IUI #2

I think I jumped the gun. Even with the digital opk. My plan of comparison and confirmation, no uncertainty and perfect timing, did not work out as I had hoped. There is uncertainty.

Tuesday, CD14, I used my off brand opk at 2pm. It was so close to positive, so close that you just know it will be positive tomorrow. I used the digital for comparison.

O = negative

I decided to look back at the handout the clinic gave me with instructions for using the LH kit and timing the IUI. It says,

We are looking for the first, even light, color change in the test line which indicates the onset of the LH surge. This color change may be less dark than the reference line...

Crap. The digital test does not give you that information. I called the nurse. She asked if the line was significantly darker than the previous day or test. Yes, definitely. She said I had detected the beginning of my surge and we should schedule the IUI for the next morning.

IUI #2 Feb. 2, 2011. Groundhog Day. Any predictions?

F had amazing numbers again. Post Wash Motility was 90%! Forward Progression was 4.0 out of 4.0! There were 54 million washed sperm in that little syringe. I worry that they will swim right past my ovary, out the fallopian tubes and into space before the egg is released. I worry about other things, too.

Dr. A did not do the insemination this time. Nurse J did, which turned out more than fine. She liked my socks. She said my cervix was soft and easy to pass, with a good amount of fertile cervical mucus. This was reassuring.

Returning home was not. I took another opk. Off brand was too close to call. The test line was not darker than the reference line like I thought it would be. Digital was negative. It should be positive, right? This morning, 1dpiui, the digital opk is still negative. Sad face. I think we did the IUI too soon.

FertilityPlus has an IUI FAQ page. I found it googling How long does sperm survive after being washed for IUI? This page says,

Current research indicates that washed sperm can live 24-72 hours; however, it does lose potency after 24 hours. Another issue with IUI is that the sperm can keep on swimming beyond the fallopian tube, so the ideal window is really within 6-12 hours of the egg being released, with a larger margin before ovulation than after since the egg's viability is shorter.

It has been 24 hours since the IUI. Fingers crossed that F's swimmers are still alive and waiting patiently for a good egg. Putting out the vibe.

While my hips were elevated we talked about a tentative treatment plan. Since I responded well to the last IUI with a brief pregnancy they recommend continuing with clomid IUIs for two more cycles. That would total 4. Because I do not have insurance coverage for ultrasounds or monitoring, we have decided to do a clomid IUI every other cycle to prevent cysts and other possible side effects from clomid. This will save us $500 a cycle.

Assuming no pregnancy, our treatment timeline will work out something like this:

Nov 2010 IUI #1
Feb 2011 IUI #2
April 2011 IUI #3
June 2011 IUI #4
July 2011 move on to injectable IUIs

2012 pursue IVF


IUI #2 is done. Follow up with intercourse. Wait.