too early to see a fertility specialist?

hoochie

hoochie

Registered User
Hi All,
I'm a bit frustrated and a little worried. my hubby and i have been TTC for 7 months now without success. we're youngish, im 27 and he's 28, but we feel we're ready to become parents.

however, now i'm beginning to think should we go and get things checked out? or is it too early yet? if there was a problem i'd rather know sooner than later because this waiting every month and then the disappointment is driving me up the wall.
Is there anyone else in the same boat as me???

any advice or good recommendations of fertility specialists are most welcomed!

:thanks
 
I was around your age and hadn't conceived after about 9 months. I went to see an obgyn and they did a scan to check that everything was ok. She said that I had some cysts but nothing that would prevent me falling pregnant. She said that she wouldn't recommend doing anything fertility-wise until I had been charting and taking ovulation tests for at least six months. I started charting and using ovulation kits and I fell pregnant naturally within a couple of months after trying for about 13 long months.

I think there is no harm in going to see a specialist to just get a scan done, or for your hubby getting a simple semen analysis done - they're both relatively simple to do and can tell you right away if there are problems there. But be prepared that maybe there is nothing wrong and you just might need to give it a bit more time. If you haven't charted your basal body temperature or used ovulation kits, try them because that extra bit of information may help you to time it right.

I know how it feels to be in your shoes - at the time I was so scared that we'd need to go the fertility treatment route - but after my first daughter, I fell pregnant VERY quickly (but miscarried early), then fell pregnant very quickly again - now I have two beautiful girls just 21 months apart and it seems so long ago that I was worrying about whether or not we could conceive or not.

All the best!!
 
Hi Hootchie,
It's not too early. My DH and I had problems for more than a year, but decided to be patient and go the natural route. We racked it up to stress, bad luck, etc. Finally, I saw my GP who told us to track ovulation, so we did that for several months. (I presume you're already doing that?)
By the time the two of us busy people booked a specialist and got tests done, it was several months later. They diagnosed a problem on DH's side, but we had to delay treatment bc of his work.
After that, he needed several months to recover, and we said we would take it easy and try naturally. Still, it didn't work, and I went through 1 cycle of Clomid alone, 3 cycles of IUI with Clomid, and 1 cycle of IVF that actually lasted 2 months (long story).
We were naive to think the problem would resolve itself in a month or two with professional help. All told, it took us 1.5 years, with 6 months of heavy-duty treatments for me.
If I had to do it all again, I would have started younger and more assertively. The older you get, the lower your chances, and the more medical crap (excuse the language) you have to go through.
Getting checked early is all pro, and no con.
It's relatively easy -- one doctor's consultation, one scan for you, one sperm test for DH and blood tests -- and probably will come to under HK $2000.
If you're fine, at least you know and can continue trying naturally.
If you are not, then you are warned early. If, God forbid, you guys have problems like we did and it takes 1.5 years, then you may be edging up toward 30 toward the end of your treatment.
P.S. Buyer beware with big-name fertility doctors. Some will try to tell you expensive treatments right off the bat -- take your check-up results and think things through. And good luck!
 
thanks for all your replies . It's comforting to know ones who have been in the same situation as me and now have babies! :)
I suppose we're both quite stressed and busy at work, so maybe that is playing a factor too. DH is so nice he pretends that it's no big deal, but i can tell that he really wants to be a daddy soon.

I have been using those Ovulation Kits even though i seem to have strong sympthoms of when i'm ovulating anyway. But thought i would give it a try ...

i think my next step is to see a fertility specialist if just to check everything is fine. Does anyone know when is the "best" time during your cycle to see one? At the moment it's a "bad time".. but i was thinking should I go right after my "bad time" is finished or should I wait until i'm mid cycle? And does anyone have any personal recommendations of doctors? And how long does the results take?

@TheQuasimother- How long does it take before they will take you in? And what was the service like?
 
I can't remember what time of my cycle I went to the fertility doc - but if you call them and say you want them to check your fertility, I'm sure they can tell you when. I have a feeling it was meant to be around day 11 or so? Before ovulation? But I can't remember for sure... And for the hubby, it's easy enough for a GP to order the semen analysis for him, no need to go to a specialist unless there is a problem. Our GP recommended getting that test done first and then taking those results to the ObGyn when I got checked.

All the best!!
 
You might just want to arrange your hubby's sperm test through your ObGyn. Unfortunately even when the problem is male factor, usually the treatment is on the female so the ObGyn will be the person to look at the sperm test results.

When I took my hubby's test results into my ObGyn (a fertility specialist), he asked for the tests to be redone by his preferred lab which he explained was a specialist in the field. The results did end up being a bit different (although obviously from different samples on different days), but a few % in a sperm test can make the difference between a recommendation for IUI instead of IVF which is quite expensive. So to save money, you might want to just see the fertility specialist first and let him/her order the test rather than have to repeat it.

By the way, I can recommend Dr Philip Ho. He is one of HK's top fertility docs. However, at your age, he and any other fertility specialist are probably going to ask you to try for a year first. Even at 38 yo, Dr Ho asked us to try for 6 months first. Good luck to you!
 
Ok i have just my first appointment for me and DH to see Dr Derek Lo in Central. quite well known around here in this forum and he seems very experienced. Was just wondering what sort of tests am i to expect and will it be painful?? I'm not good with any sort of pain eeeck...
And should i include any information and what important questions to ask?? im sooo nervous..
 
If you've been charting, bring your charts and also dates from ovulation kit positives etc... On my first appointment, they just did an ultrasound of my ovaries and all that - nothing painful at all. Also if you have results from your husband's semen analysis, bring those along too.
 
nope we've got nothing prior to this first appointment as DH will be doing the semen analysis on the same day. we were told by the receptionist all results should be back the next day. and i've always had regular periods and ovulated regularly so haven't been doing any charting.

am so glad it's all painless!!! yay!!!
 
I would be wary of doing too much intervention before a year of trying. I took a year to get pregnant then sadly had a miscarriage and after another year of trying got pregnant again (first son) then got pregnant VERY quickly the second time around and had another boy. I did go down the route of fertility treatment before getting pregnant with my first son and found it extremely stressful. A combination of too much focus and all those hormones. If they say you're fine after the initial testing then I wouldn't rush into treatment. You could try acupuncture and Chinese herbs instead. I went this route in the end and got pregnant the second month (after 5 failed IUI's!!!) Good luck - I know how frustrating and disappointing it can be but you will get there and have your little bundle of joy.
 
I was going to say the same thing as newbiekt, as long as nothing obvious comes up in the initial test then I'd be really wary of overmedicalising the process too soon, I know a few examples of people who've had IUI and IVF then ended up getting pregnant naturally - they're a great resource if you've been trying for a significant amount of time or know there is a specific problem but stress is a huge factor in conceiving and they do massively increase the stress and expectation involved.

Even if everything is fine with both of you and you do everything right in any given month there's still statistically only a 20% chance of success, that's one in every five months... of course in reality that translates to some people getting pregnant the first month they try and some in the 5th or 10th month or sometimes longer.

Best of luck and hope to see you on the due dates board soon.
 
Aw thanks for all the helpful replies laides. This is a great support forum. I agree, i don't think i will be going down the "medical" process to get pregnant just quite yet. DH and i were discussing, we just want to make sure everything is in its working order so our minds will be put to rest. that more so than anything else right now as neither of us had any sort of tests like that done before.

@ newbiekt, im just curious, which Chinese herbalist did you see?
 
I saw Troy Sing to start with and then switched to Cecilia The at Vitality Center. I recommend them both, they are expert in helping with fertility, but I liked Cecilia's personality more and found her very supportive through the process.
 
Hi all, just found this old thread regarding fertility tests, exactly what I was looking for. I am thinking of getting myself and DH checked for fertility. I will be hitting 30 next year and DH will be 33. We are not very keen to have a baby right away but just want to make sure things are operating fine.
[MENTION=38991]hoochie[/MENTION], did you get the fertility tests done? May I ask what were the tests like? Just wondering if QH does these kind of tests or do I have to go to a hospital to get this done? Basically, I want to know if there is anything to be worried about immediately or can we take some time before we concieve.
 
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