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Conception

Low Sperm count and Low Motility - is there any hope of a baby?

27 replies

notcopingwelltoday · 22/07/2008 14:59

I had a miscarriage last year, and have been TTC ever since. DH has just got his results, and they are as above. Having done research on it he told me also that it could have been a faulty sperm that caused the MC in the first place. I feel terrible, and don't want him to feel bad. He has to do another test next week.

What i really want to know is;
How do we fix it, can we fix it, and is it at all possible we will ever get pregnant?
I just feel like we have been waiting forever, and now we have to wait even longer.
Just cant cope with all this. And our baby would have been 6 months old today.

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zazen · 22/07/2008 15:19

Yes, you can have a baby, but you might find making that baby a bit pressurised. Hugs to you.

Basically my DH's sperm are few and far between, malformed, immobile, and only live for a half hour or so after leaving the saftey of his testes! We were refused IVF, IUi and ISCI as he is technically infertile (less than 5% viable)

So...... after 3 long years of charting (stressful, very stressful) and the karma sutra of conception (you know upside down etc) - I caved in and bought some ovulation predictor stix, and we used them and timed babymaking like a military operation. Literally down to the minute. We had a missed miscarriage, (which I found very hopeful actually, having never conceived before) and then.......

We conceived our DD 6 months after that.

I had my DH on zinc and vitamin C and made him give up all alcohol and fags and also made him drink a cup of coffee half an hour before we got to it .
I was on double strength folic acid (or frolic acid as I used to think of it) as I was 35 yo, and lots of fish oils and evening primrose oils and a multi mineral and multi vitamin. I gave up alcohol and coffee, was eating mostly raw and fresh foods, and I had taken up yoga to chill out.

And they say romance is dead
Good luck, and hugs!

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hattscat · 22/07/2008 15:28

Oh poor you, I am sorry you are feeling low. I can't really offer any advice but a similar thing happened to us. First pregnancy ended in miscarriage at 11 weeks, we went off and got tested. Husband's sperm had low everything. GP gloomy about us ever conceiving naturally. Very disheartened but within two months I was pregnant and ds now 2. I hadn't heard about link with faulty sperm and mc. However did fall pregnant last summer (unplanned but were delighted) but this ended in mc too. Now ttc again!

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Booboobedoo · 22/07/2008 15:29

ncwt: there is hope.

My DH is completely infertile (he has a genetic disorder), and had to have 18 months of fertility treatment to get him to produce any sperm.

When he did he had a count of about... erm... 50,000 I think - very low anyway.

DS is 16 months old now, and we want to try for another one.

It is possible to conceive, but it's just likely to take a while.

The healthy eating stuff is good, but try to find time to have fun together as well. I know how easy it can be to get consumed by the misery of it all.

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4andnotout · 22/07/2008 15:32

My dp was told that his sperm were of poor quality etc 15+ years ago when he was a young man and the only pregnancy from his marriages resulted in miscarriage, now all these years later we are expecting dd4 (we have 3 other dd's from 6 to 9 months). He doesn't drink a lot any more and smokes even less so we think this may have helped a bit.
Good luck x

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gillydaffodil · 22/07/2008 15:55

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quickerthistimeplease · 22/07/2008 17:08

Not coping well.
My DH was told he had a high count but rubbish motility and morphology in 2 tests and we were told would have to have ICSI. (I also had a few problems including endometriosis). He started to take loads of vitamins including zinc, pycogenol and something I got off ebay called 'Fertilaid'. When we went to the IVF clinic a few months later he was tested again and it came back 'Normal'. I don't know if the NHS tests we had first were dodgy or whether the vitamins etc worked? A month after the IVF clinic visit i had treatment on my endometriosis and we conceived the next month (after 18 months TTC). DD was one at the weekend. I am also pg with No2 which took 2 months TTC. .
Try not to get down- it's a definate positive that you got pg in the first place and even though you had a MC lots and lots of people have MC's whose partners have 'normal' sperm so it might well not be that, just really bad luck. His 2nd test might well come back OK. Even if it doesn't, there are lots of things that can be done. My friend's DH is totally 'infertile' after a childhood accident and they have a DD through ICSI.

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pinkmook · 22/07/2008 17:51

My God this thread has given me hope - my DH has low count, poor morphology and poor motility we have been TTC 12 months and I am starting to feel its hopeless as I may have problems too (irregular cycles) Thank you so much for posting all these x

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mummy2olivia · 22/07/2008 18:44

I really feel for you. After 15 months of TTC my DH went and got tested and although his count was mega high and motility pretty good, the morphology was only 6%. I felt so down and gloomy and I feel really guilty now, but angry with him .

We had the test done in January and conceived in April. I MC at 9 weeks but have great hope in the fact that we finally got pregnant!!!

Please please please look up zita west and marilyn glenville. Their advice is soooo positive and I'm sure it was Zita wests advice giving me a bit of hope that finally got me there. Good luck xxx

And by the way, unless you have zero sperm you are sub-fertile NOT infertile so there is always a chance. Although I do actually know a lady whos husband had 0% normal sperm and they conceived naturally- he even demended a DNA test and it was there in black and white- even he could make a baby!!

Have hope.

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notcopingwelltoday · 22/07/2008 18:44

pinkmook - glad it's helping you too!
There are some lovely people on MN!
Thanks everyone who has posted so far.
Keep those success stories coming...

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beanieb · 22/07/2008 19:08

I haven't experienced this (OH having sperm tested next week though so may need this advice) but my friend had this happen to her. She also treated the baby making like a military operation and conoceived after making her husband come home in his lunch hour to do the deed.

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pgwithnumber3 · 22/07/2008 19:14

8 years ago I was diagnosed "infertile" with damaged fallopian tubes due to Pelvic Inflammatory Disease and DH was "infertile" due to Mumps as a child, it had caused him to have low motility and morphology, sperm count was okay.

Had DD1 through ICSI and then DD2 came naturally (albeit 5 years after DD1) and I am now pregnant with DC3, again naturally.

If we can get pregnant twice naturally with our medical problems then I am sure you can too.

Good luck, you have had good advice here about what you can do to help his sperm count.

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pgwithnumber3 · 22/07/2008 19:16

It only takes that one little sperm to fertilise that egg, our men might not have trillions of them but it can still work!

I was told having too much sperm(!) was also a hindrance. Anyone else heard this?

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Littlefish · 22/07/2008 19:21

Don't give up! DH has extremely poor morphology, motility and teeny eeeny weeeny count as well!

We conceived dd naturally after 2.5 years trying (the month before we were due to start ICSI).

We did, however, give up alcohol, caffeine, red meat, cow dairy, as many additives and preservatives as possible. We both took loads of vitamins e.g. zinc & selenium for dh, did acupuncture and homeopathy, plus I did yoga and reflexology.

I would recommend the book "Natural Solutions to Infertility" by Dr Marilyn Glenville.

Zita West's books are good too.

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FeelingDeviant · 22/07/2008 19:28

Yes, there is hope.
DH had low count, motility, etc. He was a heavy drinker and cut out alcohol during the week.
We got those ovulation sticks and timed it like military operation too.
Conceived on the 2nd cycle of testing and got my BFP a month before I was scheduled to go to IVF clinic.

TTC again now, so fingers crossed our methods will work again.

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louisfeelingblue · 23/07/2008 11:23

what Zita west titles can people recommend? Looked on amazon but there are so many, its very confusing!

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pinkmook · 23/07/2008 13:28

NCWT - Hope you are feeling better today. Yes these stories are truly fantastic and make me feel a little more confident - my only worry is that many of these sucess stories might have happened when people were younger than me and DH (we are 33 and 35)

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Littlefish · 23/07/2008 14:23

DH and I were both 36 when we conceived pinkmook.

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gillydaffodil · 23/07/2008 15:07

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quickerthistimeplease · 23/07/2008 15:09

I'm nearly 39 and DH 43

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pinkmook · 23/07/2008 16:37

Well that sorts that out then! I can go back to being pleased with this thread and ignore the little gloom demon in the back of my mind thanks littlefish, gillydaffodil and quickerthistimeplease (my senitments exactly!) it makes such a massive difference hearing these successes. Thank you so much for posting them x

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zazen · 23/07/2008 19:42

Yes, there is hope - get some Ovulation predictor stix here you don't have to let your DH on to this as it can cause stress if he knows he has to preform RIGHT NOW, or in the next 20 minutes

But have your lucky knickers at the ready!

Best of luck, and don't forget to take your frolic acid!

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Booboobedoo · 23/07/2008 20:26

Not to throw a spanner in the works (and different things work for different people), but I hated the ovulation predictor kits. They made the whole thing too pressured for me, and they're not very reliable.

We had sex about three times a week. In fact, I conceived on day 11 of my cycle, and the Ov predictor things never came up positive that early for me.

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quickerthistimeplease · 23/07/2008 20:40

I have to say that I conceived after giving up with the kits..

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pinkmook · 23/07/2008 20:42

zazen I already have the ov predictor kits, and thermometer and fertility friend charts!! Moi, obsessed - never!

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Lubyloo · 23/07/2008 21:03

Notcoping - sorry you are having a tough time. Please don't give up hope though it can happen - it only takes one! (Interesting fact I learnt on our TTC journey - if a matchbox was filled with sperm there would be enough to double the world's population!) We tried for 12 months, conceived but then miscarried. DH's test showed poor morphology and motility (only 2% were normal) I also have PCOS so we thought it was hopeless. I lost weight and we both improved our diet and took zinc supplements. DH started wearing boxers and although he doesn't drink much anyway he stopped drinking. He was also banned from having hot baths

We eventually conceived our DD after another three years of trying. Has a cause been found for your DH's count? My DH was eventually diagnosed with a varicocele. He had an operation which has improved his count and morphology. I have conceived twice since his op but unfortunately lost both pregnancies. I suspect that is more due to my PCOS rather than the sperm quality) However I am hopeful that we will eventually have a second.

Has your DH been refered to a urologist? Wishing you much luck for the future.

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