Hi MummyWannaBe
Lovely to hear from you. I'm sorry the Clomid doesn't seem to be working, it's all so frustrating isn't it? We're doing well thanks. Just on to IVF (I've just put on an epic post that you may or may not want to wade through after a slightly traumatic but brilliant day yesterday!).
The way it happened for us was that we were referred and because our infertility was unexplained we had to try for 2 years before beginning any treatment. Our PCT offers 2 cycles of IUI on the NHS and one of IVF. Again, because we were unexplained, we were offered the IUI and then IVF because the IUI is much less invasive, so it would have been great if it had worked. For the IUI I was given 50mg of Clomid (even though I've never had ov problems) and then scanned once before having the treatment to make sure I had the right number and size of follicles. I did on each cycle so I then had to POAS and go to the clinic once a surge was detected. On that day they took a sample from HB, prepaered it and then put it past my cervix. It was very much like a smear, nothing at all to worry about. The odds of IUI working are not great (around 10-11%) but I still managed to get my hopes up sky high the first cycle only to be disappointed. I was much better on the second cycle and we purposely booked a holiday to take our minds off things, which worked a treat.
Since the IUI didn't work we've now gone on to IVF. The clinic has been wonderful and we've only had to miss a month before moving on, which is great because my work is very quiet at the moment.
Have your clinic indicated whether you'll have the IUI first or go straight to IVF? If you want to know more about the IVF I'm happy to let you know what I do so far.
Really hope your AF is a no show on Tuesday and you don't even have to think about IUI or IVF, but if you do I can say that, so far, it's nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be. It's hard, but it really feels as if we're making progress rather than standing still.
xxx