Pre IVF cycle

First off we were accepted for the PPO waiver so now we can go to the Richmond facility. YAY! Dr. Edelstein and I played phone tag all weekend and finally hooked up Monday. He wanted me to start my Apri birth control bill that day and take it through November 15th. He wants me and hubby to start the antibiotic and take for 10 days. I think I'm going to wait until after the antibiotic to start taking the metformin, to give my body some time to adjust. I'm suppose to call Dr. Slackman and set up an ultrasound appointment for Nov 17th or 18th. Dr. Slackman will talk to Dr. Edelstein and they will decide how they want to do the medicine.
I have requested Medco review our situation and possibly accept to help us out with the cost of meds. It's going to be so expensive, I'm thinking $1000.00 at the least. In the mean time I'm saving saving and saving for the next three weeks. Wish us luck, I'm not a saver!

Things are looking up

So after hearing the news from our insurance company that we would need to wait 5-10 days for approval I started checking around for a plan B. I called the 2nd recommended infertility center and this one is in Charlottesville, VA (which is about 2 hours away). I called their office and explained our situation and the lady didn't understand why we were not referred to them first. They are in the PPO network and would bill our insurance directly. I was so thrilled to hear that news. I explained how we are waiting to hear from our insurance about the Richmond Center and if they say No we can go to the Charlottesville Center b/c they are in network. It looks like we will be doing IVF for sure one way or the other by the end of the year. I'm so ready to get the ball rolling either way. I'd like to go with the Richmond center there statics are a little higher and I just loved the doctor and staff. So we wait but know we will get our shot at IVF! :)

IVF so soon?

Well a lot has been going on recently. My 4th attempt at and IUI didn't work out and was cancelled. Dr. Slackman then suggested we move onto injects so my body will respond better. He suggested Follistim, I called our pharmacy and it is not covered. I then called Freedom Pharmacy and was told it would cost around $1200.00 OUCH she then suggested Gonal-F it's a little cheaper as they have a good relationship with the manufacture. It is only $707.00 for the same amount of medicine. That sounds better, so we're thinking about that and maybe IVF next year.

In the mean time our employer decided they are revamping our health insurance next year and it's going to be much worse than what we have now which is really really good insurance! I was so scared to hear about the infertility coverage b/c we have had it so good this year. We've been trying for two years and I want to continue trying with the help of our health insurance. I called and got the specifics last week and NOTHING is covered after diagnosis which we did last year. AHHHH seriously oh my gosh?? So that kicked IVF into high gear for us.

Dr. Slackman suggested another Dr in Richmond about 3 hours away for us to visit to at least get a second opinion. We figured we might as well schedule that appointment so we did for October 14th. We took the day off from work and traveled to Richmond. We met with Dr. Edelstein and the nurses and insurance specialist and just loved the facility and how comfortable they made us feel. We got all the info and tons of pamphlet's to look over he suggested I have Poly Cystic Ovaries b/c of all the symptoms I have. He wrote us 3 prescriptions one for the pill to take before the procedure, one for an antibiotic for both of us to take and the third for Metformin to help reduce insulin amounts. He said for me to call him when I got my period and he would let me know when to start the pill and antibiotic. We then went off to give blood and get a baseline work up for me and of course I got to visit the stirrups for an exam. He said I had one large follie at 23mm looked like I was going to ovulate I just didn't. He said everything else looked great. We we thrilled thinking this could really be happening and that we were going to be doing IVF in the end of November and how exciting it was going to be. He gave us a 50% success rate given our age and health. The center averages 60% success. Great News!!! Next was the meeting with the insurance specialist she told us our coverages which we already knew and then said the Center that the procedure would be done at is out of network and that we would need to pay the procedure amount up front which comes out to be $7420.00. Our mouths dropped we had no idea and there is absolutely no way we can come up with anything close to that. She suggested financing until we got reimbursement from our insurance and I decided at that moment I was going to do everything I could to get this covered. This morning I called the IVF Center in Richmond and was told that we would have to have Dr. Edelsteins permission and approval to not pay upfront and she would speak to him about it and also suggested I look into insurance deeper. I went back and forth with the IVF Center and my insurance all morning. I received a call from the insurance specialist with Dr. Edelstein who suggested sometimes insurance companies will to a waiver if another center is not within a certain mileage. She told me to call my insurance and explain there is not another Andrology center within 100 miles and to see about a waiver. I called and we do qualify for a waiver when the center is over 30 miles away and gave me another 800 number to call to request approval. I called that number requested approval and we should know something in 5-10 days.

We have Dr. Edelsteins approval for the center to bill the insurance directly and all we need is our insurance approval to use an out of network center since there is not another one in net work for 100 miles. It's going to be a long 5-10 days. I pray so hard we get the approval and that we can go forth with a November IVF! I pray and pray and pray so hard!!!!

At last...

It's been a while since I have posted. I was in need of a much enjoyed little break of no dr appointments, pills, special foods, charting etc.... While the dr was on vacation I let my membership to FF run out and didn't think about trying for a baby every day and it sure was nice to have a break from all that stress. I'm taking my last pill of provera tonight, I should get my period around the first of September. Dr. Slackman will be back by then and I have some new questions for him. I'm interested in hearing about injects vs clomid and how he feels about back to back IUI's. Now that the IUI's are not actual attempts it's worth thinking about. I'm ready to get back on the band wagon and do all that I can to make this happen. I also want as much info about IVF as I can get, if this last IUI does not work that will be our next step hopefully. So that's where we are, I'm looking forward to a fresh start, I hope we can make something happen real soon!

No such luck

IUI number 3 didn't work out for us. My body waited till the last minute you know just when I'm getting my hopes up, it took 18 days after the procedure before my cycle ended. I called the Dr office tuesday morning and learned my Dr was going to be on vacation until August 31st. WOW! Well my body does nothing when it's not medicated so I have a RX for provera waiting on me. I will start that on August 14th so this way I will be starting a new cycle just as he is getting back in town.
I called my insurance and was discussing my coverages with them and I actually have 4 IVF attempts, I thought it was 4 attempts period. Good news is we have not used any of those but all my Dr appointments and IUI's come out of our 20,000.00. By the time my claims go through for our third IUI we should have around 16,000.00 left. I would love to try an inject and IUI cycle before the IVF and I think I will try acupuncture too, if I can make myself relax for that. Like my infertility book said wipe the slate clean each cycle. I'm a wipin until August 31st! :)

IUI #3 done and we wait....

We had our IUI Friday am at about 9. Dr said it was an excellent sample with good motility. It was painless just like the last one. I was thrilled, as I forgot to take Tylenol before we went. While I was laying down in the room on my right side to try to persuade them to go that way, Jonathan was so sweet just rubbing my side. Made me feel great and like he was really there for me.

Jonathan had to go to work after the procedure and I went home. I was fine until 11:30 ish when everything started cramping up on my right side. I believe that was the 22mm egg being released, 2 1/2 hours after the IUI. I sure hope our timing is good. I sent a distracting text to my hubby advising of the "reinforcement plans" I had made for him when he got home from work. I figure the more little guys up there the better. The Dr said to wait 14 days and take a test if it's positive give him a call! I sure hope I get to make that call this time!

3rd times a charm!

IUI #3 is all set for Friday at 8:30am. I was shocked when I got the size of the follie on the right side the he was watching. Last friday it was 13mm, monday it was 14 1/2mm and this morning it is now 22mm. That's awesome he said everything looks great! I just gave myself the HCG shot to trigger ovulation in 36 hours. I can definitely feel something going on in there, I've been cramping and bloated since yesterday! I hope and pray things go well Friday! I feel really good about this and I hope that's our litte one just waiting for it's perfect match to make a perfect little Stone! :)