# anyone get BFP with low sperm count? please share...



## suzie7

I am healthy, 29, regular cycles, had ultra sound, progesterone test, HSG-- everything normal. DH had SA and count is 12 million with 16% motility- giving us 3.6 million swimmers. 
Went to the urologist today and he was NOT encouraging! Basically, he said, "it is what it is." You can get all the vitamin and herb stuff online but you're wasting your money. He's healthy already.

Can we get pregnant naturally? 
How long did you wait till IVF/ICSI? We've been trying to conceive for 7 months, so not too terribly long but I don't want to wait 3 years to just be in the same place. :cry:


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## hopesforababy

We are in the same boat. If anyone has had any luck getting pregnant with low count, let me know so I know if there is hope!! I just found out my 2nd IUI failed yesterday. We are going to try one more IUI then possibly move onto IVF.


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## muncho

hiya there are a couple of girls on another thread who have the same issues as you, They have both been having acupuncture and both were about to start IVF, THEY HAVE JUST GOT THEIR BFP and they say its down to acupuncture and chinese herbs..


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## suzie7

Muncho, do you know what their usernames are? I'd love to contact them and talk to them about what they were using/doing? THANKS!


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## muncho

Yes here is the thread..

https://www.babyandbump.com/trying-to-conceive/232366-really-useful-tcm-thread-35.html

Glitterqueen is one, she annouced today or yesterday and Jen1802 (i think) is the other but check the thread for her name, you will see her bfp announcement

GOOD LUCK Nxx


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## chocci

My hubby cut right down on alcohol, takes a selenium plus vit a day and eats lots of verg and salad all though he hates it and his count, motility etc has gone up more than double since this time last year, that cannot be just a coincidence!!!!


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## babyloulou

Same here- my OH cut out alcohol, caffeine and a lot of fatty food. He exercises 5 times a week now and takes Wellman, zinc, selenium and bee pollen. He also eats loads of spinach, green cabbage, lean meats, etc... He has also been going to my acupuncturist once a week. His motility more than doubled in 2 and a half months doing all this! Doctors don't tend to advocate natural methods- but there's no harm while you are waiting and they have had a massive effect for lots of people.


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## jenlouise

just to say dont lose hope, my husband was also told he had a low sperm count and i have PCO so we thought we would never be able to have a baby, but we are now parents to a healthy 1 year old, so its defo poss. I am also trying TTC again. What my husband did was cut out booze and smoking it defo helped, we was lucky as within getting told he had a low sperm count i fell pregnant within 5 months. Good luck guys xx


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## chocci

Well done jenlouise....sadly its 2.5 years, 2 ICSIs and 1 FET later for us haha, but at least his sperm count is heading in the right direction and i am hopeful that we get one baby through ICSi this time and then perhaps we may concieve a miracle natural number 2! :) xx


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## rachelle1975

I'm with chocci - big changes to DH's lifestyle and good multi vits as well as some herbal stuff - his count has gone up 800%. It can't hurt for your DH to make some changes to his diet (read a good fertility diet book) and take some good vits - and the doctor can't possibly know that it won't make any difference. Good luck x


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## suzie7

Thanks everyone! How much can I expect his numbers to improve? Even if they double, that still puts him in the low range. Is it possible to get preggo with only 20 million good swimmers?


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## Aphrodite

Hubbys count is 18 mil with 14% motility. I think we could improve it but I dont think it would improve ENOUGH to conceive on our own. So we are going for ICSI. We've been trying for 2 years nearly. You could set urself a time limit like a year with chinese and if ur not pregnant by then, try other methods? Just an idea x


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## wanabe22

hi there. as you can see we got a BFP ! hubby did 3 S/A ..as was unsure about the first two as one result sounded wrong. 1st~ 2million 2nd ~32 million..gyno thinking one muist be wrong asked DH to do another... 3rd~ low again!! so im guessing nearer the 2 than 32 ah! well before we got 3rd SA results back we got a BFP!!!! and we were shocked with the 3rd result as you can imagine!
oh and we had been NTNP for 10+ years!!!!!!!!!!!!!! xx my true xmas miracle!!!!!!!! xx


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## suzie7

That is truly amazing Wanabe! What a gift!!!!!!!
I hope all of us have that same luck and gift from God! Best of luck for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby!


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## beauty

We too have low sperm :(
Think about a total of around 12million we been referred for IVF we been trying for around 19months with not a sniff of a BFP!!

We had investigations done after 12 months and the doctor told us the first SA was fine, but gyno begged to differ made us do another 2 and still low so in the mean time i had loads of tests and now we have been referred!

Still trying at the moment but more so relaxing than trying knowing that we have issues i dont expect a BFP trying natural so if it does happen well of course i be over the moon but we expecting to go down the IVF route as what the gyno said.

xxxx


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## PrayerfulHope

I'm trying softcups this cycle to help keep what swimmers OH does have inside of me and near the cervix. Worth a try anyway, he's also taking selenium, zinc, and grape seed. We have another SA sometime next month, but until then the numbers don't look good.


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## suzie7

Prayerful hope, how long have you been TTC? What are your DH's numbers?

To everyone: how long should I wait before trying IVF/ICSI?
I want to try naturally, as we've only been trying for 7 months but I also don't want to wait forever just to be in the same place 2 years later. Please advise.
Thanks!!!!


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## Sabine

omg Suzie, you sound *just* like me (check out my post - 'anyone else in denial')
It's also 7 months for us, and I feel the same way as you...
There is no right or wrong answer, but the overwhelming response from talking to people is not to wait. I have decided to go for an IUI next month, even though I have been told the chance of that working is slim. It's too hard to start thinking about IVF/ICSI straight away - very overwhelming (nevermind expensive).
Always here if you would like to chat about it some more.
xxx


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## brumbar

hey there
20mil is good..you can get a bfp with that! 
our tests have been weird 
first came back 17mil with 56% motility
second 22 with 44 % motility and 4 morphology
and the last one- after taking vits and herbs for 6months - 30mil , 34% motility and 2% morphology....weird our motility is dropping but count is rising. the only thing I noticed is that samples have ben analysed almost 2 hours after collection- i tought it sould e done within the hour... Going for a private test tomorrow!!!!


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## suzie7

Thank you everyone! You all have been most helpful in sharing your stories. I know we will get our BFPs one day-- it's just a longer journey for some of us! 

Has anyone tried Pre-seed? I bought some today and was wondering how to use it? TMI- but do you just smear it around the area or do you actually squirt it up in you? Also, can this help the swimmer live longer?

Does anyone know how to read these darn SA things? We went to a urologist/male infertility specialist and he was terrible! So discouraging- and if you read enough stories in here, there are plenty of people who get pregnant with low sperm.
Out SA report: 
Sperm count (conc) = 12 million 
Total Sperm Count= 21.6 million
Percent motility= 16.7%
Total Motile Sperm= 3.6 million

So the doctor was like, if you multiply 12 x 16.7% you'll get 3.6 million. What an IDIOT! if you multiply 21.6 x 16.7% = 3.6 million, if you multiply 12 x 16.7% y= 2 million
What was he talking about? Can the doctor not do math or read a SA? I'm confused, is the total count 21.6 or 12 million?
I know, I know, I'm sitting here turning over small numbers, but they matter to me and they mean a lot to my hope!!!
Thank you everyone! I wish us all BFP in the near future!!!!!!!


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## brumbar

did you buy the individual tubes with pre seed or the big tube with separate applicators? if individual - remove top insert in the lady garden and squeeeeeze about 10-15 min b4 sex ( or as you wish)...if big tube....attach applicator, fill up as required, insert in the lady garden and squeeze......

sample...do you know what the volume was... usually between 2-5ml is normal?i'd say the 12mil is per ml, and the total is 21.6 mil is for the whole sample..


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## hopesforababy

What is this pre seed stuff?? I'm going to pull out all the tricks this month!! We will be doing our 3rd and final IUI this month. I really don't want to go to IVF because it's so freaking expensive!! But DH's count for our last IUI was only 200,000 and I'm not so sure it's going to work. Any kind of witch remedies or old wive's tale, I'm willing to give it a try on our BD'ing days before and after the IUI. If this pre seed thing helps keep what sperm he has inside me, I'm going to the store tomorrow!!


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## suzie7

I've heard pre-seed is good and also egg whites.... I've heard it helps keep the sperm alive a little longer b/c the vagina can be a very acidic place and can kill the sperm easily. Grapefruit is suppose to be really good and someone told me to take Robitussin, as there's an ingredient in there that makes really good CM. I'm trying all 3 this month!

OK, so I have the little pre-seed packages....no applicator. There's no insert though...it's just a little packet. How do I get it up into the "lady garden" (hilarious term by the way)?


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## suzie7

in case anyone read that incorrectly, you EAT the grapefruit, don't put that one up in you!!!! you CAN, however, put the egg whites up inside you. Obviously, robitussin, you take orally. Don't put that up in you either!!!


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## Mystique26

suzie7 said:


> in case anyone read that incorrectly, you EAT the grapefruit, don't put that one up in you!!!! you CAN, however, put the egg whites up inside you. Obviously, robitussin, you take orally. Don't put that up in you either!!!

:Lol:! That was funny. Anyway, may I ask anyone how much swimmers is the normal count? is it like 50mil? 20 mil? Anyone? havent conceived for almost 7 years in my 8 years of marriage. hoping 2010 is also a good year for me just like everyone else. :flower:


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## chocci

20 mil is classed a the start of normal levels BUT it all depends on the otehr factors like morphology, motility, etc etc. Its the end figure deduced from all readings that counts. A man can have 120 mil and still be infertile if none of them swim or they have antibodies or they are poor shaped. I think average it aroung 50-70mil. If in doubt its best to get a proper analysis done at the GPs so you know what you are dealing with. Hope that helps. xx


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## hopesforababy

You ladies are great! Seriously, who else do we have to talk to about putting things up into our "lady gardens"?!?!
I will be trying all of these things as well. As far as the Robitussin, how much do you take and how often do you take it?
I've also heard that pineapple helps with implantation, so after chowing down on grapefruit and shoving things into our lady gardens, we can eat pineapple!


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## JASMAK

We got pregnant with only 3-5% normal sperm, thick viscosity, high FSH and low testosterone. It can be done! Hubby switched to boxers, vitamins with zinc, went on antibiotics (for the viscosity) and went on the south beach diet. This made his count go from 3-5% normal. We also used instead cups


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## suzie7

Normal SA:
> 2 ml
20 million PER ML (so, let's say you have 5 ml and a total count of 80 million sperm. You might think this is a good SA, except that it equals only 16 million per ML, which puts you in the low sperm count category).
> 40 million Total Count
50% motility

Any more tricks for the spermies to live longer???


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## PrayerfulHope

suzie7 said:


> Prayerful hope, how long have you been TTC? What are your DH's numbers?
> 
> To everyone: how long should I wait before trying IVF/ICSI?
> I want to try naturally, as we've only been trying for 7 months but I also don't want to wait forever just to be in the same place 2 years later. Please advise.
> Thanks!!!!

19 months TTC, cycle 16 started yesterday

5.0 mL
Sperm count 13.4 million
13.1 million WBC (that's bad, apparently)
45% motility


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## suzie7

What does WBC mean and why is that bad? Is that White Blood Cells?


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## suzie7

I think that is very treatable. Have you seen a urologist yet?
https://www.fertilityinstitute.com/html/infertility-info.html

Increased white blood cells (WBC) in semen indicate infection. There should be fewer than one million WBC per mL (World Health Organization-1992).

Male Infertility Treatments
Treating Infection
Infections of the reproductive tract affecting fertility can usually be treated with antibiotics.


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## PrayerfulHope

No we moved straight after having the SA done. I was surprised they didn't say anything about it when they gave us the results, they seemed more concerned about the number of sperm.
*sigh*


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