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I have my fingers crossed that it will work on the first shot for you!

I'm 26 years old (27 in July) and also have "unexplained infertility". My FE has recommended I try medicated IUI to increase our chances of conceiving, but we've decided to try a couple cycles BDing the old fashion way with the help of Femara. What we are hoping is that the Femara will allow me to ovulate 2-3 eggs and therefore increase our chances of one getting fertilized and implanted properly. I was wondering if you tried this approach at all before the IUI? I figure I have patience for 1 or 2 cycles this way and if no BFP, then we'll go for the IUI.

Hi Hgreen87, I really appreciate your reply and giving me hope on this!
I have been taking medications for ovulating more than one egg since November (ikaklomin pills) as part of phase one, then that alone did not work and my body could not handle producing so many eggs I was in pain. I had to take progesterone injection (ovitrel) twice a month to stimulate the fertilization process and that didnt work, so phase three was taking the follicle stimulating hormone daily injection (puregon) for 4-5 days along with the Ovitrel injection and nothing worked. I became pretty stressed out that even having intercourse felt like a job which i bet did not help the situation. So im strongly hanging on to whats left of my hopes for a positive pregnancy test.

I really hope that you don't have to wait long to see a positive test result as well .

Hey Ladies, Im in the same boat with yall as well. My husband and I are both 30 and we have been trying for over 1 1/2 years. We tried the old fashioned way for 6 months and had no luck so I went to the obgyn and they gave me Clomid. I ovulated 2 out of 3 months but still didn't get pregnant. Then I was sent to an RE and they found out I had a blocked tube that needed to be removed and that was the reason for our infertility. I couldnt afford the surgery at the time since I didn't have insurance so I did acupuncture for a few months until I was able to get insurance. After several months I was able to get insurance and the surgery was scheduled. When I woke up they said the tube had healed itself and no longer needed to be removed! I guess the acupuncture worked since my Dr. told me that it was so damaged before there was no way to fix it and no hope of it healing. My Dr. put me on Femara and I a currently on my 3rd cycle. I have ovulated the past 2 months but still no BFP. I have decided to do IUI next month with injectables. My Dr. is telling me that we are now also in the unexplained category. So frustrating!

It's so nice to know we are not alone! I never thought when we started trying at age 25 & 27 we'd have these kinds of problems. We actually started trying at the same time as two of my good girl friends and their babies are now 8 months and 6 months. When I think of it that way it makes it feel so much longer...

Mamma D- that is so amazing that acupuncture was able to improve that tube so drastically. Wow! I've actually been considering acupuncture for fertility, but really had no idea it could do that. Have you continued with the treatments?

What stage of your cycles are you ladies in now? I'm 7 DPO today and like always, feeling hopeful :) If this cycle doesn't work, then it's full steam ahead with the Femara. I'm starting with 50mg and really hoping we get the dose right on the first shot. If it's too high and results in too many eggs (more than 3), we won't be able to try that cycle for risk of multiple multiples.

Wow MammaD all respect to you as well for going through all this. I m absolutely glad to have shared my story to meet you and Hgreen87. Cuz it gives me hope to hang in there. Sometimes i feel even my husband doesnt fully understand how emotionaly stressful this is to me especially after taking all those injectable hormones that make me tired. So its good to talk to someone who shares this experience as well.
Im on 11 dpo and still didnt dare take a home pregnancy test. I truely hope from my heart we all get baby dusts this time.

I know what you mean Hgreen87. I didn't think I would have this problem either. Most of my friends got pregnant the first time they tried! Ah if they only knew what we go through! I just talked to my Dr. about the plan for next month and she wants to do 100mg clomid with IUI. I'm on day 5 currently so I have another long month ahead of me. I haven't done any acupuncture since Dec but I'm seriously thinking of going back. It's just so expensive. They charge almost $100 per session and they want you to come at least 1 per week. Hopefully this is your month Hgreen87 so you don't have to do the IUI.

Oh I fully agree, my hubby has NO idea what I go through on a monthly basis. He's always like "we haven't been trying THAT long", "It'll happen next month"... blah blah blah. I pretty much keep quiet during the TWW now and sulk to myself when AF arrives every month.

MammaD you inspired me to look into the acupuncture more. Now I'm strongly considering acupuncture for next cycle (along with Femara) if this one doesn't work out. Our benefit plan covers up to $2,500 a year, so that's a HUGE help. So, are you just trying naturally this cycle then?

Amy- any thoughts on when you might test?

Acupuncture indeed sounds interesting to try increase chances of pregnancy besides the fact that it surely sounds relaxing! Dunno if I can afford it now though :(

Hgreen87 my TWW is due friday so im planning to take a hpt i cant wait any longer for my scheduled blood test on June 29 ... Im getting more anxious day after day and its stressing me out.... I am constantly worried about getting my period which is estimated to be next Tuesday (24th) cuz the cramps just wouldnt stop and my moodiness is in its lowest point right now. Last time I was in a robotic mode taking my BBT, ovulation kit and keeping track of everything even sex felt like a job which im sure had a negative psychological effect on my body and did not help in pregnancy success. :(
How about you?

MammaD what is your plan for this month on pregnancy? Are you gonna leave it all natural this time?

I'm on day 7 of my 3rd cycle on femara. Next month I'm doing my first IUI with 100 mg clomid. I was kinda disappointed my Dr. isn't letting me go straight to the injectables next month since from what I have read have about a 20% chance of pregnancy vs 10% for orals when doing IUI. I think they want to see how many eggs I produce on clomid first before doing something stronger. I'm just ready to get pregnant! I def think I will do some acupuncture for next month. I know there have been studies done for woman doing IVF and the ones that did acupuncture with IVF had a much higher rate of pregnancy. If nothing else it def helps you destress.

Well, I'm 99.9% sure I'm out for this month. That darn premenstrual spotting started last night and there's more of it this am. My period isn't expect to start for 5-6 more days. I'm not sure why my spotting starts so early (I've had it start early as 4DPO and as late as 12 DPO), but I mentioned it to the FE and he said that it's "normal".

It's funny in past cycles I've held on to that .01% chance that I might still see that BFP, but you can only fool yourself so long. Ew sorry, I'm a little down in the dumps today apparently.

Well on a good note, I call an acupuncture clinic near my house that specializes in fertility and they can fit me in tonight! On wards & upwards!!! I'm really on the fence right now about just skipping straight to the IUI next cycle. I told myself I'd try a couple cycles just with the Femara, but now I'm just not sure. After 17 months of this, I'm really starting to lose patience.

MammaD-when do you go in for monitoring? You might have said before, but how many follicles did you get the past two cycles? My Dr. only prescribed me 50mg, I hope that's enough to get multiple follies producing...

Amy- I'm crossing my fingers so hard for your BFP this month!!! I'm with you, I was tracking everything so hard, but the past 2 cycles I've stopped BBTing, and stopped all tracking once O is confirmed. Trying to take a "low stress" approach.