Donation Day...

So this weekend just gone we knew would be the one where my wife would be ovulating so we provisionally booked our donor and did the pee stick thing to confirm it.

My wife actually ended up with a positive test a day earlier than we anticipated so we contacted our donor and he arranged to come round that evening for the donation.

We were really nervous but got everything ready so that we weren't wasting time once he was gone. He arrived, we had a bit of a chat and explained that we were nervous about the insemination part but we knew what we needed to do etc and he went upstairs to do his thing.

He reappeared about 15 minutes later, we thanked him and were saying goodbye when he asked us about 4 times if there was anything else we need to ask before he goes. We were completely baffled until i realised that we hadn't seen his STI certificate, DO NOT FORGET THIS!!. Make sure it's definitely your donors too by checking it against some photo ID.

Anyway, we ran upstairs and started to prepare for insemination.

Donation and Insemination Checklist

• Cup for your donor to donate into (must be sterile)
• Syringe (without needle and again, must be sterile)
• Toilet roll (to deal with any spills)
• Pillows (to help keep your partners pelvis raised after insemination and to keep her comfortable whilst she lies there)
• Lubricant (if you are using lubricant, make sure it doesn't affect the sperm. Most normal lubricants will)

We ended up losing some of the sperm before it had managed to get anywhere near my wife, i was trying to clear the bubbles from the syringe and it jerked and went everywhere. luckily we had some toilet roll on hand and i know that next time, i'll do it differently!

The main piece of advise i can give is to listen to your partner and pay attention to her body language. The chances are that one of you will have a little bit of a freak out and that person will probably be the one in receipt of the sperm. I know that this was true of us, if it happens, take a couple of minutes and relax her. Don't rush it.

After insemination we lay in bed for a couple of hours (its advised that you do for at least 20 minutes afterwards) just to make sure we give it our best shot. For the couple of days since we've taken it easy, i think it'll stay this way until we know whether or not its worked.

We're giving it 3 weeks before we test, at least that way if it hasn't worked my wife will have started and we'll give it a go next month. We're trying not to get too excited but are remaining hopeful at the same time.