Donor Sperm IUI/IVF- 2012

[MrsC8776]

Hi ladies

I was just wondering if any of you are using OPK's or will be? I have some left over and I would love to pass them on to someone else. I would be giving them away and no charge for shipping if you live in the US. If you live outside the US I would have to see how much shipping is first. If anyone in this group is interested please let me know.

 

[HollyTTC]

Hi Ladies!!
Sorry it's been a while - we were on a much needed holiday, which also allowed me to regroup and try to get a bit more positive outlook on things! I am now on cyle 4 and hoping beyond hope that things will be better. We had an appt with our fertility dr. a few weeks ago and he doubled my dose of clomid to 100mg...... crossing fingers that it will do the trick. Although, its made my hot flashes twice as bad. All for the cause though, right??

I had to read back to get updates on everyone.

Canadian: I'm sooo happy that the test came back neg

Silverbell: crossing everything I can cross for you! Good luck! We were also concerned about our donor, but found out that he has had reported pregnancies, which made us feel much better about sticking with him.

Deafgal and Raelyn: I also read "Helping the Stork" and found that it really helps you see all points of view. There are some tough choices to make and anything that can give unbiased information is truly a wonderful thing

 

[deafgal01]

Good luck Holly!


Oh update on me- we called a clinic today and got an appt scheduled for Sept 13. 3:30 pm. Not sure what to expect but we had to fill out paperwork for that and I'm expecting the first appt to be more of an information session where the dr gets to know us and we get to know the clinic. Not sure what else I can expect from the first appt for a fertility clinic.

 

[MrsC8776]

Holly~ Good luck!

DG~ The appointment will be here in no time. So this is the first one with the fertility clinic? They will probably want bloodwork if they don't already have it. Other than testing it will probably just be an info type meeting. After they have results they will probably set you up with a plan for IUI. Do you already have a donor picked out?

 

[deafgal01]

Uh, no... We don't have a donor picked out yet. I don't know what/how the process looks for that.

Thanks for your tip, MrsC. That helps. I know it's just an info meeting but it feels nervewhacking all the same. I don't think they'll need bloodwork as we already had some done (I had mine in Jan and DH had his recently when he did the SA).

 

[MrsC8776]

Since you are in the US there shouldn't be much to the process of finding a donor (in terms of the clinic). It can be a difficult process in finding one you like though. You could always call the clinic and see if they have a list of places they like their patients to look. Thats what I did and they gave me a huge list. Basically from there we just went through each site and found the ones we thought sounded like DH and had the same features. I let him pick the donor though. We did the searching together but he printed off the profiles of the ones he "liked" and I had him list them 1-?. Of course I went with number one. Anyways what I was getting at is we had the donor picked out by the time we went in for our meeting for the IUI that way we could get started right away. Every one is different and we all are at our own pace. Do what is best for you and your DH. Sorry this is so long, I just wanted to share that with you.

 

[raelynn]

deafgal - on our consultation appointment our doctor just went over the procedure with us. If you haven't had your infectious disease bloodwork done yet they'll probably refer you for that too

We have our social worker appointment tomorrow night. I'm nervous! Hopefully we're not too crazy to have kids

 

[deafgal01]

Rae- thanks for the heads up. I don't think i've had that blood work yet. It was only to check my hormone levels or something else.

I wonder what else I should do prior to the appt. I'd like to make sure they get all the data/info before I go in but I know they probably will not look these over til the appt itself or after.

 

[silverbell]

Silverbell: crossing everything I can cross for you! Good luck! We were also concerned about our donor, but found out that he has had reported pregnancies, which made us feel much better about sticking with him.

Glad the break helped, Holly, and here's hoping the doubling up helps you get that long-awaited very soon

It wasn't that we were concerned about donor at all - just that we were asked if we wanted to change and we actually had no issues at all so didn't see the point (he has proven pregnancies), but then somebody suggested that if we didn't try swapping we'd always wonder if we could have avoided IVF, so we decided we'd swap for our last cycle (if this one fails).

Good luck Holly!

Oh update on me- we called a clinic today and got an appt scheduled for Sept 13. 3:30 pm. Not sure what to expect but we had to fill out paperwork for that and I'm expecting the first appt to be more of an information session where the dr gets to know us and we get to know the clinic. Not sure what else I can expect from the first appt for a fertility clinic.

Exciting that you've got that first appointment scheduled. Like everybody else says, it's mostly just ticking boxes to ensure they've got all the test results they need before starting. I had something sent in the post in advance telling me what was required, which was helpful as I could get these sorted prior to visiting.

 

[HollyTTC]

Uh, no... We don't have a donor picked out yet. I don't know what/how the process looks for that.

Thanks for your tip, MrsC. That helps. I know it's just an info meeting but it feels nervewhacking all the same. I don't think they'll need bloodwork as we already had some done (I had mine in Jan and DH had his recently when he did the SA).

We started looking through donors after a phone consultation with the fertility clinic. We didn't have a donor picked yet when we went in for our in person consultation.
Our fertility nurse was VERY helpful with the whole process of chosing a donor. We emailed her with tons of questions and she was so awesome with making us comfortable with the process and who we chose. We did all our searches and stuff online. Its like a search engine and you select what you're looking for and it matches suitable donors...... we used Xytex.

Rae.... good luck with your social worker appt. What is that for exactly? We never had to do one but we did have to meet with a donor insemination counsellor. Can they tell you that you aren't a good candidate for this process???

 

[raelynn]

Rae.... good luck with your social worker appt. What is that for exactly? We never had to do one but we did have to meet with a donor insemination counsellor. Can they tell you that you aren't a good candidate for this process???

She basically just wanted us to talk through the struggles we've gone through so far, how we ended up choosing donor, and how we felt about it all. It was a good chance to talk about it all with someone but since both our families have been really supportive it kind of felt like a repeat. She gave us a lot of good info too and some resources we can use for support. When we went in, she told us she couldn't tell us if we would be good parents, if we were mentally sound, or keep us from doing this she was basically just there to make sure we knew all the information and got a chance to talk. All in all, it was pretty helpful just to talk with someone very informed on everything infertility. She gave us her stamp of approval so we're good to go.

 

[HollyTTC]

Rae - I'm glad everything went well for you!! I found it helpful when we talked to our counseller too....... it's nice to speak with someone who's up to speed on everything we are going through.

 

[CanadianMaple]

How is everyone doing? I'm still waiting for AF to show so I can start my cycle on the pill again.

 

[MrsC8776]

Canadian have your cycles ever been like this? This is very weird. I hope AF shows up soon for you so you can get started.

I hope you all are doing well.

 

[deafgal01]

Cm- hope af shows soon. I'm fine.

 

[CanadianMaple]

I've never not had AF after stopping the pill. I pretty much bled all summer on the pill, so I am assuming there was no lining left to shed. I may give it another week if I can hold out and then ask the clinic for provera. Scared to take provera, especially during the beginning of the school year after the effects I felt from the birth control pill.

If I had some true fertility signs, I would just give it a month or whatever. But, since I haven't even really seen EWCM, I am guessing I am anov. But, the pill lowered my LH, so I am not having that constant EWCM I used to have, so maybe I could miss it? I have no idea...

DH is doing one last SA on Wednesday. His testosterone was really low when the clinic tested him in the winter and his family doctor found it in the low normal range. We just want to make sure there isn't any sperm there before we buy some.

Crazy timing too. The sperm bank notified me that they are sending a shipment next week and we could do shared shipping. I'm so tempted, but with all the delays the clinic keeps throwing at us, I don't know if I dare to jinx us at all.

 

[MrsC8776]

Canadian~ I'm glad to hear that your DH will be going in one more time. Fx there is something. If there is something will you guys put donor IUI on hold and go for IVF? I hate to bring stuff up if it hasn't been talked about between you two.

I don't blame you for wanting to wait another week for provera. I have never taken it and I don't know the side effects. As for the shared shipment it might be a good idea. At my clinic they offered one free year of freezing if we were a patient there. Does yours do the same? Although... that cost was probably added into the TESE now that I think about it.

 

[CanadianMaple]

It's $75 for 3 months, then bumps to the $400 annual fee. The shared shipping may not be a good deal if the cycle ends up being delayed for any reason.

If we find sperm, we'll definitely give the IVF a try, but we're not really expecting there to be any. It's more for peace of mind so we can move ahead without ever looking back.

I'm going to go google provera side effects. I think it's all progesterone which is bad news since that's usually the hormone that makes me crazy.

 

[silverbell]

Hope AF shows soon,CM.

As for me ... Our 5th IUI has just failed.

Last IUI coming up before the scary world of IVF. Finding it hard to get my head round, as there's nothing wrong with me or the sperm we're using so IVF seems extreme ... but at the same time we've definitely given IUI a good try.

 

[Stardust1]

Silverbell I'm so so sorry, I just don't know what to say, it's just not fair