We decided to seek a slightly more thorough examination of Sam after our third failed IUI. The reason was specifically due to numbers. Here are our numbers:
SA #1- 72 hours abstinence, 220 million, 4.2ml, 55% motility, 6% morphology
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IUI #1- 50 hours abstinence, 140 million, 44 million post wash, 31.5% survival rate
IUI #2- 30 hours abstinence, 110 million, 16 million post wash, 14.5% survival rate
IUI #3- 35 hours abstinence, 298 million, 11 million post wash, 3.7% survival rate
My doctor at ACRM always assured us that everything was completely fine as long as we had 5 million post wash. However, you can understand my frustration when upon hearing that we had MORE THAN DOUBLE the total motile sperm in our third and final IUI than in our previous best and yet only a QUARTER of the post wash numbers.
We met with the Urologist at RBA very briefly during a new patient seminar back in November. We very quickly explained the survival rates and he agreed that this might be cause for concern. He informed us that they like to see at least 50% survive the wash treatment. He recommended that we schedule an appointment before having any additional treatments or tests. So we did. Sam had his appointment last Monday.
Side note rant: get ready ladies… Think back all of you infertiles and you will probably find like a zillion slightly to severely embarrassing moments in which your husband was in the room. Sam likes to hum the whole, "ba da da da dum" stripper song, while I undress, point out awkward things in the office, and chuckle as I attempt to cover all the pertinent parts with my paper sheet. Most recent embarrassing moment for me was when Dr. Massey asked if I had lots of facial hair. Unsatisfied with my answer, he decided to give my chin a good rub. Good grief! A girl deserves a few secrets. Now get this, before Sam's exam, the doctor politely asked me to LEAVE THE ROOM. I'm sorry, but huh? I have to spread my legs in the stirrups over and over and over again, and no one says, "Amanda, would you like some privacy?" My answer would be "no," but still. Anyway, I digress.
The consultation didn't yield much. The doctor did think it unusual that so many swimmers died in the wash, but he still said that the numbers were sufficient to provide pregnancy. Those that survived the wash were high quality, grade 3 and 4. The only thing that the exam did yield was the presence of varicose veins, also known as varicoceles. This may or may not turn out to be anything. We won't know until further testing (an ultrasound) can be done. He has also requested additional blood work and semen analysis.
We are looking at Sam's LH, which stimulates testosterone; FSH, which stimulates sperm, PRL, and testosterone. As far as the semen, he wants to do another analysis (we've technically only done one); another test wash; a Hyaluronan Binding Assay test, basically looks at the sperm's ability to penetrate the egg; and an Immunobead test, which looks at antibodies that might kill the sperm.
After the ultrasound and all of those test results are back in, we will meet with the Urologist again to see if there is any reason to suspect any level of MFI. If there is anything, we will obviously discuss treatment options prior to moving on to IVF. This will also tell us if we will need ICSI if we ever do get to IVF.
If you are equally flabbergasted and confused by all the maleness going on, welcome to my world. We've entered the land of the unknown, ladies and gentleman. The good news is that this gives me a lot of dates with Dr. Google as I research what the heck all of this means. But Man Stuff is CONFUSING and full of awful words that I don't like to say… gross!
wow. I am confused! I honestly have never seen so many high numbers in my life! I'm very surprised they would even consider MFI! We have 0, send some to us ;)
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