What to do for unexplained infertility?

[chicken]

I'm about to celebrate my 1st anniversary of TTC #1. It took 10 months to get my BFP only to m/c, but that's OK. At least I know I can get pregnant now, but I'm pretty sure that its not meant to be this difficult. My cycles are very regular, I'm positive I'm ovulating properly (temps confirm, and OPKs). We've had DH's spermies checked out, and they are perfect. And we are BDing all the time at the right time, so something is definitely up. I'm just wondering whether anyone else has had problems conceiving when no obvious physical problem exists? Has anyone been told of some reasons why?

I've heard of women that ovulate normally getting prescribed clomid to increase egg production (to increase the chances each month to two eggs instead of one). Anyone else heard of this?

[Bunny_79]

Hi, it's just seems all so easy for some and very hard for others to fall.

I have very regular cycles as well, have fallen preg twice lost both. So i would assume that i am ovulating but i tried the OPK and it never came up as a positive :banghead: and i have CM. Also when i lost the last one the Gyno did an ultrasound and said there were alot of eggs there and to try straight away. So i assumed i was ovulating!!

We have been trying now for 5 months and it's not happening either. They say that you only have so much of a % each month to concieve. What i don't understand is if you BD enough at the right time why isn't it happening.

Good luck hope it happens for you soon.:thumbsup:

[Livy]

I know how you feel Chicken - it is very frustrating isn't it. After 6 months of ttc I am already starting to feel like it's never going to happen. Meanwhile people around us seem to be concieving easily . I spoke to my Dr and she said that 9-18 months is not unusual for the average couple to concieve. The wierd thing is that I spent my teens and early twenties doing everything possible to make sure it didn't happen and it's only now that I have realised just how much of a miracle getting pregnant is. The only other thing that I can think of that is really important is fertile cervical mucus - and I am not too sure whether I have enough of it each month..... so I have been doing everything in the book to try to increase it. Anyway I really hope you get a BFP soon :fingerscrossed: Try to stay positive:)

[2boysfornow]

hey there, only new to this but I will give it a go and let u know my experiences.. With my first child it took a good 12months. I was starting to get very disheartened and eventually one healthy boy. With the second I never really went on any contraception in between and three or four mths later I found I was pregnant with my second..however after this I went on the depo(injection) for only a few months and now it has been 6 months and nothing..I understand that hasn't been long however I put it down to the contraception taken before starting..see I was using the depo injection for 5 years before my first and didn't have any problems until taking it again..now unfortunatly I just have to wait for it to clear my system I suppose..anyway don't get disheartened...keep smilling ;)

[collyspark]

hey chicken ,

i was reading my pregnancy book last night about conception and the like and it said the more you BD (close together) the less likely the sperm ejaculated will be able to penetrate the egg. I never really thought about that, but being the 7th (8th cycle) ttc it sorta does make sense, dh and i have been bding like rabbits some times 4 days in a row around O time, so going by what i read if we abstained for 2 days before O then BD on O and the day after our chances would improve hrmmm

What are your bd patterns like?

A friend (male) was telling me how he got his wife pg - (he bought it up and has no idea we are trying - weird). But said they tried for 12 months with nothing and then realised they were BDing to much and at the same time each day. Once they spiced the times up, AM, NOON, PM type thing they concieved the next month.

Worth a thought hun, i know how you feel completely tho!

x

[collyspark]

hey again,

just looked at my book and it says that sperm can move two to three millimetres per minute - which is SLOW, and this can decrease greatly depending of the acidicity of the envrironment (vagina) the higher the acidicity the slower they go. Once they reach the alkaline environment (cervix) they go much quicker.

This cements the whole legs in the air keep it in there type thing, and i must say based on the slower two - three mil per minute, i dont think i have my bum in the air long enough.

just fgod for thought

:fingerscrossed: chicken

[chicken]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

Livy - I've been starting to suspect that my lack of CM may be playing a part - acidic environment killing sperm!!! Having said that, I had heaps of CM in my first few months coming off the pill and didn't have any success then either. What have you been doing to increase CM? I tried taking evening primrose oil, but that didn't do anything.

Collyspark - its funny you should say that because DH and I have already talked about 'saving up his sperm' this cycle. Last cycle, we BD'd for six days straight prior to O and FF said we had a 'high' chance of conceiving, but obviously something wasn't working. I've been really confused about how often to BD. I read this that made me think BDing often was the way to go:

"There has been some speculation that couples who are trying to conceive should reduce the frequency of sexual intercourse during the fertile window to increase sperm supply. This is not true for most couples. While couples with known male factor issues should consult their doctor for the best intercourse strategy, couples with normal fertility and no known sperm issues should not reduce the frequency of intercourse in the fertile window. Your probability of conception is increased when you have intercourse multiple times in your fertile window. Each additional act of intercourse within your fertile window increases your probability of conception for that cycle."

But I know the month I actually did get pregnant, we only did it every second day, so I think we might go back to that. I think DH will be somewhat relieved!!:D

[little_fish]

I'm with all of you. I know the medical people say it can take 9-12 months, but boy does that seem like along time from where I'm sitting!

It's interesting that you're all talking about fertile CM. I was worried about my CM in the first few months, and took EPO for a while there, but this month I have stopped worrying about it. I find it impossible to tell what it's like when we BD through the fertile period anyway and then I was also thinking when we go to BD (TMI warning!! :eek: ) I always create so much CM that I wonder if it matters how much EWCM you had to start with. Does anyone know if the CM you produce from BD is the same as the CM you produce around O (sperm friendliness wise)?

I've heard that every second night is the way to go, but who knows how scientific that is...

[Livy]

I too have been taking EPO - but I have also been drinking green tea and lots of water. I have also heard that grapefruit juice leading up to "o" can help create more EWCM and the other thing I have been told to try is Robitussin cough medicine - I have heard some success stories about this. It is supposed to loosen and thin the mucus in your body (incl EWCM). Who knows if any of it really does work - but I am willing to give most things a go. I have also read that getting your dh to take vitamin E and zinc helps boost the lil swimmers. I think I am reading way too many books .... lol :yes: I just hope we all do not have to wait too much longer :)

[trisha24]

Hi Chicken,

We've been trying just over a year now. I have very irregular cycles, but no reason why. For a month or two at the start of the year we took a break, kinda lost hope, but now I am clucky again and we're just waiting for the next cycle to start (I am at day 130 of this one - I know - 4 months). The doctor I saw this week was great, he's going to see me fortnightly, he suggested red & orange vegetables (capsicum, tomato etc) for the swimmers, and wants me to cut sugars, dairy as much as possible, white breads etc, and have more water, fresh meat & veg etc. So there's a few things to try. All my friends have 2-4 kids by now, including one with endrimetriosis, how sucky is that! All I can say is keep trying, search the net & read as many books as possible - worth trying anything!!