i just wanted to second the PP comment about making sure your husband is adjusting his lifestyle. In our case, my husband's problem was 0% morphology and low count - but he took supplements, and adjusted his lifestyle (de-stress, almost no drinking etc) and it did improve his numbers - they still weren't great, but it was an improvement. And it takes about 3 months for his eating & lifestyle changes to to affect his swimmers.

Second, have you had an HSG performed? I know it is purely anecdotal, but I had an HSG prior to our first scheduled IUI, and i fell pregnant the next month (after 14 cycles of dedicated and perfectly timed trying). Studies have shown that there can be an increase in fertility for 3-6 months after an HSG (think of it as using draino on your pipes, it clears them out and slightly expands them, making it easier for swimmer to get where they need to be).

best of luck!

Anonymous wrote:

it wasn’t a monitored cycle and not even forced ovulation

I would do both of those things, especially if your first IUI failure makes you panic in all caps.
Three tries for success is the norm, when the cycle is monitored and ovulation forced.

PP. By "forced ovulation", I meant "triggered."

it wasn’t a monitored cycle and not even forced ovulation

I would do both of those things, especially if your first IUI failure makes you panic in all caps.
Three tries for success is the norm, when the cycle is monitored and ovulation forced.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It blows my mind that some fertility clinics are so laissez faire about IUIs that they let it depend entirely on home ovulation tests.

OP, if you're going to put money into more IUIs, then insist that they be monitored. By that I mean following your follicles through your cycle by ultrasound, and following your LH and estrogen by blood draws.

I am pregnant right now from a monitored natural cycle IUI. Even though my LH had started rising on its own, they still had me take the trigger shot at 7PM one night "to give ovulation a boost" and I had the IUI at 1 PM the next day.

As a PP said, you could increase the number of follicles with a medicated cycle using clomid or letrazole, or even injectables. But that increases the chance of multiples.

at shady grove the cost of IUI is less than $400. You can do 30 unmonitored IUIs and still not cover one IVF.

-signed
countless IUIs (20+) & 3 kids

But you are underestimating the emotional toll all of those cycles can take. I did 6 monitored but unmedicated iuis (save trigger) and wish I had stopped at 3.

i did a lot of them and the more I did, the less emotional toll did they carry. it just became something I did almost every month. people are different.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It blows my mind that some fertility clinics are so laissez faire about IUIs that they let it depend entirely on home ovulation tests.

OP, if you're going to put money into more IUIs, then insist that they be monitored. By that I mean following your follicles through your cycle by ultrasound, and following your LH and estrogen by blood draws.

I am pregnant right now from a monitored natural cycle IUI. Even though my LH had started rising on its own, they still had me take the trigger shot at 7PM one night "to give ovulation a boost" and I had the IUI at 1 PM the next day.

As a PP said, you could increase the number of follicles with a medicated cycle using clomid or letrazole, or even injectables. But that increases the chance of multiples.

at shady grove the cost of IUI is less than $400. You can do 30 unmonitored IUIs and still not cover one IVF.

-signed
countless IUIs (20+) & 3 kids

But you are underestimating the emotional toll all of those cycles can take. I did 6 monitored but unmedicated iuis (save trigger) and wish I had stopped at 3.

Anonymous wrote:It blows my mind that some fertility clinics are so laissez faire about IUIs that they let it depend entirely on home ovulation tests.

OP, if you're going to put money into more IUIs, then insist that they be monitored. By that I mean following your follicles through your cycle by ultrasound, and following your LH and estrogen by blood draws.

I am pregnant right now from a monitored natural cycle IUI. Even though my LH had started rising on its own, they still had me take the trigger shot at 7PM one night "to give ovulation a boost" and I had the IUI at 1 PM the next day.

As a PP said, you could increase the number of follicles with a medicated cycle using clomid or letrazole, or even injectables. But that increases the chance of multiples.

at shady grove the cost of IUI is less than $400. You can do 30 unmonitored IUIs and still not cover one IVF.

-signed
countless IUIs (20+) & 3 kids

Make sure your husband starts a healthy lifestyle- no alcohol or pot, regular moderate exercise, no briefs or bicycle, and frequent intercourse with ejaculation.
We had male factor infertility and a change in lifestyle made a difference in sperm numbers.

Anonymous wrote:It blows my mind that some fertility clinics are so laissez faire about IUIs that they let it depend entirely on home ovulation tests.

OP, if you're going to put money into more IUIs, then insist that they be monitored. By that I mean following your follicles through your cycle by ultrasound, and following your LH and estrogen by blood draws.

I am pregnant right now from a monitored natural cycle IUI. Even though my LH had started rising on its own, they still had me take the trigger shot at 7PM one night "to give ovulation a boost" and I had the IUI at 1 PM the next day.

As a PP said, you could increase the number of follicles with a medicated cycle using clomid or letrazole, or even injectables. But that increases the chance of multiples.

Agreed with poster above. Never waste time with an unmonitored anything if you are being seen by a fertility clinic. I'd even suggest staring with a monitored timed intercourse cycle with trigger to see what's going on. Clomid won't really increase your chance of multiples but it can dry you cervical mucus up so don't do Clomid without an iud. Other than that I would recommend three monitored iuis (or one or two monitored timed intercourse cycles followed by three monitored iuis).

It blows my mind that some fertility clinics are so laissez faire about IUIs that they let it depend entirely on home ovulation tests.

OP, if you're going to put money into more IUIs, then insist that they be monitored. By that I mean following your follicles through your cycle by ultrasound, and following your LH and estrogen by blood draws.

I am pregnant right now from a monitored natural cycle IUI. Even though my LH had started rising on its own, they still had me take the trigger shot at 7PM one night "to give ovulation a boost" and I had the IUI at 1 PM the next day.

As a PP said, you could increase the number of follicles with a medicated cycle using clomid or letrazole, or even injectables. But that increases the chance of multiples.

Thanks all for u r valuable replies... U guys are awesome! it wasn’t a monitored cycle and not even forced ovulation. Just a natural cycle IUI where I test in my home ovulation kit and inform them and then they schedule a IUI next day after 24 hours.

My concern was if retroverted uterus is causing an issue. This is being very stressful since we are emotionally and financially being affected as the number of tries keep increasing.

Hoping it would be successful next time.

If you're under 30 and male factor is your issue I would say to stick it out for 3 IUIs before moving to IVF. You could ask to do a medicated/monitored cycle for a little more control or to get more follicles, but that also ups the chances of multiples.

IUIs are tough and there are a lot of people (myself included) who just want to move on to IVF for the increased success rates, but we got pregnant on our 3rd IUI and I am so thankful we stuck it out. You'll be glad you exhausted your low-tech options if you do have to move onto IVF, especially since your age isn't a concern.

RE's say to try three times because statistically after that it doesn't have much chance of working. I did 3 IUIs, and I found them to be so emotionally taxing. For my second child, I went straight to natural cycle IVF. Basically the same procedures (except for the retrieval) and it has a much higher chance of working.

My RE also said that it's worth trying IUI up to 3 times. I got my BFP on my 2nd IUI (medicated and monitored cycle). I definitely think it's worth trying again. Was it a monitored cycle (did they do ultrasounds to see your follicles growing)?

Anonymous wrote:Hi All,

Got my IUI done last month and got my period after 14 days. It was a natural cycle IUI.

I have a retroverted uterus and infertility due to male factor of low sperm motility but the count was around 20 million after wash while IUi was done. Any idea if IUI would be a better option next time or IVF would be better?

My doctor suggests 2-3 cycles of IUI since I am below 30 and ovulation is being positive every month.

Thanks in advance.

IUI success rates are typically only 12-15% per cycle, so it's not unusual to not succeed on the first or second or third try.

Hi All,

Got my IUI done last month and got my period after 14 days. It was a natural cycle IUI.

I have a retroverted uterus and infertility due to male factor of low sperm motility but the count was around 20 million after wash while IUi was done. Any idea if IUI would be a better option next time or IVF would be better?

My doctor suggests 2-3 cycles of IUI since I am below 30 and ovulation is being positive every month.

Thanks in advance.