46XX and 46XY

The good news is in: DH and I are chromosomaly "normal"!  I love the word "normal".  It's all relative, isn't it?  We have all of our 23 pairs (46 total) of chromosomes.  46XX for me (I'm a girl!) and 46XY for DH (he's a boy!).  Besides confirming our genders, the karyotype test let us know that we do not have any chromosomal abnormalities.  This is actually a huge relief to me.  At least we now know that our embryos weren't destined to quit growing on Day 3 because of faulty DNA.  There is hope.

The other test results DH got was the IGF1.  This is the Insulin-like Growth Factor 1.  IGF-1 is a hormone similar in molecular structure to insulin. It plays an important role in childhood growth and continues to have anabolic effects in adults (think steroids). Last time he was tested (prior to quitting smoking) DH's number was 81.  This time (after a month of non-smoking) his number was 109.  Normal is 131 to 333.  So it is still low.  Better - but still low.  This hormonal problem is outside the realm of infertility hormones (but may play a part) so DH is being referred to a metabolic endocrinologist.  This way, my insurance will not look at this diagnosis as an infertility issue, but a hormonal/growth factor issue.  Solving this IGF-1 problem may or may not have any effect on DH's fertility, but may improve his overall health. 

There is only ONE metabolic endocrinologist in my town, so we scheduled the first available apointment - in mid July!  Waiting over 6 weeks for an appointment of any kind is sort of ridiculous.  But, it so happens, that my mom is a nurse at this particular clinic.  I've asked her to throw her weight around and see if they can squeeze us in earlier.  She may not be able to do much about it, but it's worth a shot!

So...now we wait around for another test in mid-June to see if the HCG shots are helping the testosterone.  We are still testing, testing, testing.  No wonder people jump right into IVF.  This process takes FOREVER!