Injectables or no injectables, that is the question

So at my last visit with the RE he said he is confident we can get pregnant with our low sperm count with a medicated IUI (Clomid for me + the HCG trigger shot), but that the more aggressive (quicker) way to go about it would be to do an IUI with injectables and the HCG trigger shot. He said our chances for multiples is MUCH higher with injectables, and we’re not talking just twins. Also the cost is much higher, we’d be adding $1,000 to our currently $700/cycle regimen. He said out of every 1,000 they tend to have 3 sets of triplets and 1 set of quadruplets. Another consideration he talked about was “selective reduction”, meaning if we got pregnant with quadruplets we could choose to “reduce” down to twins, or whatever our “magic number” would be.

Devastating news from a friend

I got some pretty heartbreaking news over the weekend. Close friends of ours (I wrote about their story back in September), who also dealt with MFI and got pregnant on their 4th IUI with twins lost their girls last week. She went into pre-term labor last Wednesday at 22 weeks. She delivered both of the girls alive and they died soon after birth….just too young and small to survive. The funeral is tomorrow, I’m certain it will be the hardest funeral I’ve ever been too. Please pray for my friends. I can’t even begin to imagine what they’re going through right now. 

How much does a Clomid IUI cost?

Just like anything (cars, houses, car insurance, etc) I’m sure that the cost of IUI differs based on location, and it will also differ in price based on the number of ultrasounds and type of medication(s) you’ll need. See below the cost breakdown of our first IUI. If you both have health insurance through work it is worth taking a look into your coverage. I had a friend who was on her husband’s insurance, but ended up switching over to hers b/c it paid 100% of IUI’s. Our insurance policy wasn’t supposed to cover any of our infertility treatments, but they have covered bits and pieces, and every little bit helps!!

IUI #1 – FAIL

Well, not only did IUI #1 not work but now I have a cyst on my right ovary from the Clomid so we are forced to take this next cycle off. It doesn’t hurt, and it’s not bad. It’s actually pretty common with Clomid. It should go away on its own, but if you get pregnant while you have one there could be serious complications, which is the reason for the mandated time off.

What now?

MFI is seriously NO JOKE!

I found an excellent blog/website yesterday, hellobee. There are several different bloggers that make regular posts on the site about children, pregnancy and infertility. One in particular, Mrs. Pinata, also dealt with MFI. She and her husband adopted their first child after dealing with infertility and are now TTC#2. Earlier this week she posted about SA results, lots of stuff I had never heard before and I wanted to share a piece of the post I found extra interesting. The numbers are astonishing!

BFP/BFN Update

After much deliberation I’ve decided not to post right away after receiving results from my beta blood test Thursday. I’m thinking if it’s a BFP I’ll want to tell close family before blogging about it, and if it’s a BFN I might need a little time for a pity party and to enjoy my family/friends time over Thanksgiving before talking about it. I truly appreciate all of the support and prayers from my loved ones and blog followers, I am truly blessed. Please keep praying that I get a BFP this cycle! And please respect my decision, I’ll update just as soon as I’m ready! Thanks for understanding! 😉

5DPIUI

So today I’m 5DPIUI & 7 days past trigger so I thought I’d do a little mid-2WW post, although I don’t have much to report. It literally feels like the time is crawling….I’m thinking it will speed up a bit soon though because I’m on vacation Thursday-Sunday, so that should help keep my mind off of things (as much as possible)!

**TMI ALERT** I’ve been having the worst constipation since I started my progesterone suppositories. THE WORST!  Let me tell you about my new best friend who I met just a few days ago, good ol’ prune juice! Don’t let me fool you, it is DISGUSTING, but it does the trick. I’ve started drinking 1 glass in the morning and taking stool softeners around the clock, and I even have a bottle of prune juice at work now in case of emergencies, lol. Sad, but true. Other than the constipation (not that that’s not a TERRIBLE side effect) I haven’t had any other progesterone/pregnancy symptoms.

10 Ways Family and Friends Can Help with Infertility

I found the BEST post today on how friends & family can help with infertility, and wanted to re-blog it. Source: http://www.fertilehealing.com/10-ways-friends-and-family-can-help-with-pre-fertility/.

Our first IUI

Wednesday night I had to give myself my HCG trigger shot (10,000 USP Novarel) at 10:00 pm. R wouldn’t do it, and I actually didn’t want him to….I think that would have freaked me out more. I had a friend offer for me, but since I had to do it at 10:00 pm I really didn’t want to have to be driving around that late b/c I was too wimpy to give myself my shot. It wasn’t TERRIBLE, but it definitely wasn’t a pleasant experience. I iced my leg for a few minutes while I mixed up the medication then just did it! Sometimes after giving blood or getting a shot I’ll feel like I’m about to pass out, and it happened….which sucked, but I just laid on the kitchen floor after giving myself the shot for a bit to regroup then I was fine. I will say, once I had the needle in I had a tough time squeezing the medication out, the needle kept trying to push out. My leg has been sore (the muscle itself) ever since….I hope that doesn’t mean I did something wrong.

CD14 Follicle Check

This morning I had my CD14 ultrasound and follicle check, and it went as well as can be expected. Based on my ultrasound my RE wants me to administer the HCG trigger shot tomorrow night at 10:00 pm and I’ll have the IUI Friday morning.

The Clomid for me has been doing its job, which is good to hear!! According to my RE the “goal” is to get as many follicles between a 16 & 20 without them getting too big before the trigger shot. And he estimates that by tomorrow (when I trigger) I’ll have 3 mature follicles and 1 almost mature (15, 16, 17, and 20).  He said he’s able to estimate this because after they reach size 12 they grow 2 mm per day. Also, he said the lining of my uterus looks good, it’s a good thickness to be able to get pregnant. So I seem to be in a good position for IUI#1 on Friday…..although the possibility of triplets scares me a LOT. I don’t think I’ll even mention this little tidbit to R, because he would DEFINITELY be freaked out! Since our problems are male factor we’re just “giving his sperm more of a target to shoot at”, so more follicles increases the odds that at least 1 will be fertilized.