As weird as it is for me to have doctors 'in my business' every few days, I can't imagine how weird it must be for hubby and his part. He must deposit his little swimmers into a specimen cup, at a certain date and time. The cup then rides, tucked inside a coat pocket to keep them body temp, to the doctor. There, he passes them off to a lab tech, today a young woman, and fill out a sheet that asks things like how his sample was collected and what time.
After the drop off we have to wait an hour and a half for me to come back for my IUI. We usually go for a nice breakfast and try not to think about what our day holds. Today we tried a place called Mimi's Cafe, and it was really good!
Back to the doctor's office at 9:00. My favorite nurse, Val, she gets us checked into a room and has a little vial that carries Hubby's cleaned swimmers. To 'clean' them, they are spun out of the fluid they are in, into a sterile fluid that is hot pink in color. On the vial they have Hubby's name, the last four digits of his social security number and my name. Val verifies Hubby's name and social, hands me my paper towel sheet and off she goes, telling us the doctor will be in shortly.
This weekend I've been seeing Dr. Moretuzzo. He is a soft spoken and friendly doctor. The doctors in this practice are some of the nicest and most loving doctors I have ever encountered. Dr. Moretuzzo comes in and gives us Hubby's numbers. The count is 97 Million with 90% motility. The average count is about 30 million, so these are great numbers! Hubby watches what he eats and drinks in the days leading up to our IUI to maximize his numbers. Seems to be working! So, Dr. Moretuzzo inserts a speculum (that lovely device they use in our annual visits for pap smears) to open the canal so he can see my cervix. He then uses a catheter that is made specifically for IUI. This is what is looks like
Its like a long straw on a syringe that injects the swimmers into my uterus. You actually don't feel much at all, for me, I only feel a slight tickle on my cervix when it passes through. The doctor is able to aim the catheter so that they can deposit some swimmers on a particular side, or some on both if you have eggs on both sides. This puts them as close as possible to the eggs, ensuring more of them make it. The doctor then takes everything back out and pulls out the foot rest on the exam table for you to rest for 10 minutes or so. And that is it! That is all there is to an IUI. After your 10 minutes, off you go.
Now, for the next few days, we have to go at it on our own, just to increase our changes. There won't be a whole lot to report on.
Physically though, I hurt. My breasts are super super sore and my ovaries are cramping a lot. I'm not looking forward to starting the progesterone in a couple of days.
We now wait 2 weeks and 2 days to take a pregnancy test. Fingers are crossed, toes are crossed, prayers are being said, and baby dances are being done!
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