# Some questions about IUI... :)



## M2M (Sep 16, 2009)

I have a few questions about IUI as we are hoping to start treatment in the Spring. 

I'm hoping some of the more experienced ladies on here will be able to share their experiences!

1. When is the best time to actually have the insemination? On the day of ovulation, or the couple of days before ovulation?

2. How do you manage to time your trips to the clinic accurately? My worry is that I'll realise I'm ovulating one morning and then have to call in sick to work to make the 2-hour trip to the clinic.  How have you found this? Did it work for you? Did you have to tell your boss that you were having treatment so you could have time off, etc.?

3. Does the OPK give you a positive result on your "last chance day" or the day before? Would it give me a positive result if I was actually ovulating that day? What sort of time window do I have?

I would love it if anyone could answer any of these questions.  I'm trying to find out as much about IUI as possible before going to a clinic open evening next week, as I have a feeling a lot of it will be geared towards IVF so I need to know what questions to ask!

Thanks in advance!


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## kitty123 (Oct 22, 2007)

Hello!

I had donor IUI a couple of years ago so can tell you what my clinic did but I think that different clinics may do different things. As you'll see by my signature, my DIUI was successful and I now have 2 lovely children. Please don't be put off or worried by the circumstances around their birth - what happened to us was very, very unusual.

So, here goes.....
My clinic did the insemination on the day of ovulation. Like you, I had long journey to the clinic so I told my (male) boss about treatment and explained that I would have to take time off at short notice. He was very understanding and I think a bit uncomfortable!! I was glad I did because my clinic had a policy of offering assisted cycles after 3 failed natural cycles and that meant scans whilst my follies were growing, long trips every couple of days....I think that OPK detects the surge of hormones that trigger ovulation but I was never completely sure.

I hope my post helped a bit. Good luck!! It worked for us and you have a really excellent chance of success.    

Lisa


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## kitty123 (Oct 22, 2007)

Me again. I just noticed that there is a thread here called IUI beginners guide with much more useful information that my post!!!! I'd read that!
Lisa


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## Guest (Jan 15, 2010)

We had our DI cycles in Oxford and they time the insemination using ovualtion scans rather than pee sticks. I had a very regular cycle of 29 days so went for our first scan at day 10 to make sure everything was on track. Then had to go back on day 12 and was usually ready for insemination. The advantages of actually being seen at the hospital rather than using pee sticks is that the nurse could also examine the cervix and mucus, and actually see what size my follicle was and uterine lining. When DP was TTC using DI method, she had a couple of cycles where we had 2 lots of sperm put in on seperate days to increase our chances! 
The insemination is done before you ovulate so that the sperm and egg meet in the fallopian tube. The OPK detects the surge of LH which occurs about 24-36 hours before you ovulate. Each pack should tell you which day to start peeing so that you can detect the surge on the first day so you know when to call the clinic. 
We are an hour away from our clinic and when I was TTC I was just working for a nursing agency so didn't have to tell anyone. I did tell my boss for DP's IVF as we were going to the clinic loads and it was so stressful trying to hide it and get time of work. I think from some of your previous posts you have mentioned that you are monitoring your cycles at the moment. I think that is a great idea as you will start to read you own body really well and will be able to plan when everything will probably happen. DP got to the point that she could actually feel which side she was going to ovulate on and was always right when she was scanned  . 
We only went to an open evening when we moved on to IVF but I know Oxford have a different nurse responsible for advising on each different treatment. Maybe you clinic has the same

Hope this helps a bit xx


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