An intrauterine insemination (IUI) is quick, taking about five to 10 minutes. In most instances the IUI is pretty painless, potentially causing mild cramping, but it generally doesn’t hurt any more than a Pap smear. (In some instances, women find the cramping can be severe.)

Immediately after the procedure, the woman lies on her back for approximately 20 minutes. Then, even though potentially a life-altering event has occurred, she can get dressed and get back to her routine. Some fertility doctors suggest taking it a bit easy for the rest of the day.

Monitoring for Infection after IUI

After an IUI, there is about a 1 percent risk of infection. Watch out for chills, fever, and severe abdominal or pelvic pain, especially within 24 to 72 hours following the procedure.

Any of these symptoms mean a call to the fertility doctor is in order right away.

Pregnancy Testing

After the relatively quick and painless process of the IUI, the next step is both lengthy and nerve-wracking — waiting to see if the procedure was successful.

Although the temptation to take a home pregnancy test will be great, fertility doctors caution women not to take one for at least two weeks — if at all. It’s at that point that pregnancy hormone levels are high enough to produce a positive test result.

Testing too soon could result in either a false negative or a false positive. False negatives occur because not enough human chorionic hormone (hCG) is present to produce a positive test result. False positives occur if the woman used ovulation-inducing medications such as hCG, which could still present in the body and throw off the test.

Most fertility doctors request that women return to the office for blood pregnancy tests instead. They are more sensitive in detecting pregnancy than home urine tests.