Meds are on the way...I hope

Hopefully the remainder of the meds are on the way for delivery tomorrow.  We have our suppression check on Friday and we need to bring all the meds.  I got a call on Sunday and they said there was a problem with my credit card.  I have no clue if they had the number down wrong or what.  Thankfully we got that all figured out and they placed the remainder of the order.  I sure hope there isn't any screw ups with this order.  We don't have time for screw ups.


It's crazy how naive I was when we were first starting.  I never once thought it would take this long for us to get pregnant.  I sure didn't think we'd have to do all of this.  I keep telling myself, "Good things come to those who wait." :)


Tonight I'm going to be in bed early.  J was sick yesterday and about 8:30 we headed up north because Grandma was in the hospital. She's battling a bad case of the shingles and just not having a good time.  We didn't get home until 2:15 and I was in bed right after that.  The hospital Grandma is at is about 1.5 hours away from us so it was a long drive late at night. Thankfully I didn't have any meetings at work today so I could work from home.  I slept until 8 and fired up my laptop in my pajamas.  I'm having a hard time keeping my little eyeballs open tonight.

Meds

Meds were delivered yesterday. No one was home at the house to sign for them so I needed to go to the Fed Ex facility to pick it up.  The box looks a little smaller than what I was expecting.  I got in the car and opened the box only to find 5 of the meds.  These were the meds we had to pay out of pocket for because insurance has a max of $2500.  These are only 5 of like 30 that we need.  Ah!  Of course the pharmacy was closed so I had to call first thing this morning.  They don't know why the 2nd order wasn't sent out. They saw it in their computers but have no idea why it wasn't sent out.  With the holiday the earliest they can get them out would be Tuesday for delivery Wednesday. I sure hope they send out all the meds they should be sending out on Wednesday.  We have our suppression appointment on Friday June 3.  We need to bring all the meds with us because the doctor will tel us what is what and how we need to use them.


I must say I did get quite nervous when I opened the box and saw the 5 gonal F.  There were instructions on how to handle the needles and everything.  I sat on the stairs and thought "Oh shit...these are needles."  It's all becoming a reality. I have to keep telling myself that hopefully a month from now we will have good news that everything worked.

Meds are ordered

Doctor sent through the prescription for my meds yesterday afternoon.  The pharmacy called me about 5:45 to confirm the order and verify mailing and pay info.  As of Friday we will have all our meds.  Our suppression check is Friday June 3.  More blood work is done and Dr M checks to make sure we are ready to go. We will also get our schedule at that time.  It seems like so far away but at the same time, it's just next week.  

TSH Levels

On Friday I went to the office to get some blood work done.  They check all my levels to make sure everything looks good. Yesterday morning the medical assistant (ma) called to let me know my TSH (thyroid) levels were off.  They were at 3.075 when they like to see them lower than 2.  I went in yesterday afternoon for another blood draw.


This morning the MA called to let me know my TSH levels went down and they are little over 2 right now.  I do have a high count for thyroid antibody so Dr M is putting me on a low dose thyroid medication.  It's the lowest dose they could possibly give.  They want to see a properly working thyroid because that helps with pregnancy.  So now I'll run down to the pharmacy lunch to pick up my prescription.

Who is St. Gerard?

St. Gerard is the patron saint of expectant mothers.  In my "googling" for IVF, his name popped up.  I looked into it more to find out about him.  I will say I've said some prayers to St. Gerard.  The talks I've had with St. Gerard have increased as we get closer to IVF.  I fully believe that God has a plan for us.  When He is ready, He will give us a child.  We just have to wait and be patient.  

BCP? Wha?

Friday was CD2 and I started my bcp.  I know it's crazy to think we are trying to get pregnant and our doctor has us on bcp.  I have to take them in order for the doctor to regulate my cycle.  Friday afternoon I headed into the doctors to get my blood drawn.  Thankfully the gals that draw blood are super nice and know 100% what they are doing.  I'm scared of needles and getting my blood drawn.  I just have a little bruise.  :) I can live with that.

Talked to our IVF coordinator on Friday.  We go in on June 3 to have an u/s and see where we are at. If everything looks good we'll start injections then.  Yikes!!

How we got to here...

If this doesn't work, disappointment will be an

Understatement. My body might rebel against the crazy pills and

Injections.

I found the poem above online. I think it paints a very accurate portrait. J & I have been trying since Oct 09 for a baby. We both want kids and want a family. I know J will be an amazing father and this is one of the reasons I married him. We have not had much luck on our own so we went and looked for help. Thankfully my insurance at work is wonderful and covers up to $10k for infertility. We found an amazing doctor and began our journey to the unknown. We both had tests done. I had blood work and a test where they shot dye into my tubes. That isn't as much fun as it sounds. Verdict came back…unexplained. My first reaction was, “Seriously? You went through how many years of medical school and that’s what you came up with?” After listening to the doctor more and looking online, I realized that unexplained is pretty common.


After a year of trying on our own we went back to Dr. M and asked for next steps. One of the reasons I love Dr. M is that she explains it in simple terms. I get it when she talks to me. We decided that we would try IUI. For 5 days in the beginning of my cycle I took a pill that helped to move ovulation around. On day 11 I went in to the office to have an ultrasound done and to get my shot that would jump start ovulation. During the u/s they found a little bump. The doctor decided to continue on with the plan of IUI this cycle. On Black Friday I found out it didn't work. Disappointed doesn’t even begin to describe how I felt. I called Dr. M and she let me know that the next steps would be to go in and see what the bump was and remove it.


On January 28 we went to the doctor’s office and I had a hysteroscopy. This is where the
doctor goes in and looks at the uterus and can see if there are any polyps so they could remove them. Thankfully through all this I was under anesthesia. The only thing I remember is waking up in the recovery room asking J for a milkshake. Dr. M told J that she found one large polyp and they removed it. The polyp was not making my uterus a ‘friendly’ environment for me to get pregnant.


So now it is on to round 2 of IUI. This round seemed a little easier because I knew what to
expect. The pills I had to take don’t make me sick, thankfully. I take them at night before bed so if there are any side effects I sleep through them. The only discomfort I had this time around was from the shot. The area around where I got the shot was a little sore and itched. After all is said and done the doctor says “Okay now you wait.” Two weeks is an exceptionally long time when you are waiting for something like this. Each day goes by and you think, “Okay, one day closer now.”


We found out IUI #2 didn’t work when we were in Arizona. It was kind of nice to be on vacation to take our mind off it. At the same time though it didn't make it any less heartbreaking. I started the Femara to begin IUI #3. When I went in for my day 12 u/s I was told I wasn’t ready yet and had to come back in 2 days. This threw my schedule for a wide loop. I was in an all day meeting on the day they needed me to come in for the u/s and the IUI. Thankfully I was able to get the u/s scheduled super early in the morning so I didn't miss work. I woke up the morning of the IUI and panicked, I forgot to order my trigger shot! I called the doctor as soon as I could and told them this. Thankfully they said they had a trigger shot they could sell me. Everything looked okay for the u/s so they did the shot. Because it was a different medicine, instead of my stomach I got the shot in my butt. Let me tell you how awkward THAT was! Ha. It was actually a funny moment that made me laugh. I didn't realize the nurse was going to give it to me in the butt and I kept asking her why I needed to lean over.  Finally the light bulb went off for both of us and we had a good laugh at it.  And now we are back in the waiting game…again. You continue living your life and doing what you normally do but it’s always in the back of your mind.


IUI #3 was a no go. It’s a weird feeling being here. We really don’t know what is going on now. Luckily I was able to get into the doctor fairly quick. Originally when I called the receptionist said I couldn't get in for a few weeks.  We couldn't wait that long.  We needed to know what happened next.  I needed to know.  Dr M was able to get us squeezed in within a few days.  We went in for our follow up with her and got so much information on next steps that our heads were spinning. Our doctor wants us to try IVF. She doesn’t think that injectibles and IUI work enough and there is a high risk for multiples. She explained as much as she could about IVF. I am very lucky that my insurance covers up to $10k for infertility. At the time I didn't know how much we had already used. We talked with gal who would be our coordinator and then sat down with the finance gal. J & I both had sticker shock when she spelled everything out for us. It was a tough pill to swallow. We could possibly have to put all this off for months and months until we saved up. We left the office with our heads swimming with info.


A couple days later I got great news from my insurance. We had only used $500 of our $10k
budget for infertility. Medicine for IVF wasn’t included in that budget and had a separate cap of $2500. That was excellent news and a huge weight off my shoulders. With my FSA through work we will be able to cover the out of pocket. Hopefully we only need 1 round.


And now we begin...

HI there..

Here's a place where I can get everything out there.  My husband & I have been struggling to have a baby for a year and a half.  We haven't had much luck at all and have been working with a fertility specialist for the last year.  This is my blog of what we've been going through.


Welcome to our life. :)