On the Move

 Acryonms used in today's post:

DH: Dear Husband      

SA: Semen Analysis

Today DH finally went in for his second SA. We've been waiting to redo this test for 4 months. Four stinking months in limbo. When we started testing in March of this year we started first with bloodwork for me. Then an SA for him. My bloodwork came back perfect according to my ob. Dh was not so lucky. His results were depressing across the board. Sources vary as to what is normal. Though there a two pretty standard units of measurement, not every lab uses them. For example the lab my Obgyn uses at our local hospital has its own version of what is normal vs abnormal. The range of normal is stated as 60-150 million per milliliter. We were devasted to learn that my husband's count was 175 THOUSAND per milliliter. He also had low morphology (which is the shape of sperm) and motility (which is how they move). He had a high ph and high viscosity. We were immediately referred to a Urologist who explained our results a little more in depth. It was at this visit that we first learned that my husband could be diabetic. Which led to more doctor's visits this time with a general practioner. His diabetes was confirmed. All three doctors that we worked with concluded that his SA results were in direct relation to uncontrolled undiagnosed diabetes. We changed our entire lifestyle in the next couple of weeks.
It is thought to take 60 -70 days for sperm to be produced. Some sources state that it could take as few as 42 days and as much as 90 days. It also takes aproximately the same amount of time to get an accurate reading on your A1C, which is a ruling measurement when treating diabetes. We were able to get our A1C within normal levels in three months. We decided to be safe to wait one more month to make sure that the sperm produced would have been born during the time period when he had his A1C levels under control.
We won't know his results for a few days, maybe even as much as a week, but  it feels good to be moving forward again. Even if it's only for a brief moment in time. I'm ready for answers. I'm ready to know what's on the horizon for us, to plan for the if's that are currently lingering right outside of view. It feels good to move forward again, after so many months at a stand-still with little hope to pull us through.