You’re ready for an IUI! This one is exciting. For me, this protocol felt like the first real fertility treatment. Artificial insemination – the ol’ turkey baster method – like you hear about in movies and TV shows all the time, right? Sort of.
Infertile
The first line of treatment with our fertility doctor (Reproductive Endocrinologist, or RE) was an oral medication called Femara along with FSH injectables – also known as a “combo cycle.”
Many women will just do a round of Femara, the same as you would’ve done Clomid, and respond great to that. I have pretty severe PCOS and “stubborn” ovaries, as my doctor lovingly likes to say, so she thought the combo would work better for us.
So, at this point, you’ve probably already had some initial testing done through your OB/GYN, and maybe you’ve done a few rounds of Clomid, with no success.
If you’re anything like me, you’re probably filled with anxiety at the mere idea of having to see an infertility doctor and being branded “infertile.” I get it. I cried and cried and cried when we were sent off to our fertility doctor. It felt like such an ominous, daunting step, and I was not emotionally ready for it.
Alright, so you’ve been to your OB/GYN for diagnostics, and she determined it was time to kick it up a notch. The first step is almost always an oral medication called Clomid. This pill essentially helps boost your FSH – the hormone that grows your follicles.
So, you’ve been trying to get pregnant for a while. Probably 6 months or so, since that’s what most OB/GYNs recommend as the “normal” time it can take to get pregnant. You’re probably starting to think hm, this is taking longer than I thought it would… (or more realistically, WTF, why am I still not pregnant, I hate everyone and everything.)