Menopur and Follistim Injection (oUcH....and grumpy!)

We are giving both of these medications in one injection.  I am currently on 2 vials of Follistim and 1 vial of Menopur.  I just took my 2nd dose of the injections and let me just set the record straight.... That's alot of medicine going through a tiny needle to be given subcutaneously and jeez...does it have to sting that bad!  This medicine does burn when injected and almost immediately caused a bruise with me.

Yesterday was my first day on these medicines and I am not sure if it's the medicine or just me having mood swings, but today I have been a bit grumpy.  I felt great this morning and then about 3pm, about 19 hours after the first doses... my mood completely changed.  I am easily irritated like a 2 year old toddler who needs a nap.

Here we go!

Today is June 3rd...the official start date for my IVF cycle.  I am quick blogging right before Ryan and I go to my doctor appointment.  I am nervous and overly excited!!  At today's appointment, we will have a baseline ultrasound done and my doctor will perform a mock transfer, a practice run just to be sure that on the day of the real procedure that no unexpected hurdles have to be jumped.  So, here we go... no looking back :) 

Follow Instructions Yvonne, Follow Instructions!

Instructions: Take last birth control pill on 5/29/11
What I did: Put "Stop birth control pills" on the calendar for 5/29/11.

When I looked at my IVF calendar I made, I couldn't figure out if I was supposed to actually take a pill on the 29th or not take on on the 29th.  My doctor office was closed, because the 29th fell on a Sunday and I had no way of contacting my IVF coordinator.  So, I just didn't take the pill for the 29th.  What is 1 day gonna hurt?

I thought no more about it until today...Wednesday June 1st.  My period has become extremely heavy and not knowing if this was normal or not, I decided to call my doctors office.  Thankfully this bleeding is completely normal and they will see me on Friday for my baseline ultrasound!  While on the phone I mentioned to my coordinator that I had stopped the pill on Saturday instead of Sunday.  She said that hopefully it would not cause a problem but put me on hold to check with my doctor.  When she returned to the line to say that Dr. Deaton thought it would be ok...so long as my body had not already determined that one follicle would be dominant.  During IVF preparation, this is very important.  They don't want 1 dominant follicle...they want all follicles to grow as much as they can.  I am now learning that the birth control pills help with controlling this process. 

So, in a nutshell... on Friday of this week he will be able to tell.  If I have a dominant follicle...this cycle will be canceled and I will have to wait until July or possibly August :(  If all is well and there is no dominate cycle, then we proceed as normal. (fingers crossed!)

The directions to follow during IVF prep are very detailed.  It is stressful looking at all the directions and being fearful of one little mistake you could easily make.  Please tell me I did not screw this up with one little tiny birth control pill.....

Tiny needles....

Today marks day 5 of my injections of Lupron.  Just wanted to let you know how that's going for those who are as anxious as I was before beginning the shots.  The needles are tiny and the Lupron doesn't burn at all when injected.  We have been giving mine in the back side of the upper arm in the fatty part and it is virtually painless.  I have a few more days before beginning the other injectables, so I can't speak for those yet.

Only about 2 more weeks!!

~Yvonne~

Information overload....

Today I went in to meet with our IVF coordinator, Angela, so that she could go over all of my medications that I now have neatly piled into a box.  My brain took in way too much information.

I probably should have recorded our meeting for later review! (tip for those of you who may be getting ready to go through IVF)  The medication teaching can be a bit overwhelming to say the least.  Mix this with this and then add it to that, pull the needle down, then push it back up...thump it twice, pull it back down, push it back up....and then give yourself a shot. "eeeek" I felt a sudden burst of anxiety pumping through my veins.  Beginning tomorrow, I will start my injections and only 3 more weeks until the big procedure.  My nerves are getting a little rattled.

Small Investment

This is not an cheap process...although we are hoping worth every penny!

This blog is where I will document the amount of money we spend as we go along. This will help me keep up with it and will also offer some insight to other couples considering IVF.  Each date that I spend something related to this, I will note it here.  The total for the day will be in bold and an itemized description will be below it.

Total so far... $26,696.64
Addition expenses on future dates will include $1300 for freezing and thawing and storing additional embryos for 12 months.



6/23/11  Rite Aid Pharmacy  $7.64
Hydrocodone for pain after hospital release


6/18/11 High Point Regional Hospital  $7532.48
Admitted to hospital for 5 days-result of hyper-stimulation after egg retrieval
Hospital bill  $7136.48
High Point Radiological $142.00
Carolina Anesthesiology $254.00


6/17/11  Rite Aid Pharmacy  $57.59
Ondansetron HCL 4mg (for nausea)


6/17/11 Martinsville Hospital ER  $3714.28
ER visit-result of hyper-stimulation after egg retrieval
Hospital bill  $3197.28
ER Billing Group (bills for ER dr.) $397.00
Piedmont Diagnostic Radiology (pelvic ultrasound) $120.00

6/14/11 Ascend SpecialtyRx  $488.76
Ganirelix 250MCG/0.5ML
Cabergoline 0.5 MG


6/3/11 Carolina Anesthesia  $500.00
prepayment to be put to sleep for upcoming egg retrieval


6/3/11  Premier Fertility  $300.00
FINAL payment for the IVF cycle (wooooo hooooo!)


5/31/11  Premier Fertility  $218.00
Payment toward IVF

5/23/11  Premier Fertility  $717.00
Payment toward IVF (only $518.00 left to pay :)


5/15/11  Premier Fertility  $250.00
Payment toward IVF

5/11/11  Premier Fertility  $1200.00
Payment toward IVF


5/9/11  Rite Aid Pharmacy  $19.99
2nd pack of birth control pills

5/4/11  Premier Fertility  $6,567.00
Payment toward IVF

5/2/11 Purchased medication online  $1080.00
Bravelle $655.00
Menopur $430.00



4/26/11  Mandell's Clinical Pharmacy  $656.61

4/19/11  Rite Aid Pharmacy  $19.99
Birth control pills needed to control cycle


4/15/11  Patrick County Family Practice  $90.00
Papsmear required for IVF


4/12/11  Premier Fertility  $88.00
Semen Analysis


4/11/11  Premier Fertility  $100.00
IVF Deposit to secure start date $100.00

4/8/11  Rite Aid Pharmacy $98.35
Prometrium $77.36
PreNatal Vitamins $19.99


4/5/11  Premier Fertility $373.00
IVF Consultation  $50.00
Required IVF Blood Work $323.00


3/25/11  Premier Fertility  $110.00
Sonogram to recheck egg sizes  $110.00


3/21/11  Premier Fertility  $110.00
Sonogram for initial egg quantity $110.00



3/13/11  Rite Aid Pharmacy $248.59
Femara 2.5mg (10 pills) $186.10
Pregnyl HCG Trigger Shot Injection $62.49


2/28/11  Rite Aid Pharmacy $77.36
Prometrium $77.36


2/28/11  Premier Fertility  $272.00
Blood Work/Office Visit  $272.00


3/10  Dr. Yalcinkiya  $1800.00
Hysterosalpingagram Procedure approx. $1200.00
Office Visit/Blood Work/Semen Analysis/Complete Work Up to determine cause of infertility $600.00

Our Protocol

Cross my fingers, hope not to die.... while I stick a needle in my thigh

Well, decision has been made...all eggs are in one basket.  We are going with the one shot IVF.  Based on egg quality and quantity, age and sperm quality...the doctors have given us an approximate 87% chance of success.  That's a high number.  So that's that.  Ryan and I talked about it and this is the route we are taking...and we feel pretty good about it.  Yes, I would love to have the safety net that costs $4000...

Birth control pills will start on Friday 4/22 and I will be on continuous active pills until I go for my medication teaching on May 23rd.  This is when I get to start poking myself with needles everyday for weeks on end. This is when I will go through $2500 worth of medication in 10 days (yikes!)

Anyway... with us taking the one shot option, I am asking everyone who reads this to say a little prayer for us.  Send us all the positive energy and good luck that you can muster up!  :) 

 

Unless something changes, I will blog again after the end of May!

They say "Never put all of your eggs in the same basket"

I have never been much of a gambler, but for the first time in a very long time...I am considering putting all my eggs in one basket so to speak.

We have all but $4000 of the required money ($14,000) for IVF shared risk program.  It is time to decide.... do we try to come up with the 4k in the next 4 weeks or do we not do the shared risk program and just go through with the 1 shot IVF cycle for $10,000.  With the shared risk, we get a guarantee that the IVF works and we have a successful pregnancy through at least 14 weeks.  If not, we redo the cycle or get the majority of our money back.  With the 1 shot cycle, if the IVF doesn't work or if we miscarry.... that's it, the money is gone.  No guarantee, no 2nd chance, no baby....

What do you think?  Spend the $4000 extra and get the guarantee or stick with the 1 shot option and hope and pray that it works?  I am leaning toward the guarantee....but after we have already spent $3300 in pre-IVF work up, plus the $2500 in medication I am getting ready to have to buy...the extra $4000 (on top of the $10,000 we have) is really gonna be tough to come up with in a month.

Medication Garage Sale?

http://freegaragesale.com/medicine.htm

Pay it forward IVF medication.  Who would have ever thunk it? (lol)  On the website link I posted, other couples who have gone through IVF and have leftover (VERY expensive) medication give it or offer it very cheap to other couples who are going though IVF. 

Now....here is where I become a skeptic.  What if the medicine has been tampered with?  I mean, I would hate to think that someone would do anything like that, but you can't help but wonder.  I know this though...it is very tempting to buy Bravelle from someones leftovers for $110 than it is to buy it from the pharmacy for $1028.00.

I will be donating any leftovers I have to other IVF couples instead of throwing them away.

Telephone's ringing! It's the pharmacy....

Today I got a phonecall from Mandell's Clinical Pharmacy letting me know that my prescriptions for my IVF cycle were filled and ready to be paid for and shipped.  I was prepared for my total of $4000.00 in meds.  My doctor had already given me the heads up on how expensive this part would be, but instead we got a nice surprise when the total came to only $2577.08.  I know, I know....it's alot but we were prepared for worse.

Here are the medicines/injections I will be on for my protocol.  Please note that everyone's IVF protocol is different based on the factors determining their infertility.  To help other IVF couples get an idea of the costs associated with my specific protocol, I have itemized the medication and listed the price I am being charged for each.  The are not in order of how they are to be taken.  I hope this helps.

Bravelle Injectables $1028.00

Azithromycin Antibiotic 250mg  $37.96

Medrol  16mg  $12.31

 Prometrium  200mg  $244.96

Menopur  75 unit vial  $670.00

Leuprolide  2 week kit  $97.50

Vivelle Dot Patch (x10)  $74.75

Crinone  $389.70

Pregnyl HCG Trigger Shot  $88.00 (not included in price they gave...I already have purchased this one)

and along with the medicines, there is about $12.00 worth on needles and syringes

Leftovers....

You know there is something unexpected that was brought to my attention. Keeping my fingers crossed that our IVF is successful the first time, we will likely have extra embryos remaining. These embryos can be stored frozen for 1 year following the IVF procedure and after that we have 4 choices.

This is what is in question...a few extra of these

 This is not to be confused with what would be considered a fetus.  The embryos in question (picture ABOVE) is simply a group of diving cells at the time it is frozen.  No shape, no arms, legs or heartbeat.

What do we do with the little balls of mass potential? 

We can:

1. pay yearly to keep them frozen indefinitely...year by year kept in storage
2. we can thaw them and throw them in the nearest trash can
3. we can donate them to science
4. we can donate them to another couple struggling with infertility

Let me just say...#2 is out. #3 I would have to do more research on. I would want to know what they are doing with them. I mean as long as they don't grow them into zombies or something I might be ok with it. Can they be used for medical advancements or treatment? Lots of questions with that one, but not ruling it out. I think at the end of the day we would go for #1 until we are ready to make a decision. I suppose donating your genetic embryos to someone else may seem odd at first, but until you feel the pain of not being able to have a child...you really can't have a justified opinion here.

I will be thinking more on this and weigh in again later...

Until then~
Yvonne

Insurance Mandate

Insurance Mandates. Currently there are 15 states that require insurance carriers to cover the costs and treatments of infertility. Please support bringing this mandate to North Carolina.

Well, why don't you look at that....a vitamin that doesn't make me sick!

Ok, not sure about you...but prenatal vitamins make me sick!  They give me this uneasy feeling of nauseousness, almost as bad as being car sick!  I recall with all 3 of my pregnancies, I could not take vitamins because I just couldn't deal with the feeling they gave me.  Anyway, as part of the IVF process they have me on....you guessed it, Prenatals!  So I did some research...

After reading reviews and opinions of women who had the same effect from prenatals, I decided to try Rainbow Light "Just Once Naturals" brand of Prenatal One Multivitamin in addition to DHA 250 Smart Essentials.  It claims to be "easy on the stomach" and the reviews were very good.  At this point, I like what I am reading and seeing...but can't I just keep taking my Flintstones?

Well, I have been on the vitamins for about 4 days now and so far....no upset stomach or nausea!  Highly recommend for anyone who needs a good vitamin.  It has no animal products and has the seal of approval by VeganGuard for all of you vegetarians out there!

http://www.iherb.com/Rainbow-Light-Vegan-Guard

Initial IVF Consult w/ Dr. Deaton 4-5-11

After deciding to move forward with IVF, we scheduled a consultation with Dr. Deaton.  We had questions upon questions with the main one being.... "what are our chances of being successful?"

The excellent news that we got today was that I have excellent egg quality...and plenty of them.  This is key when doing IVF.  The more eggs they can retrieve, the much better the results of having healthy embryos for the doctor to choose from when deciding which ones to transfer back to the uterus.  I guess they have some sort of key factors they are looking for in the embryos.  More good news, is that much of the pre-IVF work up stuff is already done.  Now we move forward with the news that we have a very high rate of success for this pregnancy.  We will participate in the shared risk program where the doctor will give us back $12,000 of the $14,000 cost if we do not achieve a pregnancy through 14 weeks.  So, not only is he guaranteeing that we will get pregnant...but he is also guaranteeing the health of the pregnancy through a little past the 1st trimester.

Today, we were not intending to do much other than consult with the doctor.  But since we had already decided to move forward, Dr. Deaton went ahead and had blood work drawn on both me and Ryan.  After that, we met with the IVF Coordinator, Angela.  She gave us tons of paperwork to read through and forms to sign.  I felt butterflies in my stomach just knowing that this journey was officially a "go"

What's next?

• Tomorrow I begin prenatal vitamins and Prometrium (remember this from a previous blog?) to induce a period.  On day 3 of my cycle, I will begin taking birth control pills so that they can control my cycle in order to prepare for the IVF.
• IVF Orientation with a few other couples (who will become our IVF buddies) on April 12th at 5pm.  Dr. will spend an hour with us going over everything regarding IVF and explaining everything we can expect.  It will be nice to meet some other folks going through this with us at the same time.
• I have a Pap Smear scheduled for April 15th
• IVF procedure time begins May 30th, with our embryo placement being the 1st week of June!!