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At home insemination question?

ccm7479ccm7479 Posts: 2
in LGBTQ+ Couples
I was wondering if any of you had tried at home insemintation before? My concerns are about how to open the liquid nitrogen "dry" shippers that the vials come in. I would appreciate any feedback! Thanks a lot! Faith/Julie

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    mollmillmollmill Posts: 2
    Opening the container isn't hard at all. It will come in a tall cardboard box. Open it at the top--the shippers will be making sure it stands upright--make sure you keep it that way too. Anyways--open at the top, There will be a thick piece of blue styrofoamy thingy at the top. Remove that--it just keeps the tank in place, and helps to make sure the lid stays on during shipping. You'll see the top of the tank. There will be a plastic tie strap holding the lid on. Just cut this with scissors and toss. When you are ready--lift the top of the tank up--it will have a long "cork" sticking down into the tank with a groove on one side. That is what holds the metal piece in place that holds the vials. I'd put gloves on--thin so you can still feel--and lift the metal loop up. Your vials are clamped onto it with metal clasps. You need gloves because you can get a skin burn from the dry liquid keeping everything frozen. Grab whichever vial you want to warm, pull it out of the clasps and gently put the metal holder back into the tank. Put the lid back on with the groove holding the holder in place and we put the blue foamy thing back over the top of the tank and put it in a dark area out of the way--didn't want our dog or cats to knock it over. When you ship it back make sure you have taken your paperwork out--they send the shipping label with the tank. Just tape it up, slap the label in the plastic sleeve on top and take back to Fed-Ex (or UPS, whomever got the shipping job). Be sure if you are having it shipped to your home that someone is there to SIGN for it. We ended up just going to our Fed-Ex office that was the closest processing area because we could not arrange our schedules to be home. They stay open until 7:30pm, so it was easy to go pick it up--just whomevers name is on the account has to get it and my partner had to show her drivers license and the slip they left on the door.

    Hope this helps. We are in our TWW and third attempt at IUI. Good luck
    L
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    missbryanmissbryan Posts: 51
    We did an at home insem last cycle and also doing one again this cycle. Last cycle we used ICI but this cycle we bought IUI because our donor was out of ICI but also heard good things about IUI. At home insem is very simple. We purchased a syringe, specullum and pre seed and thats all you need. As the other post said the vials are very hard to get out of the tank.
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    ArkmomArkmom Posts: 92
    I don't think IUI samples are recomened for at home insemination, unless you are actually doing IUI, ie putting a cathater throught the cervix into the uteras, which most people don't do at home. For what I understand, there is not really enough fluid in an IUI sample for a good chance of conception with intercervical insemination. That is why the ICI and IUI samples are called that. You might want to ask Scott from CCB about this one.
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    missdayenemissdayene Posts: 40
    Hi ccm7479 - I have also done ICI insemination at home. If you want more details, don't be shy to ask. But I will offer that it's very easy. We had the water in a cup at 98 F to thew. I used a thermometer and warm tap water for thawing. We allowed the vial to site for 10 minutes. During that time, we attached the catheter to the syringe. The vial cools down the water once you take it out of the tank, so don't worry about that. Then I held the vial between my breasts while we had a quickie Big O. We were trying to keep the vial at body temperature. Then we inserted the semen in the syringe by gently pulling the plunger back slowly through the catheter. and propped my pelvis up on a pillow. We used the speculum to insert the sperm as close to the the opening of the uterus as possible.
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    missdayenemissdayene Posts: 40
    I just want to add to use 3 or 4 different cups and to start with a fairly cool cup first and gradually move the vials to thaw in 98 degree water. They say to turn it every minute for 10 minutes
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