Intro and a question

mikesgirl06

Hi Ladies, my name is Kate and I'm usually a TTGP lurker/poster but am starting to think that maybe this is a better board for me.

Our 'Story': MH and I have been TTC since October 2010.  We are on Month/Cycle 21; granted not every month always has the best timing, etc., espeically the earlier months.  We had our RE work up in March/April 2012.  The RE found absolutely nothing wrong with me (ETA: except I am borderline Hypothyroid and put me on 50mcg of Synthroid) and what he described as "slightly lowered" morphology on DH but also said "we use a very strict lab, so that may be slightly misleading and is not proven to effect pregnancy regardless".  He labeled us as "Unexplained Infertility" and said that he recommended IVF because I am 33 yo.  We absolutely can not afford IVF right now so we're still trying on our own while we save up for it.

At this point, I'm at a loss as to what to do to increase our chances until we can do IVF in 2013.  I do OPK every month (I stopped charting), EOD during fertile week, this cycle I am doing the POM juice and then the pineapple core, MH takes a multi-vitamin.  We are both reasonably healthy and active and unreasonably frustrated like everyone else.

 My question is, does anyone have any experience with lowered morphology and/or any advice on anything that helps improve it?

mikesgirl06

I don't recall the exact morph number, it was 2.something%; I want to say 2.7%. He said he considers 3% as normal. The RE didn't say that I was "old" but that IVF was a better option for us and that because we would be paying out of pocket it has a higher success rate.  I guess I could always inquire more about IUI but he seemed to think it wasn't the best option for us.  However, at 15K+ for IVF, IUI seems like it would be worth a shot....

I see an RE who is highly rated in my state and supposedly my case was reviewed by a panel of at least 3 doctors before a recommendation was given. Admittedly I didn't really know the best questions to ask after he hit us with the "everything looks normal but you should do IVF, that costs 15K".  I was a bit shellshocked.

ShelleyBQ

I would look into trying a couple IUIs first.  At my clinic an IUI with Clomid or Femera isn't that expensive (compared to IVF) so maybe it's something you could swing for a couple tries while you save for IVF if it ends up being needed.  Good luck!