MFI and IUI...

FLY106

Hello,

 My DH and I have been trying to conceive since July 2012. After a few months of trying with no luck my GYN suggested DH get a SA. That is when we found out he sufferred from unexplained low count (under 1 million), motility and morphology. He started seeing an urologist who prescribed Clomid for 3 months. He got tested after that but his count only improved by 100,000. Dr suggested we visit RE. On our first visit, RE said that going by his numbers, IVF would be our only option. Nonetheless, he prescribed him Femara for another 3 months to see if his numbers would improve. 3 months later, his count had skyrocketted to 10M and motility had improved a bit. RE said, that with those new numbers, we were now candidates for IUI. We were ecstatic!!!!

Getting ready for IUI, RE prescribed me 50 mg of Femara for 5 days and told DH to continue to take it too and add Fertility Blend to improve his motility. On my first US, RE told me I had a few follies but that they hadn't grown to desired size (only 10mm). He decided to change from Femara to 100mg of Clomid for 5 days. On my second US, I had 5 follies measuring 16mm (2), 18mm, 20mm and 25mm. Trigger shot (Novarel) was scheduled for the next day at night and IUI 2 days later (early morning, more or less 36 hours). 

On IUI day, DH had SA and RE told us before IUI that although his count had improved to 15M, his motility had lowered. They were able to boost it a little after the wash but according to him "if for some reason we had to do IUI again, he'd recommend less days of abstinence". I already had a bad feeling but was a bit hopeful because of the count, the boost and my 4 mature follies. 

On our TWW, I started using progesterone 3 days post IUI,  once a day for 10 days. I had every symptom imaginable. Being my first time, I really thought what I had were good signs. 2 days before I was supposed to test, AF showed it's ugly face in all it's glory.  I was CRUSHED!!!! I already knew that IUI usually doesn't work the first time and that my DH lowered motility might be a bad sign but DAMN!!

So...like most of you, we really want to get pregnant. I'm 35, DH is 33, so we automatically decided to give it another go. Had IUI #2 on April 8th. Don't know what to think about our chances this time. Everything's been so different than the first (maybe that should be a good thing since last time it didn't work). I was given 100mg of Clomid again and on my first US, I had 3 follies on my right ovary (13,14 and 20mm), a whole bunch of small ones on my left. RE kept talking about my 20mm and prescribed trigger shot for the next morning. IUI to be done the following day. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed with the sizes. I took the trigger shot, had no symptoms (unlike the first time). IUI day DH had another SA and all his numbers had lowered. He went from having 15M last time to 7M. Motility with the boost didn't improve much. The only thing that had improved a little was the morphology. We kind of knew count was gonna be less because we only had 3 days of abstinence (RE recommended) but didn't think it was gonna be that much. Right before our procedure Dr discussed his results and said that numbers were low but that was the reason why we were having IUI in the first place. According to him, it only takes 1. After checking everything on the US, he said I still hadn't ovulated (last time, I already had) and recommended we BD that night to give us an extra boost.

I'm sorry this is so long, I've tried to describe our situation as best as I could...I guess I'm just looking to share info and experiences with ladies who can relate and have shared our journey when it comes to MFI and IUI. I know most of you are still trying but what do u think...are we wasting our time and having false hope with these numbers? What could be causing this? Any tips, ideas?

I'm trying to stay positive, but find myself thinking our chances are really low more so this time than last 

westiemom22

My husband has MFI and we jumped to IVF so I can't say much about IUI but wanted to say good luck and praying for you!

MKLEWIS2010

Good Luck, my husband also has MFI and we are going the IVF route.  I hope it all works out for you.

FatPony

Same here, I have mild PCOS and DH had the MFI. We opted to go straight to IVF due to the low success rate of IUI (doc said our chances would be ~13% per attempt). I would recommend IVF w/ICSI (which is what we had), especially if you are an older couple. The cost was a non-issue for us, and we were so impatient to start a family that it made sense for us. Good luck.

Babybaby804

If you can afford IVF go for it. IVF has the highest success rates. If I can recall IUI needs a minimum 5 million sperm count to be a good cycle. My doctor allowed us to do IUi with 300,000 sperm count of course we didn't get pregnant. A waste of time and money. We tried two more times with hubby sperm, but they was cancel due to zero motility. Hubby refuse to get any surgery for varicocele vein dr gave us 0 chance to get pregnant on our own. Opt to use a donor sperm. We did 7 more iui's prefect cycle produce at least 4-5 eggs per cycle donor had high sperm count 50 million and up. Again nothing zip zero. Dr. said IVF was the only option for us. All that money we spent on IUI and donor sperm, I wish we would have jump straight to IVF. We took a break and planned a few vacations before planning IVF. Well we got pregnant on our on this year. I have a Bahamas trip book for May, booze cruise and all. It's funny how life throw you a curve ball. Good luck on your journey. Baby dust !

FLY106

Wow...congratulations @Babybaby804!!! Did u do anything different? I think our biggest issue is motility. Looking for ways to work on that. We can't afford IVF right now, even our 2 IUI have been financially draining. Taking some time to figure things out. 

Babybaby804

I stop worry about getting pregnant since the Dr. said we had a zero chance of getting pregnant on our own. I think being stress free helped a lot. My husband change nothing at all, but one little strong swimmer did make it to the egg. Good luck take some time for yourself and come back. I wish you much success on your baby journey.