Monday, July 9, 2012

Conceiving Naturally with a Low Sperm count and Low Sperm Motility

If you are reading this, I am hoping that some of these tips can be helpful to you.


Things that I Learned:

1.)REs know nothing about penises. They don't understand varicoceles and will always tell you that it doesn't work. They have very little insight into male infertility issues and really will only look at the woman. The gestalt of it just isn't there. Your man and his cup is the only thing that an RE is interested in. You can ask them for their opinions, but really, they are very well versed on female hormones and reproductive system, but trust a urologist and/or a male fertility specialist when it comes to sperm.

2.) REs are in a hurry to get you pregnant and now. They are on a biological time clock and they don't think that a varicocele fix is a good idea because it takes time. Mostly their logic is, "by the time this works, you could have a baby..."

3.)Get your FSH and hormone levels checked. If it looks good, there's no reason to rush into IVF, unless you absolutely want to be pregnant immediately.

4.)Don't let someone tell you there's something wrong with you. Get a second, third, fourth, fifth opinion.

5.)Go with your gut. Even though everyone said varicocele surgery would only make things worse and IVF was the only way to go, I deeply felt that it was the way to go.

6.)Keep those cell phones away from your husband's testicles.

7.)Vitamins might have actually really helped. My husband's total motile count did go from 2.4 million to 8.4 million before doing any surgery, just by taking supplements.

8.)Peeing on sticks can make you crazy. If you've been peeing on sticks, you know roughly when you ovulate. Don't do the every other day thing. A few days before you think you ovulate, start having sex. Do it every day until you're sure that you're done.

9.)Have sex when you know that you're definitely not ovulating. Baby making sex is awful and you need to make your sex life fun. Fertility issues are a bitch and you need to release stress and tension. You need to bond with each other and remember that sex can be fun. Putting your legs behind your neck can be for fun rather than gravity.

10.)3 daily cups of Green Tea, Vitamin B-6, and 3000 mg of Evening Primrose Oil from Cycle Day 1- Cycle Day 13 can really help your cervical mucus.

11.)Meditation and Yoga and guided visualizations are super helpful as well.  One to try.


*List of Supplements My Husband Took:

1.)Vitamin E (one pill)
2.)Acetyl L-Carnitine (one pill)
3.)L-Carnitine Fumarate (one pill)
4.)Folic Acid (800 mcg)
5.)Fertile Aid For Him (The instructions say 3 pills, but my husband only took 2 because he said they were gross)
6.)New Chapter Everyman Multi (one per day)
7.)L-Arganine (2 pills)
8.)CoQ10 (400 + mg per day. Super important for motility- My husband did the chewable ones)
9.)B-Complex (one pill)
10.)D3 (2000 IU's per day)

So, I hope that this can help someone who is going through the same thing that we were a year and a half ago. If you have any questions for me, just leave them in the comments. I'm happy to check back and answer.

Good Luck and Baby Dust...


*These vitamins are all linked to Amazon, but we just got all our vitamins from Whole Foods. You can do that, or Target, or Walgreens, or Costco or whatever.