TTC after chemical pregnancy

[LucyCL]

I had a MC this Jan , 6 weeks and 1 day. Then I had a CP last Tuesday, 4 weeks and 6 days. I finally stopped bleeding today. Two pregnancies and two MCs so far.

I would like to know what your ttc experiences were like after CP. I admit I felt so lost when I saw the line getting fainter and I have been feeling very low and anxious for the last 7 days. However it is not healthy and it is time to be positive! So, I will be trying again this month. That is why I decided to start this thread.

CD7 I received the result of fertility health.
My hormone levels and AMH are all normal. So, I don't have PCOS.
Everything else is normal however I do have high ferritin which is caused by liver inflammation and high Anti-Thyroid Peroxidase Antibody (Anti-TPO).
Vitamin E is good for liver inflammation and Selenium is good for lowering Anti-TPO. I will start taking them after the O day every cycle.
My LDL Cholesterol is slightly higher than the desirable level and I know why. I was not feeling great after CP for the past two cycles so I ate some sugary desserts and fried food to make myself feel better. 😅I will eat more healthily.

DH did the sperm analysis and we will get the result next week.

I was worried about my poor egg quality which could be caused by the potential PCOS I might have so now I can cross it out.

Hi Op. my high TPO was my first sign that I had immune issues. I had to treat it to stop having CPs. I would definitely look into that if you haven’t already.

How was your TSH?

Thank you for the insight!
Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) - it was normal

how high was your TSH ?

Here is what I found.
“Having only the TPO antibodies present with normal TSH and free T4 levels means that your thyroid is functioning normally and you don't have hypothyroidism, but it does mean that you may have Hashimoto's disease”
I will bring the test result to the GP to see what they say. I might be getting close to the cause of my 2 MCs.

Hashimoto's disease
It is an autoimmune disease. It occurs when your body makes antibodies that attack the cells in your thyroid. Symptoms may include an enlarged thyroid gland (goiter), tiredness, weight gain, and muscle weakness. You don't need treatment if your thyroid hormone levels are normal.

that’s interesting, I didn’t know you could have high TPO with a normal TSH. If mine was untreated, it would be around 8. As far as I’m aware, TPO antibodies are caused by the body attacking the thyroid (autoimmune) which usually results in low thyroid function/ high TSH. For me, it indicated that I had further autoimmune issues (which turned out to be true.)

definitely ask your GP about it, but in my experience GPs can be pretty useless when it comes to both thyroid issues and fertility. They are also unlikely to know much about/ believe in reproductive immunology. If you can, I’d go straight to a private endocrinologist/ fertility specialist.

by the way, if you get pregnant, definitely test your TSH again- it needs to be below 2.5 in pregnancy and usually increases in the first tri.

@LucyCL Thank you for your supportive message, it really helps to listen to others experiences and how they deal with things too. I'm feeling much better today after my wobble, I ordered some Brazil nuts too with my online shop 🤣. CD5 for me today I've had a small amount of spotting but I think it's because I've got thrush 😭 it's the absolute worst I'm hoping the treatment I have works tonight.

Brilliant news about your AMH and hormone levels! I bet you feel pleased?

I will visit the GP next week and see what they say then perhaps I could get a referral. If not, I will see a private fertility specialist as soon as GP refuses to be useful.
I will keep this in my mind -> if you get pregnant, definitely test your TSH again- it needs to be below 2.5 in pregnancy and usually increases in the first tri.

How have you been so far? 😀

I have never had thrush but the images from google look painful. I hope it will go away soon!
Yes, I am very pleased with my AMH. I have good ovarian reserve and no PCOS which is positive news! 😁
When do you usually ovulate during the cycle? 2 MCs have definitely made my cycles longer and postponed the O day by one week. If I look at the O days of the past two cycles, I am likely to ovulate on CD21/22/23 so I still have to wait for 2 weeks. Most people ovulate earlier than me. 🙄

CD8 A slight drop in BBT and an increase in FSH and E3G
Does it mean whatever supplements and grape fruit juice I am taking to boost estrogen are working?
Also I used preseed and a soft cup for the first time this morning. I am 90% certain that I did it right. When I got up after inserting the soft cup, I was leaking a bit of watery discharge (TMI... I was pretty certain that it was a mixture of sperm and preseed) then I stopped leaking. I will have it inside for the next 10 hours and will continue to do so until 3 dpo.
Let's see if it works. 😄

CD14 here and positive OPK. We’ll see!

I’m finding it tough this month.

Been there last month! I found it easier to lower my expectations as it was getting close to the end of the cycle. When AF arrived, I was sad and decided to have no expectations for the following cycles.
I really wish you good luck this cycle and self care is also very important in this healing process! ❤

CD9 of the third cycle post CP
I am still pretty relaxed because I know I have OvuSense to tell me if I ovulate or not. 😆According to the app, my fertile window will start on 31/7/24 which is based on the second cycle post CP however it was not a normal cycle so I feel like I might ovulate earlier.
Not using Mira and CBFM every day definitely helps and also I know that the figures given by Premom don't usually matter until it becomes a positive OPK and as long as I dtd every day with the help of preseed.

I have been drinking a lot of water and grapefruit juice. I wonder if the rise in estrogen is making me super chilled because I feel very different this cycle. 😁

Thanks @LucyCL. I'm glad you're feeling so settled and chilled!

I'm not sure if it's expectation for me this cycle. I feel quite "what will be, will be" about it happening for me - but a very close friend of mine is now 32 weeks pregnant and most of my other friends have 3 - 9-month-olds, so I'm never far from baby updates and pregnancy chatter, and it's hurting. I'm happy for them, but I also really want to run away and hide.

CD15 today. Two days of positive OPKs which is unusual for me, but they're on time this month, at least! Waiting to see if temps follow suit. Slight increase this morning compared to yesterday.

To be honest, I am really lucky because 60% of my friends don't have children. The ones who are already parents only post the pictures of their babies on facebook and other platforms. The ones I see often in daily life don't have children So it is easy for me to shut any pregnancy related things out.
It is good that you got your peak on time however I am not certain when I will get mine. 😅I wish you will get your rainbow baby soon!

CD10
I received the sperm analysis and Halosperm report. I had to read what each line meant to understand how good the sperm quality was.
I don't mind sharing them just in case some of us are interested in seeing what a sperm analysis report and a Halosperm report look like and the meaning of each line on the report.😀

Results of Semen Analysis
a. WHO Lower Ref Limit 5th Centile – what does this refer to?
Each lower reference limit is listed to the right of each parameter and tells us the minimum value we are looking for. For example, a normal sperm concentration is anything equal to or greater than 16 million (see other lines and their correlating minimum value).
The exception here is the Sperm MAR% bound which shows 40% or more is significant, and this can be detrimental to fertility. For clarity, the lower the number the better, in this instance.
b. Results column – what does this refer to?
This column shows your result as it is recorded during the analysis. You will notice that Progressive Motility is recorded twice, in the 4th line and the 12th line – the last few lines show a breakdown of the motility assessed.
Fast and slow progressive refer to the sperm we have observed moving in a forward, linear direction and have a good chance of reaching the egg in the womb.
o Fast and slow sperm should total 30% to fall into the normal range.
o Non-progressive motility describes sperm that are moving very slowly, in circular motions or twitching – whilst alive, these sperm would not be able to swim well enough to fertilise the egg.
o Immotile sperm describes sperm showing no signs of movement.

c. WHO Centile Value graph – what does this refer to?
This graph has 5 lines and are in reference to the first 5 parameters:
o Volume
o Concentration
o Total Count
o Progressive Motility
o Normal Forms (aka Morphology)
The centile values show the range of normal. The 5th centile is the lower end of normal and the 97.5th centile is the higher end of normal. The black icon in each row indicates where your result falls in this range. If your result falls into the 2.5th column, this indicates the result is sub-optimal and we should focus on trying to improve this value to increase chances of a natural pregnancy occurring.

To be honest, I am not that worried. DH produces a lot of sperm every day (tmi!!) and a normal person produces 39 million and 4% has normal forms which is 1.56 million whereas for DH, 4% of 154 million has normal forms which is 1.54 million.
The total percentage of fast progressive and slow progressive sperm is 39% which is higher than the normal range 30%.
I am also fine with the 16% sperm DNA fragmentation as it is borderline.
I have booked a phone call with the clinic this Thursday afternoon and look forward to hearing their opinion.😀

CD11 of the third cycle post CP
CBFM detected a rise in estrogen which matches the BBT drop in OvuSense.

So, in the first cycle post CP, a rise in estrogen was detected on CD17, and I had 4 days of “High”s then got my peak on CD21 and CD22 and 1 day of “High” on CD23

That makes sense because you usually get 4 days of “High” then two days of “Peak” and 1 day of “High” afterwards.

In the second cycle post CP, a rise in estrogen was detected on CD12, and I had 10 days of “High”s then got my peak on CD22 and CD23 and 1 day of “High” on CD24.

This cycle the estrogen rise happened earlier and I wonder how many days of “High” I am going to get before I get my peak!😂

If this is a normal cycle, I expect to have “high”s on CD12, 13, 14 then “Peak”s on CD15 and 16 plus “High” on CD17.
Fingers crossed 🤞

For this cycle, DH has started to take the following ZitaWest products:
Vitamen, Fertility Supplement for Men
https://www.zitawest.com/products/vitamen?tw_source=google&tw_adid=701146063817&tw_campaign=20280661176&gclid=CjwKCAjwzIK1BhAuEiwAHQmU3iuTg1z1qTZI0P_fqZezHDf-4Xw5T3owvV0ZARZaDiTbLO1shuzS-BoCfWQQAvD_BwE

Vitamen Boost, Antioxidants for Male Fertility
https://www.zitawest.com/products/vitamen-boost#product-ingredients

Kaneka Ubiquinol, Premium CoQ10 Supplement
https://www.zitawest.com/products/kaneka-ubiquinol?_pos=1&_psq=coq&_ss=e&_v=1.0&tw_source=google&tw_adid=701146063817&tw_campaign=20280661176&gclid=CjwKCAjwzIK1BhAuEiwAHQmU3v0fZrY_yE7aWSi6qIqzsq0XL9LifPpfDN27RjhtgLIulncbCyYOHBoCDjwQAvD_BwE

Menceive – Friendly Bacteria Supplement for Sperm Health
https://www.zitawest.com/products/menceive-friendly-bacteria-supplement-for-sperm-health?tw_source=google&tw_adid=701146063817&tw_campaign=20280661176&gclid=CjwKCAjwzIK1BhAuEiwAHQmU3lgT2s0JvpzueyvmK7WzywmK4iyMbVAR1IvC-DItX-xynogGC2tXRhoCBFgQAvD_BwE

Vital DHA with Omega 3 for Fertility, Pregnancy and Breastfeeding
https://www.zitawest.com/products/vital-dha?tw_source=google&tw_adid=701146063817&tw_campaign=20280661176&gclid=CjwKCAjwzIK1BhAuEiwAHQmU3iUjkdkbsdB7h-CAeCcKUy1vUONhpwetCpeRwHZ653UWT5OjNcACihoCYK4QAvD_BwE

After reading the reports, this morning I decided to buy Vitamen Boost 2, for Male Fertility
https://www.zitawest.com/products/vitamen-boost-2?currency=GBP&variant=40814138327238&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Google%20Shopping&stkn=c8b971ef64cf&tw_source=google&tw_adid=&tw_campaign=20169981727&gclid=CjwKCAjwzIK1BhAuEiwAHQmU3gDewmGRSvIESTgiLhFGfo3Cg1w9q2UpcxN4YEC83OksHwSQcVT_xxoCjWEQAvD_BwE

Here is what it says:

Vitamen Boost 2 is a unique combination of Zinc and Selenium, plus Carnitine, Arginine and Lycopene developed in order to provide key nutrients that support sperm count, motility and morphology.
Provides l-carnitine, l-arginine, zinc, selenium and other key nutrients involved in sperm production, to provide extra support for sperm count, motility and morphology.

Increasing zinc levels has been shown to improve the form, function and quality of sperm. Selenium deficiency has been linked to low sperm count, poor motility and mis-shapen sperm. Selenium protects sperm DNA from damaging free radicals. Studies suggest l-carnitine, l-arginine and lycopene may all support sperm quality.

Sperm quality is related to:

The total number of sperm cells produced (sperm count)
Their physical attributes (morphology)
Their ability to move properly once ejaculated (motility)
The integrity of DNA. Studies suggest that sperm counts have declined over the last few decades and that sperm motility, the volume of semen per ejaculate, and the number of normal cells carrying undamaged DNA have diminished over the same time-period.
Vitamen Boost 2 is a unique combination of Zinc and Selenium, plus Carnitine, Arginine and Lycopene developed in order to provide key nutrients that support sperm count, motility and morphology: Zinc: Increasing zinc levels has been shown to improve the form, function and quality of sperm. Selenium: Deficiency has been linked to low sperm count, poor motility and morphology and selenium protects sperm DNA from oxidative damage. Studies suggest that certain other nutrients (most particularly Arginine and Carnitine) may help support sperm count (Arginine) and sperm motility (Carnitine). Low intake of Lycopene is also associated with poor sperm quality and impaired fertility.*

*Statements in relation to the properties of Arginine, Carnitine and Lycopene and their effect on sperm health are considered to be exploratory science and are not approved under the European Health Claims Directive.

Special sperm-support formula developed in order to provide key nutrients that support sperm count, motility and morphology.
For men with low sperm count and/or low motility and/or an unusually high proportion of mis-shapen sperm.
Easy-to-use powder. 1 month’s supply. Take one level teaspoon 3 times a day, with food.
Designed to be taken with Vitamen and Vitamen Boost

I have also found a product which has good reviews for improving sperm health/quality.
Proxeed Plus
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Proxeed-Plus-30011080/dp/B005SPFA0W#customerReviews

Tomorrow afternoon I will ask the clinic if it is good or not. However I don't think I will buy it after purchasing Zita West products.

After testing LH tonight, I just noticed a change in premom's prediction which is interesting. It also assumes that my luteal phase lasts for 8 days which is so wrong. That is why I only use this app to record my daily oral BBT and see if the T/C ratio is above 1.

So we just finished the 40 minute phone call with the embryologist from the private clinic. According to her, apart from the 1% normal form sperm, everything is fine. She also suggested DH to take impryl for 3 months for improving sperm morphology. We have decided to give it a go so I bought 6 month supply.
https://www.fertilityfamily.co.uk/product/impryl/

She also said that taking lots of supplement could be a bad thing and DH can take impryl as the only supplement.
Let's see what happens.😀

CD13 of the third cycle post CP
I can physically feel an increase in estrogen because I have been having sex dreams two days ago and I have higher sex drive. I expect to see a further drop in BBT tomorrow if estrogen level continues to rise.
Things are looking positive at the moment. Nothing abnormal yet.
Also DH will start taking impryl tomorrow morning.

I hope everyone here is also having a normal cycle.

Thanks for all the updates @LucyCL. I enjoy reading along with your journey and learning more about ttc... nothing particularly eventful going on with me at CD11. I've finally managed to shift the dreaded thrush in time for fertile window hopefully. I also have been taking extra CoQ10 alongside my multivitamin and have been seed cycling so will see if anything makes a difference 🤞. Baby dust to all

I am so glad to hear that you enjoy reading my updates and your thrush went away before your fertile window! ❤
I am also taking low does aspirin this time to see if it works. Sending positive vibes to all of us here!!