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

[GrassRoots]

So, so sorry to hear that

 

[burrr]

Sorry to hear that iBeach, hope you don't have long to wait until the next round of inseminations.

Mafi, glad to hear your wife is more on board now though it's a shame that your donor had to be an arse for it to happen. Hope the new guy is more reliable!

AFM, I tested and seem to have a BFP. The line is still faint but definitely positive. I'm feeling cautious though, I've had miscarriages in the past so really hoping this one sticks.

 

[laurac1988]

Ooooooooh congrats burrrr!

 

[BrandiCanucks]

Congrats burr!

 

[Mafi419]

Burrr I'm so happy for you!! I thought about you yesterday and I even thought about asking you if you already knew anything. I didn't because you could have had bad news and that would make you feel worse. So so happy with the wonderful news!! Everything will work out just fine this time, you'll see

 

[Nimyra]

I haven't been following too much lately, but wanted to let you all know that my rainbow baby, Sunny, was born on Sunday at 36+2 weeks. She is beautiful and healthy and I am deeply in love... again.

 

[BrandiCanucks]

Congrats Nimyra!!!

 

[laurac1988]

Congrats nimyra!

My +OPK has gone missing. I hope I do actually ovulate this cycle

 

[burrr]

Thanks everyone!

Nimyra, congratulations on the birth of your little girl!

Laura, hope your ovulation turns up soon, such a pain when you're waiting for it and it doesn't play ball.

 

[c.30]

Congrats Burrr, a very happy and healthy 9 months and beyond to you

Nimyra, huge congratulations on the birth of Sunny, what a gorgeous name

Good luck to all those trying, plenty of

 

[middleeast]

burrr, congratulations I am really happy for you

did you do it using the softcup this cycle?

 

[burrr]

Thanks, middleeast. I used both ways. When I put it all in the softcup, I seemed to spill a bit out as I squeezed the softcup into me. So this time, I put a little bit directly into me with a syringe, about 1/3 of the sample then put the rest in the softcup. That was on my second insemination of the cycle, the day before ovulation. I also did an insemination 3 days before ovulation, but that was just with the softcup.

I used a little bit of preseed too, but not loads.

 

[Mafi419]

For someone that never used a soft cup in her life, would you recommend trying to put it inside before actually having the sperm? Like 2 or 3 days before, just to see how it works? Or is it very easy and there's no need to practice?

Also, how do you put the preseed? Inside the syringe? What do you mean by "a little bit of preseed"? How much is a little bit in this case?

Thank you =)

I think I was able to convince my wife to start TTC in April, instead of May that gives me about 3 weeks to prepare everything!

 

[iBeach]

Congratulations Burrr!!! Yooohoooooooo.....

We also use preseed...sometimes I put it inside me and in the softcup, sometimes just inside of softcup if I have a lot of CM...

Anyway, We are starting next round of insemination next Friday....I will be CD7/8 by then and we will try every other or every third day......

 

[burrr]

Thanks iBeach! Good luck for your up coming cycle. Your timing sounds like a good plan, almost like SMEP.

Mafi, definitely practice with the soft cup! I found them easy to use but still practised a lot. I even worried that it wasn't covering the cervix so had to put one in and have a good root around up there, lol!

Preseed - about an hour before insemination, I'd put a bit inside me with a syringe, right near the cervix. First time I put about 2ml in the syringe but a fair bit ended up coming back out, so I put more in the syringe next time, about 3-4ml. Then when i actually did the insemination, I used a tiny amount on the rim of the softcup (practise with this too, if you do it) - a little helps it go in but too much makes it too slippy to control properly. After putting the sperm into the softcup, I added 1ml of preseed.

When you use syringes with sperm, make sure you buy latex-free ones as the latex can damage sperm. Make sure all your equipment is bone dry, any moisture can affect sperm quality. When drawing up sperm in to the syringe and pushing it out, move the plunger slowly - pulling or pushing fast can also damage sperm. Fragile little beings that they are!

Good news about April. Did you decide what to do about the contract/letter of intent?

 

[Mafi419]

Hi burrr,

Thank you so much for the detailed information. It seems so complicated (the soft cup part). I'm a little worried about that because I ordered soft cups from amazon and for some reason they sent me an e-mail stating that the soft cups could take up to a month to get here! No idea why, usually items take 3 or 4 working days to get here. Can I buy soft cups at boots or something? lol I know this sounds silly, but soft cups are a completely foreign thing to me! Never used them, never heard of them until last month!

So it's ok to put preseed in the same place as the sperm at the same time?

I'll make sure about the syringes, but I bought them as part of a AI at home kit, so it should be fine.

Yes, I found out that the letter of intent and the preconception agreement have exactly the same value so it doesn't really matter

How is it going with you so far? How many dpo?

 

[LunaBean]

Softcups arent so bad! I suck up some swimmers, mix some conceive plus with the rest,then suck it up too, then softcup after. 3dpo today, just 1 insemination the day of ovulation this month!

 

[burrr]

They're not complicated, just practice to make sure! I put the sperm directly into them, that's why I wanted to practice because if I screwed up, I'd have spilled all the sperm.

I bought mine from Boots, 8 for about £5. Can't believe they're that much, to use for regular period use. If I used them for that I'd buy reusable ones, I think. Having said that, to practice, I did use the same one a few times, just washed it and used it again. Always used a clean one for sperm though. One pack lasted me two months including practices.

It's worth asking your donor what kind of sample pot he'd like too, mine told me what he'd prefer, it was ones with a wider neck for easier aim, lol!

Glad you've sorted the agreement/letter thing. We just sort of wrote down what we expected and signed copies, kept a couple of copies each. A lawyer told me it was just as worthwhile legally - did himself out of a £250 fee there, so I was pleased with that!

I'm doing okay, I'm 16dpo and have lovely strong lines on my tests, no AF in sight. Just getting anxious about how to get an early scan and wanting to jump ahead to a time when I don't fear another early miscarriage. I don't want to wish the pregnancy away, I just want to get to a point where I feel more secure about it. I've had two early losses, so it's hard not to think it will happen again.

Luna, good luck for the 2ww, hope it flies by! (Haha, as if!)

 

[LunaBean]

soft cups are reuseable!

 

[burrr]

There's reusable and non-reusable though, I bought the disposable ones. I think for periods I'd risk using them a couple of times, but for insemination I used a nice new one. But you're talking to someone who begrudges paying a pound for 16 shop-brand tampons!

To be honest, though they worked great for insem, I didn't like them much for my period, I tested them out during then and wasn't impressed. Will be sticking to tampons in future, though the mooncup does look interesting.