Fertility Journey — Part 3: IUI
I woke up today and performed two test, the covid test came out positive for the third day in the row, while the pregnancy Clearblue test came out negative. This was was third/second round of IUI. There was a mix of extreme disappointment and yet relief, my covid was relatively mild but I could not help worry how it would affect my ‘potential’ embryo’s development — I was scared. More on attempt No3 + Covid later in the post.
At this point, I feel that someone should make an updated “Where do I come from?” book for kids — Option A: natural conception, Option B: IUI, Option C: IVF, Option D: Additional processes like adoption. It would be a very current book rather than most kids books (and science books) that solely discuss Option A.
Recap on my condition
I am pretty fortunate that my one sole issue is that my left fallopian tube is blocked.
I have been told my follicle counts is considered good, and that my lining is good (I cannot remember the exact details, but my linings measurements have always been ‘7–9’).
I also had high hormone levels, which has since gone down thanks to Dostinex. I was told to take half a tablet every other day prior to ‘conception’, I took about 13 to 14 doses, before I stopped. Since a second blood test to check hormone levels, I have been told to take half a tablet once a week prior to ‘conception’ — don’t take while I maybe pregnant.
Since taking the prescribed medications by my Fertility Doctor, my 2–3 cycles seem to have extended from 26 days to 28/29 days — one can hope TCM would say this is an improvement.
Note: Please see you doctor for medical advise, everyone’s body is different, so the prescribe medications and dosages vary from human to human — and I am definitely no doctor, I did not even continue biology after middle school.
First Round: Month of August
TLDR: Admittedly the first month’s attempt IUI was a no go — the right follicle was smaller than the left follicleS.
In August, we were very busy moving our house — and the new house costs was a lot, so we put a pause on the TCM to save money (TCM came close to RM2k per month), since everything other than blocked fallopian tube seemed to be ok.
I recall going in on Day 2, my left ovary had 12 follicles and my right ovary had 10 follicles. I was then given 5 days of Letero. I went back on Day 10, I had two follicles on my left ovary and one follicle on my right ovary. I was given 2 more days of Letero. I went back on Day 14, however the two follicles on my left were about ‘18’ (I am not sure what the measurement unit is) and my one follicle on my right was ‘15’.
Dr Helena advised us no to waste our money on an IUI for August, but we could go home to try. One may be so lucky.
Second Round: Month of September
I went to see Dr Helena on Day 5 — it was 10 and 10 follicles each. Again I was given 5 days of Letero, and told to come back on Day 14 — Day 15 was Malaysia Day a Public Holiday.
On Day 14, I had 1 follicle in each ovary both the same size ‘18’. I was given the blue cooler bag with medication and a syringe to inject myself between 8–10pm that night. The instructions on how to get the medication into the syringe looked complicated and since it was ONLY ONE injection — and I lived very close to a 24hr clinic, I opted to go to the clinic for my injection.
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On Day 16, my husband was told to ‘give’ his sperm at 10am, and my IUI was 3pm. I think there was a lot of people as the Public Holiday just clogged up the appointments. I was told to come in with a full bladder.
When it was my turn, Dr Helena came in with very good news that my husband’s sperm was fantastic this round. I think she said 23 million of usable sperm, the bare minimum she needed was 5 million. The syringe to shoot the sperm in was crazily long and looked very intimidating — however, the IUI did not hurt at all. the syringe just looked very intimidating. Dr Helena kept it light and fast, chatting to me about my China experience — on how I and her brothers felt China didn’t need South East Asians anymore, as the current young generation could speak good english on top of their mother tongue Mandarin. Before you knew it, the IUI was done, I was told to lay on the table for a bit longer and then was off on my way. We were told to have sex thereafter to increase the chances. I was given 14 days worth of Duphaston to take twice a day, until day of testing.
During the past cycle, I swear to you, I felt the ovulation cramps on both sides— so I was hopeful. After our quick trip to Vietnam, there was on time I had gone to the toilet to find the water was pinkish — I googled and there was a hope it was bleeding due to implantation.
We stayed positive, however, I had overdid my ‘roll overs’ during my pilates the week of the IUI, so I had a very locked up back AND that week I had a very dry throat from the aircon (the ac is right next to the bed) . In the book ‘How to get pregnant when you have tried everything’, it said, when your body is in ‘fight or flight’ — it would ‘protect’ you and the last thing on the body’s mind is to get pregnant.
So, now I am doing my best to stay hydrated — we have moved the Dyson fan into the room, our AC turns off after 5–7 hours and the Dyson does an amazing job at keeping us cool. Further, I have been doing at least 10minutes stretches everyday — if possible twice a day, to keep my body mobile. I have actively turned down alcohol too. I have to prove to my body it doesn’t need protecting and we are already ready for a baby to implant.
I remember the day prior, I bought a cheap test kit — only because it was the only one available that the pharmacy. The day of, I took the test in the morning and waited — negative. I cried, my in-laws asked what wrong, I said I was watching the docuseries about the Wild Boars Rescue so it was very emotional. My Husband said, maybe its a cheap test kit, not so good. Later that night I went to buy a Clearblue test kit, tested the next day — negative.
Round 3: October
To be honest, on Day 2 when Dr Helena did the ultrasound and it was 10 follicles on the left and 8 follicles on the right, I didn’t have that high a hope. But you know what. On Day 10 a Tuesday, my right follicle was 16.5 compared to the left that was 13. Dr Helena said this is great, let’s go. She gave me the option to go the IUI the next day or the day after, I recalled my Husband was busy the next day, so I opted for the day after. Again, that night, my husband drove me to the 24hrs clinic and we got the nurse to jab me — this jab left a mark. I still could not bring myself to look at the needle pierce my skin, but it took a long pause to push all the liquid into my body.
The day off, my husband dutifully went in to give his sperm. We had forgotten his earphones but it was ok Dr Helena later reported that he performed wonderfully, something like 40 million (I do wonder if I heard wrong and it was 14 million… but still way over her minimum requirement of 5 million viable sperms). Again, I sat on the bed, she shot in into me, and we could only hope they would meet.
Unfortunately for this round, the biggest problem was that I somehow caught covid on Monday — it was a public holiday. I was in a crappy mood that day, but it was only when I woke up from a late afternoon nap that I realised I had fever (38.5). I was scared, the nurse hotline said to get an examination. The urine and blood test cleared however, I was covid positive. The good news was that I only had to deal with mild fever (which progress downwards to 37s even on the first day) and body aches, I didn’t have sore throat, runny noses, headaches etc. My main worry was for the ‘baby’ the bad news is sickness, especially first trimester, is not good for development — so I was scared if the fever would affect said baby. Now I can appreciate why my Thai Good Friend’s wife rarely left home (they also had IVF).
I have a friend who is now in her third month, she caught covid shortly after her IVF transplant, but still is coughing — legacy of covid. It is scary to think, but she and her husband know they have to be strong, careful and brave.
Thoughts on the book recommendation ‘How to get pregnant when you have tried everything.’
The book was a good read. It reminded me of life coaching a lot — and I know I have to deal with my issues, which I haven’t dealt directly with for a while. I know where my sore points are and I honestly don’t look forward to confronting my fears — also I don’t like the idea of free writing when I don’t know if I am on the right or wrong track. To be honest, I knew my financial fears stemmed from ego, however, I know its a big ego thing for me which also ties to that one issue is self fulfilment, which I have put on hold and meshed with a lot of excuses…. one big excuse is to make myself very available, to go to these appointments for (these appointments can happen any day, it follows your cycle, and you can go in at least 3 times a cycle, and each time you wait for almost 2 or more hours, not to forget the time spent to drive there and back — if I do add TCM, that would be a weekly affair and would take least 45mins).
Also I am wary to buying crystals for fengshui reasons (I do fear leaving crystals out and about the house may trigger some unwanted energy). However, in that moment I when I had fever and covid, I really wished I bought that RM80 howlite crystal to calm my panic.
I thought I was confident and sure — so I only selected what I wanted to do. Take on the positive mindset that this will happen, keep thinking about what I wanted to do with my baby/kid.
I guess, since I have a cycle to heal my body from covid, I should attempt to work on my issues. That would be fun… I did do a 101 Life Coaching Workshop during covid on how to ask questions, I had to be vulnerable and practise with other course mates (two have gone on to become full-fledge life coaches in training, they need the hours to get certain licenses), nonetheless it has been a while since I confronted my issues.
I have no doubt I would be a good mum (I have loved playing with babies and kids since forever), and my husband would be a good dad. It’s just a matter of time, making a child, taking care of a child, just doesn’t happen over night. It’s a long drown out process, one day soon. One day.
