My Journey to Solo Motherhood: The First Year- Episode 14

19th Dec 2013

So my IUI was incredibly painful! I’ve always found smear tests painful and this was the same but it lasted longer! (Edited to add they’ve since found a longer thinner speculum which doesn’t hurt!)

Once the nurse is in position she injects the donor sperm into the tube through my cervix and right into my uterus! She says my cervical mucus is perfect 👌 (the things you get used to talking about 😂). I’ve taken the day off work and Mum has come with me so once I’m back upright and clothed we go to have a wander round the shops while I try not to obsess about those little sperms racing towards my egg!

We end up going to Next for a bit of window shopping and a coffee, decaf for me as the fertility nurse told me to act as if I’m pregnant or PUPO (pregnant until proved otherwise).

I go to the loo and worry I’m flushing all that expensive, carefully chosen, sperm down the toilet!

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My Journey to Solo Motherhood: The First Year- Episode 13

18th Dec 2013

A scan 2 days ago showed a couple of follicles growing nicely with lots of little ones so I’m booked in for another scan in 2 days later (today)

Finally I have a couple of follicles that are looking ripe and almost ready to release an egg and the nurse books me in for my IUI the next day!

Lead follicle 18mm plus one at 14mm

Endometrial thickness 7mm

My Journey to Solo Motherhood: The First Year- Episode 12

16th Dec 2013

I have a second scan which shows the follicles are growing nicely but still not ready to pop.

I’ve been studying my cycle since making the decision to try for a baby and have found out that I ovulate really late in my cycle so I’m not surprised with the scans so far. The nurse books me in for another scan.

Lead Follicle 14mm

Endometrial thickness 6.9mm

My Journey to Solo Motherhood: The First Year- Episode 11

13th Dec 2013

I ask my boss for if I can go out at lunchtime as I need some tests, he agrees and doesn’t ask more and I don’t elaborate which is fine by me as I don’t know him that well and don’t feel comfortable going into my personal history with him yet. The clinic isn’t too far from work which is great so I can skip lunch (eating my sandwich in the car) to drive straight there.

The scan is another internal scan (trans vaginal) which shows some follicles are starting to grow

I have one follicle around 14

Endometrial thickness 6.9mm😊

My Journey to Solo Motherhood: The First Year- Episode 9

6th Nov 2013

Today I saw a nurse at the clinic to make the plans for my first IUI.

I need to call on day one of my cycle

I’ll have my 1st scan likely on day 8-10 then will have alternate day scans.

I then need to do OPKs (ovulation predictor Kit’s) and when I get a positive surge I need to ring and come in the next day for my IUI 😬

If I don’t get a positive OPK or we think a surge might happen at the weekend I’ll have a trigger shot and come in 2 days later for IUI.

Never been so excited for my period to start!

My Journey to Solo Motherhood: The First Year- Episode 7

August 2013

I originally thought I’d start treatment in the 2014 new year but I quickly got so excited I bought the date forward to September 2013 but I’ve now decided to wait another couple of months till December to make sure I have saved enough money for 3 attempts (and also because I don’t want a late Summer baby as research shows they struggle more in school) I know at the end of the day I’d be very happy with a healthy baby whenever they are born but if I can do anything to make their life a little easier then I’m willing to give it a go.

I was advised by my lovely friend (the colleague of a friend who’d had a recent successful IUI) to try and keep things light as it can very quickly become very stressful and take over your life. So with this in mind I’ve organised a Who’s the Daddy party at my house in October so some of my closest friends and family can help me pick my sperm donor. They can help me narrow the 35 plus donors down to around 5, I then plan to think about it on my own for a week before making my final decision and ordering!

💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦

My Journey to Solo Motherhood: The First Year- Episode 8

27th October 2013

Yesterday I held my very successful Who’s the Daddy party!

It was so lovely to be surrounded by so many friends and family who were totally supportive of my plans and didn’t make me feel like a freak for making this unusual decision.

We had a great time reading though all of the donor’s histories, looking at their baby photos and imagining what my baby might look like when mixed with their genes.

I wrote up a spreadsheet and we slowly narrowed it down to a handful of donors.

These donors are amazing. They are only paid a nominal amount to cover their expenses but have to go through rigorous medical and psychological testing and fill out huge questionnaires on theirs’ and their family’s histories and hobbies, all to help couples and women like me. I will forever be grateful for the donors who give so generously to help make dreams come true.

There was one particular donor who stood out. Im taking a week to think it through to be sure before putting my order in with the European Sperm bank next week. 😁💦🔬

My Journey to Solo Motherhood: The First Year- Episode 6

23rd July 2013

Today I met with the counsellor who had been recommended to me by my clinic. I was considering forgoing the suggested counselling as I was pretty confident in my decision but I wanted to do everything by the book and didn’t want there to be any suggestion that I hadn’t thought this through properly.

We had an hour and a half long session booked in and I didn’t think I’d have enough to talk about to fill the time. Surprisingly I managed to talk almost non stop.

I was worried all the questions would make me think I wasn’t strong enough to do this on my own or that it wasn’t a good decision but in fact it helped my realise that this is definitely the right choice for me.

It was good to talk out loud about things I’d been going over and over in my head and also consider some things I hadn’t thought about before. I left feeling even more confident that I could fulfil my dream this way and excited for the future.

The next step is to decide exactly when I’m going to start treatment and choose and order my donor sperm ready.

I’m going to try not to obsess too much over the next few months so I will try and limit my time on the Fertility Friends forum (an amazing, supportive and informative website with a section specially for single women trying to conceive).

Over and out x

My Journey to Solo Motherhood: The First Year- Episode 5

9th May 2013

I took my Mum & friend with me to my follow up appointment with Dr. Carole today. Luckily all my tests seemed fine for my age (my FSH is 4.6 and my AMH 4.1 pmol). so she suggested 3 goes at IUI (Inter Uterine Insemination) with the possibility of an ovulation trigger injection if needed.

My clinic has better than average rates with the chance of an IUI working being 21% (average is only 15.4%) so they say it should work with 3 attempts, and if not to go back to see her to discuss other options.

She told me about the sperm banks they recommend and advised that I have a session with a counsellor before starting any treatment. Once I’ve had my counselling I’ll be ready to start treatment at my leisure!

It all seemed so easy, although I was acutely aware of the other couples in the waiting room and, although I didn’t have any known fertility problems, that I shouldn’t expect it to be easy for me.

I’ve just organised my counselling appointment for a couple of months time so that’s the next step in my journey to motherhood booked in 🤗