The Easter Cycle Failed

My first IUI cycle ended in a negative.  Having an Easter IUI seemed too good to be true.  I ended up getting my period on day 32, which is earlier than past cycles, but the weird thing was that I didn't have the bloated, cramping, or soreness that I sometimes have right before my period begins.  Maybe this means my estrogen was off?  In the past I've had very sore breasts and could tell when my period was coming.  This cycle, the only way I knew was from the temperature dipping.

I am on day 10 of my new cycle and the plan is mostly the same: clomid + follostim + ovidrell + IUI.  Except my husband is wondering if we should try natural timing instead of IUI.  We have our check in ultrasound on Saturday, day 13 and I'll ask the doctor what he thinks.  It makes sense to me to try this cycle without an IUI.  If it doesn't work I'll move on to an IUI + crinone (even thought research has shown that crinone makes no difference it's worth a try, right?).

I went in for an ultrasound on day 5 (it was supposed to be day 2 or 3, but I asked if I could come in on day 4....but then I messed up the timing so it ended up being day 5!) to check for cysts because I responded so well last cycle.  Everything was normal and looked good.   $250 for a quick 1 minute ultrasound.  Ouch.

I've been trying to conceive for over 5 years.  And for 3 of those years I've been doing basal body temperature charting.  So you would think I should have the basics down!  But for some reason I got confused with "day 1" and thought that day 1 was 24 hours after my period.  Oops.  Which means I started my medication late.  I should have done clomid on days 3-7 and follostim on days 5-9 but that all got pushed back by one day.  So today (day 10) was my last shot of follostim.  Now we wait until Saturday to see if I have some follicles!

I do feel it working, with little twinges in my abdomen, but it's definitely not as strong as last cycle.  Last cycle immediately after I took the follostim I could feel its effects.  This cycle took a couple days for me to feel anything, and I don't feel as full.  Which worries me, but it's also a good thing because I am not uncomfortable when I run or ride my bike like before.

I have to say, it was really saddened and overwhelmed when I realized my first IUI hadn't worked.  It seemed like everything was falling into place and working right!  But no.  If it didn't work last time, why should it work now?  My hope is not as high as it used to be.  But still, it's worth continuing to try.

First IUI

My IUI on Sunday went well!  It did hurt a little, but definitely not as much as the HSG.  My guess is that I ovulated Sunday evening, because on Monday I felt much less pressure in my abdomen.  The average time to ovulation after taking the ovidrell is 38 hours.

We had 87.7 million total motile sperm with 85% motility after the wash, which is great!  I was so happy to hear that.

Now it's just a long waiting game.  The directions I was given says to wait 17 days after taking the ovidrell in order to confirm pregnancy.  A positive before then may be false.

I keep telling my husband that we're going to have twins.  For some reason I think this cycle will either be negative, or positive with twins.  Fingers crossed for a positive.

In the meantime I've been having some hurtful cramping.  It happens for an hour or so each day at different times - I've never experienced this before.  Because I'm only 3 days post IUI I'm not sure what would be causing it.  Maybe it's the eggs settling in for good (although I realize it's too early for implantation)?