Mother Nature FAIL

Now while the title of this post may sound negative, it's not quite all that bad.  I'll explain...

Cat pictures always make bad news good!

I have been keeping quiet over the past week or so while anxiously awaiting the results of my first IUI.  Something in my head went the route of "don't tell anyone cause it could jinx the results!"  Well that is just idiotic!  Nothing of the sort will jinx the outcome of an IUI.  There is only about a 10% chance that a natural IUI (one without meds) will be successful in the first place.  That's 10% less chance than doing it the old-fashioned way, if you know what I mean.  Both those percentages are based on success rates when no fertility issues are involved...having those can drastically change that number (and of course age is a mass factor, too). Needless to say, my first IUI was not a success story.  Here is how it all went down...

On May 28th I got my LH surge.  For those unfamiliar with the acronym, LH stands for Luteinizing hormone.  Basically it is a hormone release by the anterior pituitary gland.  In females, the release of this hormone triggers ovulation.  Usually ovulation will occur within 24-48 hours of the LH surge.  The LH surge is detected through ovulation predictor kits (OPKs).  They are sort of like a pregnancy test...you pee on a stick and it tells you whether you are surging or not; pretty simple and straightforward.  Once the LH surge is detected, you call the doctor and then go in the following day for the IUI.  The IUI is a very simple procedure that takes less than a couple of minutes.  Basically the doc takes the thawed, washed sperm and uses a catheter to directly inject it into the uterus.

See, very simple!

After the procedure you have to lay down for 15 minutes, and then you're off to live life as you normally would...with the exception of cavorting around bars and living it up like you were in Vegas!!

How NOT to handle the wait!

Remember, at this point you should already be thinking like a pregnant woman!  Once you're done at the doc's, the only thing to do is wait the 2 weeks it takes for fertilization, implantation, and a hopefully a positive pregnancy test.

Well, that's not exactly how it went for me.  My LH surge occurred on the 28th.  On the morning of the 29th I had my IUI.  I took the rest of the day off just for good measure.  I ate healthy, relaxed, didn't drink booze...I was a model patient!  But that doesn't always guarantee a successful outcome.  Unfortunately my hormones and Mother Nature decided to do their own thing.  Six days after the IUI on the 3rd, bam, my cycle went nuts!  To make TMI less TMI, I started my period 10 days premature.  Now this never happens so I was highly disappointed in my hormones for acting like uncontrollable morons!  But what can you do?  Mother Nature will do as she pleases and usually at completely inappropriate times!  And this was obviously the time she had chosen.  Oh well, now what?

I called my doc first thing Monday morning (June 4th) and let him know that Mother Nature failed me (please review title of post now).  Today (June 5th) he had me come in for another vaginal ultrasound to check out the goods and make sure there was nothing to be overly concerned with...basically making sure it was just a wonky month and all systems were still go.  Lucky for me, all systems are still go!  But the doc did decide to go ahead and put me on 50mg of Clomid for this next cycle.  Clomid is used to treat ovulation issues in some women, but for me it's basically being used to increase my progesterone and lengthen my cycle.  I have no issues with ovulation, so once again we're going to wait on the LH surge and proceed as normal.  With Clomid my chances for conceiving with IUI jump from 10% to 20%, so that is a bonus!

So on to more good news!!!  Since I was 10 days early this month, now I get to go back in for my next IUI within the next 11 days or so.  This is good news because I don't have to wait all those additional days this month.  When you're trying to conceive, any extra waiting is just torment (especially at my age)!  The only concern I really have right now is the increased chance for multiple births that comes along with Clomid.  There is a 5-12% chance of twins (depending on your source, with 8-10% being the norm), a 1% chance of triplets (highly unlikely for women over 35), and .1% for quads (yeah, that's not happening!).   Since I ovulate like a champ, I am concerned that any drug which excites my ovaries to produce more than one viable follicle at a time may be risky. But I'd rather have twins than no children at all, so we'll just have to wait and see.

Aren't they just so damn cute!

Be careful what you wish for!

I think that about catches everything up to date.  This evening I start my Clomid, take it for the next five days, wait until day 12 of my cycle to start testing with the OPKs, and hopefully by day 14 or 15 will get my surge and be in for the next IUI by day 15 or 16 (June 17 or 18).  This time I will not keep it a secret that I've gone in.  No more of the paranoia regarding jinxing the whole thing.  If it's meant to be it will happen when the time is right...everything is about timing!  Hopefully this time around I will come back with a positive result and a successful procedure story.  If not, well then it's off for one more round before other methods are discussed with my doc.  So here's to the rest of this month!

Want to learn more about IUI and Clomid?  Try this link: http://www.raising-twins.com/clomid.html

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