Hi
Im in the middle of my first IVF cylce. We were scheduled to have ICSI as DH had low motility and low morphology (but great count).
We had egg collection (EC) yesterday and DH's specimen was in normal range so we had option between ICSI, IVF or splitting. We had 11 eggs so did 6 ICSI, of which we now have 4 embryos (one egg was abnormal, the other didn't take) and did 5 as IVF, of which we now have 3 embryo's (one egg was immature and had no hope).
Dh has done the following since we first saw consultant mid july 14
taken 1000mg of vitamin c per day on advice of consultant - it has been proven to improve sperm due to the antioxidant properties reducing free radicals. he said this stops the bad sperm holding back the good sperm. He also suggested zinc and selenium but no evidence in humans, just bulls.
Cut out all caffeine other than the odd cup of caffieinated coffee now and then.
Lost weight to bring his BMI back into normal range. He was only slightly above the magic 25 before but has got it down to 23.7 in the last few months.
He has worn loose fitting trousers as often as possible, and even taken to sitting around in just boxers in the evenings to keep everything cool.
He has also taken fertilaid but these are very expensive so he mainly did this in the 3 months leading to our EC.
We have also both been doing high protein low GI diet for about 4 months as there have been studies suggesting women with at least 45% protein and less than 25% carbs in their diet have better success rates. Protein is the building blocks of life so they say so I'm sure dh doing this with me has made a difference.
I should add that there have been no issues with my fertility tests. The word perfect has been used quite a lot!! Im 29 and dh is 32. we were ttc 2 years before i went on the pill in November for our IVF cycle.
Oh and I've been doing acupuncture since November. Again some studies show this may improve chances of a successful ivf outcome. other studies show no difference. comes under the might help can't hurt category like the zinc and selenium.
there are so many theories on how to make it work but at the end of the day whilst you can do as much as you can, you can't guarantee a result. I have tried to follow the things we chose to implement but when I've been a bit bad on the diet i haven't beat myself up about it. stress is definitely not going to help me, and the chances a chocolate bar here and there will stop my ivf working are very slim! I've also bought the zita west ivf cd to help me relax and prepare my body for the ivf procedures and pregnancy.
I would also add, re OHSS, my clinic are concerned about this with me as i had about 20 eggs (many were too small for collection) and have told me to drink 2 "build up" drinks a day. these are protein milkshakes. Apparently the follicles leak protein so they up your intake to replace it. so the high protein diet must be a good idea imo.
Good luck!