I think title summarised everything.

So i failed IUI 3 times.

What is IUI ? IUI = Intrauterine insemination.

So your ovulation was monitored through several scans and doctor will place your hub’s sperm inside your uterus to facilitate fertilization. It can be done with or without medications and there are different types and dosage for the medication.

Cost is not as expensive as IVF. Per cycle of IUI cost about $1.5K to $3K. The price range depends on the number of scans you need (Doc consultation+scan) and dosage of medication required. Before that you probably need to spend about another $500 to $1000 for the blood test depends on what your doctor want you to test for.

Usually, doctors will ask you to go for 3 times of IUI before you proceed to IVF.

Ya lor so we failed all 3 tries. So the next step is to go for IVF. Waiting for my period to come in 2 weeks so that we can start.

After the miscarriage (previous post) , i took 1 cycle break till October. However after the miscarriage , the period haywire. It became longer! So i have to take norethisterone to time my period and force it to come. Doc asked me to take for 7 days and stop and the period will come within 3 to 10 days later. And that was when i started IUI

My First IUI ….. 7th of Nov 2018

On 1st Day of full flow period , i made a call to the clinic to book for day 2 appt. That was when the process starts.

On cycle day 2 of period (2nd day of period) , gynae scanned to check and prescribed me letrozole which is a hormone pill to assist in ovulation. I took 5 pills of letrozole at 1 pill per day from day 2 of my period to day 6 and stop. And on that day at the clinic , nurse booked me to see doc again on day 12 to scan.

On day 12 , doc scanned to check on my linings to make sure it is alrigh. Not too thin and not too thick. Ideal one is at least 8mm. And also she scanned my ovaries to check on the eggs to find the dominant one which will mature for ovulation for IUI.

Somehow, letrozole does not work on me. My eggs grew damn slow and not even responding. So i came back again on day 16 since my gynae said my eggs are still small. It was only about 8 to 10mm on day 12. I have to come back again on day 19 to scan again since the eggs are supposed to be ideal and at least between 18mm-21mm to trigger for ovulation and iui procedure.

So bo bian i came back on day 19 again. Some people respond well to the medication and they can ovulate and do iui on day 14 but not for me though. So for my IUI procedure , i have to spend more $$ since i have to do more scans. Each trip to clinic is $200 at last ( scans $80 and consultation $120).

It was my first IUI and i was of cos abit scared and worried. So every single little thing i will call in and make a trip back. Esp when i tested negative for pregnancy but my period never come. I think i too kanchiong and kia see already. So i spent more $$ lor…should have kept my cool.

On day 19, the egg still “sleeping” not at ideal size so i came back on day 20 again to scan again. That was when it was about 15.4mm and lining is 12mm. Still “sleeping”.

Have to reschedule my next scan again lor on day 22.

On day 22 , the follicle grew to 18mm already. I was told the egg follicles grow about 2mm per day. So mine is really damn slow. I had the ovulation trigger shot (pregnyl 5000iu) to trigger ovulation in 36hrs and my IUI was done next day in the clinic.

This jab is damn painful !! Wah it was injected into the muscles at your butt. After that i can feel the pain and ache. I have problem lying down on the injected site or even sit. Machiam orceh bruise lor.

On Day 24, hubs and i went to the clinic for our IUI procedure. Before that hubs will have to produce the sperm and submit to a centre where they will process it and pass it to me in a vial and i have to bring it to the clinic. The centre advised that i keep the vial in my bra to keep warm if im taking cab. Avoid direct exposure to direct aircon or cold.

Haha so i kept the vial so precious inside my bra cup lor. The centre is just 10mins away so we took a cab back to the clinic for IUI.

It was a chop chop 10 mins procedure. I have to go in with my bladder SUPER FULL so that scan can be done. And after the procedure i was told to lie down for 20mins. Wah cannot endure..really need to pee.

Hubs took this pic when i was there waiting for my gynae to come. The room is super cold. I was told to keep warm and wear skirt if not you have to take your whole pants down and expose your lower body to the cold aircon room for at least 40mins. So cold until i cant wait to get up and pee due to full bladder but i have to lie down for 20 mins after gynae place hub’s sperm inside.

After the procedure , i went home to rest. I was instructed to call the clinic only if i missed my period after 14 days and tested positive for pregnancy. And i was given duphaston and cardiprin pills to take to help maintain the pregnancy if positive. If negative, to call back again on 1st day of FULL flow period and make appt for cycle day 2 and the WHOLE iui procedure repeats again!

My 2nd IUI… Jan 2019

I failed my first IUI..

Was i disappointed ? Yes

I was really disappointed because i was hopeful.

We have been trying to conceive for 3 years. We have no medical issues except that i have mild pcos where my period is irregularly regular (2-3 times a year i may have a 42 day cycle) but it has been under control since i started taking metformin everyday and my period is now within 32days. I ovulate but don’t know when only.

After trying naturally but failed with a miscarriage , the next thing i can hope for to help us with child planning is via IUI. Then IUI first round fail liao..the how ?

My first IUI failed and it took me sometime to think and manage my expectations for the 2nd one. I took 1 month break after the first IUI because blood cyst was found in my ovary. It could be caused by the hormone pills i took. I was told it is harmless and will disappear on its own within 1 month.

I took a break in Dec and started 2nd iui only in Jan this year.

2nd IUI was a repeat of first iui with same gynae but even more scans cos this cycle period was longer and eggs sleeping again and then clash with CNY ! So i cannot do my iui since the clinic was closed for 4 days and we took the meds again but the gynae increased the dosage to 2 letrozole pills per day instead of 1.

As expected , i came my period after that.

Maybe i managed my expectations better. I was disappointed but not as disappointed. I dont want to expect so i wont be disappointed and affected emotionally. But i still remain hopeful for a miracle.

3rd IUI with a fertility specialist …Mar 2019

This time i did SO-IUI with a fertility specialist doctor.

SOIUI = Super Ovulation Intrauterine insemination which requires hormone injections for hmmm 5 days ?

This time i went back to the fertilty specialist whom i consulted to back in 2017 because i was thinking to start ivf at his clinic if iui fails.

As usual , i called in on 1st day of period and made appt for 3rd day of my period to start the medications because i came period on sat..and 2nd day is a Sun and clinic closed. Oh he found a polyp in my uterus. I went for the surgery in April. 4 gynaes and he is the only one who spotted it.

Mixing menopur solution is such a hassle.

The jab i used was Puregon. 1 very small 3ml vial cost about $315 before gst.

So this is the injection pen where you insert the vial and inject into your tummy fats.

I wanted to inject myself but i find it easier to kiap my belly fats with 2 hands instead of 1 lol cos 2 hands can kiap more belly flesh and less pain. Hubs did the jab for me.

Took a video when the staff nurse went through with me how to inject myself. Hubs watched it several times so he can get it right.

I couldn’t help laughing when he did it for me.

He hor too kanchiong..either he push the needle in and push the dial to inject the solution in but forgot to count to 10..so the needle was in for quite long lor until i reminded him to take it out.

OR he push the needle in and count to 10 but forgot to push the dial to inject the solution in. So again the needle was in for quite a long time lor.

OR he push the needle in, count to 10 and push the dial to inject the solution in BUT stay there and never pull the needle out…………

I think he only got 2 times right haha.

What happened when the needle was in for too long. Like some mozzie bite but heng not bruised. Must pull out the needle steadily to avoid bruising. I remembered seeing his Korean friend’s wife who showed me her pic..the bruise was so huge like CD size.

On the last dose of jab , had abit of reaction..both sides of my tummy had alot of bumps. They are not itchy or pain. Only at the ovaries area. Not the front of the tummy but at the sides 2 round patches. I remembered the last year i found out i was pregnant, i had alot of such bumps on my body and face and was told it was due to hormone changes.

The injections made me very tired and abit moody esp after 2nd jab.

The jab lasted 5 days till day 7 of cycle and i went to see him on the 8th day to scan and he arranged i go to TMC 24hour family clinic to do the trigger jab (pregnyl) on cycle day 10 night. This jab has to be done exactly 36hrs before IUI procedure. So doc arranged my iui date and work backwards 36hrs to get the trigger jab done at the clinic. Reason why it has to be done at the clinic was because they need to have a time stamp of the time of the jab done to make sure 36hrs before iui.

We went ahead with the IUI on day 12 just before my Korea trip i remembered. Then i go holiday lo…

After the iui , i was prescribed Utrogestan capsule where i have to insert 2 tabs befor i sleep daily down there. It is a form of progesterone like duphaston to help to maintain the pregnancy if any. Appt was also made on 26th March to do HCG pregnancy blood test.

26th came to do the HCG test but this time i went with no expectations and no disappointment. So when he told me NOT PREGNANT. I expect it already….i dont want to hope for anything already because i don’t want to be disappointed or affected.

So the doc asked me to stop utrogestan and wait for to come and he arranged surgery for polyp removal a week after.

…

So..that’s my 3 failed iui experience.

Why go for IUI and not IVF directly ?

Cos we dont have any medical issues so we just go ahead to give iui a try first.

And my hubs wanted to try as natural as possible. Even for iui , when we first consulted the first gynae, hubby was hesitant to go for it and kept delaying. Delay until 1 yr later then do iui lor. He does not want to go ivf straight but i wanted to because i don’t want to waste 1 yr doing something i feel that wont give me any positive news. It is a waste of my biological clock or time ! We started TTCing when i was 31 and now im going 34..ok lah still 33. I started IUI only at 32+. I wanted to start IUI in early 2018 but my hubs was reluctant so this caused abit of argument between us for awhile. The fustration and all. Ended up we only start first iui in Dec 2018.

Fast forward to today , i just ovulated on Sat ( after testing the ovulation kits )…which means my period will come in 2 weeks if we are not successful in our last try of conceiving naturally. Then will proceed and start with IVF.

I did my surgery in April. So basically i took 3 months break. Supposedly to start IVF in June but i was not mentally ready so we postponed to 1 cycle later due July.

Wish me luck !