Since I m not a lady here I can't comment too much abt the pain levels. However, just to clarify, that ICSI is not a treatment, it is a process to inject sperm head into an unfertilized egg manually by the embryologist, rather than leaving it to normal "nature's process".

There are some things inside the whole IVF process will have some pain, among them would be daily (or lesser depending on person and doctor) hormonal injections, oocyte (egg) retrival and egg transfer. And of course, the mother of all pain would be the baby's delivery which will probably send the pain level to the moon.

Good luck in your IVF!

Congratulations!

What XRay procedure that you did, that is so painful? As far as I know, Xray is literally painless, unless you are going for diagnosis xrays like angiography.
Before u go for IUI, please go visit a fertility gynae, to diagnose the cause of sub-fertility. We skipped IUI and went straight to IVF as we know that for our condition (bilateral blocked tubes), there is no way that IUI would help. It helps if you know what is the problem before deciding what you'd need to do next.
Oh yea, just a FYI, no pain compares to childbirth.... think you have heard of it a billion times before

Ok, now I understand. The procedure you went through is called HSG, my wife went through the same procedure as well, and yes it was painful, more so coz her tubes were blocked.
If you do not have issues with tubes, and have good sperm in your partner then maybe can give Clomid a try. It is an ovulation medicine, triggering the maturity of the eggs and releasing the eggs from your body. It has to be timed correctly (the doctor will prescribe the time), and make sure copulation (aka sex) happens at the prescribed time as well. If all goes well, then viola! you are peggy...
IUI would be the next logical step if Clomid fails to give results, but do give Clomid a few tries first before deciding to go IUI. You are 31 so still have some time to think and try...
IVF should only be your last option, and should only be considered if you know the diagnosis of the sub-fertility issue, and not before... as you know, IVF is very stressful to the lady and the family (not to mention financials).

Good luck!

Let me share some experience on my side
1) Yes blastocyst may have higher rate of success, as it is at the late stage where hatching will commence soon, but note that there is a hurdle going from 3-day embryo to a 5-day blastocyst. Technology these days allows incubation to 5-day blastocyst, but note that it comes with higher risk of the embryo dying during incubation. For us, only 2 of 3 embryos survive to blastocyst, and only 1 of that 2 was successful to birth.

2) My wife did take chinese medicine and acupuncture to stengthen her body and warm it up. On top of that, she also take baby-aspirin (need doctor's prescription), as her family have history of elevated immune response. Even though blood test shows that she does not have it, the doctor didn't want to take any chances, and prescribed her the aspirin.

3) There are also many factors involved as mentioned by skydrake. Stress plays a part too, my wife quit her job and relax at home.

Good luck to you, and may you enjoy your parenthood soon.