This shit is ridiculous. Since we started seeing our Reproductive Endocrinologist/Fertility specialist, this was the first month that I actually felt like we had a real chance at getting pregnant….
On cycle day 3 I went into the clinic for what is called a baseline ultrasound- this is where they check to see if everything looks good for this next cycle, so cysts or anything out of the ordinary. With the green light I started 100mg of clomid and took that for 5 days. The purpose of the clomid is to basically trick my body in developing and ovulating more than one mature egg, giving us a better chance that at least one of them will be fertilized with help from the IUI procedure. I went back in on cycle day 12 for them to check and see how many follicles I have growing, their sizes to determine maturity, and to pinpoint when I will ovulate so we can schedule the procedure.
I had 3 nice looking follicles and we scheduled our IUI for Friday November 6, 2020 and we were so excited. We had to collect Michael’s sample at home and drop it off an hour before the procedure so they can do a process called “washing”- this is where they basically separate the bad sperm (those that are misshaped and not moving correctly) from the good quality sperm, giving us an even better chance that one of them will get the job done.
The average healthy man ejaculates anywhere between 200-250 million sperm, since we are dealing with male factored and specifically low sperm count, Michael’s count pre-wash was 14 million and 36% motility. After the washing process, we had 6 million motile sperm and 85.7% motility per mL. The IUI procedure is done by placing a catheter up past the cervix and and pushing the sperm through into the uterus. This helps by shortening the distance they need to travel and allowing them to reach the egg(s) faster and easier. An IUI has the same timeline as a natural cycle, so we then had to wait 2 weeks to see if it was successful.
One week after the IUI I went in for them to draw my blood and check my progesterone levels to confirm that I did ovulate. I did, my level was above 20!
On Friday, November 20th I went in for a beta blood test- this is to check to see the level of HCG in my system to confirm pregnancy or not….mine was negative. The IUI did not work. I was absolutely devastated. I was so sure that it was going to work…When our doctor called to give me the bad news he said that most IUIs don’t work the first time and that we should not give up and give it another shot.
I want to have an HSG procedure done before we move forward to make sure everything is all good on my end.