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Conception

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Original poster

Anyone TTC after vasectomy reversal op?

306 replies

spamanderson · 20/10/2014 22:06

Hi! Newbie to the forums :) we have 2 children, 7 and 5 and hubby had a vasectomy almost 5 years ago.... Almost as soon as our youngest was born. He realised quickly after that it was a big mistake. We're speaking with our chosen surgeon in a week and booking the reversal, then it's all aboard the TTC train as soon as he's all healed up :) would love to have some buddies along the way :) it's going to be a fairly long journey I feel, our eldest took a year to conceive our youngest took 9 months with a early mc in between.
Sam x

OP posts:
Original poster
spamanderson · 27/10/2014 19:25

I know, silly isn't it but I feel exactly the same! It's all prep work :) 28th November is our first day of TTC, that's not far away! I'm just looking forward to getting to about 20 weeks pregnant so we can stop hiding it from our family! My mum & dad know we're having the op ( I know, it's weird saying 'we' but....) but my grandparents don't and neither do his dad or aunt. His dad will go MENTAL! He went mental when I fell with our 2nd, and again when we got our first puppy, then again when we got our 2nd puppy and I wasn't very popular when we got our kitten either.... (Or the rats or the giant snails!) just realised it sounds like we run a zoo ha ha! I can't wait for November to arrive, hubby is off work at a cake competition with me, then 4 days at work before he's off for 10 days with his op :)

OP posts:
mrsstickll · 27/10/2014 13:35

We bought the wellman on three for two as well. Feels like we've started the process now, even though it's only taking vitamins everything feels like a tiny step closer to our goal. We are also counting the days. I never thought about that spam! I can finish my book that I started in June lol! X

Original poster
spamanderson · 26/10/2014 22:30

Thanks apple. We've already been told we wouldn't qualify as we have 2 children already. I'm also in my 20s so my fertility etc should still be fine, we just have to hope that hubby's is ok after the op :)

OP posts:
AppleSnapple · 26/10/2014 21:40

Hi spam, hope you don't mind me posting this- I have no personal experience, but I do have a close friend who has been through similar- her dh had reversal, and ttc >1yr. Eventually when they got to fertility clinic as she was 39, the fertility specialist said they wasted time and money getting reversal- (bear with me!) - the reversal meant they no longer qualified for one free go at IVF, and she said as he had had vasectomy for 6 yrs the chances were also low of natural conception. Now I appreciate some of this advice was v time sensitive due to the age of my friend, (and actually she is now very early days preg after 2nd round ivf where they surgically removed sperm from her dh' testes...) anyway, prior to spending the money I wonder would it be worth paying the relatively small amt to see a fertility consultant, given that my friends gp seemed as surprised as my friend was!!

Hope that's not terribly negative advice- just thought I'd give you an alternative perspective.

Good luck in whatever you do and fingers and toes crossed!

Original poster
spamanderson · 26/10/2014 21:27

I've just ordered the Wellman tablets online from Boots, £11 for a month but on 3 for 2 :) got some of the Fertility Spray (sperm friendly lube 0) apparently it helps their motility etc so I figured it can't hurt! Hubby is going to finish his bottles of coke and will be an ex-caffeine drinker too ;) we're both so excited about his op, counting down the days! And on a really selfish note, I am totally looking forward to his op as I'll get to sit down on my own and read for like a whole day with no-one nagging me and no housework to do! Ha ha!

OP posts:
Desertrunner · 26/10/2014 15:19

Thanks mrs. It's been a hideous year. Hoping next year is better and all goes well for us - and everyone else on the reversal / ttc journey.

mrsstickll · 26/10/2014 15:09

Sorry to hear you've had a bad year desert fingers crossed for you x

mrsstickll · 26/10/2014 15:08

Congratulations British love to hear success stories. Thanks for the advice desert, I used arnica gel when I had an operation and I do think it helped with bruising.
Bought some supplements today and he is now officially no longer a coffee drinker as from today. X

Desertrunner · 25/10/2014 22:56

Congrats British!
Lots of the success stories on our surgeons website have couples getting pregnant over a year after so I think it can take a while. To be honest we've had a turbulent year anyway with various other issues which may contribute to me not keeping a baby in there ( huge stress, house moves, family issues etc )
On the other hand I do know someone whose DH had a reversal and she was pregnant 6 wks later. So it can happen!!!

Original poster
spamanderson · 25/10/2014 22:52

That's fab british! You don't know if his was burnt or tied when he had the vasectomy do you? Any advice for after the procedure at all? Upping sperm count etc? Spam x

OP posts:
britishbakeoffblues · 25/10/2014 22:35

My exh has his vasectomy reversed after 7 years and my son is now 3.8
Took 2.5 years to get pregnant.

Original poster
spamanderson · 25/10/2014 22:31

mrsstickll We popped to Sainsburys today and picked up some selenium tablets that contain vitamin a & e aswel. I wanted the wellman tabs but they didn't have them. I thought I'd grab those ones until I can get the others. I'm going to grab some multivitamins too once I've checked the daily allowances (so he doesn't go over if he uses the 2 tabs) I read that vitamin c, zinc & selenium were important for sperm production. We bought some arnica cream today too :)
Yeah desert our surgeon said they would like to test after 2 months. We won't go all that way again, so will see if our drs surgery will do it for a fee. I read something, granted it was a few years old, and it was approx £40 to get tested. I imagine that's a little higher now though! We'll go for the test after 2-3 months to check how it's going and that'll probably be it tbh. With the chem pregnancies, Could you get your hubby to start taking his supplements again? Maybe it could be that the sperm haven't matured enough? Although I would have thought they'd mature quicker than that. Hubby is hoping so as he seems to think I'll be pregnant within a few months.... ( ie this is what he hopes as he's probably the only man alive who doesn't appreciate the 'trying' part of having a baby! I on the other hand a Appreciate it as it's the only chance I get for a decent amount of nookie ;) )

OP posts:
Desertrunner · 25/10/2014 19:49

DH's best bit of advice he says is to rest completely afterwards for as many days as your DHs can manage. We stayed in a hotel in Nottingham after for 3 nights then went to a holiday cottage for another week and he did very little. The swelling went down quickly and he believes it was because he was able to rest and relax as much as possible. When he got up and walked about it swelled up a bit and was painful. Lying down with a cool gel pad on and a layer of arnicare cooling gel applied worked wonders for pain relief and swelling.

Desertrunner · 25/10/2014 19:28

Hi
I think there are supplements recommended including zinc....my DH isn't taking them any more but if you google there are loads of websites with suggestions.

mrsstickll · 25/10/2014 18:51

What supplements is your hubby taking spam? Did yours take any desert? Just wondering if there is anything recommended to help the sperm return as normal? Xx

Desertrunner · 25/10/2014 16:42

I would like to know the sperm count having said that. But up here we would have to pay for it separately and just haven't done it. Might do it sometime soon tho if still no joy on the ttc front.

Desertrunner · 25/10/2014 16:37

Arnica capsules are just tiny little tablets that you can get in boots, holland and Barrett I think, possibly supermarkets too. Great for reducing swelling. Can't remember dosage but basically take some prior to the surgery then after and they reduce bruising. I took them when I had my babies and swear they helped recovery.

Re: post op tests, we were supposed to go back to Nottingham for tests after 3 months, but had already had a positive preg test by then (the first chemical preg) and as we live a long way from Nottingham we haven't bothered since.

Original poster
spamanderson · 25/10/2014 15:36

Oh fab! I have been given strict instruction to leave him alone for 2 weeks, from hubby of course ha ha. Arnica tablets? Where can I get them from do you know? Do supermarkets have them do you think? Has he had any semen tests done to check numbers etc?
Sorry for all the questions!

OP posts:
Desertrunner · 25/10/2014 12:44

Hi Spam
DH had his op a year past July.
He took arnica tablets for the bruising and used arnicare cooling gel to help with healing and bruising after the op. Also those cooling gel pads you put in the fridge were good. He recovered really well. Pretty much back to normal down there after about 4 or 5 days. DTD after a week (oops) - not at all painful.

Original poster
spamanderson · 25/10/2014 11:36

Hi Desert!
Thanks for joining :) how long ago did your hubby have his op done? Sorry about your losses. That's one thing I'm worrying about. I had an early loss before conceiving our 2nd child, I was only a few weeks along so I think that was probably classed as a chem too? So hard when you're trying but trying not to get your hopes up :( did you find anything beneficial after his op? Any supplements etc?

OP posts:
Original poster
spamanderson · 25/10/2014 11:27

Oh wow, you're the same age as me too! I'm 28, 29 in December! Ha ha, no I hadn't noticed that until you just said! Oh that's good that his was just tied! Wish hubby's was too! I know the feeling about the biological clock! I had my 1st at 21 and our 2nd at 23, it's 5 years since I had a baby and it feels like forever! Really hoping it happens for us 1 more time :)
Oh that's good, we looked at a place in Nottingham where you could pay £50 and get accommodation for the partner, but reading more online gave me that bad feeling so we decided to pay a bit more and go closer to home. Hubby is pleased he'll only be in for a day and more so that he gets to lie down on the sofa for like a week and do nothing! The surgeon told us that he'll need to not do anything for as long as possible to have the best chance of it working so he'll be making the most of that! I'm self employed too so the fact he can come home straight away is great and I have cakes due the day after so I can decorate them once we get back home :) are you counting down the days like me?? I have Cake a International in Birmingham on the 6th - 9th November, couple of orders in, the off to the hospital for the op, November is going to be a fun month for sure ha ha!

OP posts:
mrsstickll · 24/10/2014 20:18

I do have 2 step children aged 6, just realised I'd said I was putting kids to bed and then said I'd not got kids lol I wasn't putting random children in bed! X

mrsstickll · 24/10/2014 20:16

Fantastic so pleased it went well, you definitely have to go with who you feel comfortable with, I couldn't trust the first one we met with definitely not. Hubby had his tied the surgeon made it sound relatively straight forward, we never talked about the increased risk of mc but I had read when doing research about waiting for sperm to return.
I've also made hubby cut down on the caffeine he's a big coffee fan.
I don't have any children but I'm 28 and the biological clock seems to have taken over my life, we have known for a few years we wanted this done but had other things to sort finances etc so I didn't feel in a rush but now it's so close I want it now. Ours is booked for 4th December and I get to stay overnight at the hospital which I like x

Desertrunner · 24/10/2014 20:05

Oh and my DH was over 10 years post vasectomy.

Desertrunner · 24/10/2014 20:03

Hi
My DH had one done privately by mr Harriss in Nottingham. Fantastic man and fantastic care.
I've had 3 chem pregnancies since but apparently it's common to take at least a year for sperm quality to rise.
If you have specific questions please ask away.

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