So, I tend to always give away the point of my post in the title. We had our consult with the wonderful RE whom I adore. He carefully explained the results of DH's s/a with us and then he sat back, drew a deep breath and recommended we try three months of inseminations. HUH?!
He said that three was a good number. Give it our best effort. Then move on to IVF if they failed. He said he would amend his plan of treatment and move directly to IVF if he felt that my mental stability would be compromised if all three IUIs failed. Then he asked me to stop biting my lip and tell him my thoughts on it all.
I told him that had he recommended the inseminations three months ago (impossible, we didn't even know each other), I would totally be for "giving it our best effort". Recently, however, I've been a part of too many dialogues and read too many studies where people who are in similar situations with antisperm antibodies tried in vain with IUIs to get pregnant. Each and every one achieved success through IVF. DH and I are very results-driven people and three more months of nothing would feel like a lifetime and we are NOT in the business of spinning our wheels and and spending our dollars and getting no where.
Dr. Awesome RE immediately pulled out his tape recorder thingy-ma-bob and started recording his summation of our visit saying, "In the interest of time and sanity, patient has decided to forgo inseminations and move directly to IVF." So, it was done.
We went across the hall to the hospital's fertility clinic, scheduled our IVF class for Tuesday, January 25th (my birthday!), got our manila envelope of paperwork and a packet of birth control pills to start on CD 3 (sometime this weekend!).
Wow, talk about jumping in the deep end! I hope we swim!! :)
Showing posts with label s/a. Show all posts
Showing posts with label s/a. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
the results are in
The nurse from my RE's office called with the results of DH's semen analysis. They are as follows:
Count: 14.9 million/mL (Normal is 20 million/mL)
Motility: 46.2% (Normal is 50% or more)
Morphology: There were no morphology results and the nurse was waiting for the lab to call her back and explain why.
Antisperm Antibody: 48% tested positive for Direct IGG antibodies
58.8% tested positive for Direct IGA antibodies
0% tested positive for Indirect IGG and IGA antibodies
We will never conceive a child naturally. We have an appointment Monday afternoon to discuss the results and ouroptions option. IVF with ICSI.
I am numb.
I am angry.
I have never felt more regret than I do right now. We should have never been so stupid to think that a vasectomy reversal would mean that we could have a child.
Count: 14.9 million/mL (Normal is 20 million/mL)
Motility: 46.2% (Normal is 50% or more)
Morphology: There were no morphology results and the nurse was waiting for the lab to call her back and explain why.
Antisperm Antibody: 48% tested positive for Direct IGG antibodies
58.8% tested positive for Direct IGA antibodies
0% tested positive for Indirect IGG and IGA antibodies
We will never conceive a child naturally. We have an appointment Monday afternoon to discuss the results and our
I am numb.
I am angry.
I have never felt more regret than I do right now. We should have never been so stupid to think that a vasectomy reversal would mean that we could have a child.
the waiting is the hardest part
Why is it that all we do is wait, wait, wait? It's like I'm living my life in incriments of hours, days, and weeks. It can be so discouraging, knowing that so much is beyond our control and out of our hands. I'm currently waiting to get the call about DH's s/a. We were told yesterday that they would have the results to our doctor's office some time yesterday afternoon. My RE's nurse called at minutes til 5 to say that they had not received the results, but that she would "try" to call as soon as she got them. So. I. Wait.
The whole experience of giving the sample went fine. DH and I met over at the medical center and went up to the suite that housed the lab and the doctor's practice that would do our testing for us. We had to find a place that would not only do the s/a, but also the antisperm antibody test as well. We filled out a single sheet of information and were escorted into a room where DH could "do his deed". He informed me many times how humiliating it was for him to do such a thing and it took all but biting my tongue off not to say, "How about last week when me, you, and two strangers hung out in a dark room where one of the strangers put a wand up my t%^t and we all took a peek at my inside lady parts. Do you think THAT wasn't embarrassing for me?" I had to keep telling myself that men are just full grown babies sometimes and even if I don't ever get pregnant and get my baby, I'll always have him. :)
I'm really hoping to get some news today. It would be super helpful to my sanity if I didn't have to run for the phone every time the dryer buzzed. :/
Not copying off of my dear friend's blog (but kind of), since I quoted a song in my post title, I shall present the song in it's entirety here:
As soon as I hear something form my RE, I will pass on the news to you all.
The whole experience of giving the sample went fine. DH and I met over at the medical center and went up to the suite that housed the lab and the doctor's practice that would do our testing for us. We had to find a place that would not only do the s/a, but also the antisperm antibody test as well. We filled out a single sheet of information and were escorted into a room where DH could "do his deed". He informed me many times how humiliating it was for him to do such a thing and it took all but biting my tongue off not to say, "How about last week when me, you, and two strangers hung out in a dark room where one of the strangers put a wand up my t%^t and we all took a peek at my inside lady parts. Do you think THAT wasn't embarrassing for me?" I had to keep telling myself that men are just full grown babies sometimes and even if I don't ever get pregnant and get my baby, I'll always have him. :)
I'm really hoping to get some news today. It would be super helpful to my sanity if I didn't have to run for the phone every time the dryer buzzed. :/
Not copying off of my dear friend's blog (but kind of), since I quoted a song in my post title, I shall present the song in it's entirety here:
As soon as I hear something form my RE, I will pass on the news to you all.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
a time to talk about it
I guess it's that time. I spent all day Sunday writing off any hope I had for this medicated cycle after learning that all of my husband's sperm were dead in my post-coital test. What a slap in the face. I still feel down about it, but I've moved on to numb and I've found when I'm numb, I can still function, make plans and carry on with my day. Thank goodness for that. Especially since it was necessary yesterday to make arrangements for the next step.
The next step is to get a full semen analysis of DH. We have taken peeks at some samples in the last few months, giving us confirmation of the success of his vas reversal. Just in November, I saw what seemed to be millions of sperm swimming happily in their fluid almost two hours outside of his body. I'm praying we get good results from the semen analysis, which is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. Since he has had a vas/vas reversal they will also be testing him for antisperm antibodies, which you can read about here. It's too long and complicated for me to describe and this article does a good job of explaining it.
Of course, I've already started to obsess over the "possible" results of the analysis. I doubt it's low count/low motility. I'm no expert, but the amount of sperm I saw under the microscope in early November from a very small amount of his entire sample equaled millions of sperm in my mind. The urologist said they looked great, were all swimming forward and there was A LOT of them. Maybe I shouldn't count out low count/motility as a result, but it really hasn't crossed my mind.
The antisperm antibody is a completely different animal. IF he has the antibody, we really need it to be attached to the tail of the sperm. An IUI would be an "easy" fix (as if any of this is easy). The antibody on the tail keeps the sperm from being able to swim properly. The IUI would get them closer to the goal and give us pretty good chances at conceiving. IF the antibody is attached to the head of the sperm, we would be recommended IVF with ICSI. I really haven't even allowed my mind to wrap around the idea of IVF. When we set out to complete our family, I never would have imagined facing those three letters. That's all I can really say about that right now. I can't let my mind go there yet.
IF his sperm live outside his body but not in mine, it makes sense to me that it's my CM killing them. That, my friends, would be awesome. Another Femara cycle with an IUI and we would be golden.
I'm going with option "D." It most certainly will be my CM and we will fix it easily next month. I'm setting myself up big time here, I know, but I have to believe that some part of this will be easy. Cut me a break, right? :/
The next step is to get a full semen analysis of DH. We have taken peeks at some samples in the last few months, giving us confirmation of the success of his vas reversal. Just in November, I saw what seemed to be millions of sperm swimming happily in their fluid almost two hours outside of his body. I'm praying we get good results from the semen analysis, which is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. Since he has had a vas/vas reversal they will also be testing him for antisperm antibodies, which you can read about here. It's too long and complicated for me to describe and this article does a good job of explaining it.
Of course, I've already started to obsess over the "possible" results of the analysis. I doubt it's low count/low motility. I'm no expert, but the amount of sperm I saw under the microscope in early November from a very small amount of his entire sample equaled millions of sperm in my mind. The urologist said they looked great, were all swimming forward and there was A LOT of them. Maybe I shouldn't count out low count/motility as a result, but it really hasn't crossed my mind.
The antisperm antibody is a completely different animal. IF he has the antibody, we really need it to be attached to the tail of the sperm. An IUI would be an "easy" fix (as if any of this is easy). The antibody on the tail keeps the sperm from being able to swim properly. The IUI would get them closer to the goal and give us pretty good chances at conceiving. IF the antibody is attached to the head of the sperm, we would be recommended IVF with ICSI. I really haven't even allowed my mind to wrap around the idea of IVF. When we set out to complete our family, I never would have imagined facing those three letters. That's all I can really say about that right now. I can't let my mind go there yet.
IF his sperm live outside his body but not in mine, it makes sense to me that it's my CM killing them. That, my friends, would be awesome. Another Femara cycle with an IUI and we would be golden.
I'm going with option "D." It most certainly will be my CM and we will fix it easily next month. I'm setting myself up big time here, I know, but I have to believe that some part of this will be easy. Cut me a break, right? :/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)