Conference turris::womannotes-v2

    Re .1, I am a woman.
    
    
    Bernie

    Bernie,
    
    I have been through the some of the Fertility tests and after trying
    for 2 years, I now have a beautiful 5 month old baby girl.
    
    The first test that your doctor will do is to have your husband tested
    for low sperm count (there is only one test for a man so they like to
    single him out first).  After that the doctor will have you take your
    tempature every month to see if you are ovulating (another way to see 
    if you are ovulating is to buy the ovulation kits that they sell
    in the pharmacies).  After they determine whether you are ovulating
    he will schedule a Hysterolpinogram (spelling?).  This test is when
    they inject your tubes with a clear dye to see if they are clear.  He
    may take some additional blood tests.
    
    The above tests are what they did with me and they determined that I
    was not ovulating and that with a little help of Fertility Pills I
    would ovulate.  I did not conceive until 6 months of being on the
    pills.
    
    If you are ovulating I know that he will do a test in his office. 
    After you and your husband have had relations he will take a culture
    sometimes the woman will kill the man's sperm.  If this is the case
    I believe that there is a medication that will help.
    
    Please don't get discouraged, it is amazing what modern technology
    can do these days.
    
    If you need to talk, or need some encouragement you can send me mail
    or call me.  PARVAX::BENNETT DTN 335-6822
    
    Good luck,
    Bethany
    
    The above is only what I experienced.
    
    
    

    There are discussions of infertility and the related tests at:
    
    womannotes-V1
    253 - infertility
    
    Medical
    314 - infertility
    
    -Jody
    

    What node is the Medical Conference on?

    it is at hydra::medical
    
    press the 7 on your key pad to add this conference to your note book.
    
    Bonnie

    Just to add a bit to .3, there are a few more tests that can be done. 
    The doctor will have you and your husband have intercourse at home, and
    then go in for a post-coital check-up which is just an internal exam
    where they check to see if your mucus has changed to the right
    consistency to give the sperm a friendly environment, and to see if the
    sperm are living.  It is possible that there is not enough mucus, or
    that the mucus quality is poor, or that the mucus remains hostile to
    the sperm, or that your body creates antibodies (your body thinks sperm
    is an infection and kills it -- I'm an expert on this one).  Some of
    this is fixable by medication, but there is no current
    fix/cure/whatever for sperm antibodies, and it requires assisted
    reproductive techniques such as GIFT and IVF to conceive.  By the way,
    I found post coitals to be the most frustrating test since it has to be
    done on the day of ovulation, and if you don't ovulate regularly like
    me, then you can do this one for months before they get the right day. 
    I had it done 12 times in 8 months since, if it is too early, it can be
    repeated in a single cylce.
    
    Also, they will check your uterine lining by doing an endometrial
    biopsy.  This one can be painful or just uncomfortable.  I've had it
    both ways.  They scrape your uterine lining to see if it is developing
    lush enough to support a pregnancy, or if you have a luteal phase
    defect which can be either a short or extra-long cycle.  I have a short
    cycle luteal phase defect, and can give you more details on that, too,
    if you want.  They can help this by giving you fertility drugs
    (typically, Clomid).
    
    There are some more advanced tests and procedures.  How much
    information do you want right now?  I've got a ton of stuff since we've
    been going through this for so long, and they seem to find a problem
    with every test (we're up to 5 things, and they're all mine), which
    means that you may want to continue testing even if they find something
    right away if you still aren't conceiving.
    
    When they are at the end of the testing, and before you do anything
    like Intrauterine Insemination (IUI), GIFT, or IVF, the doctor will
    perform a laparoscopy which is day surgery (there's a note in V1, I
    think, on this procedure).  This is to see if you have any
    endometriosis or other internal problems that can be corrected and
    might be causing problems.
    
    If you want more information on this, please feel free to send me mail
    at AKOV12::GIUNTA (that will be changing in about 2 weeks when I
    transfer, but ELF will get updated), or call me.  I don't mind talking
    about it, and I do have lots of info to share.
    
    Best of luck.  It can be a long process, so be patient.
    
    Cathy

also, in HELPME::PARENTING:

   310       SONATA::STEWART      20-JAN-1988    33  INFERTILITY FRUSTRATIONS
  1245        WMOIS::D_ALEXANDER  23-MAY-1989    86  INFERTILITY ANYONE???
  1319       USWAV1::DOLIMPIO     14-JUN-1989     2  secondary infertility
  1330          TCC::HEFFEL       20-JUN-1989     2  Caffeine and Fertility
  1340        DELNI::MICOZZI      23-JUN-1989     3  Infertility Counseling in N
H
  1703        TUNER::CLEMENT      20-NOV-1989     3  HCG SHOTS AND SECONDARY INF
ERTILITY

    Thanks for all the information, you have all helped me alot.
    
    Re:.3 and .7, I tried to send you on a mail message, but it was
    sent back to me with a failed to deliver message attached.
    
    If you would like to contact me, my mail address is:
    
    MACNAS::BHARMON @ GAO
    
    Failing that, my home address is:
    
    Bernie Harmon,
    112, Lurgan Park,
    Galway,
    Ireland.
    
    I would be very greatful for more information from you both.

    
    
    Bernie

    I don't know why the mail wasn't delivered, though misspelling my name
    is a popular reason (those vowels seem to confuse everyone).
    
    What other questions do you have?  I'll answer here, if you don't mind. 
    I'm sure other people will have some input, and some people who may be
    dealing with infertility might find it helpful.
    
    Cathy

    I am going thru the same thing at this moment.  I am almost 30 and
    have been married for 5 years.
    
    I know I ovulate.  My periods are 27 days which include mood changes
    and breast tenderness, mucus discharges, etc ...
    
    My husband and I had a post-coital test on day 14 and it was fine.
    I had two lab tests done for Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma.  The ureaplasma
    result was positive and both of us will be taking tetracycline for 10
    days (yuk!).  Ureaplasma is "believed" to "perhaps" be a cause on
    infertility.
    
    Since my husbands sperm count was good, the OBGYN suggested that we
    start intercourse on the 10th thru the 20th day after the 1st day of
    menstruation, either every day or every other day.
    
    I also bought a book by the name of "How to Get Pregnant" by Dr Silber 
    and found it to be very good.  I recommend it highly.
    
    Even though I know I ovulate, I bought a Basal thermometer to start
    documentation of my periods - it can't hurt, right?
    
    My personal feeling is to do all you can before starting any intrusive
    testing such as laparoscopy, etc ...
    
    Good luck and keep us informed if you come across any new things.
    
    Deb
    
                                   

    I bought a thermometer a couple of months ago.   I find my temperature
    rises one degree for a few days, then drops again.   I take my
    temperature first thing in the morning.   Is this a sign that I
    ovulate?.   I get small cramps in my stomach between seven to four
    days before my period begins.   I also get mood changes.
    
    My periods are fairly mixed up, I differ between three weeks
    to three and a half weeks to four weeks.
    
    I am only starting the testing proceedure.   My first appointment
    is on April 19th.   It is with a gynecologist who specializes in
    infertility.   I will let you all know how I get on.
    
    Re: .11, I will hopefully get the book at the weekend, if it is
    available in Ireland.
    
    
    
    Bernie    

    BBT (Basal Body Temperature) measures the slight changes in body
    temperature caused by changes in hormones and ovulation.  On the day
    before or day that your period starts, your temperature will drop
    sharply.  It will stay around that level until you are ready to
    ovulate at which point the temperature will dip, then either rise over 
    several days, or rise all in one day.  This sharp rise in temperature 
    indicates that ovulation is occuring, and your body stops producing 
    estrogen and starts to produce progesterone.  If you temperature 
    remains elevated through when your next period is due, it can indicate 
    pregnancy.  
    
    Now that's how it is supposed to work, but everyone's cycles are
    different.  I did find that after a while, I could predict when I would
    ovulate, and when my period would start.  Also, now I notice the cramps
    that I get mid-month which are also a sign of ovulation when I had
    never paid any attention to them before.  Once you start charting, you
    will find that you kind of get in tune with your body, and you notice
    the changes.
    
    Also, my doctor recommended that we have intercourse every other day
    from day 9 through day 15 which, in my case, normally included the day
    that I ovulated.  They don't really know exactly when ovulation occurs,
    and they don't really know when fertilization takes place, so the idea
    is to try to catch it in time.  The reason for intercourse every other
    day is to allow enough sperm to be generated to hopefully result in a
    pregnancy.
    
    Also, you are supposed to mark the days that you have intercourse on
    the chart so that you can tell if you are timing it right.  I just used
    to circle the spot where I marked the temperature.
    
    Cathy

    My understanding of the BBT graph is that your temperature needs to
    remain elevated for at least 7-10 days following ovulation to be
    considered a "good sign".  If it drops back down faster than that
    it MAY indicate a problem that will prevent a fertilized egg from
    implanting properly in the uterine lining.  There are several possible
    reasons for this, which I can't remember offhand, but I think most
    of them can be treated successfully.
    
    Also, are you using a thermometer that measures temperature in tenths
    of degrees?  A thermometer that only measures whole degrees will not
    be sensitive enough to detect the changes in your cycle. 
    
    Good luck!
    Beth

    
    
    re:.14 - yes, definetely use a thermometer with .10 degree units.
    I just went to the pharmacy and asked the pharmacist for a Basal
    thermometer.  He got it behind the counter for me - so ask for it!
    
    I'll start recording it tomorrow and I can't wait to learn more about
    my body!
    
    

    Yes my thermometer also measures .10 degree units.   It is a digital
    thermometer.   The alarm rings when your temperature is taken. 
    It also gives your previous temperature reading.
    
    
    Bernie

    We were married 8+ years, approaching 30 years of age yet no children. 
    We had *all* the test done and *all* indicated that there was nothing
    wrong.  We gave up testing and *trying*.  A year latter our son was born
    then a year latter my daughter.  They're now 16 & 14 respectively.  We
    never gave up *HOPE*.
    
    

    I went for my first appointment yesterday evening.   He did no tests,
    but wrote down all my husband's and my medical history, plus the
    medical history of our families.   He asked me when I had my last
    period.   I told him, it started last Thursday and finished on Sunday.
    From that information he has set up a appointment for me to have
    the  Post-coital test done on Monday week, the 30th.   He said Eamon
    and I are to have intercourse three hours before I go for this test.
    From this test, he will be able to see if Eamon's sperm is ok, plus
    check me out.   My next test will be the Endometrial-Biopsy.   I
    am to ring him when I get my next period and he will set up a 
    appointment.   He told us not to have intercourse after this period
    until the appointment, because if by chance I did become pregnant,
    this test would abort the pregnancy.   I will be asleep for this
    test.   He said after these tests he will be able to tell us more.
    
    
    
    
    Bernie

    You might want to ask your doctor to check your husband's sperm
    quantity and quality while you're doing these other tests.  I find it
    peculiar that he's testing you to find out about your husband.  The PK
    (Post Coital) will tell him more about the quality of your mucus, and
    if your husband's sperm can live in that environment.  But it won't
    tell you about his sperm quality.  For instance, if you have a low
    number of sperm during the PK, it could be that it's not the right time
    of the month so there is a hostile environment, you don't have good
    quality mucus, you don't have good quantity of mucus, you create sperm
    anti-bodies and kill them off, or your husband doesn't have a high
    enough sperm quality/quantity to start with or just in the environment
    that you create, etc.  Most doctors over here do what you're scheduled
    for, but they also do the semen analysis, especially since that's about
    the only test that they do on the man.  You want to make sure that your
    doctor hasn't discounted a problem with your husband before he even
    checks.  
    
    Best of luck,
    Cathy