0dpiui #1

Well, today was the big day. I went in for IUI #1. It was really fast and painless - about 30 sec.

We had great news as well which has me more optimistic:

1) I did not ovulate yesterday. B\c the Ovidrel was causing the four mature follicles to grow even more, my ovaries are simply enlarged. Any cramping that I am feeling is the final "growth spurt" of the follicles. Plus, my sides and back were really cramping when I woke up this morning, so I think I am ovulating now. You were right, Amy! Thank you for calming me down!


2) Ed did his job superbly. We had 41 million sperm after the wash. Just FYI, the sperm go through a "wash" before an IUI. In a wash, the sperm is put through solutions to "weed out" the weakest sperm (bad motility, bad morphology). For an IUI, they want to see at least 2-3 million sperm, with average being 15-20 million. So, as you can see, Ed's 41 million was superb. They actually gave him a standing ovation. Although it does not necessarily improve our chances, it does mean that there are more sperm that can hopefully meet at least one of the four eggs.

3) Remember how I spoke about the high miscarriage rate in PCOS people? And remember how I said that in PCOS one of the main symptoms is obesity? Well, the P.A. said that the high miscarriage is usually attributed to the obesity factor. As such, she said that my chances of miscarriage are closer to that of a "normal" person - so only 15%. Yay!! That made me feel better too!

Illustration of IUI

So all-in-all it was a great appointment. I'm working from home today - with my legs in the air. Now begins the worst part of this process - the 2ww. And b\c I'm on HCG shots anyway, I have all the symptoms of pregnancy. It's going to be a long 2 weeks. Beta test is scheduled for July 14 @ 7:30 am. Ahhh...