A delicate question for the men RE: TTC...

[dbhost]

If your wife's Dr. wanted to do the count of your "swim team", how do you, uh... you know... get the sample in their office?

I know this might sound prudish, but one of the perks as it were of being married, is not having to manually extract as it were... And I am not exactly thrilled about the idea of them handing up a magazine and a cup and saying get after it in a bathroom you know?

How are we supposed to deal with this? I mean personally I'd like to involve my wife in the process if you know what I mean...

 

[Assisi]

I know I'm not a guy, but I do have a possible solution (if your doctor is ok with it).

I'm hoping this link will work.

 

[lovesdolphins]

Here's the deal - my husband HATED it - he pretty much has refused to ever do it again; and I hope that he never does.

There are 2 ways of going about it. 1 - going into the office and they'll give you a cup and go into a room to 'do your business'. Sometimes they'll allow your wife to join you.
2 - If you live close enough to the office you can collect the sample at home, and take it into the office.
2b - From what I understand the sample can be collected using a condom.

Anyway - good luck - to be honest, it's a lot less 'work' than what the wife has to go thru.

 

[dbhost]

I completely agree... I just hate the way it was described. They throw you a porn mag and a cup and point you at a bathroom... Not exactly "the right thing" you know?

We live some 50 miles from the lab... But there are hotels very close by that we can rent / use for this purpose to get some privacy...

 

[lovesdolphins]

Can I ask - since you live pretty close to me - what Dr is your wife seeing? Is she seeing an RE, or just at the OB/GYN level right now?

 

[dbhost]

She's a patient of one of the fertility specialists at the Women's Hospital in the medical center... I am not sure I recall the Dr.s name offhand...

 

[lovesdolphins]

My OB as well as my fertility specialist are both at Women's.

 

[Catholic Wife]

I know I'm not a guy, but I do have a possible solution (if your doctor is ok with it).

I'm hoping this link will work.

We tried the male factor pack mentioned in the article, but those special condoms are one-size-fits-all (didn't work for us). And, we had to find a lab that would accept the sample in the condom instead of in the cup provided. Another option is to withdrawl.

Getting the sample to the office/lab is another story. You have to keep the sample at body temperature, so the lab recommend DH stuff it in his shirt (yes, really).

 

[Sign Of The Fish Burger]

I know I'm not TTC since we are pregnant BUT after 2 years of trying we finally saw a fertility specialist and they required my DH to do the sperm count/motility test which obviously required a sample.

I had to work that morning and we lived too far away for it to be collected and brought to the office (however the doctor doesn't even really suggest that, he said the best bet is a sample collected right in the office.)

Anyway I was concerned because I know you go into a room with some movies and mags and I was scared my husband would use those. He said he wouldn't (and said he didn't) so I just had to trust him. I think he knew from all the embarrassing and painful procedures I had to endure (including surgery last fall) that this being his one and only test (other than a complete physical including blood work when we first started TTC) that he just needed to do it and make as very little fuss about it as possible.

He did it graciously and I never once heard him complain. It was a blessing honestly. As someone previously mentioned it's really nothing compared to what the woman typically has to endure so I would do my best if I were you, to complain is little as possible (or none at all ).



ETA: And if your wife is anything like me (and I venture a guess all other women going through this trying time) she really appreciates you doing it. I know it was horribly embarrassing for my husband to go through and I was very thankful that he was willing to do something like that for me and our family.

 

[FatBurger]

I was told condoms aren't allowed actually, but that may vary from place to place. The clinic we were at had special rooms for the purpose. After you finished, you exited out a back door, which I thought was kind of strange.

Really, you just have to look at it as a necessary evil, and do what you need to (within obvious reasonable limits) to get it done.

Clinic see a very wide range of people - all ages, races, religions, etc. For that reason they'll try to be as accommodating as possible. I was never "handed a magazine", and they didn't at all make me feel uncomfortable. It's a time where the anticipation and unknowns are worse than the actual situatiion.

 

[ilovepurple]

My doctor has recommended that we start fertility testing and the first step is for DH to have a SA done. The first available appointment is Oct 9 which is when AF is due to arrive if this is not our month. I am so frustrated because I just got off the phone with the lab and they do not allow ANY (the lady was very rude and emphasized this over and over) samples to be collected outside of the lab. This is very disheartening for both me and my husband who want God to be honored in the situation. My husband has had a lot of victory recently with a struggle around masturbation and pornography and it will be very difficult for him to "provide a sample" without it possibly causing him to stumble again. At the same time, the local fertility clinic will not accept patients without a SA being done first.

I don't know what I am looking for here, I guess I just wanted to vent. If you feel led to pray about this at all, I would appreciate it.