Is this "infertility"?

[DynamiteA]

Hi all, complete newbie here, looking forward to being part of the group.

I am trying to figure out if what my husband and I are experiencing is "infertility" and if so, what steps to take next.

We both recently turned 32. Last October, I went off hormonal birth control and we started having unprotected sex, trying to conceive. I didn't chart or temp, didn't track ovulation in any way.

After three months of that, I started charting. Looks like I have your basic 29-day cycle, with ovulation right around day 14 to 16. I've also been using OPKs for extra info, and get dark positives on those right around day 13 or 14. We have 3-4 instances of sex between day 11 and 17. Also used preseed, took all the recommended supplements (EPO, B-complex, etc) and green tea, grapefruit juice.

No positive pregnancy test yet! So it's been a year, but only 9 months of well-timed sex.

I had really light periods until a few months ago so had blood tests and everything was looking good re: hormones. Husband had an SA a couple months ago just for the heck of it, and his sperm looked excellent.

So, what to do next? Try for a few more months? If so, how many? Then what? Anything else we should try?

Thanks for reading and any advice you can give! Looking forward to more "conversations" with you all.

[mamastotwo]

I would go with how you are feeling. You can of course keep trying on your own and have fun. But if you are feeling some anxiety or urgency then you can do a consult with an RE. Or for a natural route you could consult with a acupuncturist/chinese herbalist who specializes in fertility. Go with your gut and good luck.

[cristeen]

Most REs won't see you until you've been trying at least a year. Whether they'll count your first three months or not is anyone's guess. I agree with the pp, I'd look into accupuncture and Chinese Medicine while waiting to get in to see the RE. Since you are obviously ovulating and your DP has swimmers, I'd think alternative medicine would have more to offer you than an RE right at this time. Western medicine doesn't have a whole lot to offer people in your situation short of an IUI.

One thing you don't mention is how your cervical mucus is around ovulation time.

[savithny]

Originally Posted by DynamiteA

Thanks for reading and any advice you can give! Looking forward to more "conversations" with you all.

I agree with PP - how are your other fertility signs?

Some women have fertile cervical mucous further out from O than others, making their most fertile days not actually O-day or the day before, but even O-2 or O-3. Day 17, meanwhile, is almost certainly too late. For many women, the mucus dries up right when the egg pops out, meaning that sex at or after the point of ovulation isn't going to get the job done. You need to have the sperm there waiting.... which means, if you're ovulating on CD15 or CD16, focusing your efforts on days 10-15

Have you read Taking Charge of Your Fertility and started paying attention to your mucus (yeah, I know that sounds gross... but...)

I concieved fairly quickly when we first tried, but miscarried at 12 weeks and then it took nearly a year to get pregnant again, in large part because my hormones whacked out and I didn't produce much good cervical mucous the whole time.

[kristinc]

I would try taking vitex also. It really gave me good cervical fluid that i wasn't producing prior. Also it moved my o date from day 14-16 to day 10-13 which gives me a better luteal phase. Before I was just 10 days for a luteal phase which is barely adequate.

[kittykorat]

I woud talk to your gyn.
Usually after age 30 one year of unprotected sex = infertility, and if you charted for 6 months of that you have extra proof.

Sounds like you have decent cycles. Does your temp shift after o look good? You said hormones look good- did they just do a general test? I know when i started they did a cd3, cd 21 and 28 hormone levels because they wanted to see the levels change appropriately. My progesterone was on the low side...

You may end up seeing an RE, but start with your ob/gyn and go from there.
There may be a long wait to see an RE and the process of testing takes months... might as well start getting things lined up.
If the swimmers and your hormones/cycls look good they may want to do a hysterosalpingogram to make sure your tubes are clear.

I have endometriosis- first son is a clomid baby, 2nd son IVF baby (my tubes are scarred)

[aphlbrck]

Definately read "Taking charge of your Fertility" it's really helpful...I would consider setting up an apt with at RE though...I had the same problem trying to get pregnant with my 2nd and it turned out that my hormones were messed up but the hormone that was off (estrodial) was not something that my regular Gyn, who told me everything was fine, checked out. I needed a pretty strong dose of Clomid to concieve. Much luck to you!!!

[gemasita]

I guess because of my own experience, I would tell you to go ahead and see an RE.

I read "Taking Charge of your Fertility" and charted for a year to avoid getting pregnant so by the time we started TTC, I knew my body pretty well. Great cervical fluid, always ovulated right on time. Well, turns out that my tubes were damaged when my appendix burst years before. I had no way of knowing based on my fertility signs that there was a problem. We had just started looking into acupuncture but I ended up in emergency surgery with an ovarian infection (probably festering for years) and that's the only thing that got me into an RE's office. I did waste almost a year while we were trying so now I'm a pretty big proponent of getting tested early.