Clomid IUI cycle #2: Day 10

I’m 1/3 of the way through my second IUI cycle using Clomid. It’s day 10 and I took Clomid from day 5 to day 9. I didn’t feel any of the side effects of this fertility drug like blurred vision, tender boobs, dizziness, headaches, hot flashes, nausea, bloating, puking, or mood swings. Not having any side effects makes me a little nervous–is this drug doing it’s job of stimulating my ovaries so that not the usual one but several follicles mature? I hope so…

I also busted out a few more things from my fertility locker: a basal body thermometer, Rachel Pepper’s book The Ultimate Guide to Pregnancy for Lesbians, & a mini-microscope to track my estrogen level throughout my cycle.

My friend Samantha gifted the book to me nearly 10 years ago after she had her own beautiful baby boy. It was inspiration for a few days then years went by where it receded to a neglected spot on a bookshelf. Big mistake! Had I really sat down with the book then, I might be a mom today. But it’s OK. I’m not going to beat myself up. I wasn’t ready then but I’m reading it now & I’m still fertile so there’s hope. It’s an amazing, thorough book that is as relevant today as it was in 1999 when it was 1st published. There was a gap in my understanding of basic female reproduction and IUI so it really gave me a better perspective on it.

I also discovered my mini-microscope to help me track my estrogen levels during the course of my cycle.

I’ve never used the ovulation predictor kits (OPKs) but this microscope is supposed to be pretty accurate. I put a drop of my saliva on the lens & let it dry. Then I check it to see if there’s any ferns in my saliva. Like the plant. Supposedly, saliva creates a fern-like pattern during ovulation as the estrogen level increases. So far, my saliva keeps reading as an “A.” This is day 10 & I’m supposed to see some ferns so I’m a little worried. I’ll check again later this afternoon and a 3rd time before I go to bed just cause I can be a little OCD. It might help me sleep better if I see the beginning of ferns (like in “B”). When the saliva ferns hardcore, it means that my estrogen has peaked and that’s when an egg is released. I’ll need to inseminate within 24 hours of that moment. That should typically happen around day 14 but because I’m on Clomid, it’ll be after my doctor injects me with the hCG trigger after determining that a dominant follicle is big enough for release. I get my follicles checked this Wednesday aka day 11.

I’m glad that I have my ovulation chart to help me track which pills I take, how often, my cervical mucus, & blah blah blah. It’s charting all of this stuff all the time that just makes me wish momentarily that I were a str8 grrl getting knocked up in the old fashioned way. Momentarily. I was hanging out with my friend Oasa the other day & she mentioned that she’s having problems with her baby daddy. She couldn’t get into it because her son was there, but I think he’s being a deadbeat dad & not paying child support for their 2 kids. Oasa whispered that I should be grateful that I’m trying to have a kid without the need to hook up with a dude.

I agree with the larger part of her sentiments, but I hope that I won’t be single the remainder of my life! I’ll happily welcome a partner to share my life with. Not because I need this person financially, but because I want to be in love with someone who feels as I do and enjoy the benefits of being together. And raising a child. Or two. But for right now, today: it’s just me. And hopefully in 2 weeks, it’ll be me + 1.

I’m really excited my 2nd IUI will happen either on this Thursday or Friday. This time I have this pill called Misoprostol (generic Cytotec) to soften or “ripen” my cervic so that it’ll be less painful to have the catheter pumped with sperm delivered to my uterus. I was worried that there’d be side effects to using Misoprostol since it’s commonly used to induce labor and initiate abortions. That’s exactly the opposite of what I’m trying to achieve here!

Brown2001_Misoprostol+Clomid IUI Study

So I went online & to my surprise discovered a study (Hum. Reprod.-2001-Brown-96-101) conducted at the Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine where using Misoprostol in patients who were getting IUIs on Clomid or FSH actually helped increase their chances of getting pregnant! I’m all for anything to increase my chances of making a baby. I also found an Iranian study that said it had no effect but they were only doing straight IUIs without Clomid or FSH. If you’re thinking of getting a Misostropol pill to increase your chances, make sure to talk to your doctor first! I’m only going this route because I have a tight cervix which makes it very challenging to get a catheter in there!

I’m crossing my fingers this 2nd IUI is successful in getting me preggers!

Next step: get my follicles checked this Wednesday….tomorrow.