@wtbpg home artificial insemination kit companies say that there's a slightly increased chance of pregnancy from using kits because it bypasses the lower vagina which can be more 'inhospitable' to sperm but I always take this with a pinch of salt because obviously they're going to say it makes a difference 😆 but I see no harm in either method. It can be good to have kits as a failsafe if you just really aren't in the mood to dtd on your most fertile days.

wtbpg · 14/12/2023 16:59

@moosey89 but obviously by trying one method we take away our chance to try the other (ie if today we have sex then we can't really do AI till tomorrow).

So when you say try both, just alternate days? Just wish we knew for sure which was more effective (but obviously still so much that no one knows!!)

moosey89 · 14/12/2023 17:21

@wtbpg it really depends on your sex life preferences I think and how often you enjoy having sex. If you can use kits to make sure you're still enjoying it every time you dtd then that's great in my opinion as TTC for years wrecked my sex life with my ex.

If you wanted to, you could do SMEP which is quite intense but then when there's the 3 days in a row around ovulation, break it up using a kit on the middle day, or similar.

Sproutofthisworld · 20/12/2023 11:10

Hello everyone! I have name changed as had some privacy concerns with previous name but I wanted to share positive news with you all! I have been testing positive the last few days! 11DPO now and it’s still fairly light but has been darkening since 9DPO. I haven’t told DH yet as want to wait until I’m past due period and get a positive on a digital but just wanted to share that this method works! And was soo much more chill than our other months TTC when I had just lost the will to DTD. Also funny aside, now that I’ve got the positive I suddenly find myself with a sex drive! I feel like the pressure of TTC absolutely tanked mine, combined with my DHs medical issue. So anyway, keep ‘em coming ladies and syringe away!!

LavenderSweetPea · 20/12/2023 11:26

Amazing news! Congratulations @Sproutofthisworld ❤

wtbpg · 20/12/2023 13:01

Amazing news @Sproutofthisworld!! So happy for you ❤️