IUI #1

After a few false starts, I finally made the transition from "thinking" to "trying" in Feb 2010. I started taking Clomid on days 5 through 9 of my cycle. Clomid is a commonly-used drug to stimulate the ovaries and make them produce more follicles. There is a chance of producing twins. On day 12 I began testing for a LH surge that would signal ovulation.

A very kind SMC in Chicago (who got pregnant on her second IUI), gave me a big bag of OPKs (ovulation predictor kits) she no longer needed.

This process is called Peeing On a Stick (POAS), but the test strips I was using actually had to be carefully dipped in a sample of urine, so I had to also get a bunch of little cups. I prefer this method to the peeing on a stick method, as that gets messy. The test sticks you pee on also come with individual plastic casings, which I think makes them a bit more expensive, not to mention a bit more wasteful in terms of resources.

The first time I tested I put the wrong end of the test strip into my pee. Nothing happened except things got soggy, and I didn't know how to read it. Luckily, my friend S had tested a week before, and learned how to use them. When it came time for me to test, we mulled over it through a series of back-and-forth text messages.

I used the OPKs from http://www.early-pregnancy-tests.com/. The strips are basic but inexpensive. The website contains detailed instructions, a video, and a gallery of positive test strips from the maker! On day 14 I started panicking when I didn't see a positive result. This was partly due to the fact that I'd counted as day one the day I started spotting around 7pm. Most REs tell their patients to count as day one the first day of full flow. Also, Clomid tends to alter ovulation (usually delaying it). This calculator helps you figure out the ovulation date after the last Clomid dose: http://babymed.com/Tools/fertility/clomid/Default.aspx.

Around 6pm on Wed Mar 3, I finally saw a positive LH surge through testing with an ovulation predictor kit.

On the afternoon of Thursday Mar 4 I went in to the Chicago Women's Health Center for my first insemination. The health worker thawed my frozen sperm, and put a half drop of it on a microscope slide and let me look at them. Many of the swimmers were swimming quite vigorously, which made me happy. (It only takes one, I kept telling myself.) Others were completely inert, still waiting to wake up from the thaw perhaps, and yet other swimmers were bumping around on the slide looking sluggish and confused, not unlike a man who refuses to ask for directions.

The insemination itself was really easy. As with many pelvic exams or PAP smears, the worst part was having the speculum put in. Once it was in, the health worker said she saw signs that I was definitely within my ovulating window. You can tell this by looking at the opening to the cervix (the os) and the amount of fertile cervical fluid coming out of it.

I didn't feel a thing as she threaded the catheter through the os and injected the sperm inside. I chatted with my friend S who was kind enough to come with me. Afterwards I lay on the table relaxing for about ten or fifteen minutes before getting up and getting dressed again.

The next day, Friday Mar 5, I went in first thing in the morning, for my second insemination. This one was a bit less comfortable because she had to adjust the speculum a few times. It also seemed to take longer to thread the catheter, but there was still fertile cervical fluid visible, which I took to be a good sign.

I start progesterone tonight, for 14 nights, before I take a pregnancy test. Chances of success with these procedures are about 15%, I believe.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.