IUI

What is IUI?

Intrauterine Insemination (A.K.A. IUI or AI [artificial insemination]) is usually the first treatment after fertility meds. It's a fairly easy procedure and relatively cheap compared to other alternatives such as IVF.

When is it used?

IUI is typically used in instances of unexplained infertility, cervical mucus problems, and sperm issues (low count or motility).

What goes on during an IUI?

• Typically, but not always, you are given Clomid to stimulate your ovaries. 

• Your follicles will be monitored by ultrasound and when they are of proper size, you will be given an hCG shot to stimulate the release of the eggs. 

• Your partner (if not using a sperm donor) will produce a sample. After, the sperm are "washed" to separate the sperm from the seminal fluid.

• Using a thin tube called a catheter, the doctor will inject the sperm directly into the uterus through your cervix. This process increases the possibility of conception by putting the maximum amount of sperm directly in the uterus.

How successful is IUI?

The average success rate is 10%-20% in one cycle. Women under 35 have higher rates of success than women over 35.

Check out this video on IUI HERE!

Proof Your Temps Are Unreliable For Indicating Pregnancy

I'm on CD32 and 13DPO. Pregnancy test status BFN. Chances are...I'm not pregnant. Unless I implanted REALLY late (which is unlikely), AF should be here in 2-3 days.

But that's not the point of this post. The point is chart obsessing. I LOVE analyzing my chart for every little thing (and there's nothing wrong with this. Do what makes the 2WW go faster for you). And Fertility Friend has a nifty little feature that allows you to search charts and then overlay yours on top of theirs. So that's exactly what I did. And this is what I found.

My temps are the ones in purple and the chart I compared it to is in green. That person was pregnant and got their first positive test on 10DPO. I was more and more hopeful by the day. Our temps were SO similar, especially during and right after ovulation. Looking at my chart I had what everyone wants to see. High temps that kept rising and maybe even a possible implantation dip around 10DPO. But unfortunately, I am not pregnant and it doesn't seem likely that I will get a positive in the next few days. (I would love it if it would happen though and would gladly eat my words!) If my temps stay high past 16DPO and I haven't gotten my period yet, I can start to assume that I am in fact pregnant but the timeframe they usually tell you to stick with is 18DPO. If you are 18DPO or more and still haven't gotten AF and your temps are high, you can pretty much be sure you're pregnant. I expect my temp to dive very soon.

Bottom line is, you can obsess all you want over your chart but the only thing that will tell you that you are pregnant is an HPT or a blood test.

Well, You Already Have One...

Ah, people can be so charming can't they? If you are TTC your second child (whether you had an easy or difficult time with the first) and are having a difficult time conceiving, this little gem comes up often. People think that just because we have one child, our goal is complete or that we should not even want another because we already got what we wanted. But it goes so much deeper than that. How can you explain to someone that your family isn't complete? Especially if that person has had no problem conceiving their 245366564 kids. 

Simply put? Tell them to stick it. They are never going to understand what your complete family will feel like to you and they will never understand the tears, the money, the hormones (gawd the hormones!), the disappointment, the procedures, the tests, and the frustration we endure to make our families "complete" (And let's not forget the downright soul crushing sight of those people having 2455467357 kids).

It's hard to explain to anyone who doesn't truly understand what you are going through how it makes you feel and sometimes, people say things that are meant with good intentions, but come out terribly wrong (most notably family and close friends). And then there are the people who don't even care to try to see how it makes you feel and say things out of genuine stupidity not giving a care of how it could affect you. 

Try explaining to the people with good intentions that your family just isn't complete with one baby. Make them understand that it's just a feeling you have that you "aren't done" and try to see if they can relate to the feeling of being done or not done. That will be the easiest way to make the people who care about you understand.

For the other people...

There's really no hope. We haven't found a cure for stupidity yet and it's not looking like we will ;)

What Does This All Mean?

When you first start charting, it can all seem a bit overwhelming. There are a lot of different things you can see on a chart from when you "BD" to what kind of cervical fluid you have.

Let's start with the data input. (Click pics to enlarge)

This is where you put all your info in. You get here by clicking the day of the month you are on. On the main screen, you have a spot for your temp, what time you took your temp at, what kind of cervical fluid you have (Dry, Sticky, Creamy, Watery, Egg White), whether you have your period or spotting (with options of spotting, light, medium, and heavy) and whether or not you "BD'd" or had insemination (Yes, AM, PM, Both, No, IUI, IVF Retrieval). You also have the option to make any notes that could pertain to that specific day (ex. Had HSG today).

On the Secondary tab is the page to record what your cervix is like that day.

For position you have Low, Medium, High. For texture you have Firm, Medium, Soft and with opening you have Closed, Medium, Open.

Next is the Tests tab

On this page you can mark whether you got a postive (+) or negative (-) OPK (ovulation test), a + or - pregnancy test, if your fertility monitor is at Low, High, or Peak, if your ferning test is None, Partial, or Full and if your OV Watch is at Non Fertile (NF), Fertile Day 1,2,3,4  OV Day 1 or 2 (ovulation day) and Less Fertile Day 1or 2.

Next is the Specific tab

First off, yours will not look this long. I've added different signs as I've been charting (as you can as well by clicking the Add/Remove Signs link at the bottom) so initially, yours will be a bit shorter. This section is self explanatory. You have a symptom, you click the box. That's all. All of these signs will be color coded and numbered and put below your chart. And you can put your mood and energy levels in there too.

Up next, the Meds tab

Simply click the box of what med you are taking on what days. You can also add your own (I've added Birth Control and Soy Isoflavones).

Custom tab

This is where you can add whatever custom data you want using the Add/Remove link.

And finally, the Appointments tab

Put in any appointments you want to remember (although honestly we all use our phones for that these days!).

A Little Humor To Start The Morning

The 28 Day Cycle Is More Of A Myth

We're made to believe from day 1 that a woman's menstrual cycle is 28 days long with ovulation occurring on CD14. Some women do fit this but the majority don't. This could be one reason as to why you aren't conceiving. In order to conceive, you have to time intercourse properly. If you think you ovulate (or "O") on CD 14 and time intercourse accordingly and are shocked to end up "late" but not pregnant, it could be that you are wrong about your "O" date. This is why from TTC day 1 it is a good idea to keep track of your cycles (Try Fertility Friend!) Some women "O" before CD14 and some "O" much later. (When I conceived my daughter my ovulation day was CD49). You've got about 12-24 hours to fertilize that egg and if you aren't having sex at the right time, you are missing out on a chance to get pregnant. (Keep in mind a healthy couple only has a 20% chance each cycle) And once you ovulate, your chances are done. You're fertile in the 3-5 days leading up to ovulation, but not after.

So basically the time from your period to ovulation can vary. Whether it's cycle to cycle or once in a while, you may not ovulate on the same day every month. However, the time from ovulation until your period (luteal phase) should not vary much. Varying 1-2 days is not much of a concern but if your LP is jumping between 10 days and 16 days, you should bring it up to your doctor. Also if your LP is short (less than 10 days) your body isn't giving a fertilized egg enough time to implant before shedding the endometrial lining so you should bring that up to your doctor for sure.

I'm Sure We All Have Felt This Way

Let's Get This Started!

WELCOME!

This is the place to soak up all the information you want/need about trying to conceive (TTC).

My facebook page on TTC wouldn't allow me any permanent documents to help with the flow of easily accessible information (guess I should have done a group maybe) so here is where you will find it!

Good luck to everyone and *~BABY DUST~*