TTC 10 Months Plus, Supporting Eachother & Staying Positive :) new thread!!

[m33r]

Hopefully we'll see more BFPs on this one!

Hi victoria - I've heard of the antibody thing but not entirely sure what it is sorry? And dh morph is 2% too. :/
Count and motility have improved after Brazil nuts, almonds, lots of spinach and avocado and zinc tablets, morph improved too actually, was 1% first time! He doesn't like taking supplements so zinc is the only one ATM, everything else from diet.

How many SAs have you had done? Is there anything they can do about the antibodies?

Hello everyone, and welcome cooper! I haven't posted for a while though I have been lurking.

vic I'm really chocked at the level of incompetence you've had to deal with from the NHS so far! I think the consultants are usually good once you get to them, but the way to their door is so complicated and fraught it really is not a very good system in my view.

Blueberry yay for your +opk, and fx for you this month.

Ginger glad to hear that your DH's results were normal, even though I totally understand that it's frustrating at the same time as you think 'well if everything's fine then why isn't it happening?'.

I too had been so hopeful this month as we'd timed everything perfectly, I'd used Conceive Plus and bum in the air, plus on 10dpo I had really bad cramps which I was convinced was implantation... but alas, the witch arrived today bang on time. With my long cycles that means I've only got one more shot at getting upduffed before my due date for the pregnancy I lost, and I honestly don't think it's going to happen. Strangely though I'm not feeling too bad today - must be getting used to the disappointment...

I emailed a local fertility clinic today to see how much an assessment for me and DH would be, but at £675 I think we'll try the GP route first after this cycle! If he sends us away again because we haven't been trying long enough we might have to reconsider though, as we had a chat today and agreed that we can't keep trying forever as the strain is just too much, and also the age gap between DD and any potential sibling would get too big for us eventually. In my head I've given myself a deadline of September 2015, which would mean a 6-year gap; though we'll have to see how we feel if and when we get to that.

Sorry to hear about af metal :-(

cooper - the blood and sperm never normally meet but due to injury/infection the blood/sperm barrier can be breached. If this happens the white blood cells sees the sperm and presumes they are foreign bodies and make antibodies against them, as they do to viral infections etc. The sperm get coated with antibody and either cannot penetrate through the egg if the Abs are on the heads, or cannot swim, if the Abs are on the tails. 100% of his sperm were coated with Abs rendering them useless basically. I'm getting dh to take vits so we can improve them for ivf. I think they "wash" the sperm to get rid of the Abs for icsi.....

oh Victoria I didn't know about any of that - i'm being quite selfish so far and been concentrating on what may be wrong with me because of the non-existent cycles. DH has his sa tho on 13.08 - he's crap tho eats junk constantly and no exercise. Was also quite poorly as a baby himself on lots of meds which secretly I worry have caused harm and set us up for a failure now. It may give him the kick up the arse I think he needs to get serious. Now I've said all that they're probably bloody Olympic swimmers....

Metal we're considering private after our initial consult at NHS hospital. I'm hoping it'll make things faster if we actually do need any sort of treatment. Luckily we have family who are willing to pick up the tab....have no idea if they know what they may be in for..!!!

Ha, don't worry Laura I'm completely selfish to my problems! I concentrate on everything male factor and know virtually nothing about female infertility. I've no idea why some women have infrequent cycles. Maybe you could educate me!

Dh had an op when he was 11 to correct his pee hole ouch! we reckon this is when the blood/sperm barrier was breached and rendered him infertile. Men who have vasectomy reversals are also at risk of Abs. Over 40% bound is classed as 'significant' in the world of infertility. Dh has had 25years to build up to 100%. :-(

Oh no victoria, that's seriously rubbish :( is icsi the best way forward then?

Hi metal, sorry to hear about mc and af arriving :( how long are your cycles usually? And I looked briefly into private but it's not at all doable for us right now :/ prices are eye watering!

Victoria the more I think I know the more I feel I'm actually drowning in a vast sea of infertility words I realise I have no idea the meaning of! Frightening really - that's why when I went to the Dr I was really annoyed about having to chase how we get DH his appt - and being made to feel like we were the first couple in our area who've ever needed to ask these questions....very annoying!

Ah you reminded me that my DH had two ops when he was an early teen I think to drop a ball - it worked once then just went back up so he had to have a second procedure!! Poor chap.

That's the brilliant thing about this thread (and forum overall) the fact you can learn so much from other people - cheers to mutual information-sharing!!! x

Thanks cooper - my cycles average about 35 days, but can be up to 40+ which means everything just seems to take forever (waiting to ov, waiting for AF...).

On the subject of AF, ever since my erpc after the mc my periods have been really light, and this one seems to be the same again. I'm seriously worried I've developed uterine scarring and that this is preventing me from getting pregnant again. I saw my GP about it last month but he wasn't worried, so I think I will pay for a private ultrasound scan to hopefully get some peace of mind, or if not at least a diagnosis which might get me on the way to the right treatment.

I really do think GP's are rubbish with this! Lots of us have been fobbed off! After going on at mine about dh's results being bad she actually called the clinic to find out what they meant and apologised for not believing me! Its worth researching yourself and telling the GP what you know.

NICE don't actually recommend testing for Antisperm Antibodies by the way as not enough research has been done on the outcome of having them. Lots of places don't even test for them. Luckily (?!) here they did. Did I really want to know though?! Would I have been happy just knowing about the low morphology and trying to boost dh's health? Can you lot check your sa's and tell me if MAR tests are present? Just out of interest. Don't mean to worry anyone, just raising awareness.

Yep I'll ask when we get dh's tests back (hopefully) at our joint appt!

Ha! Take that NHS! Decided today that I would make some calls about this weird telephone appointment next week. Somehow managed to be put through to the person I would have spoken to at this appointment! She said "funny you should call, your notes have just landed on my desk and I was going to refer you this afternoon to a consultant" and that I don't need the phone call next week! The Dr is going to read my notes this afternoon and decide if we need more tests and a letter should be typed and sent tomorrow! Apparently they leave a big enough gap to get the tests done and then we can see a consultant!! Told them we were on hol late September and she said oh it will be way before then! Omg! Its all happening now! Should know early next week what the next steps are!

Oh and the confusion came about as the GP managed to refer us 2 separate ways! One via the clinic and one via nhs choose and book.

Yay vic, finally some good news! Fx everything will run more smoothly now you're in the hands of the right people.

Good news victoria! The waiting is just so frustrating I know. Oh, and I checked the printout from dh first SA and nope, no MAR... I'll mention it at my next appointment though (which is to discuss going forward with "assisted reproduction" - I don't like that term!)

And metal, my cycles are around 31-33 days so I know how you feel, the extra few days make a difference when you're waiting to start again.

Brill Victoria at last feels like someone's on your side and trying to get things moving for you! Very pleased and excited for you!

Great news vic. So pleased things are finally moving for you.

Off work and camping next week but telephone appointment with gp Monday to confirm he will be putting in the referral now all the tests are done. Fingers crossed things move as swiftly as the have for you in the end vic.

Been feeling low this week and just want to feel some progress.

Have a good weekend all. X

Yay may! Progress. If things don't seem to be moving quickly a phone call sure does help! ;-) good luck and have a fun week camping! Hope it stays dry for you.

Good luck with your referral too cooper

I'm yet to read back sorry .
Another f chemical for me then :(. Had three faint positives and then started bleeding again on 13dpo. So that's 3-4 cp since we started trying again in nov/ dec last year and 10 previous early mc and chemicals to add to that before having dd through gestational surrogacy . I've f had it and feel like nobody really cares since they don't expect it to work out for me ever like this in darling DH words last night .

Oh nordic, I'm so sorry! Have you had any tests done for recurrent miscarriage? (You probably have, sorry if that's a dumb question...).

Oh Nordic that is very sad :-( It has put a lot of other things into perspective for me. Have you ever had any kind of help or diagnosis?

Well, I'm all booked into for my HSG and ultrasound this month. I got my second set of Day 21 bloods back from the fertility clinic and progesterone was 34, so much better than the 20 of my first lot done at the GP. Presumably this was a better quality ovulation/ egg too because my cycle was 27 days and luteal phase 12! Go me! doing the "normal" LP dance lol

So CD1 today (not a surprise as our DTD frequency was not great this month!) and feeling like a beached whale crossed with a hungry hippo but that's usual for me. Should feel more normal by Sunday and then gearing up for a bumper shot at it this month as I'm hoping the HSG might "flush me out" or something!

My emails this morning read:
Pre-seed has been dispatched!
Your order for Emerita Pro-gest has been received!
Clearblue fertility sticks have been dispatched!

;-)

Any nice plans for the weekend? It's my wedding anniversary (I know, nice timing AF!) so we are out for dinner tonight. Steak and cocktails!

Yes I've had all the tests , experts and steroids etc im the years back . No reason found . Used to literally conceive everytime we tried for dd and then loose it . Another woman was able to carry her to term after a second go of ivf with our egg and sperm . Now it's been years and am older so not conceiving as easily but have had 3-4 cycles of cp of 9 . International surrogacy that we did took 3 y years and cost a huge amount so it's not a realistic option right now and am 39 so time is running out on my eggs so it kills me since am clearly not getting there on my own :(...

How awful for you Nordic sorry about your latest news :-(

Happy anniversary Lindsay, how many years? Good luck with your hsg, the flush worked for m33r! And even blue is oving after having it done! You sound nice and chipper in your post, hope that's how you feel?

As for this weekend for me, not a lot planned really. Sunday my bff has managed to get a kid free day (she has 3!) and we're hitting the shops :-D not had a shopping spree for months! Looking forward to it. Need to buy some brighter colour things, my wardrobe is so dark and miserable...

Ooh vic shopping spree sounds like so much fun! Go mad with it! You deserve it after all the crap you've been through. Hope you are throwing in plenty of coffee and cake too!
My DHs SA doesn't show a test for MAR but it does say Antisperm Antibodies as negative, is this the same thing then?
Nordic I am so sorry to hear your story. You poor thing having to go through all that. Have you been back to see anyone recently? Maybe a new pair of eyes on the whole thing will put you in for some further/different testing. have you looked at nutritional/herbal treatments, or acunpuncture? Sorry if you've already tried everything under the sun, wish none of us had to go through any of this crap.
Lindsay glad things are progressing well for you! Have your Drs advised you whether or not you can DTD after your hsg? high fives on the progesterone and normal LP too! Are you still taking anything to try and lengthen it? My cycles seem to have gone back to 28 or 29 days last few months so mine is a reasonable 11-13 days now. Oh and what is Emerita Pro-gest?!
may hope you have a nice time camping and manage to take your mind off things, even if only briefly!
Laura fantastic that you have family paying for it! I know how you feel about having to push DH to get with things. I have to do all of the chasing up and running around here with all of the app etc. I guess most women would be the same, but a bunch of flowers would be nice every now and then.....
metal have you thought any more about going private? I asked the GP and she said an initial assessment (chat basically) is between £100-£200 and then any follow ups would be more. I think I might go for it though, just for peace of mind more than anything and to pick their brains as to what they think could be going on, or what they think about acupunture/supplements. I am supposed to be going for an ultrasound scan in a week but haven't had the app letter yet
Sorry if I've missed anyone.....

victoria Yeah feeling pretty good so thought i'd come on here and sprinkle some positivity over our wee thread. lol :-) Six years married today! Happy shopping by the way! I love a spree like that :)

ginger Emerita is progesterone cream. I'm not convinced how much of this could actually be absorbed through the skin but my LP is good right now so I'll keep using it! Apparently no issues with continuing to TTC after the HSG? I've read to the contrary too though. I can't remember, have you had it done?

Just a quick update, sorry I don't have time to mention everyone!
I had an echovist scan which is basically an HSG, but with ultrasound scan instead of X-rays. The solution they inject in is just sugary water which shows up on ultrasound.
All was normal, but more importantly, because there is no radiation or horrible dye, we can still try this month. Happy days.
Hope you are all well. Xx