Breaking Point

Was there this morning.

So, still need to do before IVF start date:
* HIV testing
* Hep testin
* Lupron Rx
* PIO Rx
* ABX Rx
* BCP #2 Rx

HIV testing:
We got life insurance this past year, so the IVF nurse said as long as it's within 12 months... we're good. "Yay." Well, in some crazy way, the underwriters for our policy have nowhere written acknowledging we were negative for HIV. They only get notification if it's positive. So, they told our financial guy there's no way to get that. Yesterday & this morning told him that. I pleaded with him through holding back tears to see if they would call our clinic to explain this over the phone.

Hep testing:
Called my PCP to see if they would order the Hep so it would be covered by my HMO. She was not so nice (not *really* rude, but not nice) in saying that if we needed it for another doctor, the other doctor needs to order it. I tried to explain that it probably needs to be an in-network doctor & since they'd do this for other patients... why not us. She told me I had to call member service (que black mark on our account for fertility ish) to see. Member service rep said no, but that it really matter which doctor ordered the labs as to which would count. Ugh.

Lupron:
After talking with WM & being advised to call Member Services, I did. They will not cover it. Even though I have confirmed endometriosis & any other endo patient would have it covered, I won't since it's now deemed for fertility. Neither would the...

Progesterone (in oil):
So, yeah.

ABX:
Nick's Rx will be on the sheet our clinic is supposed to have already mailed us along with the script (same sheet) as the Lupron + PIO. So, I'm stressing about splitting up the script.

Some things have already fallen in place... thank God.

I had a message from our financial guy that somehow, magically, the underwriters can send us a letter verifying our negative HIV results. Whew. Called him & profusely thanked him. He's awesome.

Called Ascend pharmacy & verified prices for the Lupron + PIO. They ship free & can call the JAX pharmacy to get the initial script info. Their prices are cheaper than the hospital pharmacy... wish I would have decided on them beforehand. Will call them tomorrow morning with JAX pharmacy info to order the Lupron + PIO.

Will still receive the ABX order from the clinic in the next couple of days, so even if our HMO has black marked us for any Rx from the fertility clinic (like my 2nd BCP refill... wondering about that), WM includes doxy as a $4 med.

I will fill my BCPs in less than 2 weeks & will find out if it's only the $10 copay or more. Trying not to worry about it.

So...

* HIV testing CHECK
* Hep testing Still have to pay for, but MAY be through HMO if our PCP works with us.
* Lupron Rx CHECK (add money to fertility fund)
* PIO Rx CHECK (add money to fertility fund)
* ABX Rx CHECK (no issues with having to request new script)
* BCP #2 Rx (we'll see how much it'll be later)

I'm already more relieved than this morning. I was so upset. I mean, would it have been THAT hard for our clinic to have told me in the last 5 months I've been calling that we will need to get some bloodwork done... I could have done that like months ago & had less stress to deal with when we're rounding the corner? I feel like we can't catch a freaking break in this whole mess, but I do remember how blessed we are to have saved & raised the money to not have to go into debt for this cycle.

Slowly this will pull together... but not too slowly cuz we have less than 4 weeks now!

Insurance Crap

Since our local HMO wasn't contracted with the hospital in JAX, I got the Menopur + hcg filled there.

I thought filling the other locally (progesterone & Lupron) would be covered by the insurance. Called WM (they were so cheap with my ABX, so... thought I'd start there) & they didn't seem to think the Lupron may not be covered. So, I'll call the insurance tomorrow to see. And there's only 2 pharmacies that carry the progesterone in oil locally.

So, I wish I would have just filled all of it in JAX to get it over with it. Anyone else have these kind of issues?

Just frustrated with it.

If the insurance doesn't cover it, I guess it'll be like an extra $160 for meds.

Less than 4 weeks to go now. Getting excited.

Review of IVF Consult

Yesterday found us waking around 5:30ish in the morning to embark on our 3hr drive to the clinic. I drove. Ugh.

We got to the hospital parking lot around 9:15. Walking to the hospital from the elevators was already LESS stressful that the 1st time. See, there's no signs at the hospital with our clinic's name on it. The 1st time there, we happened to look confused enough that a staff member asked if she could help us... "Umm, yeah, we're looking for FIRM." Thankfully, she knew where it was. In the women's pavillion! Ugh.

So, this time we at least knew where to go. Check.

Went in the right door. Check.

Signed our name in. Check.

(I do DISlike the fact that you sign your name, walk away, then the receptionist opens the window, & quickly grabs the clipboard. Weird.)

Called our name & went back. I was surprised at how busy it was behind the scenes. To explain a bit better, our very initial visit was in Tallahassee. The second was the SA. So, we hadn't been behind those doors until yesterday.

The first nurse?/tech?/assistant? snapped my picture... ya know, to verify it's me in the future. Although, at no time did they ask to see my license to verify I was the person I said I was. Hmm. Then I got my "mini" vitals done + weight. Ouch.

Then we waited a few minutes to see the IVF nurse. I don't know if they rotate around, but I didn't meet with the same nurse I've been in contact with since May. That sucked. But, this one was nice. She basically read through the IVF packet that I'd already poured over. Then reviewed some mixing of the shots & had us practice. Then explained the mock transfer.

We headed to an exam room where we got to talk to the Specialist a bit. That was nice. I expected just the ultrasound & mock transfer, but not as much talking. So, pleasantly surpised. Not so pleasant during the procedure. (I mean, really, do they HAVE to crank the speculum like 6 freaking inches wide?) Everything checked out just fine.

Then we headed to the financial person who reviewed the same info we'd already discussed many times. Checked out & was charged $15 more than they told me it would be last week. Still gonna call & see on this.

Since we could either order the meds through Schrafts (well, that's who they mostly deal with) or the hospital's pharmacy downstairs, we just headed downstairs. Waited 20 or so minutes & left with needles, Menopur, & the hcg. Will be ordering the Lupron, ABX, + progesterone here locally, since I am hoping my insurance will cover some of it.

The Bravelle will be donated to us since we meet the qualifications for that. So, we'll get 30 vials of that once we return on Nov26 for the IVF start.

Some items of note:
** we will probably start the stims on Nov26. I had previously been told that we will start either Nov27 or Nov28. So, a couple of days earlier.
** the sharps box is SOO cute! :)
** the meds estimated by the clinic were like 15-20% more expensive than their estimate.
** they say to do the Lupron shots on the side of the hips. I always thought it was just belly.

So, we drove home with meds, heavy hearts, & many thoughts on our mind. We've got lots of praying to do & much to decide on.

But, I'm really thrilled about the steps we are taking. I sure do hope in a year, I will be holding a sweet baby in my arms. And I will KNOW it was worth it.

Will be dropping by everyone's blogs to comment, but wanted to get this bit out there! :)

Not As Much of a Setback

Found out another friend is pregnant.

Growing up in a small Christian school & church, I had three girls that were my closest friends. From fourth grade through all of high school we remained close. Even through college & post-college, I think we all considerd each other dear friends.

Out of the four of us, I was the first to get married (over 4 years ago). Now, I'm the last to become a mother. It's like inversely proportional to our marriage dates. Yeah, I think of things like that.

I was upset inside. But, I was much better at self-soothing. I'm trying to avoid negativity in areas of my life & I think I'm disconnecting emotionally from certain things.

One of the other of the four just found out on Tuesday, her baby due in March will be another little girl. The other friend has four children.

Maybe I will also be due in 2009, so it can be another experience we share.

In "IVF prep" news, the doxycycline has made me extremely nauseaus. And I've only take 3 of the 10 pills. Anyone else experience this? I've even stayed upright 30+m following administration + eaten food with the pill. Not looking forward to taking them for the transfer.

Tomorrow we head for the IVF consult. We'll be leaving around 6a & turning around to come right back immediately after the appointment. The trip is abut 2.5-3.0 hours one way. Not too bad.

We plan to put almost half of the clinic's cost down at tomorrow's visit. We'll also get the prescription for the remaining Menopur we'll need, Lupron, & the ABX, too.

I assume we get a prospective calendar for the cycle? Or does that come at our IVF start date in November? Guess we'll find out soon enough.

Hope everyone's doing well! I'm getting pretty excited about how quickly this cycle is "sneaking" up on us. Although, we've been preparing mentally & financially since last January.

For Kari

My IRL friend, Kari, won a free IVF cycle at our Fertility Seminar last weekend & I'm still trying to convince her to join this blogosphere.. *winkwink*

Anywho, I just wanted to post this link for Stirrup Queen & a breakdown of what to expect with IVF.

WHAT TO EXPECT with IVF (CLICK HERE)

And anyone out there that wants to welcome her, too, would be awesome! She's been trying since August 2004 & actually (for the 1st time EVER) got a positive on her OPK today with Clomid! Feel free to leave a comment for her & maybe we can all convince her to blog, too! It's amazing how this blogging-world has helped me & I know it will help her, too!

Thanks!

What Do All Those Abbreviations Mean?

Since we are welcoming some non-IFs into my IF blog, I thought I'd permalink a post with many abbreviations that I refer to on my blog.

BCP= birth control pills

IF= infertility, infertiles

ABX= antibiotics

IVF= in-vitro fertilization

ICSI= intracytoplasmic sperm injection

FET= frozen embryo transfer

stim= stimulation of egg production

ER= egg retrieval (for IVF)

ET= embryo transfer

subQ= subcutaenous shot (think insulin type needles/injections)

IM= intramuscular shot (think flu shot or cortisone. Most of these with IVF will be in the bum... ouchie.)

I'll try to add more as I remember them... Hope this helps!

Girls Night In

On Saturday night, we got to see the two most special little girls in our lives... Our nieces:



We spent most of that night talking & snuggling with the girls. Big M was very talkative & we spent hours trying to figure out words that started with a specific letter. H, M, B, C, S, even Q. Q was a short one. :) She has an impressive vocabulary & was very creative with her words. Little M was a jumpy thing until she just ZONKED out. Like immediately.

Sunday morning we went out for a few minutes & snapped some pics in the sweet dresses. The light was harsh, but we spent most of the time in the spots they wanted to pose in. Like, with blinding sunlight & horrible shadows on their faces! They're still adorable pictures, but those two were some of my favorites!

Interacting with them Saturday night was just bittersweet. Bitter cuz we rarely get to see them (like a couple of times a year) & cuz I so long for being able to spend time with our child like that... sweet cuz, well, how could it not be sweet to be with such awesome kids?! We adore them!!

I feel like this blog is one-sided while I just post about my IF stuff, but thought it wouldn't hurt to branch out a bit & share more about my personal life. A little more about who I am.