Latest pretesting results and Femara cycle

[LacePrincess]

Just had my followup with my RE. Pretesting results from last month are the following, we're still waiting for the AMH anyday now.


Baseline:

AFC = 19 but he said ovaries were 'smaller than ideal'

FSH 5.2
LH 4.1
E2 121pmol/l (equal to 32.93 pg/ml)
TSH 1.70miU
prolactin 7.4
Testosterone 1.0


Results from the Femara cycle:

CD14 - 29mm leading follicle
CD24 (10dpo) - P4=60


So in other words, excellent ovulatory cycle. Unfortunately, our issue seems to be MF. The SA Kruger analysis came back as:

Count = 70 million/ml
Motility = 79%
Morphology = 4% strict Kruger

Our RE referred to this as 'isolated teratospermia' and it seems to be our issue. Explains why we've always been subfertile too. The question is, how to proceed. We've decided to do a few more Femara cycles, and we're likely looking at IVF again around November. The logistics of IVF with DH posted away to work is something I don't even want to think about right now!!

Basically, the problem isn't me, it's hubby. And I seem to have okay egg reserve numbers so far (but awaiting AMH). Who knows how long that'll last, but I've seen how much time IVF can chew up so I don't want to go IVF again unless we're really sure we can't get there by ourselves. So I'm feeling pretty much like I want another 5 Femara cycles or so before I'm ready to move on. But it's such a logistical nightmare to try to cycle with having to cycle long distance (for the GD) and DH away....ugh...... OTOH who knows, if my AMH comes back horrible then maybe it's the end of the line for IVF for us.

[djmommy]

Such great results Lace!! I guess it is just a matter of waiting on the perfect swimmer!!!

[LacePrincess]

Such great results Lace!! I guess it is just a matter of waiting on the perfect swimmer!!!

Alas it seems. I just hope I don't run out of good eggs before we find a good swimmer!!

We really have to hope that we manage to catch an egg before the end of Aug....my RE is already pressuring me on the IVF front and I don't know if I can convince him to keep me on just Femara after Sept.....he's really really pushy. Of course if we did do IVF we'd obviously do PGS/GS at another clinic, not that I'm telling my RE!!

We're not shocked at our results but it's too bad it really is MF. So much harder to fix.

[nuthinbutpink]

Are your 3 sons with this husband? If so, obviously you can make children and this is not a genetic issue you are dealing with- this is a lifestyle/diet issue. What supplements do you have him on? Was he on anything prior to the IVF cycle you went through for gender?? You did make a normal embryo! That kind of shows that having a child IS possible! I don't see what fertility meds for you will do since it is his issue. It's not an issue of you ovulating and making a good egg- your pretesting is great! This is an issue that I would try to deal with via supplements and living healthy.

If the three boys are not his, obviously that is a different story. You still made a normal embryo with IVF though.

[LacePrincess]

Are your 3 sons with this husband? If so, obviously you can make children and this is not a genetic issue you are dealing with- this is a lifestyle/diet issue. What supplements do you have him on? Was he on anything prior to the IVF cycle you went through for gender?? You did make a normal embryo! That kind of shows that having a child IS possible! I don't see what fertility meds for you will do since it is his issue. It's not an issue of you ovulating and making a good egg- your pretesting is great! This is an issue that I would try to deal with via supplements and living healthy.

If the three boys are not his, obviously that is a different story. You still made a normal embryo with IVF though.

Yah all my kids are with DH.

I'm really quite sure that the iffy morphology has been an issue for a LONG time. Even with DS2 and DS3 it took us a long, long time with PERFECT timing and SMEP to get preggo. So I really think the morphology has been a problem all along.

DH right now has perfect lifestyle. Per our RE, that's frustrating because there's nothing to fix!! LOL He doesn't smoke, doesn't drink (at ALL), is underweight if anything, walks regularly and exercises. Doesn't cycle, hot baths, tight undies, nothing. No exposure to chemicals. Has been taking vit C and Fertilaid since last Aug, and we just switched him to FertilePro. He was on the Fertilaid for 3 months going into our HRC IVF attempt.

I'm on Femara because I haven't ovulated on my own properly at all since coming off the FET attempt in January. I had a clear 5 cycles in a row since Feb this year showing I was either anovulatory or had very very weak ovulation, with a LP of only 5 days. So I'm not sure what happened, but I did need something to get me back on track and properly ovulating. Otherwise it looks like my system should be working fine.

The question now is, should we do SMEP to get preggo. But, it's very very blue. And we did SMEP pretty much to get preggo last time with DS2 and DS3. But, if the ONLY way to get preggo naturally is SMEP then, we might not have a choice. Not if the only alternative is IVF and that is a REALLY last resort for us. Not just in terms of finances, but time and stress too.

[nuthinbutpink]

OK. Then I would 100% go back to IVF with GS to try for a girl.

[maidentomother]

Aww hun. I am happy to hear all your numbers are great, but LOL @ small ovaries. Aren't you a small person?

MFI is very frustrating but I agree, I think you should do IVF with GS. Is there any way DH would consider donor sperm? Would you be okay with that? Maybe a known donor fsmily member of his?

[LacePrincess]

Maiden - yes I'm quite petite. OTOH not really sure correlation b/t ovary volume and my size, but meh, not too worried about it. I think the RE brought it up as a factor to pressure me into IVF anyways.

LOL there are no good candidates I'd even consider for donor sperm in the family. Just......no. Yikes. LOL!!

Besides, if we did IVF we got 80% fertilization with ICSI, so I'm not really worried about it. I'm just not wanting to go back to IVF. It's not even the money, truly.......it's the time and effort with long distance IVF. We do have a plan worked out with a clinic in Montreal (1.5hour drive each way) but the GIANT KINK in the plan's workability is my DH's job. As of Aug, DH will be posted away by the military and his new job is crazy unpredictable. I mean he pretty much could be anywhere in the country at any time and likely deployed overseas at least once in the next two years.

So now I'm pretty much solo parenting for the next two years, with a hubby that could be sent overseas at any time. The commitment and time that IVF takes, especially when I'd have to do PGS/GS long distance, is something I'm really having a hard time figuring out if it's even possible!!

[nuthinbutpink]

All you need him to do is leave some samples. You can cycle by yourself if you need to! Brutal but true!

[LacePrincess]

All you need him to do is leave some samples. You can cycle by yourself if you need to! Brutal but true!

Well yes, I know we could freeze a sample. That's not the hard part. The hard part is how to drive to a clinic that's 2 hours away for all the monitoring during the cycle, plus the trip to NY state for the ER and transfer part, while parenting solo. Also DS2's professional ballet program is even crazier this fall with rehearsals, and I need to juggle his dance schedule too.

It starts getting to the point where there are just not enough hours in a day without a time machine. Like, say the kids get on the bus at 7:45am. Then somehow I need to drive 2 hours, monitor, and be back in time to get them off their schoolbus at 2:45pm. Multiple times in a cycle. The whole thing gives me a headache.

It's not cycling by myself that's the obstacle, it's the long distance multiple trips to monitor. And no my local clinic will not satellite monitor, the 2 hours away is the best I can do.

Well, hopefully it won't come to that, and if I have to figure it out I will. Still dreading it though!