Well, DH was supposed to hear something from Chesapeake at 3:30 this afternoon (about a job offer). They called, to say they weren't ready to make the offer yet. It will be another 1 to 2 weeks. Grr. They did tell him that they have him down for a tentative start date of November 1st. I told him he was already busy that day -- it's quite likely our retrieval date and his presence and presents will be necessary!
As for me, the job listing at the State Historic Preservation Office closed Wednesday. I finished first of six applicants. I know that doesn't really mean anything, but I'm still excited. It certainly is my "dream" job, I think. At least it's the one I'm trained for. Today was PT conferences at school. It was so nice and quiet there, without the kids!
We're now a week away from starting the Lupron shots. Can't wait!
Tomorrow, we have Mill's shower in Dallas. Should be fun.
Friday, September 29, 2006
Saturday, September 23, 2006
On a lighter note . . .
Okay, so a little diversion from IVF -- you need to check out Weird Al Yankovic's "White and Nerdy." Scott found it for us at aol.com (under music videos). It's hilarious -- well, in a nerdy way. :)
Our Meds are Here!
We are very anxious to actually be doing IVF. I mean, I guess we've actually started the long process, but we don't seem to be doing much. Taking antibiotics 2X/day and bcps doesn't seem like much!
It became more real today when our big box o' meds arrived from Fed Ex. We had to stay home just to await its arrival, but thankfully it came early rather than later in the delivery window.
It's a bit overwhelming. There are sooo many needles. There seem to be duplicates for some items, but I guess we will see.
Here's my protocol, btw:
Day 3 (9/18): start bcp (birth control pills to suppress natural ovulation)
Day 21 (10/6): start lupron 0.1ml per day (it basically throws you into early menopause to suppress your normal hormone production)
(10/18): suppression check (to make sure that your ovaries and pituitary gland are adequately suppressed)
Day 2 (10/23): Start stims (follistim and menopur)
Day 9-11 (10/30 - 11/1): HCG trigger
Oh, I'm also doing acupuncture. I start going 3 days/week on October 2nd. Apparently, success rates using acupuncture are significantly higher. Acupuncture patients seem to produce more, higher quality eggs. It helps stimulate blood flow to those important areas. Usually, you also have a treatment right after the eggs are transferred.
It became more real today when our big box o' meds arrived from Fed Ex. We had to stay home just to await its arrival, but thankfully it came early rather than later in the delivery window.
It's a bit overwhelming. There are sooo many needles. There seem to be duplicates for some items, but I guess we will see.
Here's my protocol, btw:
Day 3 (9/18): start bcp (birth control pills to suppress natural ovulation)
Day 21 (10/6): start lupron 0.1ml per day (it basically throws you into early menopause to suppress your normal hormone production)
(10/18): suppression check (to make sure that your ovaries and pituitary gland are adequately suppressed)
Day 2 (10/23): Start stims (follistim and menopur)
Day 9-11 (10/30 - 11/1): HCG trigger
Oh, I'm also doing acupuncture. I start going 3 days/week on October 2nd. Apparently, success rates using acupuncture are significantly higher. Acupuncture patients seem to produce more, higher quality eggs. It helps stimulate blood flow to those important areas. Usually, you also have a treatment right after the eggs are transferred.
Insurance Sucks!
Unfortunately, we live in Oklahoma, where infertility coverage is not mandated. Further, I work for the state, who has crappy insurance! Trying to get information out of them is nearly impossible. I sent a letter asking them to verify coverage for procedures, etc., related to IVF. It took five weeks for a negative response. They refuse to pay for anything, including meds. (Of course, at that point, they'd already paid for our meds, thankfully. I just hope that they can't come back and try to make us pay later.) They will not pay for any office visits, ultrasounds, blood draws -- zippo. I think that is ridiculous. I still plan to appeal, because technically IVF is a very small part of the overall process. It's the actual transfer, fertilization, and transfer. They should pay for blood draws, etc., at the least! We are using the one-cycle plus through ARC (Advanced Reproductive Care), so I will have to file claims myself, but I still intend to. Someone from the insurance company will be getting an earful on Monday morning as well.
ARC allows you to do a package deal -- you get all the office visits, ultrasounds, blood draws, etc. for a fresh cycle of IVF. It also pays for one frozen embryo transfer cycle if the fresh cycle does not work. That alone saves you like 4000.00. But, not every fresh cycles results in embryos that can be frozen. Still the one-cycle plus was cheaper than just paying for a fresh cycle directly from Dr. K and Bennett Fertility Institute.
ARC allows you to do a package deal -- you get all the office visits, ultrasounds, blood draws, etc. for a fresh cycle of IVF. It also pays for one frozen embryo transfer cycle if the fresh cycle does not work. That alone saves you like 4000.00. But, not every fresh cycles results in embryos that can be frozen. Still the one-cycle plus was cheaper than just paying for a fresh cycle directly from Dr. K and Bennett Fertility Institute.
3 cycle or 1 cycle?
One of the hardest decisions to make about IVF was how in the heck to pay for it. We could pay out of pocket, but didn't want to drain ourselves. Also, do you pay as you go, or try to do one of the package deals with refund? I spent days researching, and then we were forced to make a decision. Ultimately, we decided to use our local instead of taking advantage of the cheaper/lower success rate clinic in Dallas. It's scary to think about spending so much with no guarantees, but we didn't really want to commute that far, that many times. So, we're gambling and praying that it works out.
Our TTC Journey
We started ttc in May 2005. It's been about 17 months, but it seems much longer than that. We never expected to have any problems, but we were so mistaken. I had regular cycles and had never experienced any "female" problems, so it should be easy, right?
We tried for 3 months with no luck. I was due for an annual. They didn't think anything of it. They said to try until January. (I already suspected problems). We wait until January and then schedule another consult with the OB. (by this time, I am experiencing a lot of pelvic/abdominal pain). My OB shrugs off the pain (I had been diagnosed with IBS) and sends us for bloodwork, an s/a for dh, and an HSG for me. My hsg is all clear, my only issue seemed to be slightly elevated prolactin. But then the bad news . . . low motility and some other issues with the s/a. We were going to have to go to a urologist. It seemed to take forever just to get the referral from dh's primary doctor. But finally he gets in in February. The urologist wants another s/a. Then, the diagnosis: a varicocele.
I had no idea what a varicocele was. That is when I first discovered the wonderful world of Babycenter and the helpful boards it has. It seemed the consensus was to have it surgically repaired, although we knew that that would not necessarily fix the problem. Dh seemed hesitant, but after one morning where I couldn't stop crying at church, he gave in. He had the surgery in April 2006.
Meanwhile, despite taking parlodel for 3 months, my prolactin was still elevated. My OB ordered a CT scan to check for pituitary tumors. I showed up for the CT; the radiologist said I needed an MRI, not a CT. Of course, they had no time for an MRI that day. This mix-up convinced us that it was time to change doctors.
On to the RE . . . He didn't think either an MRI or CT was necessary. He thought the problem was all with my dh and that our only solution would be IVF/ICSI. We weren't quite ready to hear that -- this was like 2 weeks post-op for dh. But he also recommended something else, a lap to investigate my pelvic pain.
So, the day after school was out, I had the lap. Finding: stage 1 endometriosis. Thankfully it wasn't any worse, but its discovery certainly helps to explain some things.
In July, dh had the 3 month post-op s/a. The results were not good -- everything was fine but the most important -- 4% morphology. Our only solution was IVF. The urologist said to try for 3 more months then move on to IVF. So, for once, the RE and the urologist agreed.
So, we followed their advice, well, practically. It hasn't been quite 3 months, but things seem to have fallen in place and we're ready to move on.
We tried for 3 months with no luck. I was due for an annual. They didn't think anything of it. They said to try until January. (I already suspected problems). We wait until January and then schedule another consult with the OB. (by this time, I am experiencing a lot of pelvic/abdominal pain). My OB shrugs off the pain (I had been diagnosed with IBS) and sends us for bloodwork, an s/a for dh, and an HSG for me. My hsg is all clear, my only issue seemed to be slightly elevated prolactin. But then the bad news . . . low motility and some other issues with the s/a. We were going to have to go to a urologist. It seemed to take forever just to get the referral from dh's primary doctor. But finally he gets in in February. The urologist wants another s/a. Then, the diagnosis: a varicocele.
I had no idea what a varicocele was. That is when I first discovered the wonderful world of Babycenter and the helpful boards it has. It seemed the consensus was to have it surgically repaired, although we knew that that would not necessarily fix the problem. Dh seemed hesitant, but after one morning where I couldn't stop crying at church, he gave in. He had the surgery in April 2006.
Meanwhile, despite taking parlodel for 3 months, my prolactin was still elevated. My OB ordered a CT scan to check for pituitary tumors. I showed up for the CT; the radiologist said I needed an MRI, not a CT. Of course, they had no time for an MRI that day. This mix-up convinced us that it was time to change doctors.
On to the RE . . . He didn't think either an MRI or CT was necessary. He thought the problem was all with my dh and that our only solution would be IVF/ICSI. We weren't quite ready to hear that -- this was like 2 weeks post-op for dh. But he also recommended something else, a lap to investigate my pelvic pain.
So, the day after school was out, I had the lap. Finding: stage 1 endometriosis. Thankfully it wasn't any worse, but its discovery certainly helps to explain some things.
In July, dh had the 3 month post-op s/a. The results were not good -- everything was fine but the most important -- 4% morphology. Our only solution was IVF. The urologist said to try for 3 more months then move on to IVF. So, for once, the RE and the urologist agreed.
So, we followed their advice, well, practically. It hasn't been quite 3 months, but things seem to have fallen in place and we're ready to move on.
Our "History"
Dh and I have been married just over 2 years. We met in May 2003 -- well, we sort of met. We met online. I was recently divorced. Dh had been divorced for 1.5 years. We both left our first marriages knowing that we wanted to be married and to have children. I actually contacted him first. Anyway, we started chatting, then talking on the phone, and the rest is dreamlike -- I finished my M.A. and moved to OKC to be near him. We married in July 2004. Then we started on our first "project" together, building a house. I love houses and although it was oftentimes stressful, we enjoyed it. A month after we moved in, we decided it was time to start ttc (trying to conceive).
Getting Started
Good morning. For the last like 6 months, I have been checking out multiple blogs, looking for inspiration and trying to identify with others going through similar experiences. I have been inspired -- I have realized I am not CRAZY and too OBSESSED (which my dh -- dear husband-- thinks I am). So, as I approach the IVF/ICSI process, I thought I would start my own blog, to share this experience with my family, my babycenter ttc sisters, and anyone else who might happen along this way.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
