Diary on Post-IUI -- The Dreadful 2WW

Here is a list of what I experienced and have done during the 2 week waiting period:

1dpiui - bed rest only. I started on Utrogestan 200mg twice a day -- one in the morning and one at night. I had to take this for 10 days straight. It is a vaginal suppository that will help I think in thickening the endometrium to support pregnancy. If not pregnant, you will still get AF once it is due. I started to eat pineapple also especially the hard part because as per my research the hard part contains bromelain that aids in implantation. Then there is the grape juice a glass a day also.I was religiously taking evening primrose oil also and I still took it on 1dpiui along with folic acid, metformin, calcium and vitamin E. Light cramping was experienced also on and off.

2dpiui - Light cramping was still there but I got out of bed already and went to Libis to visit Padre Pio of Pietrelcina Center. I believe that Dr.T was made an instrument by God to direct me to this shrine as Padre Pio will help us with our petition. From then on until now, I am still praying to Padre Pio for his intercession. With regards to the meds, I stopped taking primrose oil because I read that it should not be taken after ovulation as it is labor-inducing drug and might affect implantation.

3dpiui till 5dpiui - no bedrest for me. I just went on my normal routine but with some cautions. No lifting or doing strenous work. However, I was not able to avoid long walking as I was out with my family. I was also preparing for our departure going back to Dubai so 4dpiui and 5dpiui I was quite busy packing.

6dpiui - our flight going back to Dubai. I was so scared this will affect implantation because of the air pressure up there. Even if Dr. T assured us that we can resume to normal activities after IUI and I can still fly but given my current bodily condition, I am not sure if it was really safe. Hubby and I had doubts but we can't do anything. We can't extend our stay in Philippines because our work is waiting already. So off we go and took the risk. During the whole flight, I felt cramps and gassy feeling until we arrived at home.

7dpiui - got to do household chores early in the morning and went to our admin office to bargain about my schedule for March. To sum up, no rest at all after the flight.

8dpiui - on and off cramps, some household chores, preparing for work the next day. By the way, in between these days I was also having breast soreness, nausea, back pain, hot flashes at night and quite higher than normal temperature.

9dpiui - severe abdominal cramps with sharp pain all over while at work. Plus sharp pain also on lower back. I was scared also at this time as I do not know what is the reason for the severe cramping. Maybe I was just stressed again of going back to work.

10dpiui - I had to report sick thinking that there is something wrong with me because of the cramps and high temperature the night before. I was searching for a Filipino OB doctor here in Dubai but no one. I prayed to Padre Pio to guide me in looking for a doctor who can see us and alas, I was able to find a clinic with 2 Filipina doctors. Though they are both GPs, they also handle ob-gyne cases as per the receptionist in the clinic. So off we went to Philippine Medical Center for a checkup. I was advised to undergo cultured urinalysis to rule out UTI. The doctor also told me it is still early to establish pregnancy. And if severe abdominal cramps occur again, I have to undergo pelvic scan to see what is happening inside.

11dpiui - cramping went away and was anxious to know the result of the urinalysis. The doctor called me in the afternoon advising me the result of the urinalysis, but only the basic one, not yet the cultured report. She said that the cultured report will be available only 2 days after. But she advised me that there is +1 bacteria in my urine sample and she still cannot establish whether this is significant or not as we have to wait for the culture report. She also emphasized that I have again high glucose in my sample so I need to take my meds again regularly and monitor it otherwise it will be risky for my pregnancy if confirmed.

12dpiui - all pregnancy symptoms disappeared so I obsessed researching the internet about symptoms after IUI and effects of the hormones  I was taking. I was scared that AF will come anytime soon.  I was also afraid that all the symptoms I was experiencing earlier were only because of the progesterone that I was taking...

13dpiui - still no symptoms at all except occasional soreness of boobs and very light cramping. Hubby and I bought 3 HPTs, 2 cheap ones and the other 1 a more sensitive and expensive one. I was told by Dr. T to test on March 7. It was only March 5 but my hands itched and I tested in the night. Sadly it was a BFN. But I did not lose hope. I was thinking it was still too early for hpt to determine hcg level in my urine and there are cases when they tested BFN but later BFP on beta test. So hubby and I kept on encouraging ourselves that it was still early. But deep inside me, there was a pinch already in my heart. I was silently crying and I resorted to praying and talking to God, to the point of asking for a miracle to make the hpt positive next time...I had a vivid bad dream also -- accident that involved my sister. Kaya I was more anxious pa.

14dpiui - still no symptoms and no AF. Now obsessing on stories where it was BFN and then BFP later. Obsessing also on possible pregnancy symptoms. The doctor from PMC again called me and updated me regarding the result of the culture urinalysis and she said I am cleared of any infection. Thank God!

15dpiui - I kept on praying to God and to Padre Pio to give me sign if I am pregnant or not. I needed time to relax and keep my mind away from this pregnancy symptoms so hubby and I went out.

16dpiui - around 4am I can't stop my hands and I tested again. This time it was invalid! I used the expensive hpt but the control window line did not show! Oh I guess that was not the sign I was asking for from God. So again, I obsessed on searching for post IUI stories. I was quite depressed already so I resort to reading testimonies in Padre Pio's site. I even search for bible verses for inspiration and strength. This was the day I prayed so hard and pour my heart out to let me know what I have to expect.

17dpiui - I did not feel good about going to work so I took a pass. I was crying at 430am asking hubby for a permission to just skip work. He said OK and then later on asked me if there is something wrong with me. I just felt something wrong deep inside. And the dreadful wait is over, in the afternoon, I saw already brown spotting on my undies when I was about to take a bath. Tears started flowing on my cheeks and I was crying the whole time I was taking a bath. This is it.... The sign God gave me... This was not the right time. As I am really heartbroken, I asked for another local leave the next day just to give time for me to compose myself, grieve for a while, and absorb all these things.

My AF came in its full force today, March 10, 18dpiui or should I say CD1. Off to a new cycle... But I am quite lost where to start again as I am thousand miles away from our fertility specialist...I am entrusting everything to God now. May He guide us to the right path towards having a baby.

IUI #1

Sorry for the delayed updates. The succeeding posts will reveal why I hibernated for a while.

February 20, 2013

The start of a new hope... Hopefully the start of building our own family. We went to CRM in Ortigas at 6am to avoid being late on our 9am appointment. Hubby and I went there with my sister and my brother-in-law who drove us to Ortigas.

We arrived at 0830am in CRM and hubby had his specimen collected at 0850am. The sperm washing will take around 2 hours and my scheduled IUI will be at 1230pm so we had to wait for a couple of hours.

The other TTC couple with Dr. T was also there and will have the same procedure almost the same time as ours.

Dr. T arrived at 12 noon and I was asked to empty my bladder and lie down in the IUI room at 1215pm. I was a little bit scared because I do not know whether it will be painful or not, though in the internet they said it is painless. At around 12nn, I took Feldene melt tablet as instructed by Dr.T just to make sure that I don't feel any pain.

The actual procedure lasted only about 5 minutes and I did not feel any pain apart from the insertion of speculum and a sudden surge in my right abdomen -- probably my hubby's sperms trying to get their way to my dominant follicles on my right ovary.

I was told to lie down and wait for 1 hour just to make sure that the sperms settle in my body. While waiting, Dr.T mentioned out of nowhere that I should try visit Padre Pio Shrine in Libis, Quezon City because most of her patients went there also asking for babies.

Also, Dr.T gave me a medical certificate requesting for my work be on a day shift pattern while waiting for the pregnancy to be confirmed just to avoid stress while on the 2 week waiting period.

After the IUI, when we arrived home, I had brown spotting and it must have been on the speculum because after some time it stopped already.

I had to take bedrest for a day or two just not to stress out myself.

Updates Before the "Big" Day

Just an update of what was happening during these past few days:

Feb 6 - first day of menstruation

Feb 7 - baseline transvaginal ultrasound (Result: polyphs are still there; endometrium measuring 0.4cm).

Feb 7 till Feb 11 - was put on Clomiphene Citrate Serophene 50mg (also known as Clomid) for 5 days, twice a day -- one in the morning and one at night.

Feb 16 - 2nd ultrasound for follicle monitoring (Result: 1 dominant follicle in my right ovary measuring 18mm and endometrium is 0.7cm. We had to wait for a couple of days to let the dominant follicle grow more into a much suitable size)

Feb 18 - 3rd ultrasound for follicle monitoring (Result: the dominant follicle on the right ovary measures now at 24mm and endometrium is at 1.0cm thick which is already good for assisted reproduction.)

Feb 19 - at 12:30am I was scheduled to administer the trigger shot for the follicle. Ovidrel 250mg was given to me. This is a pre-filled syringe to be injected subcutaneously under the umbelicus (in the abdomen area).

IUI procedure is scheduled on Feb 20 at the Center for Reproductive Medicine in Ortigas. Sperm washing will be done at 9am while the actual IUI will be done by Dr. T at 12:30pm.

Of course I am not relying in science only. In between these days, my husband and I were very much occupied visiting churches offering masses and prayer requests. Everything will happen in God's time. I know He will give us our heart's desires very soon. :)

IUI Procedure - A Couple's Introspect

Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) is one of the assisted reproductive technologies today which aid couples to get pregnant with higher success rate.

I would have passed on getting pregnant naturally, but since DH's sperm analysis turned out not so good, we have to resort to artificial insemination.

But IUI is a bit more 'natural'compared to IVF as the sperm would still try to find its way to meet with the egg and implant itself in the uterus. The only artificial here is that DH will not deposit his little swimmers to me by himself. We have to collect sperm sample from him, let it undergo sperm washing to separate the good sperm from the bad ones. Then the good sperm will then be injected to me through a catheter into the cervix.

I had to talk through my DH on this procedure and let him think about it. Fortunately, he agreed on the procedure. However, due to the lack of time we spent in Philippines, we had to schedule it on a later time, but just in time after all my medications in preparation for my body to get pregnant is over. My fertility doctor, endocrinologist, and nutritionist put me on a 2-month medication program to lessen the side effects of PCOS and prepare my body for gestation.

Hence, the procedure will then be done on Feb 2013. I do hope we would have enough time and resources at that time to complete this procedure.

We would be needing around 25-50k pesos for this first IUI procedure. The medications I need to aid me in ovulating depends on how my body reacts to them. The more my body resists, the more expensive the medication would be.

This is even much cheaper than IVF. But even so, the amount is already stressing us. And also the thought that if it would not work the first time, then again and again, we will have to prepare such amount of money until it becomes successful. But so to speak, NO PAIN, NO GAIN! So off we go to this 'baby project'.

Now the problem is how to escape Dubai without comprising our work -- because NO WORK,NO PAY, thus no money for IUI! :(

The Little Swimmers Up Close

November 7, 2012

DH, my sister and I had to wake up early and battle against the early morning rush going to Ortigas. DH was given a referral by Dra. Tecson for sperm analysis in the Center for Reproductive Medcine, Raffles Corporate Center, Ortigas.

For further information, you can visit their website at http://crmivf.webs.com/contactinformation.htm. Though the website has not been fully updated, I can say tahat their clinic is quite modernized.

DH's sperm analysis costs P700 and you can get the result after 6 hours. Prior to the sperm analysis, we were advised by Dra.Tecson to have sexual abstinence for 3 days -- no more, no less.

While filling up the patient's form, there were questions like how many sticks of cigarettes being consumed a day, how much alcohol being taken, and how often we do baby dances in a week's time. I was not worried with the last question because I know we would score good on this lol! But what made me worried was the first and the second questions.... DH now knows that alcohol and cigarettes have really a big impact on his little swimmers'' performance.

While painstakingly waiting for 6 hours in SM Megamall (the nearest mall in Raffles Building), we tried to divert our attention to the medical result. DH was the only one who returned to the clinic to get the result as it was quite a long walk going back there especially in the midst of a hot afternoon.

When he received the sperm analysis report, he was asking the nurses and receptionist there if was a good or bad news but he was told that our doctor will be the one to interpret it for us.

When DH handed over to me the result, I was somehow lost, drowning into some alien terms! Since my sister who is a nurse is with us, I right away asked her if she can interpret it for us. But she told me she is an ICU nurse and this is not her specialty.

But the curious little Dora in me wanted to explore and understand more the results and I just could not wait for Dra. Tecson's analysis the next day. So during the bus ride from SM Megamall to Cubao and the FX ride from Cubao to Malolos, I indulged myself in deciphering these numeric figures and alien words. My hunch was correct -- DH also has fertility issues...

As per Dra. Tecson, DH is suffering from teratozoospermia, a condition wherein the sperms have abnormal morphology or shapes that affect fertility. In DH's case, the heads of his little swimmers are having defects which makes it harder for them to penetrate my egg cell.

To get pregnant naturally, it would take a lot of patience, effort and luck given the current condition of DH. Hence, Dra. Tecson advised us to resort to IUI procedure, an assisted reproductive technology that can boost the success rate of pregnancy to 20-25%.

I had to explain further to DH what an IUI is and how it will be done. Generally, men really do not have that much knowledge about reproduction compared to women.

We will see how it goes!