The journey continues... Chapter SIX

Well March went by, then April and June... July came and went, the clinic actually missed my ovulation that month because it fell on the 4th of July and they were closed. Somewhere in that mix, I believe in April we started doing IUI procedures. Your partner will give a sperm sample, which will be washed and prepared for the IUI procedure. This washing can remove potentially toxic chemicals possibly present in the sperm that your body may negatively react to. These chemicals can sometimes cause an allergic reaction in women, which could hinder pregnancy. Washing the sperm may also minimize the cramping that sometimes occurs after the IUI procedure. This washing and preparation process also concentrates the sperm into a high volume. This high concentration helps the healthiest, most mobile sperm to reach the egg. This helps to increase IUI success rates.

Injecting the prepared sperm into your uterus is quick and virtually painless (for most people except of course me). This part of the IUI procedure takes about 5 min at the most. 

Here is what to expect:

1. You will lie down on the exam table as you normally do for a pelvic exam. 

this was my latest iui...

oct iui #5


2. Your doctor will insert a very small, thin and flexible catheter into your cervix. 

it looks innocent, but its not lol


3. The washed sperm sample is injected right into your uterus, then you lay and wait

almost ready to go home 

There's that in a nutshell :) We did one after another painful ovulations and IUI procedures and non of them produced a pregnancy... In about August we had to switch to injectable medications instead of the femara. Because femara is not FDA approved you can only do so many months on it. We switched to Gonal-F injections and added the lovely vaginal suppositories! Uhg I hate those things! Injections are nightly in the stomach and then you still do the trigger shot. Once you have the IUI you start the vaginal progesterone suppositories twice a day....

The new daily Shot

And the new dreaded vaginal insert...