Charting for Three Years

I just passed my three year anniversary and it's been trippy. I have learned a lot along the way and at the end of the day charting, even in its most basic form give us data. I took the length of each of my cycles and made them into a chart in Excel and then enhanced it in Photoshop, it is interesting to see the forest and not just the trees.

Semen Analysis -- Helpful Details

Tapered refers to the head of the sperm, I found several references that mention testicular heat as a possible contributor to this defect:
Men with an elevated testicular temperature frequently due to a varicocele or exposure to excessive heat often have tapered sperm quality and may be missing the acrosome, the packet of enzymes at the tip of the sperm head that allow the sperm to bore through the coating of the egg.
From: An in-depth look at fertility

I also found this article: Deterioration Of Sperm Morphology In Men Exposed To High Temperature

Forward progression has to do with how well the sperm are at swimming forward. I don't know much about it but Vitamin E and Selenium are supposed to help with motility

Hypoosmolarity has to do with too much water being in the sperm cell I believe, remember osmosis from biology class in high school? I couldn't find anything that directly spoke to directly this but this quote points out some possible things to research more on:
In mammalian cells, hydration may change dynamically in response to hormones, ethanol, aniso-osmotic environments, oxidative stress or by cumulative substrate uptake.
from: Hepatocellular hydration: signal transduction and functional implications.

Here's a comprehensive guide to refer to: Semen Analysis in the Clinical Evaluation of Infertility

Semen Analysis

Here are some comprehensive guides to refer to: Semen Analysis in the Clinical Evaluation of Infertility

Semen analysis

The Fertility Guide: The Male Factor

Normal Ranges for a Semen Analysis from INCIID

Helpful Details

Morphology refers to the shape and structure of an object. Morphology may be even more important than count or motility in determining potential fertility. Abnormally shaped sperm cannot fertilize an egg. About 60% of the sperm should be normal in size and shape for adequate fertility.

The perfect structure is an oval head and long tail. Abnormally shaped sperm may include a number of variations:

A very large round head. (In one study, if 14% or more of sperm had round enlarged heads, the chances for pregnancy fell to about 20%. Such an abnormality indicates early unraveling of genetic material.)
An extremely small pinpoint head.
A tapered head.
A crooked head.
Two heads.
A tail with kinks and curls.
From Infertility in Men

Tapered refers to the head of the sperm, I found several references that mention testicular heat as a possible contributor to this defect:
Men with an elevated testicular temperature frequently due to a varicocele or exposure to excessive heat often have tapered sperm quality and may be missing the acrosome, the packet of enzymes at the tip of the sperm head that allow the sperm to bore through the coating of the egg.
From: An in-depth look at fertility

I also found this article: Deterioration Of Sperm Morphology In Men Exposed To High Temperature

Forward progression has to do with how well the sperm are at swimming forward (aka motility). I don't know much about it but Vitamin E and Selenium are supposed to help with motility

Hypoosmolarity has to do with too much water being in the sperm cell I believe, remember osmosis from biology class in high school? I couldn't find anything that directly spoke to directly this but this quote points out some possible things to research more on:
In mammalian cells, hydration may change dynamically in response to hormones, ethanol, aniso-osmotic environments, oxidative stress or by cumulative substrate uptake.
from: Hepatocellular hydration: signal transduction and functional implications.

A Shot at Improving Your Semen Analysis

(to a woman who's husband was just diagnosed with 2% morphology)

I wouldn't give up hope just yet, since your husband has been away there is a good chance that things got a bit sluggish and studies have shown that ejaculatory frequency can improve sperm quality. You guys should get busy and that's one step in the right direction.

There are a bunch of people on the boards who have gotten pg with 2% morphology. We did it too, though we had a blighted ovum.

I would suggest that since it takes 120 days to grow new sperm, that you repeat the test but after a few months of supplementation, healthy eating, destressing and regular intercourse. Then you could also do as Sonnet mentioned, using a condom to collect the sample -- how you collect the sample can influence what comes out and a longer pre-ejaculatory arousal period is associated with a greater quantity of sperm in the sample (I can't find the reference but its out there).

The UR had us do the SPA (Sperm Penetration Assay) test to see how the sperm reacted with the egg membrane. We did that test in May, the test results came back positive and we coincidently conceived the same cycle. He felt that the SPA (sperm penetration assay -- aka hamster egg test -- poor hamster) was useful as a next step in our diagnosis. This might show how your guys swimmers are performing IRL.

Laboratory Section - Sperm Penetration Assay
Sperm Penetration Assay

Also, having more sex prior to ovulation when you have fertile quality mucus means that you are pooling the available sperm which can make up some for the paucity in a single sample (see POOLED SPERM COUNTS)

Dr Perloe (guest host for chats here on the boards sometimes) suggested to us that the sperm DNA fragmentation test (SCSA) would be worthwhile but we got a BFP and didn't need to -- maybe soon we will do it if we don't get a BFP (having my fibroid out might have improved our fertility).

Supplements can help, we've seen some good results on the MFI board from various regimes that are all fairly similar. I expect that your DH hasn't been eating a lot of fresh veggies while he's been away, so he probably could do with a little extra for now.
I wrote up what supplements and doses my partner has been taking for another board member recently so I'm posting that here, other ppl might have additional recommendations:

Grapeseed -- 120 mg, 1 each day
L-Carnitine -- 250 mg, 1 each day sometimes
Arginine -- 500mg, 1 each day sometimes
Multi-vitamin -- 1 each day
Zinc -- (with c) -- 23mg, 1 each day sometimes
Rhodiola Rosea -- 300 mg, 1 each day

The ones marked sometimes he doesn't take every day, but instead several days a week. He senses that his body doesn't need it, which if your DH is in tune with his body he might find with some of the supplements as well. For starts though, I would do take all of these (rhodiola is optional though it might help as well, it is a potent anti-oxident and adaptogen which can help DH feel better after the stress he's been under -- they gave it to Russian fighter pilots in the Soviet Union to deal with the G-force better) -- he should do the supplement routine for three months and you should be able to see a difference in a subsequent analysis.

More information to check out:

Sperm

Male Infertility

Male Fertility or Infertility

Here's a shot of my myo scar 5 months after my surgery. Not bad at all.



Well, I don't know that I'll be doing any nude modeling but surely a little body makeup could make that just about disapppear.