Update - October 2012

Soooo it's been a while since I posted and not because we had any good news unfortunately!!! Damn it!!!!!

We are currently on are 4th cycle and 4 dpo. We did day of positive opk day after and day after that. We think she ovulated on the first positive opk and so would have ideally liked to go the day before but the damn thing arrived early. We predicted Friday, Saturday and Sunday and instead it came Tuesday!!!! So our donor was a little shocked to say the least.

Last month we were two days late and have no idea why, we did a clearblue on the second day and BFN - gutted!!!! She's never late which is the most annoying thing ever. So for some reason I think she ovulated as she would have done had she not been late.

This month we decide to use the mooncup to keep everything in place as the soft cups have a tendency to flip over and tip the contents out so it then just runs everywhere!!! This has happened about 3 times now which is rather annoying to say the least.

The mooncup at least blocks the entrance stopping everything from running out. We also went with 4ml of Conceive Plus in her while the baby juice liquified. I added 3ml in to the tub with the sample to bulk it up.

Everything went as planned apart from the last 2 minutes, the mooncup was slippy and as I was "fitting" it it decided to pop open and splash the content all over my face hair and glasses!!!! Talk about laugh!!!!

So - 4 dpo - symptoms - sore boobs.

Hopefully this week will fly by

Xx

11dpo test tomorrow! And good news today!

Well today one of my best childhood friends messaged me to tell me she was pregnant! She had IVF and tested today and got her BFP!!! So happy for her!

We will be testing tomorrow - nervous....

Xx

Update long over due!

Well it has been a while hasn't it! So many things have happened and we have been on a roller coaster this last 2 months.

Going back to July - we were due to inseminate around about the 22nd July to the 24th July however on the 12th we got a smiley face! We didnt believe it to be honest as it was so early so we didn't go to see our donor and waited until the next day to retest. Smiley again that morning so text him to let him know. He was happy and suggested we come round any time that night. WOW how nervous was I!!!!
So off to work we went then came home around 5pm and packed the bag ready to take to his house I didnt know what to pack or how many to pack to went with the theory better to have too much that to little!
I put in the bag
10 5ml syringes
5 sotfcups
2 sanitary towels
Antibacterial wipes
Baby wipes
Conceive plus tub
Toilet roll
Nappy bags
Donation cup x 4

We had tea then left here and were so nervous on the way there to the point I could have been sick lol! On arrival it was quite surreal at first as we hadn't seen him in a while and had only been emailing etc. After the usual chit chat we went to the bedroom and awaited the donation. All sorts were running through my head by this time.

10 mintues or so later knock on the door and he handed us the donation. We took it and put it on the windows ledge to look at. It had been a very long time since I'd seen this stuff (let alone smelled it)

I placed the tub in my bra to keep it warm while the wife put the bed cover on the bed we had brought with us. In your bra its lovely and warm and also dark so its a good place to put it!

Once she was all on the bed ready to go I prepared my tools (lol)

I had read lots of reviews on the Preseed and Conceive Plus stuff so we went for the Conceive Plus as it seemed to be quite sperm friendly and make the vagina more friendly and easier to swim etc. So while I was warming the tub in my boobs we decided to put 2ml using the syringe in H so it would make her all ready for the donation.

After 10 minutes the sperm had changed from a sort of white phlegm looking stuff to liquidy (mad eh) and this means it ready to go in the syringe. Now because I had already had some Conceive Plus in the syringe it had coated the inside so in my mind protects the little guys when they get sucked up in there.
I drew up the sperm - oh my it was about 7ml!!! So I had to take just over 5ml then put that in. I did it very slow like I had read. Down side was it came back out and round the syringe and in the back of the plunger!!!! (how I do not know) so the syringe was now flooded down the gap where the plunger had gone in. So I poured this in to the softcup as I didnt want to waste any of it!
H then had an orgasm as it is suppose to help suck the sperm up to where it needs to be. Then I put the softcup in to hold it all in place. Up she popped and we packed up all are stuff and went to say bye to our donor.
He agreed to come to our house the next night as its quite a way may be an hour or so between us and him.
The next day we did the same as before but there was only 3ml this time which was a better amount. However as we were in our own house this time H was more relaxed and so had a better orgasm. This then resulted in 99% of the sperm pouring out much!!! Screaming I am trying my best with the syringe to pick up the little guys and put them in the softcup! 

My advice ladies, the inseminator stay at your end!!!!! Let your missus sort herself out and you stay at the business end softcup at the ready!!! So when it all comes flying out you can catch it and stick it back in!!!

So that was July...... BFN

BUT that was a blessing in disguise as H ended up in hospital and needed many x rays and tests which would have been impossible had we got a BFP.
So after this test and that test she was diagnosed with Achalasia.......... What would this mean? At the time of diagnosis she'd lost 28lb in weight in 6  weeks and couldnt eat or drink anything. After seeing a consultant she went for a balloon dilation and this allowed her to eat and drink phew but it is not a fix and this disease cannot be cured.
This put a real downer on us and the lady at the hospital said she would need a dilation every 3 months. EVERY 3 MONTHS???? How can we try to conceive if every 3 months she needs an x ray and a dilation? 
So we are going for a second opinion. Now these dilations can last 2 months, 2 years, 20 years so we thought we'd crack on with the trying for a baby and if it happens it happens!!!

So this brings us up to September!!

We inseminated Saturday and Sunday expecting the smiley any of those days but it didnt come! Monday morning no smiley, Monday night SMILEY!!!! YAY!!!! But he couldnt make Monday night so we went Tuesday instead. Tuesday morning smiley, Tuesday night no smiley so ovulation was coming! Tuesday night we visited him as he had visited us over the weekend. 3ml this time and we put 1ml Conceive Plus in first, then sperm which came running back out again as H was tense but I caught it in the softcup!! So I then put the softcup right in and we left that in over night till the morning. That was Tuesday its now Friday so I think we are 3 or 4 days past ovulation.


I am hoping and praying this time its worked. I suppose the 2 stone weight loss might help not that she was over weight to start with. It's me that needs to lose about 5 stone if I am to stand a chance of carrying the second child in a year or twos time!

I'll keep you posted on the result. We should have either AF by the 16th or a BFP by the 17th so think happy thoughts and send us some baby dust!

If anyone wants any tips on inseminating let me know, I've done it a few ways now and finally settled on the one I think gives us the best chance. Oh a tip use puppy training pads for under your wife/missus/partner as they soak up all the spillage they are excellent!!! and they never leak no matter how much runs away!

xx

Well things have changed a little...

I haven't posted for a while and may things have happened. This is a quick post and I will elaborate in a further post but it goes a little something like this

2 AI's in July - then BFN
Wifey took ill and got admitted to hospital had to have x rays so bfn was a blessing in disguise 
Awaiting to see specialist - think she has Achalasia! Gotta figure out what this means for us. 

Will explain more soon

Xx

Softcups

After reading so much on-line about the softcup we decided that they cant hurt and so we bought a box of 24 from Amazon for £19.99 with free delivery. We plan to put the stuff in the softcup then insert that this allowing the stuff to pool around the cervix and the little swimmers can get on there merry way to making us a baby!

As we will be having 3 donations in July I will try a few different methods. The first go will be like the test run with the syringe then once in the softcup will go in after to keep everything in there for the journey home. The second day I will do as mentioned put the stuff in the cup then the cup in. The third day I haven'd decided! I think I will see which method keeps the most stuff in then chose that one again.

At the moment we are waiting for H to come on. Once she does we will have the dates for July!!!!!!! Hoping its this Friday which gives her a luteal phase of 12 days which is acceptable!

I am all excited!!!

x-x-x-x-x

Test run...... Possibly TMI so be warned!!!

After thinking about it we thought it best to practise how we would actually do it. I have read various forums now all over the net and none really go in to detail. I've emailed a few couples who have elaborated on what exactly we need to do so we thought right we best try this. Armed with a small tub, some Conceive Plus, 2 pillows and a towel we set off. I measured 5ml of conceive plus in to the small tub - omg how much is 5ml!!!! I don't think I've ever seen a chap produce this much so I think 5ml syringes is more than enough. I drew the 5ml in to the syringes while the missus got positioned on the bed bum in the air. I inserted the syringe which seemed a bit weird tbh and some what comical from my end :0) Once inserted I slowly depressed the plunger until it was empty. As suspected 5ml was too much liquid and quite a bit just ran back out!!! Also making her laugh didn't help!!! So it was in - we then talked about the whole process and seen as today was the day she was ovulating I had a quick feel to see if I could find her cervix. It was really far back as suspected much higher then previous checks. Isn't the body mad eh! Quick clean up and we feel we are ready to try for real next month now!!! We have the dates we are ready and will be checking with the clearblue ovulation sticks. This time next month we will be on the 2 week wait........ Wow! Catherine x x

Equipment needed??

So I've been reading various forums about what sort of equipment we are going to need to do the deed and I believe I have my shopping list. 5ml syringes Cups for the donation Conceive Plus (not absolutely necessary but read good things) So I got to work on eBay with my ordering. Ordered 100 syringes, 40 pots with lids and some Conceive Plus. Everything arrived the other week. The pots were 40ml ones which I thought would be ample. However I hadn't thought about the physical size of the tub it's tiny!!!! I don't think I could aim for such a small pot and so back to the drawing board and we found some 120ml pots individually sealed and they are huge lol!!! Much easier to aim at I would think. The syringes seems ok to. So as far as supplies go I think we are ok on that front all packed in a little bag ready to go. Roll on July!!! Catherine x

Results!

So we got the text from the hosptial - negative - phew!!! Even though we knew it would be negative it was still a tense time lol. But both of us got the text about a week after the tests. Our donor has been for his tests last week and we are waiting for the all clear from him. Catherine x

Tests!

We decided today that we would head to the local sexual health clinic to get tested for STI's and all that. Mainly so we could experience what our donor would experience but also to have an MOT so to speak. After all we are not gold star lesbians! It didn't involve much to be honest a quick blood test urine sample and job done!! The best bit of the whole experience.... The nurse It went a little something like this, Nurse: do you need any condoms? Me: erm no (looks at wife) Nurse: you know for your toys etc or do you need any lube? Me: mouth wide open and speechless!!!!! ha ha ha!!! It was so funny she just came out with it and it made me laugh out loud! I love living in England!! X x

Just a small issue......

Well things were going so well after meeting our donor we were over the moon. We spent the next few days on cloud 9 all excited. There was one issue though he hadn't told his partner that he was considering being a donor. But he told us not to worry as she would be ok about it all. So we didn't until the dreaded message..... She wasn't happy... Our world stopped still as we read it. Was it over before it began? We waited as he spoke with her but she still wasn't happy. A few weeks have past now and no movement but he has told us that he is still donating anyway as its something he wants to do regardless of how she feels. He has no children himself, she has 3 from a previous relationship. He doesn't want any himself but likes the idea of passing on his genes and helping us out. So it's all go now! He is such a lovely guy and we are so happy that he is donating for us. We are going to start in July, at the moment we are tracking ovulation ready to tell him the dates. I am crossing everything I can that it doesn't take too long to get pregnant. I've never wanted anything more ever in my life. I want to be a mum x x x x x

Exciting times!

Good evening one and all!!!!! Let me tell you about today! We are both very happy as today we met the donor who we have been emailing for the last few weeks. He was a lovely guy we couldn't have wished for a better man. He's athletic, fit, handsome and has a healthy diet. He was great to talk to and we spent 3 hours talking with him about various bits and bobs. We plan to start TTC in July - exciting times!!! We will track Helen's ovulation in June to see what day she ovulates on then we can plan the donations in July around the LH surge. She is very regular and never late - always has been - so it should be relatively simple we hope. We are not sure whether to do 3 or 4 inseminations for the first go? What does everyone think? Or just do 3? Can anyone recommend any vitamins for him to take? A friend suggested Wellman??? We are so happy to have met him today and are both excited about the journey ahead. I'll keep you posted as we progress and update you on H's ovulation next month :0) Catherine

Welcome - the start of a long journey.....

Hi ya!! Firstly let me introduce myself, my name is Catherine and I am 31. I live in Lancashire UK with my wife Helen who is 33. We've been together for 8 years now and Civil Partnered for 3 of them. For a while now we've talked about kids but put it off for one reason or another. But this year we thought life's to short and decided to crack on! So far we've spoke to two chaps who have offered to be donors for us. One unfortunalty was too far away but he was lovely and we were extremely grateful that he offered his services to us. The second chap is a little closer and fingers crossed we are meeting him this week. We've been emailing back and forwarded for about 3 weeks and seen various photos of him and this weekend we are meeting up. I am quite nervous to be meeting him as I am not sure what I should be asking him!!! I know most things about him so I suppose it's just to see what his personally is like?? We decided to also join the free sperm donor site web site just so all our eggs are not in one basket. We have been reading various sites online and visited a friend whose tried and tested methods have worked for them and two other couples! After visiting them we have ordered ovulation kits, basal thermometer, sample pots, 5ml syringes and some conceive plus gel stuff! We hope to monitor Helen's ovulation over the next 2 months then inseminate on the 4 days around it for the first months then 3 days the month after. Her cycle is regular and always has been so ovulation should be easy to plot. Well we hope so!! I'll sign off for now Catherine x