Hi everyone!!
So last I wrote....we were in the middle of a cycle when it was cancelled. Personally I had to reassess where we were. I had sperm issues and there was some thought by the doc that my wife's eggs might be poor quality. Now I'm not one to dismiss the experience of the professionals the stare at these number and develop protocols in their sleep, but often there are new variables that weren't considered.
Now I've read good sperm can make up for poor egg quality and good egg quality can make up for poor sperm, but if there are issues with both....where are you?
Here's what happened......I had just had bariatric surgery prior to our last cycle. It never dawned on me that there was any relationship between post surgery recovery, physiology of my reproductive system, and hormonal impact. There are mixed studies involving increased sperm quality post bariatric surgery, but what I will tell you is that my sperm was "dead on arrival" during our last cycle. Neither the doctor nor the urologist could explain it. After some additional reading, and other related conversations, it occurred to me that there is a period of time, post surgery, where the body is shutting down systems during ketosis and later during the initial phases of malabsorption. Once my body settled down and began to have enough energy, food, and hormonal activity, "systems" begin to spin up. By 8 months my sperm function was back to 4 years ago when we had our first successful IVF baby. It literally scared me to death. I have 3 jobs: give my wife her shots, cheer her on, and provide beautiful swimmers.......I didn't want to fail!
Both my wife and I had recommitted to our health and our well being. As a result, I lost 200 lbs and my wife lost more than 50. When we went back to the doctor we were prepared to talk about donor eggs and moving forward. Once he saw my sperm numbers and heard about our health change, he insisted that we do a new baseline test to see where we were. My wife's AMH and FSH had "returned" to the levels she was 3 years ago.......very unexpected. The result was one more IVF cycle.
We are on day 8 of STIM and my wife is responding beautifully. Her numbers are great and I've given my cryo backup sample and preparation for transfer. We are poised for something wonderful. Will keep you posted.
