Follow Up and IVF Talk

We met with Dr. M this afternoon. I decided I wanted to talk about what I thought to be positive info first-the SA results. So last cycle we had 9.5 mil sperm and this time around 14 mil. Great! Then last time we had 31% motile sperm, this time 42%. Great! However, of the washed sperm, only 1% were motile- 500,000. I can't remember what it was last time but he said it was less this time than it had been previously. He would consider these SA results perhaps slightly better than last time. So perhaps not as positive info as I thought!!!

Then we moved onto the elephant in the room-the stupid hydrosalpinx. I always thought our little boy was a miracle. Now I know it! I pulled up research articles that had been published and with a hydro, chances of pregnancy are cut in half and that is with IVF, and if you consider that the fact that anyone gets pregnant on any given month, that's crap. Dr. M hit the nail on the head when we were discussing whether or not to correct this problem before proceeding with our cycle when he said, "If you don't fix it and the cycle doesn't work, you will think it was because of this." Damn if that isn't right! Sure, it could just be a failed cycle, happens all the time. But if I didn't have the hydro corrected I KNOW that I would think it must have been that, and even if I wasn't totally convinced of that irrational thought, I would always wonder "what if?"

So, the decision has been made and Dr. M is completely backing us. I will call my OB/GYN in the AM and try to get a surgery date set up ASAP to have this thing either removed or at least have that tube tied. Which brings me to my next issue to deal with emotionally and physically. The consequences of taking care of this issue. I asked about something I had read online on a forum about hydros where multiple people said that they not only had to have their tube removed but the corresponding ovary as well. This is a problem! So we discussed that and Dr. M didn't really feel that that was a necessary evil, but he did bring up something I had not considered. I figured if they had to remove the ovary then obviously I would have less eggs to retrieve when it came down to it. I just sort of figured that if the ovary was left in we would have those eggs as well. Not necessarily. The fallopian tube and ovary share a blood supply, so if we clamp the tube, we may be risking any follicles and resulting eggs from that ovary. It is an unfortunate situation, but I think I'd rather risk losing the response from that ovary than having fluid leak into my uterus and giving us dismal odds at pregnancy.

I will have the surgery, and per Dr. M request that Dr. A or whoever ends up doing my surgery try to preserve my right ovary as best as possible. Dr. M said that we could contact him as early as a month post-op to setup our mock transfer appointment and begin an IVF cycle. He tends to be a little more aggressive than some docs, he said that others would recommend waiting at least 8 weeks post-op to see if you get pregnant on your own. But given our male factor infertility issues, I think getting pregnant on our own may not be very feasible.

Please pray that we can get scheduled quickly and that the surgery is as atraumatic as possible!