Having a second opinion, will probably lead to a third, then possibly a fourth so on and so on. I have learned going to the appointment that no one doctor has similar opinions, and trying to decide the who's and what's and why's of this infertility thing may just take me having to get my own medical degree and treating us myself. ha.
With that said, I literally busted into tears sitting right there talking to the doctor on Tuesday.
I was, or I guess technically, still am SOOOO confused (more so at the two completely separate answers - not necessarily to the info given) and almost at the point of frustration at the same time excited and ready to get this party started...how's that for some mixed emotions.
So here goes the appointment review:
Hold on to your hats folks, we are about to take a rollarcoaster ride...
So this doctor, we had seen January 2011 back when we were recommended by a friend at the time to see a specialist to get a move on our baby having.
At the time (2011) Dr. Le - a Reproductive Endocrinology (RE) said that I am still young, and since Jason had a kid before, everything should work out for us, and if not, then we should consult my doctor, then proceed from there.
Cue July 2012.
We show up to the appointment I scheduled at the recomendation of Jason's urologist.
He welcomes us.
We explain, I had three rounds of Clomid cycles (round 1, round 2, round 3)with no pregnancy, and Jason was diagnosed with male factor infertility as a result of varicoses.
We also explain that the urologist says we need to look into having IVF - ICSI as that will be the only way for us to have children until Jason can lose 100 pounds and have the surgery to repair his veins.
Off the bat Dr. Le, says the that surgery suggested is unsuccessful at correcting male infertility issues and that he has only dealt two cases of men who had this surgery and it resulted in any kind of difference in their sperm shape.
WHHHHHHHHHHHHHAT? That's not what the urologist said......who do I believe? AHHHHHH.
Then looking at the sperm analysis (SA), Dr. Le said these three things 1)he questions the integrity of the results because it wasn't done at his lab and 2) says that egg penetration by the sperm have nothing to do with the shape of the little swimmers (not his terminology) but has everything to do with motility (how fast) and quantity. 3) for Jason to stay on the two meds the urologist has him on because they are improving his count and motility, even if it is just a little bit, an improvement is an improvement.
WHATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT? This whole time we are stressed about their shape.
Why is this?
Dr. Le explained that the shape has nothing to do with it because, if more of the little guys can make it through and into the uterus, then there will be more at the egg trying to get in, the more there are trying to get in, the more the egg wall is compromised and so there will be success in getting in. The problem is knowing the quality of the sperm getting in.....if it is bad dna, then the pregnancy would not be viable....good dna then things proceed......
I. WAS. SO. CONFUSED. (i am pretty sure this was about the point the doctor handed me the box of tissues and I felt like my head was spinning so.much.info. so little to compare it to from the urologist)
But Jason and I agreed, that what Dr. Le said made sense. He has had lots of experience on both the male and female side of reproduction, and we have physically seen his results.....so we will go with it.
so with this there is good news and bad news.....
Good News
- because shape has nothing to do with it, (cue tina turner in my head "whats shape got to do got to do with it.....) IUI should be the first thing to try.
- My insurance covers IUI
- IUI is quicker, less painful, and much much cheaper.
- I get to start this process as soon as I have my next period (which should be any day now)
- This clinic has super cheap rates for iui and ivf.
- Jason's surgery may not correct the shape, so therefore having kids naturally in the future may not be possible. ever. (minus that is a miracle from God....and we all must believe in those.)
- With IUI we have "natural" chances to conceive....and with every attempt naturally you only have a 15% chance of creating a baby!
- Once IUI has been tried and is unsuccessful, we are urged to go ahead with IVF - PICSI (the one with the p because if low quality sperm they want to make sure these attempts have a better success rate with a good dna cluster).
- IVF will still cost thousands and thousands of dollars.....can we say fundraisers! can I get an amen?
- on top of all the meds we may have to be taking, I now get to research suppliements aka : Male Prenatal vitamins....yay. not.
IUI is when they clean up Jason's sample, get the strongest of the swimmers and insert them into me on the optimal day, and let them do their jobs....naturally from that point. The procedure for me is similar to the past clomid regimen I was on....a little invasive, but nothing intolerable.
IVF is when they harvest many eggs from me (as many as my body will produce at one time could be two could be twenty) then the best of the best is taken from Jason's sample they are both directly put into a petri dish, and they do their job to meet up with each other. Then once they are fertilized, and monitored, two of the best developed embryos are then placed into my uterus on the appropriate day of my cycle (the day my body would have naturally had the eggs in the uterus) and then my body will accept or deny them. With this procedure, once the eggs are fertilized, there is at least a 65% success rate, with at least 50% of the successes are twins.
IVF - ICSI same as the regular IVF EXCEPT for instead of putting everyone in the petri dish, the lab will physically insert a sperm (remember, the best of the best) into the eggs.....the watching, and waiting and inserting into the uterus is still the same.
IVF - PICSI is the new one (there is a few hand drawn diagrams at the bottom of this post that was the doctors explanation.) same things as IVF-ICSI except before the egg and sperm are joined, the sperm go through a very rigorous test to make sure the dna quality will produce a viable embryo.
IVF - PICSI explained.
stay tuned......for updates, hopefully sooner rather than later!
Prim so glad you posted details! I was confused as well but now I understand, better, the journey you are on. Looks to me like you have LOTS of options! Options are good! Yea!
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