IUI vs IVF

Tuesday, July 17, 2012 tnguyen308 0 Comments

Into year three now and meeting with a famous infertility doctor. We only had two options at hand; one was IUI and the other IVF. With IUI, our chances of becoming pregnant were 20% while with IVF, it's 50%. Cost wise, IUI is much cheaper than IVF. The doctor didn't think we should try IUI because of my medical history but we wanted to try it just because it was less intrusive on the body and easier on the pockets.

We begin the first round of IUI, which included getting an ultrasound during my cycle to make sure my eggs were behaving properly, 5 days on Clomid with another ultrasound on the 5th day to see how many eggs were produced, an injection of hormones two days prior to the procedure, then the IUI on my peak ovulation day. All this science takes the sexiness out of making a baby, doesn't it. During the IUI session, I just lay back like I'm getting my well-woman exam, there's no pain and I really can't feel a thing. The doctor inseminates me with the "army of men" and I lay and wait a few minutes before I'm on my way. The doctor does tell me to act like I'm pregnant, meaning, don't eat a high amount of raw fish, raw eggs and all the other things pregnant ladies should not do. So mentally, I'm thinking, "yeah, I'm pregnant." At this point, it's just a waiting game. Two weeks pass and unfortunately the first round of IUI did not take. I was devastated. I'm consoled the best way possible by my hubby and sweet Sadie.

Now round two of IUI, going through the same course of action. I think it's the waiting that drives me the most bonkers. At this moment, we only have one more time with IUI. The reason being, if it doesn't happen in three cycles, which is more like 6 regular cycles because of the number of eggs being produced, then something isn't working inside me. As I'm waiting and acting like I'm pregnant, round two of IUI does not take either. Again, another round and lots of tears and heartache. We have one more try and I'm hoping and praying that third time's a charm.

Now to round three of IUI, the last and final round. It sounds so final and sad as we approach our last round with this doctor. I'm still hopeful and optimistic but not too much so where if it fails, I don't crash as hard. However, this third round still does not take. No matter how much I've prepared myself for this heartache, it still hurts a lot. And boy did I crash hard!

After the failing of round three, we have a sit down with the doctor to discuss what went wrong and what we should move forward with. In the beginning, I've never felt like I clicked with him. The questions I asked seemed more like nuisances for him than helpful. Our only option with him was to move forward with IVF and even so the chances of us conceiving was only 50%. He wouldn't know if there was a problem with my eggs until we went through the process and the eggs did not take on the petri-dish. Now, I'm thinking to myself, why would I want to put my body through the stress of taking a multitude of hormone pills and injections to not even know for certain if my eggs are viable. There has to be another way, right? We gather as much information as we can regarding IVF and costs associated with it and make a plan. We get a second opinion.