Hellobee Boards

It's not painful. It's very quick. Your DH will provide his sample, then you'll wait while it's being processed. That took about an hour at my clinic. After that you'll go back for the insemination. Your doctor may do a practice run to find your cervix first. The entire thing takes a minute or two. Then they'll have you lay there a few minutes. You may experience some cramping the rest of the day. My DH has a low sperm count so we withheld from having sex 2-3 days prior to the IUI.

What others said... I think we were told to abstain from sex/ejaculation for a few days prior. DH brought sample in that morning, I then came in. I was super nervous, I didn't know what to expect. The RE said DH's sample was not good (we knew that was part of the problem) and basically said he strongly recommended we do a back to back IUI (a 2nd one the following day). We declined because it was like an extra $500-$600 or something, and it was our first cycle. We decided we'd do it next cycle if necessary.

The actual procedure was explained to me as feeling a bit like a pap smear. This was accurate I found, although I apparently have a tilted uterus so it took a few minutes for the RE to get the positioning right of the catheter they put into the uterus. They actually got out the ultrasound to put on my abdomen, which he said was pretty rare. It was still under 10 minutes and although kind of uncomfortable, not painful, I would say.

They told me not to expect any cramping or anything and no need to restrict activity, etc, so I went straight to work. I did have some bad cramping for a few hours and kind of wish I'd stayed home, but maybe some was just my nerves.

They encouraged us to have sex that night and the next day or two. We did. It worked and I got pregnant. DS is 16 months old.

Well, I had ultrasound monitoring throughout with a trigger injection so it was easier to time. Maybe just don't DTD more often than every two days after cd 10 just in case?

Thinking of you .

@LaughLines: That is hard since I was monitored with blood work and ultrasounds