TTC 10 months plus, supporting each other and staying positive. Another BFP one of course :-)

[victoria401]

New thread for the rest of us to get our BFP's on, by whatever means!!!

[lucieloos]

Thanks lil and Landy. Nervously awaiting the start of ours. I am toying with the idea of genetic testing if we are lucky enough to get more than 3 blasts at day 5. Apparently a lot of blasts can have chromosomal defects even though they might look top notch to the eye. This helps pick out the genetically normal ones which then have a much better chance of sticking?!

[lildottie]

interested to hear about the genetic testing lucie as i'm thinking we should consider this if we do decide to do IVF again

[lucieloos]

Yes it's meant to increase chances of success quite substantially and from what I have read will likely become common place in the next 5 years or so as even though it's not cheap it still saves money when you compare to having 2 fresh cycles of ivf. We need to get to the stage where we get a decent number of blasts first tho!

[lildottie]

we didnt get to blast stage with ours, we had only 2 embryos left out of 7 on day 2 so i guess that means we would be unlikely to get to testing unless we deliberately left them to go to blast and risk losing them by not shoving them back as quick as possible. its all so confusing!

[victoria401]

lil with hubby's new improved sperm do you think there will be a higher chance you could get preg naturally now? Is he going to keep up the healthy living now? Wish my hubby would get off his fat lardy arse and do something positive....

[lucieloos]

I think they can also be tested at day 3 lil but not quite as accurate as day5 and a little more risky for the embryo but worth looking in to.

[lildottie]

will definitely look into it if we do it again Lucie

Vic we are planning to get straight back on the TTV wagon. he didn't stop his vit c during the tww just in case and has now started his fertilaid vits again. we've both been a bit rubbish with diet but have decided to give ourselves a break this week and get back in track next week. he has stayed off the caffeine too, although has had the off one or two more caffeinated drinks than he had being so he's going to cut that down again too. I'm so lucky he's so on board with it all and that we ate absolutely a team in this. I wish you had the same support with your dh. mine is proof that these things can make a massive difference. his motility went from 20% to 79%!

[lildottie]

ttc not TTV!

[lucieloos]

Lil our main problem is motility too. What do you think are the main things that helped with yours? We eat fairly healthily although are not doing low carb or particularly high protein or anything like that. DH has been on wellman conception, maca, 1000mg of vitamin c and extra zinc for a few months now. I've bought decaff tea and coffee for the house although he still has some with caffeine at work. Are you able to give us any other tips?

[lildottie]

and Vic I think the fact he was ejaculating regularly before the ivf helped. he would ejaculate at all after ovulation when trying naturally so I think that made a difference and is something we plan to keep up.

[lildottie]

Lucie here's my list

1. 1000mg vit c
2. regular ejaculation
3. increase protein and switch to slow carbs (ie wholemeal and low GI)
4. cut out caffeine. the odd one here and there won't hurt but make it a weekly treat
5. drink 2l water a day
6. take a multi vitamin

if I remember any more I'll let you know. we had morphology issues (3%) and that's back to normal (15% I think)

[victoria401]

I'm going to show Steve this list lil!

Dh is on wellman vits. Has caffeine at work but not at home. Does not drink water (his only fluid intake is tea/coffee whether decaf or not and we have one glass of fruit juice with dinner). We do have less carbs and live off sweet potato with every meal! If we have pasta its wholewheat, and wholemeal bread. He has no sex drive for regular ejaculations :-( I was hoping he'd start to get a taste for it but he hasn't! I love orgasms! Who wouldn't!?

[lildottie]

my dh has no drive either, hence the abstinence after ovulation, but the clinic made it clear he had to every 2-3 days before the ivf (they told him this mid December so he was doing it for 1.5months pre fertilisation) and he did, mostly without my input sadly! I know your dh has other issues he's struggling with through this but if you could get him to see it could make such a difference I'm sure it could help you guys. x

[Lauraqc]

Thanks so much for the pep talk girls - my eternal optimism is creeping back. Will defo show DH your list Lil! My DH has a terrible diet, loves Pepsi max and doesn't eat any fruit and only minimal veg. I've asked 3 separate drs in front of him what he could do to improve things (in the hope they'll back me up to make changes) but each one has grunted "you can't really do anything to improve it" grrrrr so even if he tries the vit c I'd hope it would improve things a bit!

[lildottie]

lol, my dh drank 4 cans of Pepsi Max a day, minimum! plus coffee. he now drinks the caffeine free diet coke instead. I don't think enough research has been done into improving sperm quality so rather than saying "we don't know" the drs say "nothing" which is really unhelpful. the vitamin c thing has come from a scientific study,according to my consultant, and he also said zinc and selenium may help based on a study in bulls not humans - but it can't hurt!

[lildottie]

here's the vit c study link only a study of 13 men but significant results.

[lucieloos]

Thanks lil we were also told about the vitamin c by our consultant. I think dh is not doing too bad with your list but I think the regular ejaculation is a bit of a problem for him too. We tend to try hard over ovulation time and then have a bit of time off afterwards. I will try and suggest it to him at least when I start stimms. It's not such a bad thing for him to have to do is it!

[lildottie]

good practice for the big day! dh struggled and had a much smaller sample that day! apparently it didn't all come out because there was only a chair, no bed to lie on so he couldn't get in the "right position"!

[lildottie]

well ladies its definitely over. horrendous night cramping and bleeding. back to the beginning. going to hit this cycle with a positive attitude though!

[Landy10]

I'm sorry Lil. That sucks. You've always been so positive, think we could all do with having your attitude. Have you thought about doing another ivf cycle or will you try naturally for a while now with your DH super sperm?

[lildottie]

can't really do anything with ivf until we have our follow up appointment in 2months so will be getting straight back on the penis wagon this cycle in the hope of a miracle. we've had enough shit, its about time we had some good news, that stays! dh is convinced we will conceive naturally.

[Metalhead]

I'm so sorry lil. From my experience of mc I would say take some time to grieve rather than bury your head in the sand and just focus on ttc straight away (like I did), otherwise those feelings might catch up with you months down the line. Big hugs for you. x

[lildottie]

thanks metal x

[victoria401]

So sorry to hear your news lil, it's so unfair. I thought you would be a sure first timer because of your wondorously high AMH etc. Take it easy hun x

[lildottie]

so did I vic and I guess I was really. I'm going to buy a necklace to remember my beans. they'll be close to my heart on a necklace.