Ovulation Timing questions

aka_mama1

I used a cheap ovulation kit before that didn't seem to work. Now that I will be going through an IUI process and spending a lot more money, I plan to get a digital one to insure I know when I am ovulating and that the IUI is done at the right time. I am going to try and watch my body for the next few months before starting IUI's to try and have a better idea. My question is when you do the ovulation kit and find the surge, do you want to get to your DR ASAP as in the next 24 hrs? Does time of day matter as far as am/pm/etc? I always thought you ovulated for 3 days, so as long as you are within those 3 days you have a decent chance. Am I all wrong here? Please help with how the timing of ovualation and doing an IUI works. Thank you,

jaimec

I am new to this also. I was told by my doctor to start doing the ovulation kit on day 10 (day 1 being the first day of your period). I am not sure how long you ovulate, but the sperm can live inside you for 3 days. I am trying my first IUI this month, probably Friday or Monday!

aka_mama1

I have no idea. Can someone please help us? So when you detect your surge in an ovulation test, when do you want to go the the Dr after that? ASAP, next day? 12 hrs later? 24 hrs later?

Good luck and let me know how it goes!

kaylababy

Call your Dr. You are paying them a lot of money. They should answer all of your questions for you. Did you not have a consultation?

tracyc375

Your doc definatly should be helping you through this, Its stressful enough. Mine says start opk on cd 10. I actually started opks in july and not starting iuis until jan. I also wanted to look for patterns, symptoms and so on. Im noticing positives late. Around cd 19. My doctor says only test once day at 8 am. That to me is bs. Im doing 3 times day. Im not missing that surge. They said when positive to call them and they want me to come in that day. Im seeing most docs say the following day. Im really hoping my doc is not having me come in to early. Ive also read that frozen sperm does not last as long. So im afraid if i go in on positive day one and dont ovulate until 2 days after that there wont be any live sperm left :(

jaimec

I start my opk on Thursday (for the first time) and he just said to call him as soon as it shows positive and I can reach him over the weekend through their exchange.

cabolen

I had two IUIs, the first wasn't successful but the second one was, I am now 12 wks pregnant. I know that every woman is different but what worked for me the second time was having the IUI done 24 hours after I detected my surge. The first one I had waited 48 hours after and I believe that is too long. Also, you will want to test in the morning (first thing in the morning wil have the most concentrate of LH) afternoon and in the evening. The reason you will want to test 3 times is because you may have your surge later in the day which means you would want to schedule the next day at a later time. For example when I went in to have my second IUI it was around noon and I had detected my surge around noon the day before. Sorry that this is so long but I know that when I first started this process I did not know much about it and there is so much conflicting information out there so hopefully this helps!!

aka_mama1

Well I'm not going through an expensive fertility clinic for the IUI, my OBGYN is doing it for me for very inexpensive. They said they will do the IUI but I would be responsible for everything else. They have helped with a lot of my questions, but when I asked how do I determine when to come in, they just said you need to track your ovulation and call us for an appointment when your ready. So I'm trying to figure out if I start the first test on day 10, and see a surge on day 12, should I go in that same day or when?

Thank you Cabolen that helps a lot!!!

Can anyone else tell me when they went in for their IUI in relation to when they detected the surge???

aka_mama1

here is some info I was given that may help someone else:

The LH surge preceeds ovulation by 24 hours - but the kit may not be picking up the surge at the 24 hour point - so this becomes the "latest" (usually - should be cross-checked by ultrasound in at least 1 cycle.)
However the sperm should be in the system waiting for the oocyte - not the other way around. So "early" would be better than "late". That said we do have documented pregnancies in cycles where the follicle had already ruptered, so the oocyte was waiting for the sperm in those cycles (but it will not wait very long - probably a maximum of 12 hours).

These "facts" have led us to the following recommendations:

(1) If testing surge in the evening then Insemination the next morning/day
(2) if testing in the morning then insemination the same day
(3) ALWAYS double check the timing in at least one cycle by ultrasound
(4) the period should be occurring 13 to 16 days after the surge - if it does not, something is amiss

aka_mama1

Thank you everyone, this helps so much. So how long does a "surge" last?

MGALBN

I would imagine everyone if slightly different but I got my smiley around noon today and at 5pm it was still positive. Will check before I go to bed to see, but I think it will be gone by then...

aka_mama1

Also, I was told that frozen sperm only lasts 24 hrs and that the sperm should be there waiting for ovulation to occur. So as soon as you get that surge, you should have the IUI done ASAP and definatley within 24 hrs.