The journey so far…
August 2009 – stop taking BC pills. Tired of all the hormones.
? 2009- DH is prescribed testosterone injections for non fertility related reasons
August 2010 – I visit doc for yearly checkup. I express concern about my cycles because they have tended to be irregular. Doc schedules CD 7 bloodwork and an HSG on CD 11. Bloodwork comes back normal. HSG reveals one blocked tube. I’m told it’s ok because “you only need one”.
February 2011 – One tube isn’t doing it. We make appt. with RE. Hubby gets semen analysis. SA shows NO sperm. (so THAT’s the issue!) I get dx’d with mild PCOS. RE asks about history and recommends 4 months off testosterone to see if there is any swimmer recovery (apparently testosterone injections interfere with pituitary gland sending signals to produce sperm, hence no sperm)
August 2011 We wait 6 months, obviously no luck naturally. Second SA – 5.6 million sperm. 40% motility, 80% abnormal. DH has low normal testosterone and LH levels. VA hospital prescribes 3x weekly shots of HSG to help recover swimmers.
September 2011 third SA – contaminated. Hormone levels look good though, they say, so I guess that’s supposed to be reassuring. Re-visit RE, who tells us that we should be patient, but if we want to do anything now, IVF is our only option. We don’t have the money for this right now, so I guess we are going with patience.
November 2011 – fourth SA. 9.4 million sperm. 20% motility. 70% normal. Endocrinologist says he’s seen couples get pregnant with 9 million sperm. Here’s hoping! Endocrinologist also says we need to be patient because it could take up to a year. I am not that patient.
December 2011- Fifth SA. DH finally admitted he refused to tell me what it was because it was lower. But, he states endo said that “things look good”. DH wants to wait out the year. I’m skeptical. At the very least, planning on a break for a month or two. I’m tired of temping and peeing on sticks.
Christmas: AF shows her lovely face on X-mas morning. We have a long talk and decide waiting isn’t worth it. Going to schedule another meeting with RE in January.
January 2012 – Met with RE again for IVF consult. He said we’ve waited enough time and while we still don’t have enough sperm for anything but an IVF, at least we have sperm. Decide its time to pull out the big guns. Plan to start BC late Feb with hopeful transfer mid-April. REALLY hoping we only have to do this once.
February 2012 – Bryan’s endocrinologist decides to add FSH to his hormone regimen, swearing this will increase his sperm count and we’ll get pregnant on our own. The decision to push forward or wait lies with me….
March 2012 – Decide to wait it out a couple more months.
April 2012- While debating on IVF here or IVF Vacation, Bryan goes for an updated SA and astonishingly his sperm count is within normal limits! 36 million, 70% motility!! Next question – try more naturally, or go for an IUI?
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