My TTC Story (pre-AF spotting, MFI, varicocele repair, Tamoxifen)
Hi everyone
my name is Romi and I have been spending a lot of time on this forum.
I wanted to share my TTC story, which I hope will be helpful to some of you who have been struggling to conceive.
My DH (33) and I (36) have been TTC for 3,5 years and it has been an incredibly challenging time.
After one year, we were referred to a fertility clinic and we were classed as Unexplained Infertility.
We were offered IVF, but I was not ready for that, so we decided to keep going naturally ( I was also really busy finishing off a course).
Fast forward to 2017 and we went to another clinic ( I didnt feel comfortable in the first clinic) and the doctor said that he had taken a look at my DHs spermiograms (2 at that time) and that he felt the swimmers werent that great (first spermiograms was fine, second borderline motility).
He suggested going straight to IUI, which we did. And unfortunatly, the doctor was right - for the 2 IUIs we did, the post wash numbers were awful and my husband got diagnosed with OAT.
My gyno recommened Tamoxifen for my husband and our urologist recommended a varicole repair (variocele was found in 2105, but as first spermiogram was ok, nothing was done). The urologist made it clear to us, that the chances of improving my husband sperm werent great and that we shouldnt get our hopes up and that most couples with MFI have to do ICSI.
I never wanted to do IVF/ICSI (scared of needles, hormones...), so this was a massive blow for me.
My DH started taking the Tamoxifen end of June and he had the varicole repair Mid August.
He also stopped drinking alcohol completely for three months, also no baths or saunas (he used to have really hot baths and saunas all the time).
Long story short.
After the varicocele repair, we were scheduled to have our third IUI. Our urologist urged us to cancel the IUI, because the sperms usually deteriorate after the operation and doing an IUI would be pointless.
So I cancelled the IUI and we just had a "natural" cycle - I wasnt using OPKs, just checking my cm. We did the deed twice and what can I say, I got my first ever BFP last week!!!
We were going to do ICSI the next cycle, but we fell pregnant the natural way eventhough the odds were totally against us. I dont know what did the trick (the Tamoxifen, the not drinking....)
I remember reading a post from a lady with a similar story, who wrote that we should never let anyone take away our hope. That resonated with me....
Here is some info that may be useful to other ladies:
1) Pre AF spotting: This is something I have had in EVERY cycle since being TTC. Everytime I spotted, I prayed it was implementation bleeding and searched the internet for stories of ladies who were pre AF spotters and who spotted with their BFP cycle.
The cycle I got pregnant, I did NOT spot (just once at around 6 dpo, tiny bit of brown, but that wasnt my usual spottiing). That was a massive clue for me
2) Yellow CM: In BFN cycles I would sometimes have yellow watery cm just before AF hit. In my BFP cycle, I got thick yellow cm on 9dpo, 12dpo, 14dpo and 18dpo (my gyno says that goes with being pregnant)
3) CM before BFP: My CM did increase before my BFP (white thick or white milkey) and it has been increasing ever since
4) Symptoms before BFP: Apart from the yellow cm and the not spotting, I didnt really have any signs of pregnancy. No sore boobs, no nausea, nothing. The only thing I had was cramping and I usually dont cramp before AF (I would cramp on actual day of AF but never before).
Im sorry this is long, but I just wanted to share my experiences.
If your DH is suffering from OAT - hide his beer and dont let him use the bathtub or the sauna.
And never let anyone take away your hope!!!!
Baby Dust to all of you!
Romi