IVF Registration

Last week John and I had our IVF registration appointments. We met with one of the IVF nurses at 10:30, a pharmacist from the Northwestern Specialty Pharmacy at 11:00, a psychologist at 1:00, and Dr. Robins at 2:45 (but we actually saw him earlier because he was available). Plus, John had another appointment at 4pm. It was a long day!

The nurse explained our protocol. The medicines include birth control pills, Lupron, Gonal F, Menopur, Ovidrel, doxycycline, and Endometrin for different lengths of time and at different parts of the cycle. There is one period of time when I'll be doing three subcutaneous injections every day. Eesh!

As I said, it was a long and pretty overwhelming day. I found the meeting with the psychologist pretty helpful. She gave me a new mantra: Live the day you're in.

The Northwestern Specialty Pharmacy has been terrific! They had to submit prior authorization paperwork with my insurance and kept me in the loop throughout the process. I heard back today that our copay for all the meds is $183. I'm so thankful that our insurance makes IVF an affordable option for us. I know others aren't so fortunate.

Now we just wait for my next cycle to start to start the protocol. More to come...

Update: Unexplained infertility

We're onto our second round of fertility treatments...and it's going better than the first round so far so that's reassuring!

I wasn't really sure what to expect of the treatments. I didn't do any research about the medicines, I just listened to what the nurses told me and read the information from the pharmacy. I was super emotional during the first round of Clomid. Every little thing made me cry. I questioned every little thing John did. It was pretty terrible, especially since I'm not usually like that! Luckily it only lasted a few days...but still!

I made John go along to the second ultrasound appointment at 7am on a Friday morning. He wasn't super impressed but came (probably so I wouldn't cry...ha). The follicles were not as big as they needed to be for the Ovidrel injection that day so the nurse asked if I would be able to give myself the injection the next day. Of course I could give it to myself...but I was really nervous about it! I'm really awesome at giving shots though (it hurt way less than when the nurse gave it to me today)!

We had the BTN Big10K and 5K the next day and I really wanted to run it so I was so glad the timing worked out the way it did. Though that meant we were up early three days in a row...Friday for the ultrasound, Saturday for the race, and Sunday for the IUI. I wasn't sure what to expect of the IUI either. It hurt more than I thought it would but only for a few minutes.

Unfortunately, the first round did not do the trick. Again, the nurse reminded me that it usually takes 3 to 4 rounds so this was not unusual. We were out of town when I was supposed to start the next round of treatment but luckily there's a little leeway in the schedule. This time around I started my Clomid on Day 5 and had my first ultrasound on Day 6. I'm not sure if it was the change in timing or because I knew what to expect, but the Clomid was not nearly as unpleasant this time around. I didn't cry once! Today I went back for the second ultrasound and I have three mature follicles so the nurse gave me the Ovidrel in the office. We go back tomorrow for the IUI and then we wait. Keep your fingers and toes crossed and send lots of good thoughts, vibes, and prayers!

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Speaking of prayers, Laura sent me the Novena of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to pray for nine days in a row. I had never even heard of that type of prayer before. I pray before bed every night...Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep and a request to bless my family, friends, and anyone I know who is having a hard time. I've done that for as long as I can remember. Even though I haven't gone to church regularly in years, it's my time to reconnect with something much bigger than myself.

I finished the novena a few days before we left for vacation. I found another one that I'm planning to start tomorrow. In the meantime, I found the following prayer and have been praying it every night. 

 

This prayer is so simple and so sweet...and so absolutely true. Here's to good news sometime very soon!

Unexplained infertility

John and I have been trying to conceive since January 2013. Infertility is the inability to conceive after trying for at least a year. In February 2014, I had lab tests done and everything came back normal. In May 2014, John had his checkup and things were fine. Our doctors assured us that we should be able to conceive. We decided to keep trying.

In December 2014, we decided we had had enough with just trying and began to pursue the more invasive tests and procedures. In January, I had an HSG which was completely normal. After trying for a few more months without success, we decided to see a Fertility and Reproductive Medicine specialist.

Dr. Robins reassured us that both of our workups looked perfectly fine. We have what is called unexplained infertility. (Reassuring but also frustrating.) The first approach, one he described as at a third-grade level, is to increase the number of available eggs and sperm. To do this, I'll take Clomid, an oral medicine, for 5 days each cycle to increase the number of eggs produced, and then get another medicine as an injection to induce ovulation at the right time. Then, we'll do what's called intrauterine insemination (along with traditional methods) to increase the likelihood of fertilization.

But, before we could start, our insurance needed to approve it. So, while I was really hoping to start this process in June, we had to wait until early July to get the go-ahead from the insurance company.

In any case, it was good timing. My first visit was Monday morning. Since these things can happen any day of the week, the clinic is open for "monitoring" from 7-8 AM on Monday through Friday and 8-9 AM on Saturdays and Sundays. So, I got up at 5:30 AM to make it there by 7 AM. I was greeted by a line of at least a dozen women when I got off the elevator on the 24th floor. I was so surprised by this! Even though I have some friends who also had difficulty conceiving, I've felt so alone through this process. At times it feels like everyone is getting pregnant but me. (I'm so happy for those who are pregnant...but a little jealous too.) Just being in that line and in the waiting room with so many other women that morning made me feel so much better.

The nurse told me twice that it usually takes 3 or 4 cycles of this regimen so I'm not getting my hopes up just yet...but the process has begun!