I went for the injection class yesterday and to my suprise it didn't seem too over the top or complicated.
I am NOT a fan of needles but it was easier than I thought it would be. I also did a practice shot on my tummy and it didn't hurt either. Going through each step and each medicine helped to take a lot of the anxiety away. Finch will be doing the intramuscular HCG shot for me but I can handle the rest.
I came across a great resource for those couples, like us who have 0% coverage from insurance - Mandel Pharmacy in NJ 1-877-252-0553!! Our nurse was able to find us some free meds that were left over in the office. She faxed the remaining meds we need to 2 pharmacies. The total cost for pharmacy #1 was $1600...the cost at Mandel is $1189.46. Yes, we are counting every penny of cost savings! lol. I also found out that Freedom pharmacy 1-866-297-9448 has the lowest rates anywhere for Gonal-F. Both offer free overnight shipping. What could be better?! Well, I guess I could say Insurance to cover the costs of our IVF and meds but that isn't going to happen anytime soon. We are ordering the Gonal-F from Freedom and the rest from Mandel. I already had the mock transfer back in January so we are all finished until 3/28 when we return for bloodwork/ultrasound. Everyone is filled with great information on here, I love it! Does anyone have any foods that you regularly ate to increase fertility?
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
IVF
Well I started on the BCP today and go for the injection class in the morning. I was expecting that our retrieval and transfer would be towards the end of April or so... not the case. After speaking with our nurse this afternoon, I will only be on BCP for 10 days then start the medications. The retrieval date is April 11th with a transfer on April 14th or 16th. I think the reality just set in this afternoon that it will be within the next 30 days! OMG!!! I am a little nervous...why?? I am trying to figure out how to work around my work schedule. I am the director of a non-profit agency and April is one of my busiest months. I have a Federal grant that is due sometime in April and a grant presentation on April 13th or 14th (which is the same week on our transfer!) I know that it will all fall together and work out, just nervous with the timeline and making sure I have plenty of time for rest and relaxation.
2 questions: How long are you supposed to rest after the retrieval? How long do you rest after the transfer?? I'm trying to look ahead and map my days out strategically to take off from work or work from home :)
2 questions: How long are you supposed to rest after the retrieval? How long do you rest after the transfer?? I'm trying to look ahead and map my days out strategically to take off from work or work from home :)
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Start of our IVF cycle
AF arrived today so we are at Day 1 and starting off on our IVF journey...nervous and excited!
Praying this will be our "first' and "last" round.. and our family will be complete. More to come...
Praying this will be our "first' and "last" round.. and our family will be complete. More to come...
Sunday, February 27, 2011
1st Round IVF - any tips?
We are very excited to announce the start of our 1st round of IVF in about 15 days!!!! After 2 BFN ICI's at home, and 3 BFN IUI's at the doctor's office - we have decided it is time to move on and invest in IVF. Thanks to our amazing nurse who was able to save us about $1000 in medications, we were able to move our start date up from April to March! This is no cheap route - that's for sure but hoping the increased odds will pay off in the end. We will have the retrieval/transfer in mid-late April. I am nervous about giving myself the shots - were they easy or difficult for the rest of you? Any tips you can give us about the IVF process? Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers over the next two months.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Ringing in 2011
Well, as 2010 comes to a close we wanted to share a few of our favorite NYE pics with you - we watched the band Mama's BlackSheep in MD and had a fantastic evening with our friends ringing in the New Year!
We are planning our first round of IVF in March/April 2011. This is our year - we can feel it! After 5 BFN from IUI's we decided to move onto IVF after a consult with our doc. Looking forward to welcoming a bundle of joy...or two into our lives in Jan 2012! Happy New Year to all of you!
Monday, November 22, 2010
Myth Buster --- The Big "O"
Hello to all again! Sorry to have taken such a long hiatus -- we have been waiting for different options to open up, or in our case, fall through, before updating. So this is where we are at:
After our meeting with the Dr last month, she came up with three different game strategies:
A. Join the Shared Risk Program
Basically we pay $20,000 for 6 cycles of in vitro. If at the end we have no live pregnancy, we get a 100% refund. BUT -- if you get pregnant on the first try, the clinic has basically made off with $10,000!
B. Either continue with another round of IUI prometrium or begin one round of in vitro
C. Join a study group that our clinic is beginning offering one FREE round of in vitro
Naturally, our decision was option C! Dr said, great, I will call the study coordinator tomorrow and submit your name. Fast forward to over a month later and still no response. After numerous calls to the Dr office (let me also add that our nurse, who is AMAZING, left to deliver her own baby in the middle of all of this so we are now stuck with a half-ass nurse) and several messages to the new nurse -- still nothing. Wren then went above and beyond and contacted the study coordinator herself. Turns out the study was only for "X" amount of women and there is now a waiting list of 80 or so to get on. UGH! We def had our sights set on that and now we are back a square one again.
So the past few days Wren and I have been talking about our different options. Grant it, we have savings put aside, but in no way is it near $20,000 after the past 3 BFN IUI's plus our two attempts from home. So, in order to put us closer to that number sooner -- I have decided to donate my eggs. Our fertility clinic pays about $6000 per cycle, which unfortunately is taxable. But hey, ya gotta do what ya gotta do! Wren and I have talked about this option before but it makes us both a little uneasy knowing there would be little me's running around out there that would not be part of our family. At the same time, eggs are to infertile women what sperm is to us! Wren is pretty set on the shared risk program. Considering all the statistics (yes, she is a number cruncher!), and everything else, she believes this is the best option.
I say we try one more round of IUI.
Now, here is where your help is needed to solve the MYTH BUSTER!
We have done everything every single book out there says to do to try and get pregnant. We have lost weight, we are eating natural, Wren has tried fertili - TEA, gogi berries, acupuncture, etc, etc. However, there is one thing we have not tried that Wren has fought me on all along ---- THE BIG "O!!!!" Several of our successful friends have went IUI and they say the secret is to have a good orgasm to get the little ones in there swimming. I think this is only natural because think about heterosexual's ( gross, I know but work with me here....) --- they are having sex when they make a baby. Either the female has an orgasm or she fakes it well enough to trick those little sperm into swimming :) I mean, isn't that what they set the timer in the room for anyway? 5 minutes in heaven?...
So, give us your feedback on the Big "O" aswell as your thoughts on IUI vs. in vitro vs. shared risk.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all!
~Finch
After our meeting with the Dr last month, she came up with three different game strategies:
A. Join the Shared Risk Program
Basically we pay $20,000 for 6 cycles of in vitro. If at the end we have no live pregnancy, we get a 100% refund. BUT -- if you get pregnant on the first try, the clinic has basically made off with $10,000!
B. Either continue with another round of IUI prometrium or begin one round of in vitro
C. Join a study group that our clinic is beginning offering one FREE round of in vitro
Naturally, our decision was option C! Dr said, great, I will call the study coordinator tomorrow and submit your name. Fast forward to over a month later and still no response. After numerous calls to the Dr office (let me also add that our nurse, who is AMAZING, left to deliver her own baby in the middle of all of this so we are now stuck with a half-ass nurse) and several messages to the new nurse -- still nothing. Wren then went above and beyond and contacted the study coordinator herself. Turns out the study was only for "X" amount of women and there is now a waiting list of 80 or so to get on. UGH! We def had our sights set on that and now we are back a square one again.
So the past few days Wren and I have been talking about our different options. Grant it, we have savings put aside, but in no way is it near $20,000 after the past 3 BFN IUI's plus our two attempts from home. So, in order to put us closer to that number sooner -- I have decided to donate my eggs. Our fertility clinic pays about $6000 per cycle, which unfortunately is taxable. But hey, ya gotta do what ya gotta do! Wren and I have talked about this option before but it makes us both a little uneasy knowing there would be little me's running around out there that would not be part of our family. At the same time, eggs are to infertile women what sperm is to us! Wren is pretty set on the shared risk program. Considering all the statistics (yes, she is a number cruncher!), and everything else, she believes this is the best option.
I say we try one more round of IUI.
Now, here is where your help is needed to solve the MYTH BUSTER!
We have done everything every single book out there says to do to try and get pregnant. We have lost weight, we are eating natural, Wren has tried fertili - TEA, gogi berries, acupuncture, etc, etc. However, there is one thing we have not tried that Wren has fought me on all along ---- THE BIG "O!!!!" Several of our successful friends have went IUI and they say the secret is to have a good orgasm to get the little ones in there swimming. I think this is only natural because think about heterosexual's ( gross, I know but work with me here....) --- they are having sex when they make a baby. Either the female has an orgasm or she fakes it well enough to trick those little sperm into swimming :) I mean, isn't that what they set the timer in the room for anyway? 5 minutes in heaven?...
So, give us your feedback on the Big "O" aswell as your thoughts on IUI vs. in vitro vs. shared risk.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all!
~Finch
Monday, October 18, 2010
October Updates
Well, after our BFN from last month, we have taken some time off and will be meeting with our Dr today to review our options. That was strike three with the fertility clinic and we may need a more aggressive approach. So we will see what she has to say. My poor Wren, she has been saying lately that she feels she is constantly surrounded by babies or pregnant women. I'm hoping our dream will come true soon!
On a side note --- for those of you still TTC, do you ever think to yourself -- "Wow, look at how busy we are with NO children....what will life be like when they arrive?" For those of you enjoying your bundles of joy --- how do you do it? It does seem like our schedule has been jam packed lately. However, we have been able to make time for fun. Two weekends ago we were in Wren's hometown for the Mountain State Forest Festival which is ALWAYS a good time. We even cheated our diet and had corn dogs and funnel cake! This past weekend we enjoyed the Northern Va Wine and Balloon Festival (minus the balloons due to wind) with our wonderful group of friends. I will even tell you that Wren indulged in two, yes TWO glasses of wine! She has been so good and so worried about "preparing the womb" it was nice to see her let loose and relax a little. She even had a pumpkin latte yesterday morning! Look out!
This coming weekend, Wren's Mom will be visiting us. This gave us a reason to move the guest room from upstairs to the tv room downstairs.Wren's Mom does not do well with stairs. Why is this important you ask? The tv room got moved to the basement, guest room is now downstairs in what was the tv room and the guest room upstairs can now become the nursery! This has been our plan since we bought the house but just being able to make the transition makes it seem like we are much closer to our goal of bringing home a baby. We have been to Lowes and brought home several color samples, put them up on the wall and I think we have agreed on a color. I'm sure this will be a project in the very near future.
Also, the end of this month is Halloween. We are going to throw our first Halloween party and we are very excited about it. Our home was built in 1930 which makes it the perfect house to convert into a creepy, abandoned house, complete with old creaky doors and all!
So all in all, October has been and will continue to be a busy month. We are both looking forward to our meeting with our Dr today and planning for our next attempt at "Operation Baby Bird." We hope you are all doing well and we will keep you posted.
~Finch
On a side note --- for those of you still TTC, do you ever think to yourself -- "Wow, look at how busy we are with NO children....what will life be like when they arrive?" For those of you enjoying your bundles of joy --- how do you do it? It does seem like our schedule has been jam packed lately. However, we have been able to make time for fun. Two weekends ago we were in Wren's hometown for the Mountain State Forest Festival which is ALWAYS a good time. We even cheated our diet and had corn dogs and funnel cake! This past weekend we enjoyed the Northern Va Wine and Balloon Festival (minus the balloons due to wind) with our wonderful group of friends. I will even tell you that Wren indulged in two, yes TWO glasses of wine! She has been so good and so worried about "preparing the womb" it was nice to see her let loose and relax a little. She even had a pumpkin latte yesterday morning! Look out!
This coming weekend, Wren's Mom will be visiting us. This gave us a reason to move the guest room from upstairs to the tv room downstairs.Wren's Mom does not do well with stairs. Why is this important you ask? The tv room got moved to the basement, guest room is now downstairs in what was the tv room and the guest room upstairs can now become the nursery! This has been our plan since we bought the house but just being able to make the transition makes it seem like we are much closer to our goal of bringing home a baby. We have been to Lowes and brought home several color samples, put them up on the wall and I think we have agreed on a color. I'm sure this will be a project in the very near future.
Also, the end of this month is Halloween. We are going to throw our first Halloween party and we are very excited about it. Our home was built in 1930 which makes it the perfect house to convert into a creepy, abandoned house, complete with old creaky doors and all!
So all in all, October has been and will continue to be a busy month. We are both looking forward to our meeting with our Dr today and planning for our next attempt at "Operation Baby Bird." We hope you are all doing well and we will keep you posted.
~Finch
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