Low Motility and Progression on DH's SA

[BabyLoveBump]

I am new here and this is my first thread so let me give y'all a quick brief about me. DH and I have been TTC since January 2013 and we are both 23 years old and have been together for 8 years. I have never been on birth control, always have had regular 8 day periods, I ovulate every month, etc.
We decided to go to the RE in August of 2013, because I just truly felt like something wasn't right...
I've gotten an HSG done to check for tube blockages and everything was clear, so the RE suggested DH get a SA.

These were his results:
Volume: 3.6 mL
pH 7.6
Progression 6%
Concentration: 47 million/mL
Total # of sperm: 169.2 million
Motility: 6.38%
Total Motile Sperm: 10.79 million
Morphology 5.5%

RE suggested we get an IUI, but our insurance doesn't cover it and I am unsure if it would even be worth it with his results. RE is concerned with his progression(direction) the motility and the total amount of motile sperm.

Do we have good chances of conceiving through an IUI with these SA results? What causes these specific categories to be low but the rest are up to par??

After the sperm washing is there a chance of these numbers increasing any?

Thanks so much for the advice and help in advance! We are trying to get some answers ASAP, as we are planning our IUI in March 2014!

 

[Kayotic]

Thats the optimal results for an IUI. His guys are having trouble getting where they need to be so an IUI places them right there.


Did he have only one SA? There are many things that can affect it, like abstaining, not waiting 3-5 days, illness, etc so its good to have a repeat.

That said, his motility is whats off and that is easy enough to fix.

Has he seen a urologist to see if its a simple fix? Vitamins help with motility, specifically bcomplex and co-q10 (200mgs a day), l-cartinine

You can buy the meds separate but fertilaid for men or proxeed are more convenient.

I would get him to cut hot showers, laptops in his lap and get some vitamins in him then do a repeat SA in 3 months before going with an IUI but thats just me and what we're doing.


https://www.trcb.com/health-and-fitness/men-issues/vitamins-to-increase-sperm-count-2629.htm

 

[CaliDreaming]

I totally agree with Kayotic. An IUI could be successful, but get him on supplements and get him to a urologist before trying the IUI for the best chances of success in March. Good luck!

 

[BabyLoveBump]

Thank you both for your help. He has only had one SA so far, his next one is scheduled on January 28 but that may be too soon with the changes he is making to improve them. We have purchased FertiliAid, so hopefully that helps soon. We were hoping to have a Thanksgiving or Christmas baby with the IUI so hopefully there are some sort of improvements by then!

So will fertiliaid help with only the motility or with the progression as well? That makes me feel better that it's not too bad and that it's an easy fix.

How does the rest of the SA look? I just would like some other opinions

Thanks SOOO much again!

 

[CaliDreaming]

Thank you both for your help. He has only had one SA so far, his next one is scheduled on January 28 but that may be too soon with the changes he is making to improve them. We have purchased FertiliAid, so hopefully that helps soon. We were hoping to have a Thanksgiving or Christmas baby with the IUI so hopefully there are some sort of improvements by then!

So will fertiliaid help with only the motility or with the progression as well? That makes me feel better that it's not too bad and that it's an easy fix.

How does the rest of the SA look? I just would like some other opinions

Thanks SOOO much again!

The Fertilaid will help with all motility issues--both the number moving and the progression. Since the motility is off by that much, I would have him take motility boost as well. Fertilaid will help but it's really an all purpose fertility vitamin designed for all men whether they have any fertility issues or not.

As for the rest of the parameters, the volume of semen is excellent and the ph is well within normal range. No problems at all there.

The concentration is well above the minimum 15-20 million/mL, but it is still below the average concentration for the male population of 60 mil/mL. You might want to have him take Countboost as well since you can never have too much sperm and a high count can make up for having low motility and morphology.

The morphology is above the 4% minimum of the Kruger scale. The minimum used to be 15% but so many men don't reach that level they lowered it. Morphology is a pretty controversial subject to begin with and doctors don't agree on its significance. If you have a high count and the other parameters are fine, this one probably won't make much difference. Sperm with poor morphology are often unable to move quickly enough or in a straight line. They also may have structural defects in their heads that make it difficult to penetrate the egg.

 

[BabyLoveBump]

I am definitely going to have to purchase the count boost and motility boost. Thanks for all the help, it is greatly appreciated!