Sunday, December 13, 2009

And So It Continues...

So, first of all I will say that we were able to select a donor. Once we had decided which criteria were important to us, it wasn't too hard to narrow it down to a short list. We would have been happy with any of the choices from our short list, but were able to purchase multiple samples from our #1 choice, so that was wonderful. The receptionist at the sperm bank was extremely helpful and the whole process went very smoothly.

We were hoping that we would start inseminations in September, but during some of the initial tests at the fertility clinic they detected a polup on my wife's uterus which had to be removed. The surgery was done in late September and we had to wait until she had recovered before going back for insemination attempts. So our first try wasn't until November.

I was able to leave work on my lunch hour and go down for the insemination. They took us into the ultrasound room and asked my partner to undress and put on a gown. They asked me to hold the sperm to keep it warm. (I a little bit think they were just trying to give me something to do to feel involved, but I appreciate the gesture.) When they came back in the ultrasound tech put the ultrasound wand on my partner's stomach while the doctor put the sperm into a syringe with a catheter attached to it. She inserted the catheter and injected the sperm. Because of the ultrasound, I was able to watch the sperm go in and start swimming towards the egg. It was really neat to see.

Then came the two weeks of waiting.

We both thought we would be much more patient, but really we could not wait to know if it had "worked."  We went to far as to buy a couple of home pregnancy tests to take before the official appointment at the fertility clinic. Unfortunately both the home tests and the clinic test came back negative, so we will be trying again in January. (The clinic is closed through the December holidays.)

Fingers crossed for next time. :)