SA Results - Input requested
SLGN2012
member
Hey Ladies - (I also posted this in Trouble TTC - I'm not sure what is the better spot to put it in)
I haven't posted much in here b/c I've been trying to avoid focusing on our inability to conceive since 2012. I won't get into all the details but will give a few pertinent ones. We learned I have PCOS about 1.5 years ago. Since then I have let my 'diagnosis' define me and have lost any progress I had made on losing weight. I feel I have become depressed and now need to lose 24 lbs before I can be seen for infertility treatment. According to the physician, my BMI must be 30 or less. My symptoms of PCOS are that I do not ovulate. Not once in the 3 years have I experienced a natural period. It's always been with the help of Provera.
My husband wanted to try a few 'natural' things and try to 'leave it up to God' for a year or so, so I indulged him. Now, he has FINALLY gotten his SA. I don't know about anyone else - but I've found this whole thing to be challenging and we aren't even to the challenging part. Even determining who would refer my husband for a SA was difficult. The clinic that performed and read the SA wouldn't provide the results to my husband - but did send them to his GP. Is GP shared the results but said he wasn't trained in reading them and wants to refer him to a urologist. Of course - this all happened Friday night and now all I can think is... if I don't ovulate, and his SA isn't stellar - we're heading to IVF, right? Then I start to wonder if his SA isn't that great if IVF is even an option. I think it is - but I've read with low motility and overall count that the chances for mutated or defective Semen to be used increase leading to increased risk of birth defects. GAH.
Here are his results - I'll give the name, the ideal result and his result. Please share your personal experiences if you have had success with a urologist helping to increase these counts, if your DH has had a subpar SA and IVF was still an option... really, any information you can share could be helpful!:
Motility:
- Desired: Greater than or equal to 40%
- DH - 24%
Concentration
- Desired: 15%
- DH - 5%
Viability/Vitality:
- Desired: Greater than or Equal to 58%
- DH 26% (since his motility is 24% does this mean that since only 26% are alive, only 2% of the alive sperm aren't motile?)
Oval/Morphology:
- Desired: Greater than or equal to 15
- DH: 0
Thanks! - SG
Re: SA Results - Input requested
If you started TTC in 2012, I suggest making appt with fertility specialist. They will review the SA results and start with bloodwork on you- they should tell you most recommended route, give you estimate and success rates. There is regular IVF, IVF with ICSI (which is what we went thru) and IVF PGD. I suggest researching into those 3. We did take breaks here and there leaving things 'up to God' but I feel I wouldn't be pregnant without IVF.
Trying since Jan 2011. Unexplained IF.
2 IUIs = BFN.
1 IVF (Dec 2013) = BFN.
FET, 2 frosties (June 13, 2014)
14dp5dt-June 27 -BFP, beta 2061. 2nd beta >5000, 3rd beta >5000, 2 sacs 06/30.
Twin Girls - 02/11/15 - at 37 weeks (no NICU, home with me at 3 days).
I agree with PP about finding a RE, since you've been TTC for a couple years, it sounds like. Also, was this your husband's first SA? If so, I would also really suggest him getting a second opinion from somewhere else. My husband's first SA was also really low, but the urologist he worked with mentioned that many men experience low numbers the first time (or two) and that numbers can vary from day to day, week to week. My DH has had 4 total, and the first one he had was by far the lowest (about the same numbers as your husband's).
Anyway, it sounds like you guys would benefit from speaking with a RE regardless of what your husband's latest numbers are because, at the end of the day, something isn't working for you. A RE would be able to suggest your best route. For woman with PCOS and men with lower numbers, sometimes IUI will work.
Good luck!
HSG: Sept 2014, clear tubes
Dx: MFI - Low motility, morph, count (Aug. 2014); Hypothyroidism (May 2015)
Moved to IUIs October 2014
IUI #1 w/ injections: Nov 2014- BFN
IUI #2 w/ injections: Jan 2015- BFN
IUI #3.1 w/ injections: Feb. 2015, cancelled due to cysts- 10 days BCP
IUI #3.2 w/ injections: Feb/March 2015- BFN
IUI #4 w/ 100mg Clomid + Injections: August 2015- BFN
IUI #5 w/ 5mg Femara + Injections: September 2015- BFN
IUI #6 w/ 5mg Femara + Injections: October 2015 - Cancelled due low response
Moved to IVF May 2016
Retrieved 18 eggs on 05/27/2016, 13 were ICSI'd, 9 made it to day-five transfer
Transferred 2 beautiful day-five embryos on 06/01/2016, froze 7
BFP 4dp5dt on 06/05/2016! Line continued to darken beautifully!
EDD: February 17, 2017
Beta #1: 92
Beta #2: 305
Ultrasound #1 - one baby!
Ultrasound #2 - saw heartbeat!
LFAF Badges:
Thanks, Ladies. We have seen a RE - but it was over a year ago. That was when I received my diagnosis of PCOS and my husband decided he wanted to try and leave things up to 'god' for a while. @magicMikki, it's helpful to know that your husband's SA changed with different SA's. I had no idea. And yes, this was his first SA.
Trying since Jan 2011. Unexplained IF.
2 IUIs = BFN.
1 IVF (Dec 2013) = BFN.
FET, 2 frosties (June 13, 2014)
14dp5dt-June 27 -BFP, beta 2061. 2nd beta >5000, 3rd beta >5000, 2 sacs 06/30.
Twin Girls - 02/11/15 - at 37 weeks (no NICU, home with me at 3 days).
Thanks @vpine. To be clear, we are no longer 'leaving it to God'... we're moving forward with RE etc, hence, the SA (Finally!) after me asking DH to schedule. I was just curious if others have had poor SA's and what they were told, if they repeated etc. He had the SA done at my RE which I think is a good thing to have it all in house and it's an experienced RE that I trust them to 'know what they are doing'.