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...
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