IUI - Take #1

Flashback to January 2009.

Having endured nearly two years of six monthly pap tests, it was time. Given the all clear, I was going off the pill and finally trying for that much wanted baby number 3 to complete our family. We have two beautiful little girls and had always wanted three children, as my husband is one of three sons. I hadn't had trouble getting pregnant the first couple of times so I anticipated that with my age (38) that it may take a little longer. I also had it in my mind that I wanted to have my family completed before I turned 40 so the clock was well and truly ticking. That, and the fact that my surgeries may also make things a little more tricky.

Hubby and I attended a conference in Las Vegas in early January 2009, which also coincided with his 40th birthday, and it was then that I went off the pill thinking that the holiday setting, minus the kids (plus lots of margaritas!) may help make things happen alot easier. I guess that was wishful thinking so when it didn't happen after that first attempt, we went about our day to day, month to month until July, which is when I began to wonder if there were other factors hindering the process. It wasn't for the lack of trying, that's for sure! I visited my OBGYN and he got me a fast tracked appointment with one of the best fertility doctors in our city, who otherwise had a waiting list of six months and who I will refer to as Dr M.

At our initial consultation, we discussed my history, had blood tests to check on the viability of my eggs and it was determined that IUI was the best option for us to try first. IUI is essentially artificial insemination - my husband's sperm would be inserted via syringe inside of me when I was ovulating, in the hope they would meet up with my own eggs and let nature take it's course. After all, it had happened twice before, why not a third time?

Part of the process is also to decide which way to "go in", so to speak, and it was while Dr M first assessed my cervix and attempted to insert the insemination syringe through all my scar tissue, trying several ways and means whilst I sat in the chair, that I found the pain to be too much to bear. Imagine the worst pap smear scraping pain and multiply it by a million! It was concluded that I would need to have day surgery when it was time and be inseminated whilst under general anaesthetic. This explained alot of things. If Dr M could not even get a syringe that was no wider than the ink tube of a pen through this space, what chance did the sperm have of getting through of it's own accord. We had been trying in vain for six months as it was obvious that I would be unable to fall pregnant naturally ever again.

As it goes, ovulation is determined by blood tests and ultrasounds following a course of fertility drugs that ensure there are viable eggs ready to go. There was nothing wrong with my eggs, except for the fact that at nearly 39, their quality were not as good as say, a 21 year old woman's, but nonetheless, the fertility drugs assist in stimulating the best possible eggs to maximise our chances of conception. That said, I was given the standard dose that most women start on for IUI and on our first cycle, we achieved three good sized follicles. In layman's terms, an increased risk of triplets, especially given my age.

Oh.

My husband's first thought was "you beauty, three in one hit!", whereas I was fully aware of the dangers this may pose to me and my babies if in fact all three eggs were inseminated. Due to the shortening of my cervix from the cone biopsy, my OBGYN had already advised us that any subsequent pregnancy for me would be a little more high risk and twins would be a potentially higher risk again, let alone triplets. My gut told me that we should not go ahead with insemination this time, instead trying next month with no or less fertility drugs to prevent this happening again. My OBGYN said exactly the same thing so despite my husbands disappointment, it was back to square one, and lets see what next month had to offer...