Another DIY home insemination success story!
Hi all,
Just writing to give those girls at home trying to get pregnant some more positive news.
My partner & I used the tried & true technique of the 'cup n syringe', with her very patient brother as our donor. I charted consistently for around 6 cycles beforehand and think that's really important in order to get the timing right, and to help know your body so if you are experiencing a slightly different cycle you can still pick up on when you may be ovulating. Charting wise I temped religiously, every morning apart from when I had AF, noted cervical mucus, and also checked cervix (position and softness etc) around ovulation time, finally, when actually trying to conceive we used a Maybe Baby saliva microscope (which I found not very reliable personally), plus OPK tests for about 3 times a cycle whrn I was pretty sure I was close to ovulation.
I also did 3 months of pre-conception care, not drinking alcohol at all, cutting down my coffee, eating really healthy etc. Then did full on pre-conception care during the months we were trying - so each week after I got my period I would drink no coffee, eat as though I was in the TWW etc (well in terms of careful attention to balanced meals etc, not the no sushi or soft cheeses thing!) I also went to a herballist to get some supplements, as I had a very stressful job and couple of years personally, and am also a pescetarian (a vegie who eats fish and seafood), so I wanted to make sure I wasn't deficient in anything. So I incorporated her suggestions for diet and supplements for the 3 months prior to trying. Finally I also took another organic practitioner prescribed Pre-natal supplement daily for the 3 month period and throughout trying to conceive.
We were extremely lucky to conceive on our first try back in August, my poor brother-in-law had arrived on the Thu from the other side of the world and I decided we needed to try on the Mon! So we inseminated that morning and then again that night. Usually wouldn't have tried twice in one day (as the clinics recommend you leave 2-3 days in between ejaculation to build up the sperm count), but he had an appointment at the fertility clinic to have his sperm count tested on the Wed morning!
Turned out that his sperm wouldn't thaw after their standard practise of freezing it (so they can quarantine it for 3 months for testing), so they said our only chance was to do it at home. Obviously we'd intended to try that as well as the cheap option, with the clinic as the back up plan after he had to return home. So we were pretty bummed as not only wouldn't it freeze, but his fresh count wasn't super high, and I had results back the same day saying I had a potentially under active thyroid which may make it hard to conceive. Then to our great surprise, about 4 days later we got a positive HPT!
Devastatingly, I miscarried our baby at 12 weeks. So then it was panic stations as he was nearly at the end of his stay, he only had about 3 weeks left on his visa! We started the visa extension process, and I also got a new prescription to help me build up my blood and replenish my body and reproductive organs. Then from 1 week after the MC I had weekly sessions of fertility focused acupuncture (both for the grief and balancing out my cycle again). We tried again in the following two cycles (1 before his visa was granted and then 1 after it was), but to no avail. (I did get a lot of the symptoms - high temps, implantation bleeding spots on the right day for that, fatigue, but then would get my AF a day or so late. (My acupunturist said maybe I was starting to conceive but the lining of the womb just wasn't adequate enough to support a pregnancy.)
Then on the 1st of Jan, 8 days before he had to leave, we had our last attempt. We inseminated 4 times over days 8-14 (with ovulation on day 15), a bit early to start but i was determined to not miss the chance lol.
And now we are pregnant AGAIN! 4.5 weeks today, so early days, but I have so much more energy than last time. Here's hoping for a healthy happy pregnancy that results in a baby we get to take home :-)
DIY definitely works ladies!! But I think all of the pre-conception care and charting (and acupuncture) we did helped to make it work more easily than if we had not done all that.
I'd love to hear your own stories if you have one, and happy to answer any questions where I can.
M & D & Pepi
