TTC #1 Hopeful and Obsessed! lol

[mnelson815]

I definitely think they will give us the option after surgery about what we want to do, but I feel IUI's are a touch pointless. I mean, they also suspect endometriosis which has low success rates with IUI and has much higher success rates with IVF (~60% as apposed to 15% IUI). So I dont think we want to waste our money on some medicated IUI cycles and then likely still need to move to IVF anyway. I would rather save that money and put it all towards IVF. When TTC #2 I would be more willing to try IUI or naturally for longer, but I really want this process to move more quickly.
DH also has a repeat SA done that we get the results of today. So i think depending on that will also see what I should really do with everything.

To be honest, I am just mostly impatient. So if I know IVF has the highest success rates, I am willing to fork over the money for it to give it a shot. Worst comes to worst, I can always try naturally after if it didn't work?

 

[BelleNuit]

Ya, I can understand your mixed feelings over IUI. I feel the same about it, IUI with femara for unexplained doesn't have a fantastic success rate (~10%), injectibles with IUI are up to ~18% but then you are at a higher risk for multiples. I mean what would I do if I got pregnant with triplets!!! Then I read that the majority of unexplained cases go on to conceive naturally and I think, what am I wasting my money for!!! I think we'll try 2 IUIs in the spring, and then January 2018 if nothing we'll start IVF as we'll be past the 2 year mark by then.

If you are feeling good about this decision then I say go for it! You'll likely end up pregnant long before me with your plan

 

[greenarcher]

Mnelson, if OH's SA is okay, then I tend to agree with you that IUI is pointless. Are you going to give it a few natural cycles after surgery?

Belle, you've done so much to take charge and find out what's going on with your body. You should be proud too.

 

[greenarcher]

Mnelson, I hope the appointment went/is going/goes alright.

 

[mnelson815]

And I'm back!

So the doctor agrees we should resect my septum and remove the polyps while he is in there. He said it is a less than 1% chance for them to be cancerous and unless he had another reason for going in there, he would probably have left them there.
However, surgery will not be scheduled until Feb/March so that is a major bummer. I am so impatient that I can't even imagine how this whole wait is going to feel. Apparently, I can be put on a cancellation list however that will let me know if the hospital opens up some dates that my doctor can acquire.
He said its a day procedure, pretty simple and then will need a few days off to rest. Depending on how things look, he might put in a balloon catheter that I would need to leave in for a week and then have removed. Other than that, it should go pretty smoothly.

I am excited to get this all started, just really hoping I can get a Feb appt and then hopefuly a Jan cancellation!!

He didn't seem overly concerned with DH's SA. Although his count isn't great, all the other parameters are really good, so he said he doesn't think the count is that bad at all. Especially because his overall count is close to normal, with just his amount per mL being subpar. Therefore, he said we could try naturally or do some IUI's after I am healed since he doesn't think its necessary to jump to IVF. So I guess I will see how I feel about it in the new year.

He also said to keep trying in the mean time, so lets just hope that works on its own!

 

[BelleNuit]

Mnelson that sounds like it was a positive meeting! I will keep my FX that you will get an early cancellation appointment!! That is wonderful that he thinks there is a reasonable chance that it could happen naturally and that you don't need to jump straight to IVF if you don't want to!

 

[puma1986]

Hello everyone! I've had you all on my mind. I hope everyone has been okay. I've been distant again because I was recently rediagnosed with lupus instead of connective tissue disease. Yeehaw.

We are still ttc and being seen by a fertility doctor.

I promise I'll swing around more often once I'm doing a bit better! I've missed you all!

 

[BelleNuit]

My goodness puma I am so sorry to hear about the lupus! This has just been a whirlwind few months for you! I'm glad you're being seen by a fertility doc, lupus can definitely complicate things when TTC.

I hope that your lupus gets under control soon and that you start feeling better!

 

[greenarcher]

Mnelson - excellent! Moving right along! I bet you'll get a cancellation for January. Since husband's count is a tad low, you might want to rethink skipping the IUI. It still might not be right for you, but that's the usual route docs go when a guys count is borderline low. Your circumstances are certainly different, but it's a thought! Really happy to hear that the surgery is only a day procedure. Not so bad! And totally worth it

Belle - How are you, dear? How cold is it in Canada? Yesterday was the first day in a few weeks that it wasn't in the 80s here. I turned on the heater in my house today How are things with hubby? Is he being good about not smoking?

Puma - Great to hear from you love! Is lupus better news or worse news than connective tissue disease, as far as TTC does? How is hubby doing?

AFM, just counting the days down and googling failure rates of plan b. Definitely a position I never thought I'd be in.

 

[BelleNuit]

Hey Green, it's actually not to bad! We didn't get much snow for November and we are sitting at -6C which is pretty warm for this time of year! Just skiffs of snow where I live so don't even have to shovel!

DH has still been smoking small amounts of MJ weekly. He says he's "out" now, but never believe an addict to actually quit. He's taking 400mg coq10 to try to counteract negative effects.

Well Green I hope whatever the outcome for you that it all works out for the best! I agree you are definitely in a weird position this month! I have no idea of failure rates for plan B but I don't imagine they're high. You'll probably be okay!

 

[greenarcher]

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2164/jandrol.110.011874/full

Show OH this. You've probably already done this (multiple times), but maybe receiving it from someone else will knock some sense into him.

 

[BelleNuit]

Thanks for the article Green, but DH won't read it and if he did he would just find some flaw in the methodology and say it doesn't apply to him. I'm done having this fight with him already. I've told him multiple times that this is probably the reason why we can't get pregnant and that he is continuously ruining our chances each month. He is so weak. He can't quit.

 

[greenarcher]

Mnelson, I noticed you're still waiting on AF (According to your chart).... how long are you waiting to test? Think this might be your month?

 

[OhHappyZ]

Hey guys. Just checking in to see how everyone is doing. Feeling pretty hopeless. I feel like everyone on this forum that started with me is about to have their baby, and I'm not. Feeling dumpy. So I tend to stay off here. Currently month 7, 11DPO, bfn this morning, pretty sure it's over. AF due tomorrow. Already saw a little smidge of blood yesterday when I checked my cm. That's a sure sign for me that AF is coming.

I have a dr appt on the 13th, hoping I can talk them into an HSG. Really worried that my tubes are blocked. I've had that intuition since 2 months ttc. But now I'm fed up and want to get the test done.

Shit guys, I really thought this would be easy. Did I force myself to be naïve? Did I purposely avoid the bad side of ttc and thus fooled myself to think that it would be easy and quick for me. Is this karma?

Sorry to put a big raincloud over this thread. Just had to come on here and vent and check in on everyone.

 

[BelleNuit]

Z you're not the only one feeling that way! I'm on my 16th f&&ing cycle. What the hell! I thought FOR SURE I would be pregnant within 3 months. The worst part is they can't even find anything wrong. Next month I'll be starting femara (towards the end of January, I'm going to give it a full 2 cycles because I don't feel like starting fertility meds over the holidays).

I hope its just a matter of time for you and that you'll get your bfp quickly. I wouldn't wish this on anyone.

 

[OhHappyZ]

Right Belle?

So they did all the testing on you can can't find anything? How is that possible?

This whole process is just SO frustrating. We are so goddamn strong for putting up with this crap.

 

[BelleNuit]

Ya, all our testing came back normal, and DH's SA was fantastic. But we've been trying for a year now so are officially considered "infertile" despite normal testing. So we have unexplained infertility.

We haven't had the test to check for microfragmentation of DNA in sperm (because its not routinely done and is $$), but I'm wondering if there might be something like that contributing. Otherwise some women have immune issues where the embryo essentially can't implant, and in others the fallopian tube is open but it's stiff and can't pick up the egg when it's released. But there really aren't good tests for those things. And there is always a subset of unexplained cases where its just pure dumb luck that you haven't gotten pregnant yet. Of course the likelihood that you are in that group decreases the longer you try.

Unfortunately in most cases of unexplained the cause is never found because people choose to spend their $$ on treatment rather that on investigation because the treatment options are the same regardless.

We are just doing expectant management for now, but will look at starting IUI in the spring and IVF January 2018.

I agree, we are all incredibly strong for going through this

 

[greenarcher]

Well, Happy, I think we all start this not even knowing there's a bad side of TTC. We're all still here, so feel free to come hang out on this thread

What kind of test are you using?

During your appointment, you might mention to the doctor that you tend to keloid, and they might take your HSG request to heart.

 

[greenarcher]

Belle - I learned about another cause of infertility the other day, and I wondered if you had heard about it: uterine peristalsis dysfunction and fallopian tube peristalsis dysfunction.

Basically, your uterine muscles are supposed to contract in a wave-like motion from the cervix to the fallopian tubes when you are close to ovulation to bring the sperm to the tubes. This is how sperm can get to the egg as soon as one minute, they have help.

Then the fallopian tube provides wave-like contractions from the ovary toward the uterus after ovulation, to help the egg move towards the site of implantation.

In some women with unexplained infertility, they found that these waves either weren't happening, or were happening in the wrong direction.

 

[BelleNuit]

Wow Green, that is really interesting! I hadn't heard of that one before! Its such a complex process its really no surprise that they haven't figured everything out yet. Well I guess I'll just continue to hope that we get lucky this next year, and if we don't then I'll hope that we can create our family through IVF. If that doesn't work out for us, I think I'll be able to find a way to live a fulfilling life without a child. When we first started trying I couldn't say that. I think I'm working towards finding peace