Dealing with azoospermia?

[Olive333]

Happy New Year to Everyone!!!

Sharon - When do you test? Good luck!

 

[arzoo]

Hello Everyone. Hopefully this year is the year we all realise our dreams. Sorry for the silence from my side was caught up. Last month has been emotionally draining with 2 deaths in the family and my father hospitalised. Glad to see the back of 2013. Now that other things hv settled down it back to teary eyes and sinking feeling every time I log into Facebook.

Rainbow: we went for counselling on the NHS. We had only one session. I was not that impressed with the lady felt she was too mechanical. I am a big synic. Hope ur experience is better.

 

[bubumaci]

arzoo - I am so sorry to hear about your losses last month! I really feel with you (lost my paternal Grandma + my Mother in May last year)!!! Please take the time you need to grieve. And I really hope that your Father recovers soon.

 

[sharon99]

It's a BFN for me too. And man, I have the killer cramps today to prove it! At least it waited until (pretty much) the end of my vacation. And I'm glad I went ahead and had the pina coladas!

Arzoo and Bubumaci, I'm sorry for your losses and your tough year.

I hope everyone else is doing well!

 

[Olive333]

Sharon - I'm sorry it didn't take. I can relate. I should start my next cycle in about 2 weeks to go in for my base ultrasound a try a second time.

 

[bubumaci]

Sharon

 

[MrsG30]

Happy New Year Ladies.

Hope 2014 is our year, and the same for all of you who are still on the azoo journey.

I am still lurking just keeping quiet as nothing to report. Waiting for our donor sperm to be ready.

love to you all- think abut you all often xx

 

[Rainbow123]

Arzoo - I'm so sorry to hear about the awful time you've been having.
I'll not expect anything wonderful when I go for our session on Thursday then! So far I've found it difficult to feel encouraged as I've spoken to the counsellor on the phone and had an answer phone message and they've both set me on edge - she doesn't seem like the kind of person I want to talk to about this!

Sharon - Hope you're ok lovely. Must be a blow Fingers crossed for next time XXXXXX

Mrs G - Do you have any idea how long it's going to be before your donor sperm is ready?

Lots of love to one and all
XXXXXXXXX

 

[MrsG30]

Hi hun,

End of month were hoping, there taking extra samples r consistency to make sure its deffo icsi we need and not ivf or iui.

hows things with u? xxx

Arzoo - I'm so sorry to hear about the awful time you've been having.
I'll not expect anything wonderful when I go for our session on Thursday then! So far I've found it difficult to feel encouraged as I've spoken to the counsellor on the phone and had an answer phone message and they've both set me on edge - she doesn't seem like the kind of person I want to talk to about this!

Sharon - Hope you're ok lovely. Must be a blow Fingers crossed for next time XXXXXX

Mrs G - Do you have any idea how long it's going to be before your donor sperm is ready?

Lots of love to one and all
XXXXXXXXX

 

[Rainbow123]

Getting so close for you! So exciting!
After being told we could be getting mTESE before the end of 2013 (yeah right!) we're only just going for counselling on Thursday and then goodness knows when they're planning to get DH in for his mTESE. It's totally frustrating to have no clue, but in a way it's nice to have a bit more time as actually we'd like to save a little more money before they give us our only try on NHS. I don't want to be panicking that we won't have enough money for a second round if we're not lucky first round!
X

 

[gem10]

Hello ladies,

Havent been on in a bit. Just catching up with everyone.

Arzoo-I am so sorry for your losses in 2013. I am hoping 2014 will bring you nothing but joy. I know how hard it is to lose a family member. It takes time. Just know we are here for you if you need to vent

Sharon, Deafgal and Brandy my heart aches for each of you and your BFNs. Its such a tough thing to deal with. Take this time to focus on yourself and doing the things that make you happy. I know how bad it hurts, and the pain lessens with time but never truly goes away.

Sharon, I understand your frustration with the nurse. Anytime I talk to my one friend she ALWAYS complains about being pregnant. "Oh, you just wait to see what you have to look forward to...my boobs are huge, I'm so bloated and uncomfortable" I said, Actually, I wouldn't mind that at all! I actually snapped a week or two ago. She was telling me about her cousins best friends sister (you know how that goes) who had been trying to get pregnant forever and they tried a different route than IVF and now shes pregnant with twins. And she says, so if this cycle doesn't work for you again you should look into it. I mean, she has even more issues than you.

I said, I'm sorry, what issues do you think I have? As far as I know we have an issue with my husband, and I can get pregnant, so I'm not sure what you mean by that. Also, I would like to stay positive and hope that this cycle WILL work this time.

Anyway, I decided to take a break from everyone. Not just for that, but because of the constant questions, baby pictures, announcements, etc. I deactivated my facebook account and told my closest friends they won't be hearing from me for a few weeks while I go through my cycle. I figure I have spent the last year going to their baby showers, congratulating them on their announcements and telling them how adorable their infant is. Well, now its my time. I want to focus on me and staying stress free. So I have tuned everyone out. And I have to say, its really quite liberating! I say give it a try. Your friends will understand.

So I started stimms on Friday. I almost didn't because believe it or not my clinic almost forgot about me. They basically forgot that I was starting this month. So had I not been persistent leaving several messages over holiday break I may have had to wait another month. I would have flipped my lid! I am getting a little annoyed with them. They keep trying to convince me to freeze the embryos rather than do a fresh transfer. Does anyone understand why? Everyone I know who does IVF does a fresh transfer. I feel like freezing is putting our already fragile embryos (testicular sperm) though another grueling process. I kind of feel like they're doing it for money. That means I have to pay to freeze and pay for another month of meds and office visits. I keep trying to push for fresh, but I guess I will have to wait and see. They say since they've upped my meds they don't want me to overstimulate. I still feel like its a bit strange. Does anyone know anything about fresh vs. frozen?

Anyway, my hubby's mTESE is next Tuesday the 21st. I am just praying they find something again. We have spent the last three months taking vitamins, eating healthy, etc. so I am praying for a positive result. My retrieval is the 22nd.

I also purchased meditation CDs. They are from Circle and Bloom. You listen to one each day that corresponds to where you are in your cycle. I find that it really relaxes me and takes away and stress I might be feeling. I recommend it for anyone who plans on doing a cycle in the future.

Anyway, just wanted to catch up with each of you. Keeping you all in my thoughts and prayers. Hoping we have the strength to keep going through this. 2014 has just begin, let's hope for a happy ending. xoxo

 

[rdleela]

Rainbow, I sure hope you get to do a TESE soon! The wait is soooo frustrating!

Gem, re: fresh vs. frozen transfer - there is always a risk going into a cycle that you might HAVE to convert to a freeze all cycle (over-stim with really high estridoil levels and risk of OHSS). In my case, for our failed cycle in October, looking back, I wish we would have frozen my only two embryo's instead of doing a fresh transfer. My estridoil levels went pretty high on trigger day (17,000), but it wasn't high enough for my RE to cancel my fresh cycle (in his opinion). I've read studies that say estridoil levels over 5000 at trigger day shouldn't do a fresh cycle...

My body just was not accepting of embryo's with estridoil levels that high...I actually started spotting early and got my period while on progesterone support (very weird for me) cause my body was just ready for my period and not accepting of embryo's.

So that's why, looking back, it feels like it was a waste to throw those embryo's in with estridoil levels that high, when they could have been frozen and we could have tried a FET, where my body would have been primed for embryo transfer. Going into the cycle, I was petrified it would get converted to a freeze-all, because there was nothing more I wanted than two embryo's in me!!! But looking back, I understand why a freeze-all could be beneficial.

 

[Stinas]

Gem - My first BFP cycle was a fresh transfer…..it did end up in mc, but that was a chromosomal issue. This pregnancy was a FET.
I think it all depends on your body. If you body is all out of whack after ER, then yes, I do believe a FET might be better, if not, why not do a fresh.
All the sperm we used was from a TESE in 2012.

 

[gem10]

Thanks ladies. I guess I will just have to wait and see how my body is towards the end of my cycle. I can accept if I HAVE to freeze. I just found it stressful to wait another month not knowing the grade of our embryos and whether we would have anything to transfer. I guess I am just excited to get those embryos in ASAP! We have waited since our last BFN in September and it has felt like forever! Also, I guess part of me feels like since I didnt do fresh last time, maybe if we did fresh this time it would work. But like you said Stinas, it all depends on whether or not I can handle it. At this point, I will do whatever I have to for this to work!

Rdeela thanks for sharing your experience too. It always helps to hear from someone who has been through it rather than a doctor!

 

[Stinas]

Gem - They graded my embryos before freeze…..but when they thaw them out, the grade does/could change.
Just go with the flow. Don't stress yourself out. Its hard to go through as it is, you don't need to worry anymore than you already do.

 

[NikkiR143]

Just an update ladies:

Finally saw a fertility specialist on Friday- January 10th. I was hoping he could answer a few more questions regarding my husband's diagnoses of cryptozoospermia and what the urologist has told him so far, but he said he specializes with the woman's side, so he basically put all the focus on me.

Positive news- he said based on my age and the fact that (as far as we know right now) it's only male factor infertility, our chances of a successful IVF first round is 57%. I was really excited about this, because I was thinking it was only a 30 to 40% success rate. So I feel a bit more confident moving forward with IVF now. Another cool option that Kaiser has is if you choose to only have one embryo transfered (instead of multiple due to high-risk twin pregnancies), and it doesn't stick, they'll transfer another frozen embryo free of charge. I like that we have that option. They also freeze all additional good embryos forever, so when we're ready for a 2nd baby it's only 3k as opposed to another 15k for implanting the frozen ones. I guess it all depends on how many embryos we end up with. I'm still learning the IVF lingo so please forgive me for my lack of knowledge on the subject. I got for a blood test to check hormone levels on the 2nd day of my next period, so any day now. Then they'll do a sonogram within the next couple of months so rule out fallopian tube blockage. We aren't doing the IVF cycle until July or September of 2014 (we're in a wedding this summer, and have a vacation planned so we're waiting till after all that). But I'm glad I have a bit more information now. Now we just need to decide if my hubby will go through with the testicular biopsy to exclude obstruction 100%. And we need to see if testicular sperm extraction is really necessary for the IVF, or if we can get his numbers high enough so we can take the sperm directly from his semen. He has been taking vitamins and changed his diet dramatically, so hopefully this helps! Looking forward to what the next few months has in store for us.

 

[MrsG30]

Em,

shitty q i know but whats back up if nothing found? will you cancel cycle or have back up? any idea when? xxx

Getting so close for you! So exciting!
After being told we could be getting mTESE before the end of 2013 (yeah right!) we're only just going for counselling on Thursday and then goodness knows when they're planning to get DH in for his mTESE. It's totally frustrating to have no clue, but in a way it's nice to have a bit more time as actually we'd like to save a little more money before they give us our only try on NHS. I don't want to be panicking that we won't have enough money for a second round if we're not lucky first round!
X

 

[Rainbow123]

We were planning on having a donor back up, however since DH spoke to the nurse at the IVF clinic in November, we've been totally confused as she doesn't seem to think we'll be able to combine purchasing our own sperm with an NHS IVF… she basically contradicted everything the urologist had said, then said she'd ring back the next day and never did. We decided to wait until my FS was back off long term leave, so will be asking her when I see her this Friday. Taking what the nurse said with a pinch of salt, but at the same time wondering why she said that as she's got more experience of it all than we do..
Hoping to also get a time scale when I see FS on Friday, but as she's been out of the loop for a while I'm guessing she'll have to contact Leeds. All a bit up in the air at the moment!
X

Em,

shitty q i know but whats back up if nothing found? will you cancel cycle or have back up? any idea when? xxx

Getting so close for you! So exciting!
After being told we could be getting mTESE before the end of 2013 (yeah right!) we're only just going for counselling on Thursday and then goodness knows when they're planning to get DH in for his mTESE. It's totally frustrating to have no clue, but in a way it's nice to have a bit more time as actually we'd like to save a little more money before they give us our only try on NHS. I don't want to be panicking that we won't have enough money for a second round if we're not lucky first round!
X

 

[arzoo]

Good luck Gem. Fingers crossed for you. Hope the mTese goes fine.

We are at the same stage as you, and if there were no issues at my end, we would have had our mTese at the same time as you. We are waiting to sort things out at my end and then maybe go for mTese in Feb / March.

 

[Rainbow123]

Everything crossed for next Tuesday Gem! XXXXXXXXX