IUI- anyone else?

[Artesia]

After 18 months ttc with no joy, DP and I had a full battery of tests, but came back as a very frustrating case of unexplained infertility.

Given DP's age, we decided we didn't want to just wait and see if we got lucky naturally, so we're now in our first cycle of IUI- had my trigger shot yesterday, and going in for insemination this afternoon. Am ridiculously nervous - way more than I thought I would be- but trying not to get my hopes up as I know the stats for IUI.

Anyone else going through IUI at the moment and fancy some mutual support and hand holding?

[HesterShaw]

Hello all, this just popped up in Active Convos. It's as thought it was meant to be...

I am currently undergoing IUI, the first of four possible rounds before a round of IVF, thought I doubt I'll do all four. I'm 38, TTC for three years, all unexplained apart from a rather low AMH.

Trigger shot tonight at 10pm - eeek - ready for the squirting with the turkey baster on Thursday morning. Had scan yesterday morning and apparently there are three fat follicles and a nice fat womb lining. I was injecting buserilin and puregon for nine days.

Congratulations on your BFP Artesia! First time too - that's pretty good going!

Everyone else, hello and hope you don't mind me crashing in.

[Artesia]

Welcome aboard Hester! What fab timing for us to pop up in active convos! How are you feeling today? three follicles and a good lining sounds perfect, so fingers crossed all goes well tomorrow. You never know, could end up with triplets!!!

Hope everyone else is doing well today? I actually wanted to ask a general q- do you all mind me lurking around on here, at least until my scan in 2 weeks? Still feeling hugely nervous that something will go wrong, or they will spot something disastrous at the scan, and feels to early to hang up my iui boots and say am done with it.

X

[HesterShaw]

If there was ever a couple who most emphatically was NOT set up for triplets it was us

[tillyann2013]

Hi everyone and welcome on board Hester. 3 juicy follicles, fingers crossed. Best of luck for tomorrow, is this your first time iui?

Art, of course we don't mind. Stay here as long as you want as far as I'm concerned.

I'm on day 30 and nothing. No sign of af at all yet. Not getting any hopes up though as didn't do iui this time. Wish it would hurry the eff up!

[Artesia]

Well I have my fingers firmly crossed that your AF doesn't arrive Tilly!! Have you managed to hold out, or cracked and tested yet just in case?

Very best of luck tomorrow Hester and hope scan went well today Slainte

[HesterShaw]

Thank you. Yes it's my first one. I have zero hope I freely admit, so I'm looking at it as an interesting exercise.

[Artesia]

How did you get on today Hester? Hope all went well

[HesterShaw]

Thanks for asking. Went well I think. MrH apparently had a "good sample" and then in it went. Not a pleasant process but a means to an end it was the biggest damn speculum I've ever seen and hurt but never mind. Testing the weekend of the 27th.

[Artesia]

Well done MrH!!

And obv well done you too! Hope you are taking it easy tonight? I know what you mean about the speculum. I was so horrified I made DP look at pictures of them so he could share my anguish!

[tillyann2013]

Great news Hester, fingers crossed xx

[WeeNoggi]

Sorry to be away for so long. The IUI didn't go very well as DH's sample wasn't too good . The lab phoned the doctor to see if they wanted to still bother doing the IUI. Depressing - the last analysis said he was great but around 5 mths ago. Now the docs are talking about IVF - I hate the whole idea of it.

Congrats Artesia - that's great. I've got those horrible progesterone things too but no wind!! Maybe that's a pregnancy thing?

[HesterShaw]

Sorry to hear that WeeNoggi :(

It amazes me how much sperm samples can vary over a short period of time, both for the good and the bad. Re the IVF, what do you hate the thought of most? Might help to articulate it. And also, how invasive an iui have you been doing.

Personally I'm trying to look at probable ivf as just one step along from the iui. With this process I've just done the whole daily injections, triggers, scans and so on. Now I have the evil progesterone arse bullets . But I know that some iui's are a lot less regimented than that.

[Slainte]

Hi all
Promise to catch up soon but just wanted to hop in to say to Hester are you sure your pessaries aren't to be inserted vaginally? Mine were.

[HesterShaw]

Nope defintely up the arse Believe me, I wouldn't go inserting things into my rectum without checking 100%.

Actually, it can be either, according to other MN inserters of progesterone bullets. But apparently, up the fanjo means more leakage. The bum holds onto them tighter.

Don't you just LOVE this process? [hmm[

[HesterShaw]

Hmm fail. I'll try again

[WeeNoggi]

What happened Hester?

Not enjoying the leakage over here - it's greasy (bleugh tmi!!)

My IUI has been relatively straightforward so far: just one injection, a couple of ultrasounds & the leaky bullets.

I'd prefer to work on healthy living & improving DH's sperm count before contemplating IVF even if that means beating him with a stick until he goes to the pool for the first time in a decade

Only problem being that I turned 35 last month and feel like I fell off a big fertility cliff if you believe the literature!

[HesterShaw]

35??? Try being 38!!!!





What happened? In terms of the iui, you mean? Well, first I was on the pill for four weeks or so, to turn off my natural cycle. Then I had something amounting to a period. Then on day 2 of that I started daily injections for nine days of puregon and buserilin. Then I had a scan where they saw three follies. Then I did the trigger shot and then the insertion. And now the arsebullets.

So all in all, quite like ivf only not as long.

[tillyann2013]

Hi all, how you all doing? Those arse bullets sound nasty Hester. Who cares though if it gets you where you need to be eh?

My af is still missing in action, not a bloody inkling. Day 35. I'm wondering if the bleeding on day 15 was actually my af?? Flip knows what's going on with my dodgy 37 year old body!!!

[ScarlettInSpace]

Hi everyone, thought I'd say helloooooo! I'm waiting to start in my opinion pointless IUI, CD22 today and assuming my cycle falls into the NHS timetable and CD1 falls on Friday, Saturday or Sunday this weekend then off we go. Due on Monday but usually spot/sore boobage for 3-4 days so have plenty of warning if I decide to lie stretch the truth slightly on the actual CD1...

I'm 36, on cycle 27, 1 tube [R removed in 1999 following ectopic], AMH 4.22, FSH 12, diagnosis of DOR, 1 abandoned IVF last year [1 follicle] and 1 failed ICSI last month [got 3 eggs, they fertilised abnormally so baaaad eggs], IUI is the remaining funded option. Get 3 gos but they will abandon if dominant follie on R side due to lack of tube so could be on the IUI wagon for the next 6 months

Taking every supplement & vitamin known to man, including DHEA.

Also decided that I am going to live life as normal [for which read 'not stop drinking wine'] throughout IUI as I've put enough of my life on hold for all this and it just puts too much pressure on me otherwise...

Oh yes and I seem to have morphed into a grumpy, tearful, miserable witch in recent months

Phew didn't mean to take so long!!

[HesterShaw]

Hi Scarlett. Makes you larf bitterly how your cycle needs to fall on a weekday doesn't it? You sound as though you have had a convoluted path and that's for sure.

What made you decide on the DHEA? I have been taking that too on the advice from other MNers who have had fertility treatment, but I know that it is frowned upon by others.

You can come and sit here in the grumpy, tearful, miserable witch corner if you like. I am prone to suddent fits of impotent fury though so you may not want to

I forgot to add when I said hello that I was supposed to start all this bollocks at Christmas, but they cancelled on the day because the consultant was ill, then the next round was supposed to start in January but they suddenly looked at my notes and saw that I had had unexplained allergies in the last few years every now and again, so they said no treatment for you until you get to the bottom of that. So I had to wait for another referral for that, and get this, there is no allergy clinic in the whole of Cornwall so I had to go back and forth to Plymouth. The consultant there couldn't get to the bottom of it so he wrote to the FC and said get on with it, she's no spring chicken, or words to that effect.


It's such a giant pile of streaming shit isn't it?

[ScarlettInSpace]

Hiya hester

I was really undecided about DHEA, the day after the ICSI fail last month we went in to see my consultant [who is far more optimistic than me!] and as egg quality was top of the list as A Potential Problem as it was the reason the embryos were abnormal, she said she is not allowed to suggest it but if she could she would definitely recommend it in my case and would suggest I took 75mg per day, if she was in a position to say such a thing, which she's not

So I took that as a pretty big nudge

There is a chance the max stims I was on [with no down reg, I had a shitty response to buserelin the first time] compromised the egg quality but I am lying when I tell people I think that's the actual reason

So far so good, no Anchorman moustache or Brian Blessed voice changes to report, and I'm pretty sure my sex drive has gone up too. Which is probably a good thing.

That sounds like a lot of faffing about! Bet you wished you'd never told them about the odd sneeze in the past! I've been through the system pretty quick really, not sure how good that is though, I think the grumpy tears are often driven by a feeling of being on a fast ride that I can't get off and don't control [I'm a control freak]

[HesterShaw]

God, you've got that right! I was raging, absolutely raging!

I have heard that, that doctors won't recommend DHEA as such, but there is a lot of evidence to show that it could help. I have several friends whose AC worked first time and they were taking it. So you weren't taking it when you had you ICSI fail?

Luckily my nipples remain hair free and I had quite a low voice anyway.

[Happilymarried155]

Wow! I'm so glad I'm part of this thread, I didn't even know about this hideous arse bullets! At least il be prepared now! X

[Artesia]

Happily if it makes you feel any better, I don't have greasy arse bullets I have wind-inducing squirty fanjo cream instead

Oh the glamour........

[Happilymarried155]

I can't wait ;) two weeks and counting!!!