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Pictures of Dewer, NW Instructions and Supplies

stwrrstwrr Posts: 455 ✭✭
edited September 2019 in Trying to Conceive
For all the ladies out there who have wondered what the Shipment looks like from Northwest... enjoy this picture series!

First, the dewer in its box. The box is 1 foot wide and deep, and 2 feet high. I can lift it, and I'm not that strong... so less than 20 pounds.

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Next, what's written on the side of the box. NW did say they'll be getting new boxes soon, that don't scream "Cryobank" all over them. :)

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These are all the packets of information that came with the box, including our two insemination kits (one for each vial).

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What you see when you take out the papers:

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For comparison, with my hand, but it makes the tank actually look smaller than it is... That or I have really big hands!

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This is Jane's hand lifting the... I don't know all the words. She's lifting the container that the caines are attached to. The caines have the actual vials stuck to them. So you lift out the container, THEN pull out the caines (takes two hands).

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She's reaching for the actual caine now, while her other hand holds up the container.

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This is what the vial looks like attached to the caine, right out of the dewer. You just kind of snap it off. The vial is plastic, so you won't break it. But one time, it kinda went flying across the room and rolled under the bed... cough. Yeah. Hold it tightly while you are snapping it off! Thank goodness they have screw-tops that are really well sealed.

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Putting it all back in, this is what the container and caines look like inside the dewer.

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This is the vial defrosting on our dresser. It crystallizes for the first few minutes, then the crystals melt into water, and it gets wet, then it's not too cold to hold in your bare hands anymore (it gave me shivers holding it right out of the tank).

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This is the instruction sheet for the Basic At Home AI kit.

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These are the contents of the Basic kit, including one instruction sheet, one syringe/catheter instruction sheet, one syringe, one catheter, and one instead cup.

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A close-up of the syringe and catheter:

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Our vials had more than 1ml in them, so we had to do a refill and reinsertion. To avoid having to do that in the future, we bought 3mm syringes from the exact same company Northwest gets their supplies from. This is the link to the exact product we bought: http://www.shopmedvet.com/category/s?keyword=3CC22X1VL

They worked awesome for this time. We have a box of 100 of them too, for $6. Maybe some gals on the forums want to go in and split them, for like 2 bucks each, get 20? They do have needles, but they unscrew (while still in a safe case), and you can throw them away. But we actually used the needle to suck up EVERY last drop out of the vial. Much better with the syringe than without actually, in terms of getting it all out of the vial. Then we sucked up a little more preseed to make sure none was in the needle, then cased, unscrewed and threw away the needle. Then used the syringe.

I believe you can also get catheters from the same website. We didn't look, as we were doing IUI vials as though they were ICI.

I hope this helps other ladies out there wondering what exactly their tanks will look like! I hear sometimes Northwest also puts in pregnancy tests too, with cute notes wishing you luck. Our two tanks did not have these, but that's okay - we ordered cheap tests of eBay!

~ Sandy
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Comments

  • GaBeekeeperGaBeekeeper Posts: 916
    edited November -1
    wow! Great pics and great info.
    And it brought back memories of when we did at home insems and I loved getting my package by the fed ex man!
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  • Sassy2uSassy2u Posts: 236
    edited November -1
    Wow thanks so much for taking the time to take and post all of those pics. That was so informative and answered many of my questions. The box does look a little embarrassing. I was also curious about your having used IUI vials as though they were ICI?
  • Sassy2uSassy2u Posts: 236
    edited November -1
    Also curious why some get cute notes of encouragement and hpts and some don't? I want the deluxe package. lol
  • stwrrstwrr Posts: 455 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Hey Sassy!

    No one seems to know why some get the HPTS... but I have a theory! I bet it's because they ALSO order them off eBay and they come from China... like the ones I ordered 4 weeks ago that actually haven't arrived yet....... I bet they put them in when they have them, until they run out. We must have just ordered the days they ran out. I'll ask Zack soon, just out of curiosity.

    Or, my other theory, is that the women who get them actually are buying the deluxe insemination kit. There were two kits - we got the basic. I forget what the other one is called... but maybe they only put them in that one. Can anyone else chime in about that?

    As far as using the IUI vials like ICI vials... we fell in love (figuratively) with our donor, and he only had 14 left, and he was retired. We loved him so much more than any of the others, we bought all 14. 8 were IUI and only 6 were ICI. We didn't even know at the time that it was possible to do IUI at home by yourself, but we had read that you could still use them like ICI vials. Thank you forum ladies for telling us about doing home IUIs! We were considering it, but decided to just go with the 'old fashion turkey baster approach' for now. Giggle. So we just sucked 'em up into a syringe with some preseed (to help them live longer, we hope!), and put 'em in. We just treated them like ICI vials. There was a little more than half as much in the one IUI vial we've used so far, compared to the two ICI vials we've used. Northwest did tell us that this particular donor had IUI counts in the 30 million though, higher actually than his ICI counts. So for the percentage of sperm used, we got more swimmers out of the IUI than the ICI. Which isn't normally the case, normally it's the same percentage of swimmers, you just get half as many because an IUI vial is usually half the size of an ICI vial.

    I hope that helps! If your favorite donor only has IUI, don't let it dissuade you.

    ~ Sandy
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  • smartycat92smartycat92 Posts: 564
    edited November -1
    This should be a sticky!
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  • GoobieGoobie Posts: 3,515
    edited November -1
    Thank you for posting this for everyone!
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    Need to update a ticker, Silas Anthony Jordon born Oct 11, 2013. 6th baby, so much love!
  • Sassy2uSassy2u Posts: 236
    edited November -1
    Thanks stwrr.
  • JaisJais Posts: 384
    edited November -1
    Hey thanks for posting this. I was wondering how things would look. Appeased my curiosity.
  • Autumn&RyanAutumn&Ryan Posts: 157
    edited November -1
    I love this thread because it is very informative, especially for those who are just starting out.
    I have to say my shipments from CCB look very much the same...but the tank with everything in it is exactly 22.4 lbs. I know this because it is reweighed when dropped back off at FedEx. NW tanks do look newer though, and the box looks a lot cleaner. lol CCB must reuse the boxes.
    I also must admit, I am a bit jealous...my shipments have NEVER came with "at home AI instructions", this is mostly because CCB discourages it. They do ship to homes, and they do allow at home insemnination but they tell you to do so at your own risk etc.
    I would pay money for one of those sheets with the step by step instructions as well as the NW kit, which is exactly what I am going to do.
    I did register with NW so I am hoping they will sell those things to me.
    All of you NW ladies are very lucky, they are a reallu great company and if I run out of my donor, I will def. be using a NW donor to TTC!
    Take care and have a great Thursday ladies!
  • nellisonnellison Posts: 102
    edited November -1
    WOW that was awesome to see! I wish this would have been posted a few weeks ago, that sure would have saved A LOT of stress! Very good idea to post this information for everyone!
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    Nicki (me), Kristina (wife), and Lilah
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  • 1baby1day1baby1day Posts: 520
    edited November -1
    Autumn & Ryan-
    I have an instruction sheet from NW, the Instead cup, and the catheter if you want them. You can buy the 1ml syringes at the drug store, or do like stwrr did and buy some off the internet (or buy some of hers like I'm going to do!).

    Stwrr-
    I just did my insemination, and like you, if I need to do it again next month I will have to use IUI's because my donor is out of ICI's. I would like to purchase some of your syringes, just in case. Also, where did you get your preseed?
    pic1a-1.jpg
    My baby, Stella ~ My nephew Alex and I (Denise) at Thanksgiving 2010
    10 TTC's over 15 months - all BFN
  • stwrrstwrr Posts: 455 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Hiya!

    We have the 3ML syringes, they are the same length as the Northwest ones, just a little fatter. They don't look three times the size, let me tell ya!

    How many would you like? You could send me over $3 and I'll send you a dozen if you want, shipping included. PM me with how many you want, and I'll send you PayPal info. :)

    Unless... there's no weird problems shipping needles, is there? We didn't have to do anything special to get them.. that just occurred to me. It's probably fine. I'll just stick 'em in a padded envelope.

    Jane got the preseed for us, but I'm almost certain she just got it off Amazon. I vaguely recall something on the bank statement.. it was less than $20, whatever it was. And it was so cute, it came with baby dust!

    Hey sidenote: Does anyone want to buy a Clearblue Digital Fertility Monitor? I know I can sell it on eBay, but thought if someone here was looking... I'll probably make a big post about it in the next few days, after I go home and count up how many sticks I have. I think I have 45 or so spare test sticks for it.

    Thanks, and glad everyone likes the pictures!

    ~ Sandy
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  • stwrrstwrr Posts: 455 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Also, PM me if you want the full size digital image for the NW instructions. I'd be happy to email it to you!

    ~ Sandy
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  • 1baby1day1baby1day Posts: 520
    edited November -1
    A dozen for $3 is fine with me. I would be interested in your fertility monitor, I've been looking at them on ebay & bid on a couple. How much are you thinking of asking for it? I know that $50-60 is the going rate for them on ebay, although some are listed for a much higher price. Either way, just let me know. And if you need any specific information from me to do the paypal thing, just let me know.
    pic1a-1.jpg
    My baby, Stella ~ My nephew Alex and I (Denise) at Thanksgiving 2010
    10 TTC's over 15 months - all BFN
  • kyhome123kyhome123 Posts: 93
    edited November -1
    You have no idea how helpful this was. Thank you so so much.
  • 1baby1day1baby1day Posts: 520
    edited November -1
    stwrr - what kind of preseed did you use? Also, I still have a bid in on a fertility monitor on ebay - so if it is outbid, I will let you know so we can talk about yours.
    pic1a-1.jpg
    My baby, Stella ~ My nephew Alex and I (Denise) at Thanksgiving 2010
    10 TTC's over 15 months - all BFN
  • edited November -1
    Hey that's so cool!!! I've never seen what that looks like as I always have had everything sent straight to the RE's office - I've always wondered what the legendary dewar was like!

    And yeah good call on them getting new boxes for sure!
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  • PomsmomeePomsmomee Posts: 162
    edited November -1
    Awesome thread! Please flag this so a Modertaor can make this a STICKY. VERY INFORMATIVE! I have taken pics of mine in the past just for a personal memory book but this is just what a newbie needs. It will help others alot. Thanks for doing it. I have been here a LONG time and I can't believe we never thought to do this. Way to go!
    STOP Puppymills and Irresponsible Backyard Breeders! Be a responsible pet owner:)
  • LovingMomsLovingMoms Posts: 1,078
    edited November -1
    Awesome pictures. This will answer a lot of the newbies questions.

    I agree this definately needs to be a sticky for all future newbies
    July 2011 BFP, miscarried at 5 weeks.
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  • 1baby1day1baby1day Posts: 520
    edited November -1
    Obviously not up on the lingo....PM'd?
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    My baby, Stella ~ My nephew Alex and I (Denise) at Thanksgiving 2010
    10 TTC's over 15 months - all BFN
  • Sassy2uSassy2u Posts: 236
    edited November -1
    PM'd means she private messaged you.
    stwrr- I looked at the online store and the basic AI kit is supposed to come with one "free" hpt. I guess because it not considered part of the kit that you are paying for, if they are out then they just send out the kit without it.
  • PomsmomeePomsmomee Posts: 162
    edited November -1
    great pics!
    STOP Puppymills and Irresponsible Backyard Breeders! Be a responsible pet owner:)
  • stwrrstwrr Posts: 455 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Hiya 1baby1day!

    About the preseed.. Jane bought it, but it looks to me just like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Pre-Seed-Personal-Lubricant-Single-Applicators/dp/B003XWHZOQ/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1299250184&sr=8-4

    They come in tubes, which you discard after opening. So how many times do you think you'll need one... I'm not sure what Jane did - it was dark and I was umm... busy with other things. Giggle. So I wasn't too involved with the preseed part, but I know that she researched it, and said it's sperm-friendly and might even help our little washed IUI guys along.

    And something worked, since we have our BFP now! Egads!


    But about the monitor - I looked up current eBay prices, and they seem to closing at the $70-90 range, which was about the same as when I bought mine. I bought mine for $76, plus $6 shipping - it was a good deal. I also have 15 or 16 unused sealed sticks for it, that don't expire until... oh gosh, I forget, but it was a ways out. I thought just in case I don't use them all, they should last awhile.

    So if you want, I'll sell it to you for $76, plus $15 for the sticks (they run about $1-$1.50 each on eBay, depending on how many you get at once), plus $3 for a dozen of the syringes, plus $5 shipping, which brings us to.. blink, an even $99. Weird.

    Let me know though - I'm in no hurry, so if your bid on eBay doesn't work out, I can get the monitor to you out the next day. I'll check the expiration dates on the rest of my LH surge predictors too - if they're expiring in the next 3-4 months, I'll throw them in too. I expect our BFP to stick... yet don't want to give away/sell all the LH surges and HPTs just yet. Well, the HPTs are just nice to keep peeing on every morning to see the line get darker. Grin.

    Thanks,

    ~ Sandy
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  • 1baby1day1baby1day Posts: 520
    edited November -1
    Sandy-
    Well my bid on ebay went through, so I don't need the monitor - but thanks! If you want to sell me the sticks separate, I'll buy them. And, of course, the syringes. Thanks for the info on the preseed, I saw a couple of different kinds so I was really wondering what worked for you. Just let me know when you get the paypal bid together, and what I need to do.
    Thanks again!
    ~Denise
    pic1a-1.jpg
    My baby, Stella ~ My nephew Alex and I (Denise) at Thanksgiving 2010
    10 TTC's over 15 months - all BFN
  • stwrrstwrr Posts: 455 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    No problem! And congrats on the buy!

    If you don't mind, I think I might sell the sticks and the monitor together. I know when I was buying, it was a big deal for me to get the two together, so I could just start out with some right away, you know? But I couldn't find one at the right price, just bought the monitor and a two pack of 30 sticks each the same day. :)

    PM me your addy, and I'll send you my PayPal email. $3, and I'll ship out a dozen syringes to you tomorrow! I mean... we have 98 left. Giggle.

    ~ Sandy
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  • 1baby1day1baby1day Posts: 520
    edited November -1
    Sandy,
    My email is dtawrosza at yahoo dot com. Thanks and congratulations on your BFP!
    ~Denise
    pic1a-1.jpg
    My baby, Stella ~ My nephew Alex and I (Denise) at Thanksgiving 2010
    10 TTC's over 15 months - all BFN
  • em'smomsem'smoms Posts: 1,439
    edited November -1
    Thanks for posting this, I just ordered 2 ICI vials for our first time trying at home. We are trying to number 2, our first was concieved via IUI in the doc's office.
    I am confused about whether to use a catheter or not. I let the woman at NW talk me into buying 2 kits to go with my vials but I don't know if we should just use the syringes alone- they look pretty long or if we should use the catheter attached (have read that using the catheter can make you lose some of the swimmers??)
    Anyone have advice? I guess I want the actual nitty gritty on doing the actual insemination...no modesty!! Is there a post where someone goes there??

    Also, Stwrr- if you want to sell another dozen of your syringes, I am interested!
  • 1baby1day1baby1day Posts: 520
    edited November -1
    em'smoms - I just did AI last week and it was my first time too. The first time I used the catheter, but because I was doing it by myself I had a difficult time. The catheter is a little flimsy, so if you aren't able to guide it in all the way you will have a hard time. The second time (1 1/2 days later) I just used the syringe and found it so much easier. If I need to do it again next month, I will definitely NOT use the catheter. Hope this helps! And, good luck!
    pic1a-1.jpg
    My baby, Stella ~ My nephew Alex and I (Denise) at Thanksgiving 2010
    10 TTC's over 15 months - all BFN
  • stwrrstwrr Posts: 455 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Hi em'smoms!

    One thing you need to know right off the bat, is if you have ICI vials, you absolutely CAN NOT, SHOULD NOT and WILL NOT use them with a catheter right into your cervix. I forget the name of what happens, but your body can go into shock and you can die. Poof, kick the bucket. Don't do that. Unwashed sperm like ICI can NOT go directly into the cervix. Ever ever ever.

    Phew. Okay. Now onto the nitty gritty!

    IUI can go into the cervix. If you're going to do that, that's when you'd need a catheter. To avoid loss of sperm, you'd try to suck up a little Preseed in your syringe first, then the sperm, then push them out through the catheter in that order, leaving the catheter filled with preseed at the end, not sperm. But we didn't actually use IUI like IUI ourselves, we just treated the IUI vial like an ICI vial. So, what do you do with an ICI vial?

    When you have ICI vials, you need a syringe. Well, okay, you need a syringe either way. But depending on your donor, your vial will probably contain 1 or a little more than 1ml of fluid. The syringes that come from Northwest fit 1ml, which is why we bought 3ml syringes - it really sucked our first month having to take the syringe out, fill it back up again, and put it back in. I just pictured in my head thousands of sperm clinging to the outside of the syringe, never to even have a chance at meeting the love of their life. Grin.

    If you want to buy a dozen off me, just PM me with your email, and I'll show you my PayPal email address. $3 and I'll ship you a dozen, shipping included. I mean... we have 74 left. Giggle. That's an awful lot.

    So there you are with your tank in the bedroom. If you are partnered or otherwise getting frisky, we suggest doing it all FIRST ahead of time, to avoid... err.. leakage, as my partner put it. This last cycle, which worked for us and go us a BFP, we got a little frisky, got close to having the big "O", and went and got the vial out. We set it on the dresser to defrost, then I held it while we ummm... blush, you know. Had the Big "O". But because we were a little nervous about having this vial out, it actually took longer than it should have. All told, the vial was in my hand for 35-45 minutes. Which I thought would be damaging to them or kill them off, but apparently some still lived! But for others, I would suggest have your "O" first, THEN get the vial out, hold it for 15 minutes while you chill, then put it in. No chance of them dying off from being outside too long.

    So how do you get it in a syringe? First, if you are using preseed (which we suggest to avoid loss of sperm stuck in vial), suck up a little preseed first. Just a LITTLE - it really does go a long way. It's an oil afterall. Then... The vials have little twisty caps. So you carefully twist off the top while holding onto the bottom, and it opens. Then you set it carefully somewhere or have someone else hold it while you get the syringe. The ones Northwest send don't have needles, so you just kinda do your best to suck it all up. You'll miss some at the bottom of the vial, but you'll get almost all of it. You might have to come back for a refil if you have a 1ml vial and you get more than 1ml of sperm. But the 3ml syringes we bought have needles - so we unscrewed the safety cap from the needle, stuck the needle in the vial and sucked it all up in one smooth motion. Not a single drop missing, which was a really awesome feeling. Then we sucked up a tiny bit more preseed to clear the needle, and put the safety cap back on the needle. Then unscrewed the whole needle, and threw it away. Then voila, in went the whole syringe, and we just kinda aimed near the back as best we could.

    The first cycle my partner used a finger at the same time as the syringe, to figure out where my cervix was and to get it close. This time, she just aimed and let it go. And voila, preggers. So.. try not to stress too much about placement, you know?

    There are many many interesting other threads about the nitty gritty for ICI and IUI. Including how to do it yourself, how to hold yourself upside down, giggle... We just used pillows under my butt, resulting in me ending up in what Jane calls "The Dead Beetle Position" with my legs up. That's how you know you used one too many pillows!

    But just dig through the forums - you'll find what you need. And just wing it the first time - it's meant to be kinda funny. You'll learn lots!

    Like NO USING ICI IN THE CERVIX. My partner almost fainted from sheer terror as I was writing this. She said it's called Toxic Shock syndrome, and your body attacks EVERYTHING that comes in as a foreign invaders. She said if you don't die, it's absolutely certain that all the sperm certainly will. Just stick 'em in the back of the V, but not all the way in. They can do the leg work on their own. :)

    ~ Sandy
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  • em'smomsem'smoms Posts: 1,439
    edited March 2011
    Thanks Sandy- You totally rock and i feel like i have a much better grasp of the actual process now, I am going to have my partner read this since she will be doing a lot of the "work" LOL!
    I will PM you and for sure want to buy some of your syringes! - Rebecca

    PS- I THINK I messaged you, never did it before send a "forum email" from your profile page? Let me know if you don't get it.
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