Artificial Insemination

It's time again for an old blog post from my MySpace blog. This one relates the details of our first and only artificial insemination. It is interesting to me to read back over these old posts and remember the thoughts and feelings of that day. I am so glad all of this is behind us, and I hope and pray we don't ever have to do it again.

Friday, August 31, 2007
Artificially Inseminated
Current mood: hopeful

Today I underwent my first artificial insemination. It wasn't a horrible experience, but its one I hope to not have to repeat. It was almost what I thought it would be, but actually a little worse in the pain deparatment.

For those of you who don't know, artificial insemination is when sperm is taken and washed and spun down so that only the heartiest sperm are left. It eliminates all of the "Homer" sperm (d'oh!), as my husband and I like to call them. The sperm are then put into a solution (I assume its some kind of saline), pulled up into a needle, inserted into the woman's uterus, and pushed out. This gives a better chance at conceiving because the sperm not only have a shorter distance to travel, but they are also enhanced through the spinning process to help them better achieve their goal. I found out this week that there are many areas where the sperm can be released, such as just inside the uterus, or up in the fallopian tubes. This explains why my doctor said he would be willing to perform this procedure up to 3 more times before requiring a laparoscopy. However, if I don't get pregnant this month, my next step will be the laparoscopy.

Once the insemination was performed, my doctor told me to come back in 14 days and take a pregnancy test if I had not started my period. The only problem I have now is trying not to get my hopes up and trying not to notice anything and everything different that I experience over the next couple weeks that I could attribute to being pregnant. During this whole infertility process I have had some abnormal symptoms before each of my menstral cycles, leading me to believe I might be pregnant, only to get a negative pregnancy test and end up in tears. These treatmenst REALLY throw a woman's body for a loop. It got to the point a couple months ago where when I experienced anything abnormal, I had to tell myself that it was normal due to treatments.

One thing that I have found helpful in this process has been telling people about my experience. There are a couple of reasons for this, the first one being that the support and love I have received from my friends and family has helped give me hope, and helped me stay strong. Thank you to everyone who has given me well-wishes in this process. They are so very welcome to my heart. It makes a big difference for me. The second reason I share my experiences is to help educate people. I have no idea if anyone else is going to have to go up against what I'm doing, but if they do, I want to be able to help educate them on what this process involves. I see no reason to be heart broken that I am going through this, or to want to keep it from people. I have found that people want to be there for you, to be supportive, and to show their love. All of the love that I have received has really helped boost me up in my low moments, and as anyone who has experienced this process knows, there are a LOT of low moments.

Thank you to all of my family and friends for your continued support, prayers, well-wishes, and most of all, love. I hope one day to be able to return the favor. Hopefully in 14 days I will be able to deliver the news I am so wanting to deliver!

I didn't get to deliver that news. Instead, I informed everyone I was going in for a lap. :(