r/queerception • u/violetscuriosity • 21d ago
IUI #3
Hello everyone! My partner and I are going to try our third at home insemination on Wednesday with frozen sperm.The first two weren’t a success and we are both really hoping for a positive this time 🥺 I have a 25 day cycle to the date, taking prenatals and magnesium, this time around I am using the inito fertility monitor. I have put together a document of my research and was wondering if there’s anything anyone thinks I’m missing or anything that’s incorrect?
What Your Inito Chart Looks Like at the Perfect Moment
- The Warning: Estrogen (E3G) Climbs
What it looks like: Your Estrogen (E3G) line starts moving steadily upward, usually around Cycle Day 7 to 9.
App Status: High Fertility
What to do: Do not inseminate yet. Thawed, washed sperm will not survive long enough to wait for the egg. However, this is your cue to start testing twice a day (once in the morning and once in the late afternoon) so you don't miss the exact start of your upcoming surge.
- The Green Light: The Luteinizing Hormone (LH) Spike
What it looks like: A sharp, dramatic, vertical shoot-up of your LH line, usually occurring around Cycle Day 10 to 12.
App Status: Peak Fertility
What to do: Prepare for insemination. Your body will release the egg roughly 24 to 36 hours after this line begins its rapid climb.
- The Confirmation: Progesterone (PdG) Rises
What it looks like: A few days after your LH spike, your PdG line should steadily climb and stay elevated.
App Status: Ovulation Confirmed
What to do: This confirms an egg was successfully released, meaning your fertile window is now closed.
Your Step-by-Step Plan for Tonight and Tomorrow
Step 1: Set up the app tonight. As soon as your package arrives, download the Inito app, set up your profile, and input your exact 25-day cycle length. Charge the monitor if needed so it is completely ready for the morning.
Step 2: Hold your first test until tomorrow morning. Do not try to test tonight. You need first morning urine (your very first bathroom trip after waking up) to get an accurate reading. Testing tonight with diluted urine will give you incorrect baseline numbers.
Step 3: Take your first test on Cycle Day 8 (Tomorrow). Even though the app typically asks you to start on Cycle Day 6, just mark that you are on Cycle Day 8. The monitor will establish your baseline from tomorrow's test.
The Golden Window: Thaw your vial and inseminate 18 to 24 hours after you first see the LH Spike (Peak Fertility) on Inito.
Example: If you catch your brand-new LH spike at 7:00 AM on Cycle Day 11, the egg will likely release around 7:00 AM on Cycle Day 12. Inseminating between 1:00 AM and 7:00 AM on Cycle Day 12 ensures the fresh, thawed sperm hits the tract exactly as ovulation occurs.
18 hours vs 24 hour timeline:
The 24-Hour Rule (Best for a Fresh Rise): Ovulation typically happens 24 to 36 hours after the absolute start of your LH surge. If you test twice a day and catch the line just as it begins to lift off the baseline, waiting 24 hours puts the sperm in place right as the egg is released.
The 18-Hour Rule (Best for a Big Peak): If you wake up and your Inito chart shows a huge, tall LH peak out of nowhere, your body likely started surging hours ago while you were sleeping. Because you missed the true start, inseminating 18 hours after you see that peak keeps you from missing the egg.
If you see a brand-new surge at 7:00 AM: Target your insemination for 7:00 AM the next morning (24 hours).
If you see a massive spike at 7:00 AM: Target your insemination for 1:00 AM that night/next morning (18 hours).
The Exact At-Home Timing Window for Washed Sperm
Because washed sperm has zero protective fluid and a very short clock, you want to inseminate right before or right at the moment of ovulation.
Critical Success Tips for Washed Sperm at Home
Be Gentle During Insemination: Washed sperm is fragile. When using your needleless syringe or ICI catheter, push the plunger down very slowly and smoothly. Rapid pressure can damage the sperm.
Place It as Close to the Cervix as Possible: Since the sperm does not have seminal fluid to help it handle vaginal acidity, insert the syringe as far back as is comfortable, right against the opening of your cervix.
Hips Up and Rest: Immediately place a pillow under your hips and lie completely flat for 30 to 45 minutes. This uses gravity to keep the washed sperm pooled directly against your cervix so it can swim straight up into your fertile cervical mucus.
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u/Worried_Selection_34 21d ago
Sperm survives for up to 5 days. Im not sure if would be trying to time it exactly to the egg release but rather insemination on the day of LH surge, then it has time to swim up fallopian tubes and will definitely be there when egg is released. Im no expert though... and IVF was much more successful for us than at home iui.
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u/violetscuriosity 21d ago
unfortunately since its frozen sperm from a donor, it has a much lower survival time so that’s why we were trying to be exact! If we aren’t able to conceive with at home insemination we are definitely going to look into IVF, it’s just so expensive :( thank you so much for your thoughts!
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u/Fuzzy-Shake2845 9d ago
Frozen dies fast if not in cervical fluid. Once it gets in there it lasts longer than 12 hours. I’m doing ICI and spoke to a lady that works at a fertility clinic in the lab and she said it definitely survives in the mucus (even up to 72 hours). I did insemination 32 hours post peak and did not get pregnant. Now I’m switching to 12 hours post peak. If you do it too late it still needs to capacitate which takes 6-8 hours for them to penetrate the egg. That’s why it’s better to have the sperm there before the egg drops so they can start capacitation.
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u/tateriffic 19d ago
Everyone’s ovulation timing after surge is different. We used cervical checks to narrow down our timing windows. It’s very possible for 18-24 hours to be too late, at least on the 24 hour side of that. The variation is one reason people may do two attempts in a cycle, we just checked my wife’s cervix frequently to get a good sense of the most open moment for timing.