Just Starting - NEW to this. ADVICE.

fred17

Hello all! We are getting married here just just a couple months and are looking into starting our own family. We are new to this but starting to catch on.. Can anyone give us the process? Seems like there are so many details. When you all first started this process, how long did it take you to start your first session? So many questions!! thank you!

Andreiasanchez@aol.com

hi. the part that took us the longest was to choosing a donor and waiting for an egg to be ready. everything else happened very fast. we chose a donor, purchased a vial. within a couple of days it was at my doctors office. that 1st month when my egg was going to be ready, i had plane tickets to visit my wife who was stationed away for military training so i couldnt do it that month but did it the following month and luckily i got pregnant the 1st try. just had our baby 3 weeks ago today.. hope this helps.... let me know if you have more questions.

mrccjf

You'll need to schedule an appointment with your fertility specialist. At that first visit, they discussed the IUI process, checked antra-follicle counts (number of follicles on each ovary), and ordered bloodwork and an HSG (to check that tubes were clear). Once those tests were completed (about two weeks later) we scheduled a follow-up consult to go over the results. In my case, my thyroid stimulating hormone was high and I had to start taking Levothyroxine for two months before beginning. After that, each month I would call the office on the first day of my menstrual cycle. They would write me a prescription for Clomid (to be taken Day 3-7 of my cycle) and scheduled an ultrasound for Day 10. At the ultrasound they are looking to see if you have a follicle (or two or three) that are 18mm+ and a lining that is greater than 6mm. If not, they will schedule another ultrasound to give it more time to grow. Once you've met that criteria, they will tell you to take an Ovidrel shot that evening, and an IUI 36 hours later. You will need to have your sperm shipped from the cryobank to the fertility clinic in advance (assuming they have a lab on site, and if not, you'll have the tank shipped to your home and bring it with you the day of the IUI). From there, you wait 14 days and take a pregnancy test. If success, you call your clinic to confirm with bloodwork. If not, you start your period and start the process over again. They say on average there is a 10-15% chance of it working each month and most couples have success within 6 cycles (and if not, often move on to IVF).

fred17

hi! thanks for your response! how many vials did you guys order the first try?

mrccjf

That can be a tough call - I think you should put into consideration how many children you plan to have, your odds of success (based on age and medical diagnosis), and your willingness to lose a donor if they stop donating. Knowing that we wanted at least 2 children, and it was likely to take up to 6 IUIs per child (based on my age), we bought 12. That being said, I had many friends who were successful on their first, second, or third IUI, while other friends did 6 cycles before moving on to IVF. In my case I did 4 IUIs and moved on to IVF.

fred17

Ok thank you!!

BandAMoms2B

We're doing our first round of IUI this month and it's nerve-wracking. Have you started yet? How is it going?