Have you recently undergone an IUI (intrauterine insemination) procedure? Then you must be feeling really anxious about what to expect in the upcoming days.
IUI is a good fertility treatment option with a considerably high success rate. Knowing what to expect after your insemination will help you have an idea of what might happen and can help you navigate the days smoothly.
Let’s look at what happens day by day after your insemination in this article.
What Happens After IUI Day By Day
IUI is an interesting procedure where healthy, high-quality sperm are segregated from the semen sample and injected directly into a woman’s uterus. This method is preferred in cases where the sperm is unable to reach the egg due to some issues.
After insemination, your fertility doctor will advise you to take care of your health and take a pregnancy test 2 weeks (10–14 days) later. Two weeks is a general timeline. Let’s look into the details of what happens in your body each day after insemination.
1–3 Days After The IUI Procedure
Consider the day of insemination as Day 1. Now, insemination is a minimally invasive procedure. So, it is normal for you to feel slight discomfort after the procedure. But don’t worry. It is completely normal, and the pain will go away after some time.
During the first three days, your sperm will be busy traveling to the fallopian tubes to reach the egg. If there was a mature egg available, fertilization might happen. The fertilized egg will start traveling toward the uterus for implantation.
You might feel slight cramping and spotting during the first few days of IUI. Don’t mistake this for implantation bleeding. This is just an effect of the procedure and hormonal changes. Implantation only occurs during day 5 or 6 of insemination.
6 Days After The IUI Procedure
You have approached the implantation stage on the 6th day. The fertilized egg (embryo) will start implanting deeply and firmly into your uterine lining.
This is when your first and major symptom of pregnancy appears: implantation bleeding. The embryo might damage some blood vessels in the uterus during implantation.
This is the cause of implantation bleeding and lower abdominal pain. It is temporary and will be reduced in a few days. Don’t panic and confuse the bleeding with menstrual bleeding.
The first week of IUI is also when your body recognizes the implantation and starts producing the hCG hormones. This can cause symptoms like tender breasts, bloating, an increase in basal body temperature (BBT), and nausea.
Note: Every woman experiences pregnancy differently. Don’t worry if you don’t experience any symptoms during this stage.
14 Days After The IUI Procedure
Finally, the moment of truth has arrived. During these 2 weeks, your body would have released high amounts of hCG hormones. This will be enough for the pregnancy test kit to measure and confirm a pregnancy.
You can either take a urine pregnancy test at home or visit your fertility doctor for a blood pregnancy test. Home pregnancy tests might not give accurate results sometimes. So, it is best to visit your fertility doctor for confirmation.
Your pregnancy symptoms will get intense, and you might experience some new symptoms like missed periods, morning sickness, fatigue, and frequent urination.
Note: Don’t worry if you have a negative result. You can try again after some days or undergo another IUI procedure for better results.
15–28 Days After The IUI Procedure
After confirming your pregnancy, you should discuss it with your doctor and take the necessary methods to promote healthy embryo development. Look into what you can and cannot do during this period.
Follow a healthy diet, stay active, and take your medications on time. Also, your pregnancy symptoms will be intense during this period, so learn how to manage them. Don’t worry the symptoms will reduce after your first trimester.
Conclusion
These are the general symptoms you will feel during the early days of your IUI pregnancy. The symptoms you get depend on your condition. So, don’t worry if you don’t get certain symptoms.
Remember, the first trimester is the most crucial period of pregnancy. This is when you have a higher chance of miscarriage. So, it is necessary for you to do everything you can to protect your baby.
Here are some positive signs you can look forward to after an IUI procedure.
- Implantation bleeding
- Abdominal or pelvic cramps
- Bloating
- Nausea & vomiting
- Changes in the vaginal discharge
- Mood swings
You can expect pregnancy symptoms to start appearing about a week after IUI. You can take a pregnancy test about two weeks after IUI to confirm your pregnancy.
You can get accurate pregnancy results after about two weeks (10–14 days) after insemination. Taking the test after a week of IUI can’t guarantee accurate results.
Most women fear that the sperm might fall out of their vagina after IUI. However, there is no need to fear. The sperm is injected deep into the uterus. So there are no chances of them falling. The discharge you get is mostly the residual fluid of IUI.
