3 years ago
Monday, October 23, 2006
She got here
I just wanted to share that AF finally arrived! She got here yesterday (Sunday) and I started my birth control pills the same day. I guess we're on our way now. I have my mock embryo transfer next week and I start my Lupron (the first shots) on the 7th. My nurse, Cathy, said that my schedule should arrive in the mail today or tomorrow. I'm nervous, scared, worried, excited and happy all at once!
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Stuck
I know I should post more often. There have definitely been things going on, but I haven't even had the ability to sit down and write about them. First, I'm still waiting for my period to get here. It's taking SO LONG!!! I finished my Provera a week ago, so I'm really not sure what the holdup is. As soon as she gets here, I start birth control pills and my IVF adventure is officially started.
The whole insurance thing I wrote about yesterday fell apart :( I don't really feel like going into it all again, but it's probably enough to say we're back to paying $22k for shared risk. I know it's a whole lot of money, but it's the only way we have a guarantee of any sort. It covers up to 6 cycles of IVF and any frozen cycles that we can do in between those cycles. Plus, if we decide to quit at any time, or if we do the 6 cycles and end up with no baby, we get all of our money back. We decided that the reduced stress of knowing EXACTLY what it's going to cost is worth the extra cost if we happen to be lucky enough to get pregnant on the first IVF cycle.
I went to my injections class yesterday. There was so much to learn! I think I'm about as ready as I'm going to be for it to all get going. The only really bad part was that they made me take 2 practice shots at the end of the class. I was totally not prepared!!! I gave myself a shot in my stomach right there in the clinic, but I couldn't pull it together enough for my husband to give me a shot in my hip/butt while we were there. We took the syringe home and were able to do it last night. Actually, his shot hurt less than mine did!
Now we just need my period to get here!!
The whole insurance thing I wrote about yesterday fell apart :( I don't really feel like going into it all again, but it's probably enough to say we're back to paying $22k for shared risk. I know it's a whole lot of money, but it's the only way we have a guarantee of any sort. It covers up to 6 cycles of IVF and any frozen cycles that we can do in between those cycles. Plus, if we decide to quit at any time, or if we do the 6 cycles and end up with no baby, we get all of our money back. We decided that the reduced stress of knowing EXACTLY what it's going to cost is worth the extra cost if we happen to be lucky enough to get pregnant on the first IVF cycle.
I went to my injections class yesterday. There was so much to learn! I think I'm about as ready as I'm going to be for it to all get going. The only really bad part was that they made me take 2 practice shots at the end of the class. I was totally not prepared!!! I gave myself a shot in my stomach right there in the clinic, but I couldn't pull it together enough for my husband to give me a shot in my hip/butt while we were there. We took the syringe home and were able to do it last night. Actually, his shot hurt less than mine did!
Now we just need my period to get here!!
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
a little better...
First, I want to thank everyone who offered support either as a comment to my last post or by sending me an email. It makes me feel better to know that people care.
After my last post, I had a good cry. It's amazing the difference that can make. I feel better now. I am still stressed out about the whole IVF thing (the shots, the cost, the fear it won't work, etc), but I feel like I can handle it. Moreover, I feel like we can handle it. When I had my mini-breakdown, DH was right there to hold me and promise it would be ok. It may be hard, but we will get through this.
Once I calmed down, I found an insurance plan that will cover 50% of our IVF costs. That means we'll probably still end up paying $6000 or so, but that's better than it was. I am going to have to deal with the fact that it's an HMO, so I'll have to beg for a referral back to the reproductive endocrinologist. The thing is, I have to believe they'll give me the referral. We're not a borderline case, so it's pretty clear that we need the specialist. Hopefully they'll see it the same way!
After my last post, I had a good cry. It's amazing the difference that can make. I feel better now. I am still stressed out about the whole IVF thing (the shots, the cost, the fear it won't work, etc), but I feel like I can handle it. Moreover, I feel like we can handle it. When I had my mini-breakdown, DH was right there to hold me and promise it would be ok. It may be hard, but we will get through this.
Once I calmed down, I found an insurance plan that will cover 50% of our IVF costs. That means we'll probably still end up paying $6000 or so, but that's better than it was. I am going to have to deal with the fact that it's an HMO, so I'll have to beg for a referral back to the reproductive endocrinologist. The thing is, I have to believe they'll give me the referral. We're not a borderline case, so it's pretty clear that we need the specialist. Hopefully they'll see it the same way!
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Insurance :(
IVF is a really expensive procedure. I'm sure everyone already knows this, but it's becoming more and more obvious to me with each day. Well, I suppose it's more accurate to say it's becoming more real to me. Finding a way to pay for all of this has been such a roller coaster. First, I was devastated because it was going to cost $10,500 + the cost of meds for one try (or $22,000 + meds for up to 6 tries with a refund if it doesn't work). I had no idea how we would come up with the money.
I prayed about it, and 3 days later I got a notice that said I could participate in a study that would reduce the cost to $4,500 and would cover the meds. I felt like it would be ok suddenly. The next day, when I called the study coordinator to start the paperwork to enroll in the study, I found out I don't qualify because of my PCOS :-( I don't understand why they sent the forms and got my hope up in the first place! They're the ones who diagnosed my PCOS!!!
Next, I realized that I am responsible for our company's health insurance plan, and we're scheduled to renew on November 1st. So, I started my quest to find insurance that would cover IVF. I talked to one broker who said he had a plan that would work for us. We got to the point of sending in the application then he realized they can't offer the plan to people in Maryland (grrrr!!!!) Then a friend of mine said that her company had a plan that offers IVF. Unfortunately, no one seems to be able to replicate that plan for us, even the woman who sold it to them! Now, I'm just about to fall apart. This is all too much!!!
I prayed about it, and 3 days later I got a notice that said I could participate in a study that would reduce the cost to $4,500 and would cover the meds. I felt like it would be ok suddenly. The next day, when I called the study coordinator to start the paperwork to enroll in the study, I found out I don't qualify because of my PCOS :-( I don't understand why they sent the forms and got my hope up in the first place! They're the ones who diagnosed my PCOS!!!
Next, I realized that I am responsible for our company's health insurance plan, and we're scheduled to renew on November 1st. So, I started my quest to find insurance that would cover IVF. I talked to one broker who said he had a plan that would work for us. We got to the point of sending in the application then he realized they can't offer the plan to people in Maryland (grrrr!!!!) Then a friend of mine said that her company had a plan that offers IVF. Unfortunately, no one seems to be able to replicate that plan for us, even the woman who sold it to them! Now, I'm just about to fall apart. This is all too much!!!
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Oh yeah, and we're building a house too
I forgot to include this info in my post earlier today. In addition to all the "baby stuff" as my husband calls it, we're also in the home stretch of building a new house. We signed the contract back in March, so we had no idea that all of this would happen at the same time. As it is now, they're done with all of the exterior stuff (roofing, brick, doors, windows, etc) and the interior framing. They were supposed to start drywall this past week, but it rained heavily every day they tried to do it. So, we're still waiting. They still say that we'll be able to move in around Thanksgiving. I think it will be December. Either way, it's all happening at once, and that's really overwhelming. It looks like our embryo transfer for IVF will be right in the same timeframe (late November to early December). I just really hope I can keep my sanity!!!
Intro to my life
I can't sleep. I woke up at 6am, and it's been a hopeless cause since then. So, I decided to post. I guess there's too much on my mind to sleep. Right now I feel like I'm right on the verge of either getting all my dreams or totally losing control. There's far too much going on in my life.
DH and I have been trying to get pregnant for about a year now with no luck. Well, I suppose I should qualify that a little bit. I feel like we've been trying for a year, but I think he'd say it's more like 6 months. I stopped taking birth control pills on my birthday last year (August 2005), but we didn't start "really trying" until April 2006. Either way, I'm still not pregnant :-(
After taking all of the Clomid I'm allowed, 6 months worth (which was the only way I'd ovulate), my doctor finally referred me to a specialist. I went there two weeks ago, and it all feels like a whirlwind since then. I apparently have PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome), which explains my lack of a period without medical intervention (Clomid or Provera). So, he put me Metformin. I've heard so many scary stories about the side effects, so we'll see how that goes. I don't start taking it until later today b/c I had an HSG yesterday, and apparently HSGs can be dangerous if you're on Met (who'd have known?) At least everything came back normal with that test!
We also found out that we have serious problems with MFI (male factor infertility). When we got the results of his semen analysis back we were very surprised. He has 19% motility (should be 50+), severe viscosity, only 780,000 live sperm in the sample (should be 8 million+), and 6% morphology (should be 15%+). All of those numbers add up to a pretty good explanation of why we haven't gotten pregnant yet. DH hasn't really accepted it yet. He says he wants to wait and see a specialist (urologist) to see if he can fix it all. The reproductive endocrinologist told me that "there are just too many issues for us to really expect a solution to them all" and I'm inclined to believe him.
We have another appointment with the re on Monday to discuss where we go from here. He wanted to get all of our test results back before "moving forward." However, he has already told me that he thinks that IVF with ICSI is really our only option. DH is skeptical. He thinks that they are "just trying to sell the most expensive product." I really don't think that's the case! He hasn't been able to make it to any of the earlier appointments, so he's just been hearing the messages from me. I'm hoping that it will help him to be there on Monday. That way he can ask his questions in person, directly to the doctor.
DH and I have been trying to get pregnant for about a year now with no luck. Well, I suppose I should qualify that a little bit. I feel like we've been trying for a year, but I think he'd say it's more like 6 months. I stopped taking birth control pills on my birthday last year (August 2005), but we didn't start "really trying" until April 2006. Either way, I'm still not pregnant :-(
After taking all of the Clomid I'm allowed, 6 months worth (which was the only way I'd ovulate), my doctor finally referred me to a specialist. I went there two weeks ago, and it all feels like a whirlwind since then. I apparently have PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome), which explains my lack of a period without medical intervention (Clomid or Provera). So, he put me Metformin. I've heard so many scary stories about the side effects, so we'll see how that goes. I don't start taking it until later today b/c I had an HSG yesterday, and apparently HSGs can be dangerous if you're on Met (who'd have known?) At least everything came back normal with that test!
We also found out that we have serious problems with MFI (male factor infertility). When we got the results of his semen analysis back we were very surprised. He has 19% motility (should be 50+), severe viscosity, only 780,000 live sperm in the sample (should be 8 million+), and 6% morphology (should be 15%+). All of those numbers add up to a pretty good explanation of why we haven't gotten pregnant yet. DH hasn't really accepted it yet. He says he wants to wait and see a specialist (urologist) to see if he can fix it all. The reproductive endocrinologist told me that "there are just too many issues for us to really expect a solution to them all" and I'm inclined to believe him.
We have another appointment with the re on Monday to discuss where we go from here. He wanted to get all of our test results back before "moving forward." However, he has already told me that he thinks that IVF with ICSI is really our only option. DH is skeptical. He thinks that they are "just trying to sell the most expensive product." I really don't think that's the case! He hasn't been able to make it to any of the earlier appointments, so he's just been hearing the messages from me. I'm hoping that it will help him to be there on Monday. That way he can ask his questions in person, directly to the doctor.
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