IUI Registration - Now with 200% more gladiator battles!

After weighing up our options, we've decided to try IUI.  It's less invasive (and much cheaper) than IVF, and the general consensus seems to be that because we are lucky enough to have the option, we should take advantage of that.

So today we had our registration appointment with the IVF clinic, Fertility Gold Coast.  This is the clinic that my OB/GYN, Dr Swift, is associated with.  I've read books and blogs and so on that suggest you do research on several clinics before picking one that suits your needs, but I'm happy with Dr Swift so we decided to stick to this clinic for now.  The nurses so far have been very good, I think it's the main clinic on the Gold Coast, and so barring anything terrible happening I think we'll just stick with this one.

The nurse, Jo, ran through everything with us and gave us (me) a rather large booklet to read.  She explained the fees and the tests and the process we'll have to go through.  We had to pay a registration fee of $195 today, which covers all their administration expenses (like the booklets) and so on.  It's a one-off clinic fee, so no matter how many IUI cycles we go through, or even if we move on to IVF, we won't have to pay it again, which is good.  However, it's not claimable through private health or Medicare.

Jo went over a "normal" menstrual cycle with us so she could explain the difference between that and what we'll be doing.  All old news for me of course, I'm not sure how much Dave knows about menstrual cycles but he's definitely learning more than most guys probably feel comfortable with.  The only thing of note was the way she described the egg follicles which develop in cohorts until one becomes dominant and ovulates and the rest die off.  It sounded like my ovaries are staging a gladiator-style tournament each month with a last-egg-standing type outcome.  After that she explained the different drugs that could be used and said that they will be using FSH for me.  FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone) is the hormone my body produces naturally to, uh, stimulate the follicles (duh).  They just dose me up to stimulate them a bit more.  She asked if I will be injecting my own drugs and Dave agitatedly said, "I'm certainly not doing it!"  He was imagining the scene in Inconceivable where Sam is injecting an orange as practice.  Luckily, the injections go in my abdomen, not my bum, so I can do them myself.

After that, she took some blood from both of us for routine screening tests for infectious diseases and also basic chromosome testing to make sure we don't have any wonky chromosomes which could also be stopping us getting pregnant.  Then she made sure we understood what happens now.

This is what is going to happen:

1. At some point in the next week or two I have to drop off our consent forms and a new referral (the referral system is ridiculous I must say - I have an ongoing medical condition that my GP is having no influence in managing and yet I still need them to sign a piece of paper that says I need treatment) and pick up my drugs.  One of the nurses will show me how to do my injections at that point.
2. On Day 1 of my next cycle (helpfully due on Easter Friday, naturally) I have to call the clinic (or their after-hours number) and tell them my cycle has started and I'll be starting my drugs.
3. On Day 2 of my next cycle, I start injecting my drugs.
4. On Day 9, I go in for my first blood test.  They'll test my hormone levels and give me an ultrasound to look at the lining of my uterus and make sure everything is progressing as expected.  They'll also check how many follicles are developing: they aim for 1-3, but if there are more than that (or none) the cycle is cancelled and we don't have to pay anything for it.  This is to reduce the risk of multiples.  Potential triplets is scary enough, thanks!
5. Depending on how the Day 9 tests go, I might need more blood tests and another ultrasound, or they might already know when I'm going to ovulate.
6. Once they know when I'm about to ovulate, Dave gives a sperm sample, they wash it and spin it so it's concentrated and the sperm are all excited (maybe they know something cool is about to happen?) and then they inject me with his sperm who race up to meet my egg and have another gladiator-style battle with one victorious sperm becoming half our baby.
7. 15 days after insemination, they give me a pregnancy test.  If it's successful, they give another a week later.  Then 2 weeks after that I get a scan to make sure the embryo is implanted in the right place and has a heartbeat.
8. If we aren't successful, we can try again straight away or we can have a break if we want.  Dr Swift has recommended no more than 3 cycles before we move on to IVF.

So that's it.  Barring a miracle this month, we start our assisted conception journey on Easter weekend - a positive sign, I think, considering Easter was originally a Spring fertility festival.  I'm not going to put too much into that, but forgive me for taking it as a sign that this is the right time.

I'd also like to take a moment to thank our parents for their support in all ways (including financially).  I don't know if Dave's parents read this blog (I'm pretty sure my Mum reads it - hi, Mum!), but thank you to all four of you for your support - it really does mean a lot.