What was the reason of your infertility?

[vicky7752]

When the infertility appears there are many reasons which can cause it. From the medical disorders of a man or a woman body till the life style. What was your story? What you personally do to support your pregnancy?

[Amy1122]

I am on my 3rd round of ivf.

I have high prolactin & PCOS. My husband has low sperm count and low motility.

I’ve been trying to conceive for 4 years.

I am 26 (27 in 6 days!)

Husband is 31.

I have tried everything, acupuncture, so many vitamins.. ovulation tests etc.. and have had 2 failed ivf s.

I am praying this is my final round and I am going to get pregnant this time. I am praying! I am currently on day 7 of stims so egg collection should be next week! Xx

[Beanybeanz]

-Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism (Levothyroxine to sort)

-High prolactin (Bromocriptine drug to sort June 2020 + MRI to check it wasn’t a {harmless} tumour on pituitary gland- it wasn’t, nothing there, unexplained)

-Mild endometriosis and ovary stuck to my pelvic wall + cyst (found by accident during investigative laparoscopy -sorted January 2019)

- poor morphology but they were undecided as to whether this would make a difference as all other sperm things were good

Lots of faffy little bits to sort out for me! In a strange way i loved it when they found something wrong cause I knew it could be fixed!

All found incidentally - never any symptoms of any of these things literally only found all of them when fertility investigations started

First round of ICSI started in august, now 32 weeks pregnant.

Xx

[Sparklylife]

Told unexplained (for now anyway). All standard tests done in the run up to fertility treatment came back as normal for both me and partner. Me - 36 years old

Partner - 36 years old

Both non smokers, active and BMI within normal limits.

Stopped taking birth control in Sept 2016.

Found a large intramural fibroid on scan - not cause of infertility, but high risk of preterm labour/late miscarriage if ever success with ivf due to size - Myomectomy Sept 2019.

1st round of ivf end of 2020 - 2 blastocysts. Currently 21 weeks pregnant from this round 🤞

3 new intramural fibroids seen on scan at 12 weeks - currently just having more uss to monitor them during pregnancy.

Personally I just ensured I kept being healthy - eating well - fibre, veg, fruit, fish/meat and reduce sugar intake, hydrate, exercise/active. I have also not had alcohol for probably over 2 years now - it was always just in case as we were hoping it would happen naturally.

I also changed my job in 2018 to reduce stress and started working on mindfulness techniques so I could use those if I recognised stressors in my life.

I have been taking folic acid and vitamin D for years now too. 3 months before ivf - I started some fertility supplements with folic acid in it and also added in Omega 3 capsules as I do not get enough fish in my diet.

Just wanted to wish you all the best - wherever you are in your journey! 💫 Xx

[XOXO13]

- Stopped taking pill at age of 24, I’m 31 now. I had hormonal blood tests done when I was 27 which showed acute endometrium cyst and raised thyroid levels. I started thyroxine to lower TSH from 5+ to below 2.5. Other than that, everything looked okay.

-1x natural pregnancy that ended in miscarriage at 13+1 (no heartbeat found at 12+5) in March 2020. This triggered our investigations and what was then the start of our IVF journey. I couldn’t accept that it had taken so long to have one pregnancy and then it had ended. All tests were done privately.

- All my tests were normal. I was ovulating every month and nothing flagged as a concern. Husbands identified only 1% sperm morphology, but count and motility good. We were referred to our fertility specialist at this point who advised that we would have a less than 5% chance of natural pregnancy within a year and suggested we move forward with ICSI, which we did in September 2020.

- Before starting IVF, I started reflexology for three months (before and during treatment). Months before we had also removed all parabens, sulphates and any harmful products from our house. This included household cleaning products, plastic and beauty products (my makeup bag cost me a fortune to replace!)

- I stopped high intensity exercise and replaced it with yoga and pilates which I still practice. I also started journaling.

- First fresh cycle resulted in 7 eggs with 100% fertilisation rate and 6 eggs made it to blastocysts. 1x 5AA hatching blastocysts transferred and sadly failed.

- HyCoSy performed after first failed transfer and all clear. Further bloods checked that showed my TSH has risen again, so my thyroxine dose was increased to 50mg.

- I stopped reflexology and started acupuncture in December, ahead of my FET. He told me I had a poor spleen and digestive system. I swapped cold foods to hot and my usually irritated stomach improved overnight and my feet not as cold!

- FET #1 started December 2020. I transferred 1x 4AA blastocyst. I drank red leaf tea prior to transfer and drank pom juice, ate pineapple core and Brazil nuts post transfer. During treatment, I developed a lump on my throat and really sore neck. I was referred to a specialist doctor who ran some tests after I got a BFN. Turns out the lump was nothing to worry about (normal reactive lymph node) but he had found that I had a raised anti-cardiolipin which apparently can be linked to miscarriage and failed implantation.

- FET #2 kicked off in March, and I’m currently 7dp5dt with 2x 3AB blastocysts onboard. We chose to proceed with two to increase the chance of at least one implanting. If both do then we would be grateful also for twins! This time I had progesterone checked before transfer (they came back as 40) and I’m on heparin and aspirin daily too so I’m hoping this helps! I’ve continued with warm foods and keeping my feet warm, resting but also walking. I’ve taken 4 weeks off work to help eliminate further stress.

I have let IVF control my life, which isn’t necessarily healthy but it’s the only thing I can control in this uncontrollable situation! Praying this is my last transfer and that it works 🤞🏻🍀 xx

[AndRelax]

Mine was unexplained but husband had low count on everything. I was misdiagnosed with PCOS when I was younger but told there was no sign of it during investigations. I ovulated but routinley started my period 5 days after ovulation so have a very short luteal phase. They couldn't ever find the cause but out of 3 rounds of ICSI, we have been lucky enough for 2 of them to have worked.

Things that my husband did included totally stopping alcohol, exercise and taking a multi-vitamin. I took a food source pregnancy vitamin and omega 3, swapped high intensity exercise for walking and did accupuncture Xx

[Uklondon786]

Low sperm count my age is 30 my wife has tested and doctors say her tests have come back normal . In the last two years in this journey my sperm counts have improved due to exercise and diet changes .

First round of icsi failed 1 blastocyst didn't stick. Thinking of going abroad for next round . Wish us luck