Can’t seem to get an IUI cycle started and finished

[Anonymous]

I started my first IUI cycle in November with assurances I had time before traveling for Thanksgiving to complete the cycle. I missed it by a day. Didn’t even bother for December since I know I’d run into travel issues. Here I am cycle day 1 and it seems like I may have the flu. I’m starting to feel like just giving up now and not even deal with the stress and then likely disappointment. Just over here being all emotional and needed to vent.

[Anonymous]

IUI cycles can be fickle. It mirrors the success rate. Many just don’t align well or work out. I’ve had to cancel an IUI cycle bc I ovulated early. It was hard but better to know it isn’t going to work in advance than to go through the whole process and think it could work when it won’t. I hope today is a better day for you! Focus on getting that next cycle scheduled!

[Anonymous]

I think that's when you have to decide if it's worth the change fees to reschedule travel plans by a couple days. If you've already spent, say, $1,000 in meds and co-pays for that IUI cycle, it's reasonable to reschedule a flight.

During my IUI and IVF cycles, my ovulation and retrieval days happened anywhere from day 12 to day 18, depending on meds.

[Anonymous]

Why would having the flu on cycle day one be a problem? The flu typically lasts for 4 days with another 4 days to return to normal. You probably ovulate around day 13.

You’re fine on the IUI front. As for the flu, drag yourself to urgent care to get swabbed. If it is the flu, you can take Tamiflu to lessen the symptoms.

Hang in there.

[Anonymous]

I pay $250 per cycle and it would have been leaving for a 9- hour drive on Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. Since it was our first one we figured it wasn’t a big deal and would just wait a month. The one at Christmas would have meant missing the whole trip. I go for a day 2-3 baseline appointment (the one I’m thinking I can’t do with the flu), and then in that first cycle i had 4 more visits before I was ready to trigger.

[Anonymous]

OP, it's not a sprint it is a marathon. Think like you are training for Olympics. You either want to do this or not. I don't know what's the priority of your travel is, but you need to get your priority right.

Sorry if you think this is rude. Getting pregnant is a life changing experience, either doing it naturally or artificially.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, it's not a sprint it is a marathon. Think like you are training for Olympics. You either want to do this or not. I don't know what's the priority of your travel is, but you need to get your priority right.

Sorry if you think this is rude. Getting pregnant is a life changing experience, either doing it naturally or artificially.

The not a sprint mentality is why I bailed on the first cycle. I figured there were more ahead. Skipping travel would have meant explaining to an entire extended family that we are trying to have a kid. We aren’t there yet. Husband and I discussed at length whether it was worth it. Given the low success rate of IUI to begin with, at this current moment it seems not worth the stress.

[Anonymous]

Also don’t forget to have sex 2 days before suspected trigger and then the day after.

[Anonymous]

I hear you. Delays are so frustrating when the clock is ticking. Can you schedule your Day 3 and cancel if you are still feeling sick?

During the IUI cycle I got pregnant, we were traveling for a wedding in rural Pennsylvania when my cycle started. I had missed the previous cycle due to travel, and had already spent several months waiting on test results. I scheduled my Day 3 monitoring for the morning after the wedding, so we had to leave the hotel at the crack of dawn to make the appointment in Philadelphia. DH was still drunk from the night before lol...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hear you. Delays are so frustrating when the clock is ticking. Can you schedule your Day 3 and cancel if you are still feeling sick?

During the IUI cycle I got pregnant, we were traveling for a wedding in rural Pennsylvania when my cycle started. I had missed the previous cycle due to travel, and had already spent several months waiting on test results. I scheduled my Day 3 monitoring for the morning after the wedding, so we had to leave the hotel at the crack of dawn to make the appointment in Philadelphia. DH was still drunk from the night before lol...

Thank you for this! That’s exactly what I ended up doing and woke up today feeling great! Now what’s the probability of IUI working on the first try??? Like 0.1%? I’m at least hoping future cycles will be less anxiety filled.

[Anonymous]

I had the same experience, op. I attempted the cycle 6 times, but only 3 actually ended with an IUI. And that 3rd one was successful. Stick with it. I know 6 months sounds like an agonizingly long period of time, I get it. But you'll get through it. When I wanted to give up, I reminded myself that if I stuck with it, we'd at least have a chance if having a child. I sort of went through those months assuming nothing would work out and kept my expectations low.