Anyone ttc for one year or more with no positive tests?
39 Replies
Lin - October 10

Thanks so much, Mega. It's nice to talk to people who can relate. You know, I honestly think I'd be relieved to hear that the problem is with me. I've suspected it may be from the start due to having adhesions from the lap 3 years ago. I hope so much that the issue is not with my husband, because he's been so wonderful through all my tears. I would hate to find out that he has a low sperm count or motility and then have him feel guilty about me being upset. I could never forgive myself. He's been so wonderful and strong through this, I just hope I haven't taken advantage of that strength. He is everything to me, and I hope I've let him know enough how much more important he is than any baby.

 

MelissaV - October 11

3 years, 3 months and NEVER a +. 1 HSG, 1 lap, dx with endo....

 

Mega - October 11

You're welcome Lin. I think since in our case the issue lies with both DH & I we were able to bypass the blame game, which was nice. But really male issues & female issues aren't anyones fault, but sadly self-blame is common. But regardless of where the issue lies with you & your DH I'm sure you'll be supportive of each other during this time. And no matter what the issue is, technology these days is pretty advanced, there's still lots of hope you'll soon be holding that precious baby in your arms. Good luck! Let us know how your HSG goes Friday.

 

slowpoke01 - October 11

hey girls i have been trying for almost 10 years i think. dh and i have never used any form of birth control. all my tests come back normal. i did 2 iui's. the 2nd iui was in august i did clomid and follicle monitoring and hcg trigger shot and had iui on aug. 11th 2 weeks later i found out i was pregnant and then on sept 9th i found out that it was a tubal pregnancy so i had to terminate it. dont give up hope. look how long i have tried, even though i didnt go to the doctor for any testing until april 2006 i still tried for a long time naturally before i decided it was time to get more aggressive. i now have to wait until dec. to try again, but i know now that i can get pregnant which gives me hope.i have had the hsg test, post coitel, progesterone levels checked. i ovulate on my own and dh is thought to be the reason i havent gotten pregnant so dh decided instead of spending tons of money to fix him to just use a little and use a donor so that was what we did. i got pregnant the 2nd iui but like i said i had to terminate because it was tubal. the doc agreed with dh. he said that alot of times couples think that they can fix the sperm, but he said in alot of cases if the man has a sperm problem even doing iui the problem is still there, so he thought that dh's decision to use a donor was a good decision. the 2nd month using a donor i got pregnant so i guess that it was a good decision. i cant wait until dec to try again. everyone on here has been through alot of stuff and it is hard but we get through it because each of us that is going through some type of fertility problem are really strong people. we have our days where we are a mess but we get through them because we know that if we want to achieve our dream of having kids that we have to get through it. it gets really hard sometimes and we all think that we are the only ones going through it but then we get on here and see that there are alot of other women in the same shoes that we are in. i have no kids but i know in my heart that i will have kids someday and that i will enjoy and appreciate them more because i had to put alot of effort into having them. i think that some couples take it for granted that they can have kids because it comes so easy for them and that couples like us that have to work at it and go through the emotional rollercoaster that we go through to have kids really do appreciate the gift that we are given when it happens. good luck to you all.

 

Lin - October 11

Slowpoke, what was the problem with your husband's sperm? Low count, motility, morphology? I just found out this morning that my husband's morphology is only 1% and that we have virtually no chance of conceiving naturally. We aren't even candidates for IUI. The doctor said our only hope is with IVF. I honestly don't think I could ever do the sperm donor thing. If I can't get pregnant with my husband's sperm, then I would rather not get pregnant at all. I want our baby to either be part of both of us or neither. I think that if IVF doesn't work, I would rather go the adoption route. Can I ask what made you go with a sperm donor?

 

Becca - October 11

Wow, Lin! I am sorry to hear about your dh's morphology. What does that mean exactly? Well, I know that even though it is not good news, at least you have an answer, and you know your next move! IVF has a very high sucess rate, so maybe you should give it a try! Also I know there are alot of natural suppliments and vitamins that your dh can take to help improve his swimmers, so maybe you might want to try that to get ready for the IVF. There is a girl in the "clomid club" on the signs of board who has her dh on a kinds of suppliments and things and he has seen great improvement in the quality of his sperm. You should ask her what he is doing. Keep us updated on what you decide to do.

 

HeatherP - October 12

Hi Lin. I am in a similar situation with DH's count/morphology. We have had 4 failed IUI's and have just decided to go for IVF this month. They will be using ICSI along with IVF, where they inject the sperm directly into the egg. My RE said this bypasses DH having a morph problem. I am soooo nervous as I wasn't prepared to go to IVF this soon but my RE has a 68% success rate with IVF. I figure why waste time with treatments that "might" work and go for the one with the highest success rate. Does your insurance cover any of the expenses of IVF? Wishing you lots of luck!!

 

Lin - October 12

Hi Becca and Heather! Becca - are you by any chance referring to Jeanette? I just posted on the pregnancy signs forum to get a recipe from her for a suppliment concoction for my hubby yesterday. She knows her suppliments. I drove out to the nearest GNC to get Fertility Blend for Men, which is what my doc recommended, but they were unfortunately closed. : ( I'm going to rush out there after work today to get some and perhaps some additional vitamins that might not be in that blend. If you have any other recommendations, I'm happy to hear them! Thanks! Heather - I think we'll probably be doing the IVF with ICSI as well. His morphology isn't high enough to bother with IUI (which apparently requires a min of 6%, and his is 1%). Good luck with your IVF cycles!!! We should start a new thread for people new to IVF. I know there are already a few, but they were already so long I didn't want to join them so late. Unfortunately, my insurance doesn't cover IVF, so I'm looking into the Shared Risk Refund Plan, which my clinic participates in. I'll certainly make sure to move to a state or country that requires insurance to cover it before doing this again!

 

Becca - October 12

Oh my gosh, Lin, I'm such a ditz sometimes! I totally forgot to tell you her name! LOL! No, It's not Jeanette, although, she does know her suppliments. It's Tonia from the clomid club. She has her dh on all kinds of stuff, and has seen SIGNIFICANT improvement! You should ask her, I'm sure she would be very willing to share with you.

 

Becca - October 12

Heather, good luck with IVF! I didn't know the success rates were so high! That's wonderful news!

 

HeatherP - October 16

Hi girls! Just wanted to say hello and see how you all were doing. I start my injections this Saturday. I'm getting so nervous!! Lin, when do you think you will be beginning the IVF process? I would love to start a new thread for IVF newbies! Becca - the success rates are very good for IVF but they do vary from clinic to clinic. Fortunately I found one of the best clinics in the Dallas area. Keeping my fingers crossed that this procedure will be successful. Good luck to everyone!!

 

karenmarcos - October 16

Well, its been a year and one month and no positives. Ive been on everything you can imagine but nothing, weird this is the doc. says im perfectly healthy and so is my hubby. Weird huh, i am about to just give up,!!!!! Maybe it will happen if i dont think about it anymore although its hard not to. i want to be a mommy!!! I want a healthy baby,

 

Lin - October 16

Wow Heather, how exciting to get started! Good luck this month!!! We haven't made any official decision yet regarding IVF, particularly because we'd have to do a major financial assessment to see if we can qualify for a $25,000 loan to do it (our clinic does the shared risk program). We're both just out of grad school, so even though we're making good money, we've got mounds of debt already and no collateral. I've just put my hubby on a pretty heavy supplement regimen, including Pycnogenol, Lycopene, Coenzyme Q10, L-Carnitine, L-Arginine, E, C, B-6, B-12, Zinc, Selenium and probably a couple others I can't think of off the top of my head. The Pycnogenol in particular is supposed to help with morphology. I spoke to one woman who said that it brought her husband's morphology from 10% to 60% in just 3 months! I figure that if we see an increase in his morphology at the next SA (in a couple weeks), then maybe we'll hold off on the IVF and see if we can work with IUI first and hope for some further improvement over the next few months. karenmarcos - welcome! So have you done a full initial infertility workup (i.e. SA, ultrasound, HSG, etc.)?

 

Tink - October 16

I am in the same boat too. you are surely not alone- look at all these posts. I've been trying for 18 months. NO BFP ever. NO kids. NO m/c or anything else. I've been off BC for 5 years. Done charting, 4 mos on clomid, then 2 IUIs with clomid (7 follies each time), die test (clear) and now doing a lap in a few days. It is so frustrating. I am healthy, athletic and not overweight. but still no BFP for me. I am hoping they find lots of scar tissue and that that is the hold up. weird, huh, hoping for scar tissue? lol. they don't know my problem for sure- i have a narrow cervix, DH motility is slightly below avg, but shouldn't stop us. I am guessing implantation is the problem. i respond extremely well to lose doses of clomid, so follies aren't it.

 

Lin - October 17

Hey Tink, have you ever considered trying Instead cups? I've heard of lots of women using them to hold the spermies up near the cervix after sex. In fact, I was googling information on them and found something about the company that makes them trying to patent them specifically for use as a fertility aid (they're normally a tampon replacement). I just picked a package up today. Now that we're seriously facing the prospect of IVF, I'm pretty eager to try every last thing before actually making the official decision...

 

Becca - October 17

Lin, I hope all those suppliments work for you. Yes, I've also read about instead cups. I actually purchased some a couple of months ago since my AF is so heavy, I thought they might help me to get through the night without making a mess. They worked really well, but I woke up around 5 am with INTENSE abdominal pain. I don't know if I had it in wrong or not, but I wouldn't advise wearing them overnight. 4-5 would be the max I would reccomend from personal experience. I might give them a try for holding sperm though. The more the merrier, right? Tink and Karen, I feel your pain. I am nearing the 2 year mark with never a bfp, and dx of nothing wrong. Heather, good luck with the IVF.

 

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