Hello!
Zoe, the symptoms are maddening aren't they? I tell myself it's pointless to look out for them but I always do.
Bellini, in case you're interested in what happened at the consultation today... It just involved a sperm analysis and a chat with a doctor.
The sperm analysis showed male factor problems: his count was low, movement / motility a little bit under average and the shape / morphology was also not fantastic. I feel so bad for him, it (of course) took the wind out of his sails.
At the moment, he doesn't sleep enough, or exercise, and his diet is also not great... He seems genuinely determined to change all that after the results. If he is disciplined and changes his lifestyle, I am hopeful that the stats will go up. I don't know if this is ridiculously naive... The doctor didn't seem wildly optimistic.
But we'll get another sperm analysis in two or three months' time and see what the effects are! If the results get no better, the doctor thought we have a pretty low (but non-zero) chance of conceiving naturally and would need to go to ICSI (not even "just" IVF).
I now need to decide whether I want to go ahead and have any investigations to see whether there might be anything wrong with my tubes, too. The doctor today said not to bother: it seems we've identified that the issue is my partner, there are no signs of any problems with me, and if we go to ICSI my tubes will not be called upon! I am still vaguely tempted to get a HyCoSy, but maybe that's a waste of time and money.
So, onwards we go... Sorry for droning on forever in this post, but it was quite a day. If anyone reading has any similar experiences, please reply! I'm also going to check out the infertility boards...