IUI - The Whole Story

This last Thursday was our IUI.  I didn't go into work that day so I should have been able to sleep in.  That didn't happen though.  I woke up before 6 and wasn't able to get back to sleep.  Some time around 8:30 Soren and I went to Home Depot to pick up some attachments for the shop vac.  We were there a lot longer than I expected so by the time we got home it was pretty much time for me to leave to take the sample to the clinic.  The only problem was we didn't have a sample yet.

Once I had the sample safely nestled between my boobies I sped off to the clinic.  I was very impatient with the other drivers on the road and couldn't understand why they couldn't either drive a decent speed or GET OUT OF MY WAY.  They didn't seem to mind that I was a little bit late at the clinic.  They probably don't want to hassle us crazy infertile women because they know we could easily blow up at them. ;)

They put a little blue sticker with my medical record number on the top of the sample cup and gave me a matching blue sticker so that they could make sure the sample didn't get mixed up.  Then they told me to come back in a hour.  Then commenced the long period of time where I tried not to think about how nervous I was or the fact that this IUI might not work.

When I came back in the receptionist just had me take a seat.  It was very quiet in the waiting room filled with other women there for infertility treatments.  I found it weird that we were all going through the same thing and yet no one was talking to anyone around them.  I guess I could have talked to someone, but everyone looked like they would bite me if I tried.

When they took me back in the room they showed me the sample all washed and concentrated in the little catheter syringe thingy.  They also double checked the color of my sticker to make sure it matched.  Then I was left to get undressed.  I hate waiting in the room half naked with your butt uncovered so I tried to wrap the drape they gave me around my backside.

I different RE in the practice came in to do the IUI.  I was kind of disappointed that it wasn't my RE doing the IUI.  She told me that my husband's sample looked really good.  She didn't tell me what the count was because she said they didn't do a full analysis.  She was surprised that I had ovulated on 50 mg of clomid.  I explained that I always ovulated on my own and that our issue seemed to be due to my husband's sperm count.

She wasn't very gentle putting in the catheter, but I survived.  She apologized and told me that it wasn't graceful, but that the little swimmers were placed exactly where they needed to be and that there was no going back now.  It made me think about Soren's comment about not being able to put the genie back in the bottle once you were pregnant.  It was a really quick procedure and the doctor told me she hoped she had gotten me pregnant before she left the room. I was then instructed to lay there for at least 10 minutes and call for help if I had any negative side effects.  The only side effect I had was that my abdomen was really sore.  This soreness lasted 2 days.

When I left the clinic I was told to call them and let them know if I ended up pregnant.  Nothing else was said besides that.  I really would have thought that there would have been a little more discussion of follow up, but oh well.

So, now its been 5 days and I have about another week to wait before I know if it worked.  I'm trying not to think about too much but that is pretty impossible.  I just hope that the time until next week continues to go by quickly and that my period will take a vacation for at least 9 months.