IUI - Personal Experiences

We did 4 cycles of IUI. First one we got a positive pregnancy test, but then it turned out to be a chemical pregnancy and we lost it. There was one cycle where I started my period, so assumed I wasn’t pregnant, and then turned out I was pregnant, but the pregnancy wasn’t viable and ended up being “pregnancy of unknown location.” We ended up moving to IVF, and had one child with it, and I’m in the third trimester with a second one via IVF. The medications they use vary depending on your provider and whatever fertility issue(s) you may have. My provider used letrozole for the first several days of my cycle, then I had to come in for ultrasounds every other day or so so they could check the follicle development. There was another medication I took to stimulate egg production that I can’t recall right now.

For context, we had “unknown infertility”; nothing obviously wrong with his sperm or my reproductive system/eggs. I had to do a trigger shot to help the eggs be released, and then the insemination was scheduled for a day or two afterwards (I think, it’s been a few years). Husband had to go in in the morning to give the sperm, then I went in in the late morning/early afternoon for the insemination. Needed a full bladder, which I found pretty annoying, especially if they happened to run late. Then I think I was done with medications til the first pregnancy test.

@Ellen Thank you so much for commenting and sharing your experience! I’m so sorry IUI didn’t work for you but amazing that IVF has worked twice for you! Thanks again!

Infertility is super rough, I hope you have good luck! IUI is a lot of appointments and there might be some fiddling with the right medication for you (I definitely got an excessive number of eggs one time cause they doubled the meds one cycle, so they didn’t repeat that again). IVF is really hard for the egg retrieval process, but then the embryo insertion is slightly less involved than it is for IUI. I hope you have good luck with your IUI!!

I had 2 rounds of IUI and it worked the 2nd time. I can’t remember what medication I was prescribed. They washed my husband’s sperm to pick out all the good ones. They are vaginally inserted directly in your uterus so they don’t have to travel. They had me monitor my ovulation with a kit and on my most fertile day I went in to have the IUI procedure done. We also had secondary infertility. There wasn’t really a problem, we had reached a year of trying with no luck. I got pregnant naturally my 2nd pregnancy a little less than 2 years after giving birth the first time.