Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Swim babies, swim!!!

I was so keyed up over my IUI appointment yesterday that I couldn't sleep the night before.

Most of my anxiety was around "collecting the specimen" because we live 40 minutes from the lab and had to get it in right when the lab opened and within one hour of collection. And there was a lot of verbiage on the information sheet about how they wouldn't accept late specimens, blah blah blah, so I worked myself into near hysteria at the thought of having to get DH to produce within a specific timeframe and then having to drive like the dickens in morning traffic as thousands of sperm die off every minute it takes to get it to the lab.

Of course, I freaked out over nothing, and we got it all in on time. (And then learned that the tech usually will open the lab up a little early for people who want to collect onsite. Thanks for telling me that after the fact!) We went for breakfast while they "processed," and the combination of food + falling adrenaline levels + lack of sleep turned me into a near zombie when they actually finally got around to doing the procedure.

Dr. G. was pleased with the sample - there was a 65% survival rate (the IUI processing is so strangely Darwinian, not to mention the number that probably died on the way to the lab) and an end count of 42 million per ml.

What I like about Dr. G. is that he is really good about explaining everything that he is doing as he is doing it, so I always feel like I know exactly what is going on.

What I didn't like about Dr. G. is that he invited DH to come over on his side and watch while he did the procedure, and then I had to listen to strange banter between my husband and my RE about the positioning of my cervix. I know I'm lucky that DH is so involved and so interested in this whole fertility treatment thing, but I'm massively grateful I was so out of it while all this was happening.

And at the end of it all, Dr. G. looked me straight in the eye and said, "Okay, we're going to make this happen." I love that. I really do.

And that was it. Went home, took a long nap, and then piddled the rest of the day with some work and playing with the dog before vegging out to watch "Lost" and "V."

5 comments:

  1. Sending lots of thoughts and prayers your way!!!

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  2. Whooo Hooo! Inseminated! I didn't realize there were clinics that don't do their own washing--what an extra pain! 42 million is great! My husband was not permitted in the room during these procedures. No sir! Don't want him having that view of me. (Though I know lots of women like their husbands around, though usually at the head end.) Anyways, GOOD LUCK!

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  3. Congratulations! I have my fingers crossed!!!

    I can't really imagine E looking at my cervix, but if he wanted to, that would be ok with me... how funny! I am sooo glad everything went well. now you can relax for about a week before you need to start overanalyzing your symptoms :).

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  4. Yeah for insemination! I'll be sending all sorts of positive thoughts your way in the next couple of weeks!!

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  5. Why do they forget to tell you crucial little things? Like collecting sperm!

    Best of luck!

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