Considering at-home insemination with donor sperm...?

[kedwards1982]

Hello ladies,

AF ended yesterday. We will start AI on Friday and hope to do it every other day until next period and hope to catch the egg. I am so nervous but try not to be! We tried couple of cycles last year and nothing happened.
I bought OPKs this time and will start using them probably Wednesday and see what happens.
We are also planning on using soft cup/diva cup and see if it helps...

For those who used diva cup, when did you insert it? after you put semen in you? or did you put semen in a cup?

I myself put the soft cup in right after semen inserted. Then leave it in for 12 hours. I have not had any luck yet but I'm not giving up. I have a great donor who is helpful. But the one downfall is that he's a few states away and I pay for the shipping which is about $60 each time. I'm really hoping this time took but I don't know. I'm supposed to expect AF anytime tomorrow but I have not had any symptoms of any kind at all as for pregnancy or AF. So Idk yet.

 

[iBeach]

Hello ladies,

AF ended yesterday. We will start AI on Friday and hope to do it every other day until next period and hope to catch the egg. I am so nervous but try not to be! We tried couple of cycles last year and nothing happened.
I bought OPKs this time and will start using them probably Wednesday and see what happens.
We are also planning on using soft cup/diva cup and see if it helps...

For those who used diva cup, when did you insert it? after you put semen in you? or did you put semen in a cup?

I myself put the soft cup in right after semen inserted. Then leave it in for 12 hours. I have not had any luck yet but I'm not giving up. I have a great donor who is helpful. But the one downfall is that he's a few states away and I pay for the shipping which is about $60 each time. I'm really hoping this time took but I don't know. I'm supposed to expect AF anytime tomorrow but I have not had any symptoms of any kind at all as for pregnancy or AF. So Idk yet.

Thanks
Now just to figure out how not to loose any semen while inserting cup!!!!

 

[iBeach]

Starting insemination #1 tonight!!!!
No +OPK yet, but starting anyway. Last AF started on the 11th and ended on 16th...I am not sure if its not too early to inseminate, but I want to play it safe.
Doing another on Saturday.

How often do you ladies inseminate? Only when you get +OPK? or you want to be covered like I am and do it every 2-3 days?

 

[kedwards1982]

Starting insemination #1 tonight!!!!
No +OPK yet, but starting anyway. Last AF started on the 11th and ended on 16th...I am not sure if its not too early to inseminate, but I want to play it safe.
Doing another on Saturday.

How often do you ladies inseminate? Only when you get +OPK? or you want to be covered like I am and do it every 2-3 days?

When you insert the cup, you want to use it as a scooper. That way it will catch the majority into the cup. You may have a little wetness because you are not going to get every single up to the cervix. However I recommend that right after you insert, immediately put the cup in; that way you reduce any leakage. You are to insert it all the way up until it basically just locks itself up there. It has to go all the way past the vagina wall. You shouldn't feel anything after you get the cup in there correctly. Also make sure you O a couple of times. I use a vibrator to do it quickly just to get the cervix to "suck up" the . Good luck tonight!!! Have fun with the O though, you don't have to make it a "all serious business".

AFM: I can only do it once. I'm sure that if I asked my donor, he would give me another vial but he feels that if I use my OPT, I should be okay. If I had a donor nearby, I would be doing the same as you are.

 

[gingmg]

Invivoveritas- great username!

Good luck ladies!

 

[InVivoVeritas]

Thank you, gingmg

Inseminated today, which was day O according to the OPK. I have a negative feeling about this cycle, maybe as some sort of self-protection.

iBeach, best of luck to you this cycle too! I only inseminate once per cycle, mainly because my donor lives a distance away. It takes a fair bit of work to get everything lined up once I get the +OPK. With my son we inseminated the day after the + and it worked perfectly.

kedwards, when do you plan to test?

 

[kedwards1982]

Thank you, gingmg

Inseminated today, which was day O according to the OPK. I have a negative feeling about this cycle, maybe as some sort of self-protection.

iBeach, best of luck to you this cycle too! I only inseminate once per cycle, mainly because my donor lives a distance away. It takes a fair bit of work to get everything lined up once I get the +OPK. With my son we inseminated the day after the + and it worked perfectly.

kedwards, when do you plan to test?

I'm not sure! LOL! I can test anytime but just havent'. I guess I'm scared about the results. AF is supposed to be here but hasn't showed up yet. Only about a day or 2 late which is not really unusual.

 

[InVivoVeritas]

That sounds very positive! Sending you good thoughts, hope this cycle's the one.

 

[iBeach]

Hello girls,

Sooooooo, we did our first insemination/first cycle last night!

I am not sure what happened, or if it just didn't go right.

TMI WARNING!
After he did ***** in a sterile cup, I sucked it up in syringe, laid on my back, with hips raised and I tried to get as deep as possible and than I inserted softcup. When I pulled out syringe some semen came out and when I woke up this morning my panties were wet too....although I had softcup stil inside.
Oh, and I used preseed too!!! I put it in about 20 minutes before I put semen in. Just little bit and I also put little on softcup.

I hope sperm went where is supposed to go!!!!

I did OPK and I got super faint line this morning, so I will keep testing tomorrow AM again....I don't think I ovulate until sunday or so.

We are gonna do next insemination Saturday afternoon.

 

[iBeach]

Hello ladies,

AF ended yesterday. We will start AI on Friday and hope to do it every other day until next period and hope to catch the egg. I am so nervous but try not to be! We tried couple of cycles last year and nothing happened.
I bought OPKs this time and will start using them probably Wednesday and see what happens.
We are also planning on using soft cup/diva cup and see if it helps...

For those who used diva cup, when did you insert it? after you put semen in you? or did you put semen in a cup?

I myself put the soft cup in right after semen inserted. Then leave it in for 12 hours. I have not had any luck yet but I'm not giving up. I have a great donor who is helpful. But the one downfall is that he's a few states away and I pay for the shipping which is about $60 each time. I'm really hoping this time took but I don't know. I'm supposed to expect AF anytime tomorrow but I have not had any symptoms of any kind at all as for pregnancy or AF. So Idk yet.

How does he ship it? Frozen or.....? good luck!!

 

[SopranoJKM]

So this is me and my DW's fourth cycle TTC and our second one with fresh donor sperm. As many of you with a known donor know, it is difficult to line up schedules around your ovulation. This month we inseminated on CD10. I usually ovulate on CD12. It's now CD13 and 1DPO. I really wanted to get at least one more insemination in this cycle but it just couldn't happen.

For the last two days I've had TONS of CM, way more than usual. I'm hoping it's because of supplements I've started taking (L-Arginine, EPO, and B-complex) as well as being very conscience of staying hydrated. My CM was watery and more present than usual on the day we inseminated (using Pre-Seed and SoftCup) but was more plentiful and more egg-whitey the following two days. Do you think it's possible for it to work this way? All the other cycles we've done at least two inseminations and they were the day before I O'd and the day of. Then again, I didn't get pregnant from those cycles so maybe doing it different this time will be the key. Also different this cycle: I've been taking a baby aspirin every day (I've heard it helps with blood flow to the uterus and can therefore aid insemination) and I've been drinking two cups of Female Toner herbal tea by Traditional Medicinals which contains raspberry leaf (also good for the uterus).

What do y'all think? Could I get a this month?

 

[kedwards1982]

Hello ladies,

AF ended yesterday. We will start AI on Friday and hope to do it every other day until next period and hope to catch the egg. I am so nervous but try not to be! We tried couple of cycles last year and nothing happened.
I bought OPKs this time and will start using them probably Wednesday and see what happens.
We are also planning on using soft cup/diva cup and see if it helps...

For those who used diva cup, when did you insert it? after you put semen in you? or did you put semen in a cup?

I myself put the soft cup in right after semen inserted. Then leave it in for 12 hours. I have not had any luck yet but I'm not giving up. I have a great donor who is helpful. But the one downfall is that he's a few states away and I pay for the shipping which is about $60 each time. I'm really hoping this time took but I don't know. I'm supposed to expect AF anytime tomorrow but I have not had any symptoms of any kind at all as for pregnancy or AF. So Idk yet.

How does he ship it? Frozen or.....? good luck!!

No. He puts an ice pack in it and it keeps it really cold but not too cold that it freezes.

 

[2moms2be]

Hi ladies!! I'm writing this from my car, where I am currently sitting with a softcup full of sperm snuggling my cervix LOL! Another on-the-fly insem down

We took last month off, as we moved, but we are back in the babymaking saddle! Another late O for me (this is CD23), so I'm thinking I'm going to start vitex next cycle if this doesn't take, just to see if I can get more regular.

Congrats to all the bfp's, and I've got my fx that we're all in this time!!

 

[AshNAmber]

Welcome back 2moms.. I was wondering how you were

to being in the car

 

[lilaclily]

Hi ladies,

Well AF came - no surprises there.

We're going to have another shot next month (currently on CD5) but we'll try adding pre-seed. I'll try to stay positive

This might be TMI but regarding the semen, do you wait for it to be liquefied or insert if ASAP? We've been doing it "hot off the press", and the stuff is still jelly like... is that OK?

I haven't used softcups. I'm not sure if I can deal with the thought of that... but I'll keep my options open.

Cheers
Good luck to everyone.

 

[kedwards1982]

Hi ladies,

Well AF came - no surprises there.

We're going to have another shot next month (currently on CD5) but we'll try adding pre-seed. I'll try to stay positive

This might be TMI but regarding the semen, do you wait for it to be liquefied or insert if ASAP? We've been doing it "hot off the press", and the stuff is still jelly like... is that OK?

I haven't used softcups. I'm not sure if I can deal with the thought of that... but I'll keep my options open.

Cheers
Good luck to everyone.

Apparently we are suppose to wait till it liquefies which is about 30 mins. I would suggest the softcups since it will help with keeping the semen right close to the cervix. Also throw in some preseed if you do not use it now. You can even coat the softcup with preseed to make it insert better and help the .

 

[c.30]

Hi ladies, I don't think you want to keep the sperm waiting for too long, certainly not 30 minutes. I would always try to get the sample inserted ASAP after it has been made and have always read along the same lines in here. That is, after all, what would happen if using the NI (natural insemination which has been used in this thread) or having sex

Good luck all and if I don't come back before, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, I hope it brings many new BFP's

 

[BrandiCanucks]

I hate my phone. I typed something big and my phone deleted it but my house was broken into and my laptop stolen.

I have two donor babies that took on the first and only donation. I got the syringe as close to the cervix as possible before letting the donation go, so to speak. With my older donor baby, I O'd right away but had to wait an hour to O til I got home with this one, as I went to him this time. I put a pad on right after the donations and left them on for hours so whatever fell out stayed close to the vagina.

Also, sperm die quickly at room temp so waiting half an hour to make the deposit isn't recommended. I inseminated within 10 minutes of the donation both times and both times got a bfp at 11dpo.

 

[SopranoJKM]

BrandiCanucks,

Sorry about your laptop; that sucks.

I wish I'd had your luck with my first live sperm donor this past month but, alas, AF came. Tried again this cycle (CD10) and I ovulated on CD12 or CD13. Wanted to inseminate again but schedules just wouldn't line up. Donor made his deposit in the SoftCup, I had PreSeed inside me already and had a big O before I inserted the SoftCup and after. Left it in overnight. In the two days that followed (CD10 and CD11) I had the most abundant CM I've had in recent memory.

Do you think I have a chance for a with only one insemination 2 or maybe 3 days before ovulation?

 

[BrandiCanucks]

Do you use OPK's? This was the first time I ever used them because of my tubal reversal and I ovulated two days late. If I didn't use them, I'd have inseminated too early. I do insems the day before ovulation. This time was 18 hours before my O pains.