Can someone help me sort out these test results?

[Snow Cherries]

A little back story: Dh and I have been married four years and got pg with DS two months after we got married. I had been told by previous Dr.'s that because I have an 'abnormal' cycle it would probably be hard for me to get pg so we weren't so careful with the birth control! Anyways, we were very shocked, but thrilled. And I kind of assumed that since we didn't even have to try with DS, it would be pretty easy to concieve again.

But now here we are experiencing secondary infertility. We've been TTC for nearly two years now. I do have irregular and long cycles. They can be anywhere from 31 to 89 days long. But I do seem to be ovulating. I don't temp every month because it makes me crazy if it turns out to be a really long cycle, but I do moniter my other fertility signs and sometimes use ovulation sticks so that we can time when we dtd. I went to the Dr. back in May and they ran some blood tests. When I had my follow up appt. with my Dr., I was a in kind of a haze and have to admit that I didn't really comprehend some of the things he was telling me. My Dr said that my tests all came back normal, but what he didn't say is if they are on the low or high side of normal or whether that even matters. It seems that our primary problem is DH. His SA results were not very good, but I don't know just how bad they are.

So here it is: my TSH was 4.22, my prolactin was 6 and that was taken on day three of my cycle. My FSH was 4 and that was also taken on day three. Those are the only tests they ran on me (other than a rubella). DH's SA results were: count:25.7 million (which we know is low), normal forms: 38%, motility is 50%, semen volume was 2.5 ml, viscosity was normal. It also says WBC - none seen, and Spermatozoa, prog is 3+ and I don't know what either of those mean.

I'm hoping someone can shed a little light on these results for me. Is it hopeless? I don't understand how it can be since we concieved DS, but maybe DH's sperm was just better four years ago? Could that be? And if so, could he improve it somehow? Are there more tests that I should request? Our insurance only covers 50% of the cost of infertility testing : and treatment so I don't have too many options. But I'd appreciate any insight anyone can give me. I'm so lost in the infertility maze right now and I'm just not sure what we need to do next.

[RosesToys]

I'm sorry that you are struggling with infertility. I don't know anything about the tests as I am still waiting for my appt to get my tests done.

However, you said that you don't know what to do yet. What did your doc suggest?

Also I would make a list of the questions you have and call the doc's office and ask to speak to either a nurse or the doc about your questions. there is no reason why you shouldn't get your questions answered.

[Snow Cherries]

Thank you for your kind reply Rosestoys. My Dr. wanted to write out a prescription for clomid but I declined and said I wanted to think about it. It just felt very sudden. I kind of thought there would be more testing or something before I was handed clomid. I also felt a little strange about taking clomid since it seems to be DH's sperm that is the problem, not me or my ovaries. I understand that supercharging my ovaries may give us more opportunities to concieve (more eggs, perhaps a more regulated cycle resulting in more chances per year), but it still felt kind of weird especially since he said that our only real chance would be an IUI (which I don't think we can afford. I think I remember someone saying that they cost a few thousand dollars and we'd have to pay half which we can't do at this point). It just felt like he was kind of flippantly prescribing clomid and I didn't feel comfortable with it at the time. I'm not totally opposed to trying clomid, but at this point I didn't want to just take it for the heck of it.

I know I need to go in and talk to my Dr. again, but I'm having trouble even organizing my thoughts at this point. I don't know exactly what I want to ask. I try not to put unnecessary drugs and chemicals into my body and now I feel like I'm being told that the only way to concieve a child is going to be with an army of pharmacuticals and I feel like that can't be true because we already did concieve a child with no help at all! I guess I just feel like maybe there is a missing link here that I'm not seeing and if I could just figure it out, we could make this happen. Maybe that's just wishful thinking. Anyways, thanks for reading.

[AdinaL]

http://www.fertilityplus.org/faq/hormonelevels.html

Check that out for normal levels, that might help you have some insight.

Some things to try, vitex to even out cycles, acupuncture, red raspberry leaf tea.

Was your DH's sperm count 25mill before or after washing? Was that initial reading? If that was after wash - that is just fine. His motility is a bit low as is the normal amount. Vitamin c, zinc and some folic acid should help him out a little. A supplement called Proxeed (kind of expensive) may also help -it did wonders for my hubby! Did you do any antibody testing for him?

As for you....check out levels. Did your doc give you any reason for the lengthy cycles? Or just nothing?

[mamastotwo]

Clomid always seems to be a doctors first suggestion to any infertility as it is cheap and easy. IUI would only cost thousands if you are going to do it with fertility drugs. Without drugs it is a few hundred.

[Snow Cherries]

mamastotwo - thanks for the info. Maybe we will try an IUI if we can do it that cheap. My Dr. and the infertility nurse that I'm seeing have thrown a lot of information my way and it's been hard for me to think on my toes and ask the right questions.

Adina - Thanks for the link! I totally remember you from the TTC boards like a year and a half ago. Congratulations on your pregnancy!!! I don't know that there was any washing involved in DH's SA. As far as I know those are the initial results. So I'm pretty sure that makes his sperm count pretty low. I started to try Vitex and I started spotting so I chickened out and stopped taking it. But I think I'll try the RRL. And I think we might try the proxeed too. My doc didn't give me any reason for the long cycles but said that the clomid should even them out. I would feel more comfortable if we could figure out why I'm having such long cycles before we try to fix them.

I think I'm going to make another appt. with my Dr. and ask as many questions as I can. I liked him, but I'm feeling like he isn't being very thorough. Maybe after another appt. with him I'll feel better.

Thanks for the replies! I have no one IRL to talk to about all this so it's nice to be able to come here and find some support.

[jojo99]

Hi ya,

We are in a similar predicament. I concieved my ds on the first cycle tryng. Now, we have been trying for 7 months.

I saw my OB forthe usual hormone eval and all was normal. DH did a SA and it came back low / abnormal. My OB ordered another SA and then referred him to a urologist for further eval. Each SA was pretty different. The first one had eveything abnormal or low except for motility and the second one showed poor motility but everything else was normal. He went to the urologist and had some blood work to eval his hormones and the urologist ordered a third SA. We have an appt on Thursday to see the urologiist for a follow up. Dh's testosterone was on the low side and thus explains screwy sperm. Not sure what the remedy is though. At anyrate, I just wanted to let you know what we are going through for comparison sake.

I am also scheduling an eval with an infertility doc who specializes in medical intervention to get pg to see what they think our options are.

Its frustrating. Good luck.
Jo