First Fertility Clinic Appointment Tomorrow

[dogmam]

Me and my partner have our first appointment with our fertility clinic tomorrow!

We went to the GP after a year of TTC and after 21 day bloods and partners SA, we were referred straight away to the fertility clinic. GP tests were in October/November so it's moved along quite quickly so far.

Feeling slightly nervous but also excited to hopefully get some help! My partners SA showed low motility and morphology so I assume that will be discussed..
What else should i expect from this first appointment? Is there anything I should be asking?

Thanks in advance! I'll update this after the appointment tomorrow as I know there are a few others on here who are in a similar position and might find it useful.

@paintfairy how exciting for you that things are moving so quickly! How you feeling? Haha I felt the same about feeling like I had a day out.
Hopefully the IUI works but if it doesn't (touch wood) then 3 months is reasonable to wait for IVF, again gives you a chance to prepare yourself. All sounds so good for you though!

Has anyone heard of/tried a Ferti lilly? Basically something you put in after dtd, apparently keeps the sperm close to the cervix.. it seems to have really good reviews.

@dogmam, never heard of it. Literally just lookdd it up. Defo might be worth a try whilst waiting

@dogmam I've got one and used it for the first time this cycle! Will let you know in 6 days whether or not it worked 😄

@dogmam we've not really been anywhere together so it was weird having a trip out! Almost normal. I feel OK about it all- pretty positive. I'm not going to assume it'll work but I feel ok about doing it. Worth a try!

I've not heard of those things but I know what you mean. Some people use moon cups or whatever they have to hand. I've never tried it.

Hey everyone. I’m so behind on all the threads so haven’t had a chance to catch up yet. Hope you’re all faring well!

My body has decided it’s just not gonna ovulate this month (probably the meds I’m on), so I guess it’s good we aren’t trying this cycle anyway .

We called for the second SA results and they said they’re not in yet because they’re only getting two Royal Mail deliveries per week or something....not sure what that’s about but I guess we’ll try again Friday.

@thislittlebird good to hear from you. I hope they come soon.

My OH came back this time it was low motility this time but count was fine. But last time count was low motility was fine.

Do they still offer ivf if the motility is low. I don't really want iui as i heard it doesn't really work too well

@kitekat81 ah really? How are finding it? I'm going to order one for my next cycle!

@thislittlebird could you possibly ovulate later this month? Maybe your body is adjusting to the new medication? Has the SA come back yet?

@PurpleUnicorn01 sorry to hear the SA didn't improve! Our SA also has low motility but count is fine. What was the percentage? Yes, ivf can still work with low motility, ICSI too. Our SA motility last time was very low but the clinic still recommended us for IVF.

@PurpleUnicorn01 it's def fine for ivf! Swimmers don't need to go anywhere with ivf so low motility shouldn't really have an impact I'd have thought? Means you're a good candidate really and if that counts as MFI you can skip the two year wait?

Yeah low motility is probably the best problem to have for ivf really (assuming there aren't like zero). They'll just pick out the best ones to put with the egg. But they'll do ICSI if they have to.

It’s possible yeah @dogmam. But I’ve stopped testing because the CB sticks are expensive, I guess I’ll just have to wait and see if my period comes. Sometimes ovulation is quite late for me, just not often. I do think the drugs are messing things up though.

SA has not come back yet as far as I know.

@PurpleUnicorn01 What did the SA go to and from? Dh had low motility and low vitality last time.

And yeah as everyone else said, ivf works with poor motility

Thanks @dogmam @paintfairy @juno231 @thislittlebird count went from 8.5 million to 40 million, ive put him on these last 3 months its obviously worked as that's normal now.

www.bulk.com/uk/dominate.html?view=ppc&pid=6133&gclid=CjwKCAjwu5CDBhB9EiwA0w6sLTZSSC4CRxJxwLUxmYRbAMhhQL_d_fbC5EEb1qTcBcs4D4-yGVf5ThoCUMUQAvD_BwE

However motility has dropped from 45% to 27% which is very weird as now that's abnormal.

The tablets above might be good for anyone with a low count though.

Good that it improved @PurpleUnicorn01 and I assume the % balances out if count went up.

My husband had a hight count at 180mil and I’m assuming it’ll be lower this time as he abstained for fewer days. But what use is a high count if many are dead or wonky swimmers 😔. Fingers crossed the supplements he’s been on and the adjusted abstinence/frequency of ejaculation will help improve things when we get them.

@PurpleUnicorn01 strange. Did you have to do the SA at home and take it in? Or was it done there? Time and temperature can affect motility.

I was referring to my husband’s swimmers btw in case that was not clear lol

When it comes to SA, contrary to the WHO guidelines, what should be calculated to determine if there is MFI is Total Motile Count and this is apparently the single most important figure that should be used to say if the quality of the sperm is 'normal' or not, rather than looking at each individual reading i.e count, motility etc.

It is calculated by multiplying the volume by the concentration (million sperm/ml) by the motility (% moving), it's apparently the best predictor for male fertility.

@paintfairy no it was there and then at private clinic. It is very odd

@dogmam total motility was 27%

@thislittlebird i never realised there were so many factors to sperm until we had to go through all this.

Just got a call from the doctor's office and they've had a cancellation so I've been scheduled in for a laparoscopy on the 27th of April already! It means I can't TTC next cycle as unfortunately the lap would be done in my TWW and you're not allowed to BD beforehand. But I'm glad there's another productive/proactive thing to break up the TTC slog until I'm due IVF.

@Juno231 good news! What does the laparoscopy do that doesn't show up in the hsg/hycosy? Is that because I remember you said you'd had some cervical cell issues identified at a previous smear? Just wondering whether I need one of those!

@Juno231 that's great news!

Hi Guys, had my pelvic scan, wasn't too bad actually! How many follicles etc are u supposed to have normally?

How are you all?

@PurpleUnicorn01 I find the scans ok. I'm glad it went well.
No idea on follicles!?

@PurpleUnicorn01 I've never been told a follicle count. Did you have a lot? Maybe they'd be concerned about OHSS?

@Kitekat81 it's the only way to diagnose endometriosis and it's more effective in spotting scarring I think! It's basically done on an exploratory basis for women with unexplained infertility.

@PurpleUnicorn01 how many follicles did you have? I've found this website quite useful: theduff.co.uk/antral-follicle-count-ivf/

@Juno231 interesting, there has been zero mention of me needing to get that! It's amazing how much the tests they give you vary according to where you are located.

Thanks guys will try the link. I had it privately they counted the follicles and size no idea why. They said everything was okay.

What's next for you all?