What we do know

Here's what we know so far:

Me- 33 , soon to be 34 years old. No known pregnancies or miscarriages. Cycle length on average 24-28 days. Periods normal, no exceptional pain or discomfort. Occasional pain in midriff around ovulation time, nothing unusual. No known STDs, although I was perhaps not as careful as I could have been in my youth, and who knows.

Ovulation occurs anywhere from Day 9 to Day 15. But it's almost invariably Day 13. I know I am ovulating as a result of 11 months of charting, and also the Day 21 progesterone test confirmed it. Cervical mucus fine- usually at least three days of fertile quality CM, with lots of the eggwhite kind. When I began charting, my luteal phase was on the short side at 9 days, but regular dosages of B6 and progesterone cream have helped increase it to, on average, 12 days.

Other blood tests revealed normal levels of other hormones, including prolactin and FSH. There is however a glitch with my TSH levels, which are high. The first test revealed 9.5, the second test was at 5.4 and the last one at 6.6. Thyroxine levels are OK, so the thyroid is working- it just needs a boot up the arse. Technically I think this is known as sub-clinical hypothyroidism. Thyroid problems run in my family, and my father is on medication. But they don't usually treat sub-clinical hypo. It may or may not be having an effect on my fertility- however, given my ongoing failure to get pregnant, my GP has decided to refer me to an endocrinologist. We're talking NHS here, so it could be months. I have read that my TSH levels should be between 1 and 2 in order to conceive. Of course this gives me something extra to worry about while we wait.

DP (also known as E.) Age 38. He has never, to his knowledge, impregnated anyone. Tends toward high blood pressure but no other known disorders. He did however suffer trauma to the, um, nether regions about 10 years ago. Basically someone kicked him in the nuts, and this messed him up pretty badly at the time. He claims that he was given the all clear back then, but ever since, he has odd pains when we have sex. Luckily this does not deter him from wanting to "do it", at least on occasion.

The home SA test we did was "OK", but I don't trust those crappy kits, so he has just submitted another sample to the lab for a full SA. They said it would take anywhere from two days to two weeks to get the results. But they seem to be taking their sweet old time about it. We have another week before we can call & start pestering them for the results.

Neither of us smoke (tobacco or anything else). We don't drink heavily. We don't engage in the intravenous injection of hard drugs (not that this seems to stop other women around here from getting pregnant). We both have quite stressful jobs, and are born worriers. So no, we can't "just relax".

I know we need a whole lot more information before we can begin to get a clearer picture of why I may not be getting pregnant. But on paper anyway, the only thing seems to be the TSH. So I am impatient to get that regulated- if that doesn't work, well- bring on the big guns, I am ready for all sorts of invasive probing if this means we will get some answers.