LTTTC # 1 w/o Assisted teammates needed!!!!

[abster]

Hello girls. Haven't been on here properly in a few days, although I did come on yesterday just to read. Think it's better for me too, Titi, just to come on here every so often rather than several times a day. I don't do facebook but I'll see you on here when we're both around.
Yay for your tubes, Titi! Woohoo! Dee, looking forward to hearing from you. There are loads of tests going on on here and my TCM thread atm and they all seem to be good news. We picked up our CD4 & 21 and SA results last friday and here they are, at last...

So. We went to collect our test results last friday. I think I'll give up trying to explain TCM to my doctor - I just don't do it justice and he smiles at me as if thinking I'm slightly loopy.
Guess what I found out?? It's not just me!
I was collecting CD4bloods from 15th July -
My iron levels are a bit low, as are my red blood cell count and packed cell volume so I'm now taking my normal vegan supplement on top of my pregnacare. Doc said that it won't be preventing pregnancy but won't be helping either. I've always had up-and-down iron.
My renal profile was interesting, given my kidney yang deficiency - plasma urea was 1.8 (should be 2.9-7.10) and plasma creatinine was 46 (should be 53-97).
Liver function was fine.
Plasma Luteinizing hormone level was 2.1 (mid-follicular should be 2.1-10.9 and this was cd4, before oving on cd14, so OK).
Plasma Follicle Stimulating Hormone level was 10.5 (should be 6.2 -13.8 on CD2-4, so fine).
Oestradiol was 98 (CD2-4 should be 74-187) - Thanks to Reba I know this is an indicator of AMH levels, which Qing says tells you about your ovarian reserve, so I guess I'm OK, certainly within normal boundaries anyway).
Plasma glucose was fine and I'm rubella-immune, which I already knew from last time round.

My CD21 told me I'm ovulating, which I know, but now I know my progesterone level was 35.4 - post-ov level should be above 30. Given that I only ov'd on CD18 and had a temp drop that morning to 36.32, which than went back up to for the last few days, I don't think that's bad.

Would be interesting to know what my results for everything would have been last nov, before starting TCM.

So, my partner, after 3 days' abstinence...
volume 3.3ml
sperm count 53 million per ml (normal range above 20million/ml)
motility 57% (normal range above 40%)
forward progression moderate
morphology 85% abnormal (normal level is less than 85% abnormal)
no antisperm antibodies
minimal agglutination.
Comments: Motility slightly sluggish but approaching normal limits.

So he has plenty and it doesn't clump together or destroy itself but it's lazy and the tadpoles mainly have their tails wrapped round their heads, if they even have them.
Man, this is after he's been taking supplements! Maybe that's what the count and agglutination are so good. Am going to be getting him some l-carnitine, an amino acid which really helps motility and have started giving him the b-100 tablets I was taking as B12 is very good for fertility. He already takes a natural anti-oxidant complex.

So I'm CD 13 and ovulated yesterday! Go, soy iso! (I took it from CD1 by mistake but it doesn't seem to have mattered) We managed to get in some BD on sunday morning and evening and monday morning and evening but there was nothing doing for the first 2 days of EWCM because of a domestic drama involving rats and a trip to a wedding and then chance to BD in the morning becasue #1 stayed with grandma for 2 nights (also because of rats and the wedding). Fingers crossed I guess!

Great news for you Reba - hope you enjoy your holiday and can relax properly. Beetroot... hahaha!

 

[RebaRezzelba]

Abi - beetroot - i know.... I felt so stupid after that. I was thinking "oh it must be the clomid making me have Ov spotting" then DH said his pee was pink.....

So your hormones seem to be fine in the blood tests - but a few problems with other blood work (renal and iron levels). Your a vegetarian too arent you? Is there anything you can take to get the iron levels up? It would be interesting to see what your bllod work was like pre acup.

And you Dh's sperm was good enough too - it only takes one after all!!!

The Soy has really brought your OV forward too - hope that means a nice long LP too (of nine months...........)

 

[abster]

Hey Reba,
Yep I'm vegetarian, but veggie's are no more likely than meat-eaters to have low iron. Ive had this issue for a few years that I've known of, through trying to give blood - sometimes I can, sometimes I can't. After first finding out about it in 2003 I've found out all about sources of iron and how to absorb it efficiently (vitamin C). I came to the conclusion a while ago that my body doesn't hold onto iron very well, which isn't helped by heavy periods (although lighter than they used to be). I eat all sorts of iron- and vitamin-c-rich foods and I've started taking my normal iron and vit c supplement again too. It works really well.
Qing seems to think that there's no reason I shouldn't be able to get pregnant now, which makes me think it's more about Andy's sperm now - although his diet's very good mainly and he's been having supplements. Maybe it;s just a matter of time now and continuing with the acu. She's happy to see Andy too, which makes me happy. Hopefully she can help with his morphology and motility, along with the extra stuff I want to give him - providing it's not worked this time, that is...
Abi x

 

[Dee7509]

Yay!! My tubes are clear!

It was not at all painful thankfully. Will be back later to catch up and comment.

 

[Jaimie2Eyes]

Woohoo! We've become the HSG queens.

Awesome to hear about your results Abster and Dee.

Abster - your DH's motility is better than mine! I think his motility is just fine and the morphology is awfully close to normal

 

[Dee7509]

Reba - I wish I could go to Spain for 10 days! Sounds wonderful and it's coming up next week!

Abi - was looking at your results and that you mentioned Estradiol should be between 74-187, mine was 36.2 pgml on CD2....but was told it was okay? hmmmm....maybe two different measurements?

Your DH's results look good to me! The only thing I would have asked about was the "minimal agglutination" since they mentioned it.

I like how you have linked Quing's assessment with the results and all the added info too is really helpful.

Jaime - good to see you around, hope your break has been good for you!

Hi there Titi

 

[Whitbit22]

At least you have some answers now Abi, nothing looks bad though thats for sure!

Dee so glad to hear your tubes are clear!!

 

[Titi]

Hi Dee!!! So glad for you-posted a quick note in your journal. I agree the hsg was pretty anticlimactic after what I'd been expecting.

 

[Dee7509]

Thanks All!

I understand the need for a step back. I have done it before.

Good Luck to us all :

Whit, Abi, Titi, Jaime, Reba

 

[RebaRezzelba]

Glad your tubes are clear Dee - and glad it wasnt that painful too (mine was awful....not excruciating but pretty bad).

Abi - I probably have low iron too with the heavy periods I get - id love to get a general overall blood work done to see what im lacking in (if anything).

I totally forgot to log on here this am (which is quite surprising as Im usually on first thing after checking FB) - maybe my obsession is calming.... I hope so. Ill be glad to have a break away for 10 days too - it will prob be more like 16 days though as i usually dont come on here at the weekends and there are 3 weekends coming up that Ill be away. I hope when I come back there will be some good news (or i will have some!!!!)

to all................

 

[Dee7509]

Good Morning Ladies, hope everyone's well.

 

[RebaRezzelba]

Hey Dee - yes all well with me. How are you? What CD are you at the mo?

Well I'm off in a few hrs for the weekend and then off on holidays on Monday so I wont be on here for at least 16 days - hoping for some good news when I get back!

to all

 

[Dee7509]

Hi Reba, CD13 for me.

Have a wonderful holiday and I hope you have good news when you get back!

 

[MrS. MaBrEy]

im in big debt of appologies, somehow my subscription to this thread got deleted and i just thought no one was posting here for some reason and i wasnt seeing it because of that???
how is everyone???
im moving out of my house, im leaving for the bahamas on a cruise monday (last big food blow out before my diet apparently begins!) and i am currently 8 days late!!! with 3 bfns so far so im not testing again until after i get back from the bahamas!

 

[Whitbit22]

Bahamas sounds lovely!!

Well still waiting around.

Miss you all, hope you are all doing well!!

 

[abster]

Way to go, Whit! Hope you're making the most of it

Hope you're really enjoying your cruise, Mrs. Tell us all about it when you get back x

Hey girls

 

[Whitbit22]

Hi honey how are you!?

 

[abster]

Hey whit, can't chat coz I'm very busy, but here's an update that I wrote on my TCM thread. Hope you're good

As for the rat and weddin fiasco the weekend of 14th august... we got up early on the saturday morning so we could leave the house at 8 to take #1 to my parents' house and take the 3-hour drive to the hotel and wedding venue for wedding ceremony at 2pm. Except we came down to breakfast and discovered that the rat we didnt' know was in the house had in fact been shut in the sitting room all night and wrought havoc. Including pooh. Change of plan - I take #1 to parents' house and Andy sorts out rat man andi start washing all #1's toys and the throws etc that we have in sitting room. At 2pm (argh!) the rat man arrives and is great actually. To cut a long story short when we find and then chase rat out of room it goes behind washing machine in kitchen which, it turns out, is next to a hole in the concrete floor around the pipes and wiring. So, they're coming in from outside - prob a cracked pipe under the house somewhere - we have floorboards under most of teh house - and have then come into our house. Probably on the offchance rather than infesting us, as we've not seen - or foudn since - any other pooh. So now we have 2 trays of poison under the kitchn units and 3 locked boxes in the garden. Got to the wedding reception at 8 after leaving at 4pm and spent sunday evening and most of monday steam cleaning the carpets and sofa and washing/disinfecting everything else. Ugh! The poison in the kitchen' not been touched but the 3 boxes outside have been well and truly gnawed and will need rebaiting maybe next week. When we get the kitchen done soon we're going to have a load of cement oured down the hole adn put down a solid ceramic-tiled floor. Not what I really wanted but it'll keep out hte vermin...


REmember I took soy from CD1-5 this cycle because I forgot CD1 is first day of full red flow and starting late at night meant I didn't get any til the following day? Well it stopped me ovulating first time round, on CD12. CM dried up but temps stayed low, so the egg clearly wasn't ready.. I've had my temp rise today - from 36.21 to 36.66! - so I think CD21 was ov day (or poss CD20 - 36.21 is low but I'd had less then 3 hours' sleep). Qing didnt' seem to o concerned but I doubt I'll have a long-enough LP (still, Lulu, you give me hope!). Fingers crossed!
I had my normal session with her last saturday and will see her again next sat (4th Sept) before we go to the seaside for the weekend. Fells liek ruddy winter now but I'm stubbornly hanging onto the hope that we'll have a beautiful sept.

 

[FutureMommie]

I am so thrilled to have found this thread, I was just thinking yesterday that I needed to limit my visits to the ttc threads for the some of the same reasons that you listed when you first started the thread. Now a little about me.

I am 37yrs old my dh is 48 and we have been ttc our 1st for 2.5 years. I have used clomid, I've had 6 IUI's 3 of those with injections. In January 2010 my Re decided that my fibroids were growing and he could no longer see the lining of my uterus so he needed to go in and remove them, at the time he thought there were 2, so I go in for a abdominal myomectomy, when he gets inside there are 10 fibroids of which he removed 9 he left one because he was afraid if he removed it he wouldn't be able to stop the bleeding. I waited 4 months and had an HSG only to find that I had developed scar tissure which had blocked one of my tubes, he then went in via hysteroscopy in May to remove the scar tissue and unblock my tube. I has an SHG in June and he said everything looked good, not perfect but good and he wanted me to try on my own for 6 months before we explored other options. So here I am month 3 waiting to O now and hoping for the best but totally exhausted from ttc. I find myself melting down on occasions especially when I find out someone else is pg.

So that is my story in a nutshell, I look forward to chatting with you ladies.

 

[Dee7509]

Hi Future Mommie,

Welcome! Hope your stay with us is very short and we give you the good luck and to get that elusive BFP.

Our thread has gone quiet the last few days as a few of us have gone on well deserved holidays.

Hi Whit, Titi, Reba, Abi, Mrs. M Miss you guys