IUI is Weird
IUI is weird. Really weird. Although maybe I think that because we went from trying the good old fashioned way to adding a couple pills to suddenly dealing with a lot of science that makes me feel weird about the whole thing. It just doesn’t feel normal. However, if this is what we have to do to have a child then I guess this is our new "normal".
The way it works is that every month I take birth control to regulate my periods, then I start medication to stimulate my ovaries to make eggs. In other words, the woman who did not want to take any drugs unless absolutely necessary is now constantly on drugs. Then as I take medication to stimulate ovulation, I go in for ultrasounds to monitor whether the follicles are growing. The ultrasounds start out days apart and then get closer and closer together as the doctor measures the follicles to try and determine the exact time at which the egg or eggs will drop for fertilization.
I also take blood tests to make sure the medication doesn’t cause my body to create too much estrogen, which would cause the IUI to be cancelled. I had this happen twice and it was frustrating because then everything you have been doing is a loss and have to start over again with the next cycle.
Constant ultrasounds and blood tests also means you cannot plan anything during this time because you never know when you will have to go in. Adam tried to keep up appearances on our behalf and would make excuses for me, but this didn’t help with work. I ended up telling my office that I was dealing with a thyroid problem that required constant monitoring to explain my last minute absences.
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Once the doctor determines that one of the eggs is mature enough, we schedule the IUI and the office sends me home with an “X” on my bum where I am to administer the HcG trigger shot at a very specific time. This is also when Adam was called upon to provide his part of the equation. His part in the process had very specific rules about how and when it had to be done. It was very nonromantic, but he was an absolute trooper every single time and this very awkward experience reminded me just how grateful I am to have him as a partner in all of this.
After Adam has done his part, he would give me his specimen which had to be kept at room temperature and moved around as little as possible until the time of the IUI. To do this, I would have to start my car in the morning and let it cool down before driving to work with his swimmers in an insulated lunch box. I would then bring the lunch box into my office and work all morning. Honestly, there is really nothing more awkward than having co-workers come in your office all day when you know you have a container full of sperm sitting under your desk.
When it was time to leave for the IUI, I would then let my car cool down again before moving the specimen to the car and driving to the doctor's office. Only then would I breathe a sigh of relief once the swimmers were securely in the hands of the nurse.
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HCG trigger shots were administered as either one shot or a set of 3
The nurse would take the container and put it into a spinner to “clean” the specimen and get the strongest swimmers for the IUI. One time they let me look through the microscope during the cleaning process, and they really do look like they do in the movies. It was pretty interesting, especially when they gave them "coffee." This is what the nurse called it because they add something to the sample to make the swimmers move faster in hopes that it will assist with the IUI process. After the swimmers are prepped, it is finally time for the actual transfer. This essentially means I lay on a table while they insert a tiny tube into my uterus and shoot the best swimmers at my egg or eggs. You then just hope that one of these mighty swimmers has found its way to an egg while you wait two weeks for a pregnancy test.
Well that didn’t happen for us. Not the first time and not the other five times that we tried IUI. Every time we failed, I knew it because my body told me that it hadn’t worked before we even reached the end of the two weeks. Well except for our last IUI. That time I finally made it the whole two weeks to the pregnancy test without a visit from the "you are not pregnant" friend.
Even though I wasn't supposed to, I had taken an at home test that had come up negative so I was already pretty sure I knew the result. However, I knew that home tests could be wrong and I was excited that I had finally made it two weeks so I couldn’t help but be hopeful that maybe there was a chance this time. I went to the doctor’s office and had my blood drawn. They told me that they would call later that day with results, but as the day wore on and no one called I started to have doubts.
Finally, at 4:30 PM, I called the office. They put me on hold to get my chart before giving me the news that I wasn’t pregnant. IUI had failed again. The nurse assured me that they had a plan so that the next round would be different, but I was beginning to have doubts and didn't think I could handle another round. She also mentioned that the doctor wanted to do an HSG test since it had recently come up that I had never had one. It was at this point that I became very concerned and decided I needed to talk with Adam before agreeing to any additional treatment. I told her I would be in touch.
