The Day I Used a Tracking Number to Locate Our Sperm

One of the things you don't think about when ordering donor sperm is the fact that it has to be shipped.  And not only does it have to be shipped, but that first delivery has to arrive on time.

When we were getting ready for our first donor sperm IUI last fall we were down to the wire on shipping our "package."  We were trying to make a final decision on which donor we were going to use.

While making the final decision on our donor we were still trying to figure out when I was going to ovulate.  Because it was my first clomid cycle in a while, we weren't exactly sure when that would be.

My RE's office told us when we should have our package delivered.  The only catch was that it was over Thanksgiving weekend.

When I placed our order, I had it scheduled for delivery the Friday after Thanksgiving so it would be there in time for our IUI.  I had an appointment that morning and mentioned to the nurse that our cryo container should arrive that day.

FYI, the container looks something like this.  All of that for one little vial of swimmers.

After mentioning it to the nurse she said they would be closing early that day because of the holiday.  My brain immediately went into panic mode.

What if our shipment didn't arrive before they closed?  What happens then?!?  Would the vial still be okay over the weekend?  Would it go back to the clinic?  Would our cycle be cancelled?  Could we go sign for the container and keep it at our house for the weekend?

My brain was in a tail spin of all the things that could happen.

I looked back at the tracking number and immediately got on the phone.  I talked to a live person, told them my package would be delivered to the doctor's office but they may be closed.  Could they check to see where the package was and would it arrive on time.

You would have thought I had asked if it was going to Russia or something.  I went round and round with the person on the phone and told her it HAD to be delivered that day.  I was trying to emphasize how important it was.  She kept telling me they would just try to deliver it again on Monday.  I was adamit that just wouldn't work.  I told her it was live tissue in the container and had to get there!   I knew it would sound so strange to tell her the container has sperm in it.  LOL!

Finally I wore her down enough that she got in touch with the driver to find out when it would be delivered.  Thankfully, it made it to the clinic on time before they closed.

I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I got that phone call.

Shipping sperm and making sure it's delivered on time is just one of those unique experiences that go along with infertility.  It's definitely a unique experience hunting down sperm with a tracking number!

So the moral of my story is, if you're using donor sperm be sure it arrives plenty early so you can avoid a major panic attack.