As it turned out, I didn't get around to organizing my IF stuff that night, but I did start my 6th (and final) Clomid cycle. And the next day at work (on my lunch break) I made an IUI calendar for myself to keep track of everything. Yes, I know it is the 21st century and there are phone apps and Outlook and gmail calendars for all of that, and I do use them. But I mainly wanted something that I could tape up in my bathroom to remind me what to do on a daily basis. Because let's face it, I'm not usually at full mental capacity when I stagger into my bathroom at 5:30 a.m. and have been known to forget all about pee-sticking (new term I picked up somewhere online - I kind of like it!). I was really proud of my calendar, and not just because I used highlighters and different color pens to make it. I even came up with a nice code to remind us which days were off limits for doing the tango. Because even though it was on the wall in the little bathroom inside our master bedroom, you just never want to have to explain to nosy company why you have a calendar with a bunch of numbers and the words "NO SEX!" written all over it. That's awkward.
Here's a pic of my personalized IUI calendar:
Here's a rundown of the days leading up to the actual IUI:
Cycle day 3: This was the baseline blood and U/S day that almost ended in not getting to start treatment (see Part 18). Fortunately, it ended up being Clomid dose 1.
Cycle day 4: Clomid dose 2 and antibiotic dose 1. This was the day before my SSH, so no tango allowed. Started to feel the familiar Clomid effects - nothing new to report there. Here's a pic of all the medications, supplements, and vitamins I was now taking:
(That's a pumpkin on the right. I have no idea why we still had a pumpkin sitting in our kitchen in the middle of February. But just to clarify - the pumpkin was not part of my regimen.)
Cycle day 5: Clomid dose 3 and antibiotic dose 2. This was also SSH day. I wasn't very nervous about it, since everything I had read seemed to suggest that the HSG was way worse than this would be. Sure enough, as the tech got me prepped for the test she talked about how it would be much less painful, etc. Since the HSG hadn't actually been all that bad for me, I figured this would be a piece of cake. And I was right. Dr. B herself came to do my exam. She used a speculum to insert a catheter, then took the speculum out and inserted the dildocam. Honestly, I think the worst part of either the HSG or SSH is that nasty speculum - so cold and metallic. Anyway, once the dildocam was in place, she injected the saline and proceeded to talk me through everything on the screen. The verdict: passed with flying colors. She said my uterus and ovaries looked fantastic - not a bit of scar tissue or blockage in sight. And there were follicles growing! Based on their size, she estimated that I'd be ready for the IUI in about a week. She said to plan for another U/S after the weekend and we would know more at that point.
Cycle day 6: Clomid dose 4 and final antibiotic dose. More dizziness and lack of appetite, but otherwise nothing too exciting.
Cycle day 7: Clomid dose 5 (last one!). It had also been a while since our last tango, what with AF and all the restrictions around the SSH test. Turns out, not doing the tango for too long can be just as problematic as doing it too close to the IUI time. In terms of sperm count and quality - or something like that. And since we were making back-up plans to freeze a sample beforehand (just in case Paul's work schedule didn't allow him to be present on one or both IUI days), we needed to tango a couple of days before he went in to deposit that sample. So we did.
Cycle day 8: No drugs to take (except for the herbal supplements my acupuncturist had me on - which Dr. B had approved!) and no tango allowed. But I did get to start pee-sticking. It was pretty early, but I didn't want to miss anything either. Fun times.
Cycle day 9: Same story as day 8. Still no smiley (not surprising).
Cycle day 10: Pee-stick was negative still. Bloodwork and U/S to check my progress. Deposit Day for Paul. While they were drawing my blood, Brownie came to talk to me about the trigger shot (the one containing human chorionic gonadotropin or HCG). This shot "triggers" the ovaries to ovulate so that you can control the timing. It would be my first self-injection and she just wanted to make sure I didn't have any concerns or questions. My main concern was that I still didn't have the shot, as there had been some delay with the mail order pharmacy. But they had assured me it would arrive on the following day, and Brownie thought that would be soon enough. Later that afternoon, Brownie called with my test results and said I should trigger the following evening (between 6-10 p.m.). I asked if it would matter whether I saw a smiley on the pee stick that morning or not, and she said no, but to keep pee-sticking so we would know when it did appear. IUI would then occur the 2 consecutive days after I triggered.
Cycle day 11: Pee-stick negative again. Worked from home since the pharmacy required someone to be present to sign for the delivery and make sure the pre-filled syringe was properly stowed in the refrigerator - thank goodness for a flexible and understanding boss! Delivery arrived late-morning and I unpacked the syringe. There was an awful lot of packing for one tiny syringe!
I read through all the instructions that came with the package. Needles don't really bother me so I wasn't dreading it or anything. But I was worried about somehow doing wrong! That evening, I told Paul I wanted him to do the stabbing. I picked the spot and cleaned it and he got the syringe out and ready. It was just a tiny little needle - the kind used for insulin injections. I barely even felt it. That night I went to sleep feeling nervously anticipatory.
Cycle day 12 (pre-IUI): Practically bounced out of bed (never happens to me). Did a little pee-sticking and there was a smiley! I knew then that the trigger shot had worked, because I never get a smiley as early as day 12. We got in the car and headed to the clinic...
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