sperm test #2

i stayed home today to fully recover from the stupid hystogram yesterday. i slept in and was planning to go in to work late, but i still had some cramping and bleeding so i decided to go back to bed. by the afternoon i felt mostly normal. the spotting seems to have stopped, and i only have an occasional cramp... but then, i'm also ovulating today, so who knows from whence these cramps come?

we also haven't quite decided what to do about this ovulation situation this time around. we're allowed to have sex now that it's 24 hours after the procedure. but... i dunno.

we made an appointment today for the hubby to go in on tuesday for a much more detailed sperm analysis. it's called a sperm dna fragmentation test. basically, it's been shown that the most important factor in the sperm's ability to impregnate an egg and create a successful pregnancy is the amount of damage to the dna of the sperm, or the fragmentation of the actual shape of the dna chain (remember all those twisty ladder-looking things from biology class?). the basic semen analysis only measures quantity, shape, and movement, and sometimes these factors aren't indicative of the sperm's potential. lots of men who have totally normal semen analyses still can't impregnate their partners because of damage to the sperm's dna itself, and men who have abnormal semen analyses find out that even the use of in vitro or other reproductive assistance doesn't help because there is too much dna damage to sustain a pregnancy. the fragmentation test looks for any of those underlying imperfections. if you care to learn about the scientific details, here you go: http://malereproduction.com/male-infertility/scsa/

we've decided if these results aren't favorable, then we won't try to conceive on our own anymore. it's both nice and sad to have that kind of finality. but it makes sense. and we're still not really thinking about anything further than that. and we've actually had a really nice few days. we joke around about adoption, trying to suss out how we both feel about it... and i don't think we know yet. there will be decisions to make in the near future, but as we don't know what they are we've been trying not to dwell on them. he does a much better job of this than i do, but i have to say i've been staying pretty positive. here's hoping i keep it up!