IVF or FET November/December 2015 - chat thread

[boopin4baby]

Disney - My RE is not a Kaiser doctor. I opted to get treatment at an out of network fertility center. I didn't like the way I was being treated at Kaiser. They seemed too concerned with protecting their clinic's favorable statistics. The 2 doctors that ran the clinic were very insensitive. And the main RN there was a real witch. I didn't feel comfortable there. I didn't feel like they had my best interest at heart. So, I went elsewhere for treatment. I do try to utilize my Kaiser insurance as much as possible when I can. My regular ob/gyn doctor at Kaiser is awesome. She's the one that ordered the blood clotting tests for me. I asked her to order the NK test as well, but she said she's never heard of it and its not offered at their laboratory.

Yes, I agree that it would be nice/GREAT if Anthem could pay for your hysteroscopy. I've had that done before and it cost me $800 out of pocket. I'm going to call Quest Diagnostics and Lab Corp in the morning and see if I can get the NK test done there. But, first I'm going to call the Kaiser lab and verify that the test isn't offered. I don't trust these Kaiser doctors sometimes. I also need to get a saline sonogram on CD7-12. I already know I'll be paying out of pocket for that diagnostic procedure. I'm just going to have my RE do it at the fertility office. Seems like it would be quicker than dealing with Kaiser. Plus, I want them to get a good look in my uterus, since they're going to be the one's doing my FET. It just makes more sense for my fertility clinic to do it. I feel your frustrations of having to pay out of pocket for much of your IVF expenses. xx

 

[Disneyfan88]

I don't blame you for going out of network. We likely would have done the same if we had Kaiser. I adore my doctor and drive about an hour to see her even though the place in Davis is a slightly shorter drive. She's very hands-on with patient care, and her Yelp reviews are what actually made me want to seek out care with her from the get-go.

I called up Reprosource and spoke with one of their customer service representatives. I was told that they bill insurance $800 for the test. She said that if insurance pays for part of the test, then I'd have to pay according to my plan's copay/coinsurance policies. If insurance doesn't pay a penny, then the most I'd pay is $385. Still a lot of money, but better than $800.

I did my taxes earlier this week. Although we are getting a sizable amount back from the Federal portion, we owe the state of California quite a bit.

 

[Asterimou]

Congrats on AF Boopin, we'll all be cheering you on this round

Klik: good luck with your scan!

Wish - I'm on long protocol with 300 units Menopur. Last time I was on 200 of gonalF and I had some follies that didn't keep up, they nearly cancelled the cycle but I changed to Menopur and the others livened up. My embryos didn't do well from day 3 to 5 and I ended up with one 2BC transferred, I was so sad I didn't even have a frostie. I'm focuses on making stronger embies this time. I had 7 eggs and 5 fertilise last time so I want to get a few more to choose from this time

 

[Wish2BMom]

well much luck and to you, aster!!

amanda - you've been quiet. Are you doing ok?

 

[boopin4baby]

Aster - Sending you lots of GL vibes for your next cycle!! Hope you get more mature eggs and you can find your Golden Egg in the batch!!

Wish & amanda - Fx'd tightly for you both. xx

Klik - I have a birthday tomorrow. I'll be 43. I'm feeling impatient, too!! Even more so.. haha!!

Disney - I owe the state money as well. Damn Uncle Sam.. lol!!

 

[Wish2BMom]

move to NH - no state tax!

 

[Disneyfan88]

Good luck, Asterimou!

Boopin - Seriously! Hands out of my paycheck, thank you very much! We have lots of medical bills to pay for.

Wish - No kidding! I'm envious of the states with no taxes! Or Alaska, which I think often gets money from the state instead of having to pay taxes! California is an expensive place to live in.

 

[amanda1235]

Hey! I'm ok, just waiting for beta on Monday. I'm at a sleep away camp this weekend (I volunteer with girl guides) so that's keeping me distracted.

 

[boopin4baby]

amanda - Sleep away camp sounds like a lot of fun!! What age ranges are the girls?? Enjoy your weekend sweetie. xx

My period is so painful. I'm experiencing sharp shooting pains in my pelvic area. I've been popping ibuprofen all day. The is here with a vengeance!!

 

[Asterimou]

Fixed for you on Monday Amanda.....big hugs, this could be the one

Boopin: hope you're feeling a bit better. Wishing for AF and now I bet you're wishing her away! I guess it makes sense it is a strong one but hope it eases soon.

 

[Disneyfan88]

Amanda - Good luck on Monday. I hope you have fun at camp this weekend!

Boopin - I'm sorry that AF has been rough. I've read that that can happen. I hope that the pain is not as strong today and that you feel better soon. What are your next steps?

Asterimou - I think your meds start tomorrow, right? Good luck!

Wish - How are you feeling?

Klik - How did your scan go?

 

[Wish2BMom]

Hi there!

Amanda - good luck tomorrow! + betas for both of us!!

I'm feeling ok. Headache all day yesterday, just felt off all day and this morning. Bbs still sore. I'm hoping all good signs. Please please please...!!

I hope the scan went well klik!

 

[boopin4baby]

Disney - I'm feeling much better. The cramps have subsided and my period is lighter now. I'm waiting to hear back from my nurse. I emailed her on Friday, but she won't be back in her office until Monday morning. She instructed me to contact her on CD1, so that she can schedule my saline sonogram. She also mentioned she would start me on bcp to prepare me for my FET. I'll update as soon as I get the specifics.

Wish & amanda my fingers are still tightly crossed for you both!!

klik & Aster - I hope you ladies had a nice weekend.

 

[Disneyfan88]

Wish - Sounds promising. Hopefully it's all good signs for you. I'm praying for good news for you and Amanda tomorrow! (It's still Sunday here )

Boopin - That's great that you are feeling better. Very exciting stuff for you! The sonogram will be scheduled for when your period is over or you are just very lightly spotting. I took BCP prior to several of my previous transfers (I think maybe all of them except this last one). I will be doing that again this next time around. I need to check with my doctor when we will be doing all of my tests and the hysteroscopy. She said for the hysteroscopy, she'd like to do it either May or June. I need to confirm which month we should do it. We are going to DL next month, so it's entirely possible that the decision will be out of my hands. I'm very excited for you.

to Wish and Amanda once again.

 

[boopin4baby]

Thank you so much Disney for your kind words. You're such a selfless and kind hearted woman for supporting us through our journeys as you're still coping with your own recent loss. You're amazing!!

Ladies - What should I expect with an FET cycle?? How long on average does it take until transfer day?? Thx in advance.

 

[Hope16]

Hey ladies! I just wanted to share with you a onesie my in laws bought for the baby yesterday. I got all teary eyed because it is so true, baby Tanelli is surely going to be worth the wait. I found it to somehow be inspirational...a reminder as to why you keep trying so hard when you feel like giving up. So I hope sharing it gives you all that same inspiration!

 

[klik]

Hi, everyone!

Wish & Amanda: best of luck! Here's hoping for nice high betas for the both of you! Wish, your symptoms sound promisingly uncomfortable! Amanda, I hope camp has been fun and that you're now about to get excellent news!

Asterimou: good luck! I hope Menopur is the key for you!

Boopin: Yay, AF is finally here! Glad it's less painful... I hope everything goes well with your saline sonogram! I've never done an FET--need to find out, myself, how long it takes. My doc said something about 2 months, which kind of floored me... let's see... Also: happy birthday!!

Disneyfan: on the taxes... hopefully you can fit the hysteroscopy in before DL... How are you feeling?

Hope: I love it!! Thank you so much for sharing!

Ladies, my scan went ok (looks like my cyst from last time is persisting and that I have a small new one, but my doc was willing to wait and see if my follicles developed)... except that then, an uncle who had been very ill for a long time passed away, and I felt compelled to attend the funeral in Brazil (hence my disappearance: sorry!) On Friday, though, I'd found out that people who go to countries where the Zika virus is active cannot have treatment for 4 weeks at my clinic--even to freeze an embryo, because the virus might possibly get frozen right alongside the embryo... Also, if either partner shows symptoms, we cannot be treated for 6 months! So... I almost didn't go, but it felt like the right thing to do to go. So I was wearing long sleeves, socks, and trousers all the time; I covered myself in DEET-containing insecticide (so did DP); and we slept with a fan on. I STILL got two insect bites (might not be mosquitoes) but I think DP didn't get any. We also hightailed it out of there as soon as we could--we arrived Saturday morning and left Sunday afternoon. Anyway, I'm feeling confident that we didn't get the virus but a potentially good cycle got lost in the meantime . We'll try naturally despite warnings otherwise, and I have an appointment with my doc on Thursday to try to figure out next steps. I need to know what the FET protocol is, so I can decide whether to try that or go to NYC to try a fresh one after all...

 

[Wish2BMom]

good morning girls!

disney - I concur with boopin - you're so awesome to have stuck around to cheer us on while working through your loss. thank you so much for the support. I hope the rest of your journey is less bumpy and you get everything timed and scheduled just right.

klik - woah, you world traveler! I'm so sorry for your loss. Sounds like you did the best you could with what you had to do. I'd def try for a natural cycle too I'm glad you're still able to move forward despite those nagging cysts.

boopin - happy birthday! I've only done one FET cycle and it was a breeze - best one yet, meds-wise. I just had to take Estrace and baby aspirin for the first couple of weeks, only one blood test I think, and far fewer ultrasounds since they didn't have to watch my follicles. And then I started to throw in Crinone around day 14. I hope yours is as easy!

hope - thank you for sharing that, i needed it today. I got a negative on the home test I took before heading to the office for my blood test, so now we're trying to think about what's next.

I'm going to do some research into donor eggs, I think. I was against it before but now I'm realizing that my eggs are really just too old and having DOR is making it really rough to even get a big enough sampling to get a good one.

amanda - good luck today!!! You're up for a positive beta, we need one of us to have one!

 

[Disneyfan88]

Thank you so much Disney for your kind words. You're such a selfless and kind hearted woman for supporting us through our journeys as you're still coping with your own recent loss. You're amazing!!

Ladies - What should I expect with an FET cycle?? How long on average does it take until transfer day?? Thx in advance.

Thanks, Boopin! All of the ladies here are so nice and supportive. I truly want to see all of us find success on our journeys.

I've attached my calendars from my FET in December (we didn't use BCP for my last FET since we went right into another cycle, and we didn't care about the transfer date). The number of days that I was on BCP was determined by when my cycle day 1 occurred and when we wanted to transfer. The lining check was originally listed for one week before transfer, but we moved it up a week because I was going to be out of town.

Did I see that it's your birthday? Happy birthday!!

Hey ladies! I just wanted to share with you a onesie my in laws bought for the baby yesterday. I got all teary eyed because it is so true, baby Tanelli is surely going to be worth the wait. I found it to somehow be inspirational...a reminder as to why you keep trying so hard when you feel like giving up. So I hope sharing it gives you all that same inspiration!

Hope - I LOVE it!! Thanks for sharing!

Disneyfan: on the taxes... hopefully you can fit the hysteroscopy in before DL... How are you feeling?


Ladies, my scan went ok (looks like my cyst from last time is persisting and that I have a small new one, but my doc was willing to wait and see if my follicles developed)... except that then, an uncle who had been very ill for a long time passed away, and I felt compelled to attend the funeral in Brazil (hence my disappearance: sorry!) On Friday, though, I'd found out that people who go to countries where the Zika virus is active cannot have treatment for 4 weeks at my clinic--even to freeze an embryo, because the virus might possibly get frozen right alongside the embryo... Also, if either partner shows symptoms, we cannot be treated for 6 months! So... I almost didn't go, but it felt like the right thing to do to go. So I was wearing long sleeves, socks, and trousers all the time; I covered myself in DEET-containing insecticide (so did DP); and we slept with a fan on. I STILL got two insect bites (might not be mosquitoes) but I think DP didn't get any. We also hightailed it out of there as soon as we could--we arrived Saturday morning and left Sunday afternoon. Anyway, I'm feeling confident that we didn't get the virus but a potentially good cycle got lost in the meantime . We'll try naturally despite warnings otherwise, and I have an appointment with my doc on Thursday to try to figure out next steps. I need to know what the FET protocol is, so I can decide whether to try that or go to NYC to try a fresh one after all...

Klik - I'm doing ok, thanks for asking. I'm so sorry about your loss. it sounds like you did everything you could to prevent getting sick this weekend - I'm sure your precautions worked out. Bummer about that cyst still hanging out and the new smaller one. Hopefully those won't get in the way this month. Good luck with your natural attempt and your appointment!!

good morning girls!

disney - I concur with boopin - you're so awesome to have stuck around to cheer us on while working through your loss. thank you so much for the support. I hope the rest of your journey is less bumpy and you get everything timed and scheduled just right.

klik - woah, you world traveler! I'm so sorry for your loss. Sounds like you did the best you could with what you had to do. I'd def try for a natural cycle too I'm glad you're still able to move forward despite those nagging cysts.

boopin - happy birthday! I've only done one FET cycle and it was a breeze - best one yet, meds-wise. I just had to take Estrace and baby aspirin for the first couple of weeks, only one blood test I think, and far fewer ultrasounds since they didn't have to watch my follicles. And then I started to throw in Crinone around day 14. I hope yours is as easy!

hope - thank you for sharing that, i needed it today. I got a negative on the home test I took before heading to the office for my blood test, so now we're trying to think about what's next.

I'm going to do some research into donor eggs, I think. I was against it before but now I'm realizing that my eggs are really just too old and having DOR is making it really rough to even get a big enough sampling to get a good one.

amanda - good luck today!!! You're up for a positive beta, we need one of us to have one!

Wish - I'm still praying that your beta will come back positive and thus donor eggs won't be necessary! We're all here for you either way, but I'm sending you (and Amanda) positive vibes today!!

 

[Disneyfan88]

Ok - I guess it wouldn't let me upload both files in one post. Here's the other one that I got, which were for meds I started about a week before transfer (after my lining was confirmed as ok).

I had lining issues for the cycle after this December one which dragged the process on for another few weeks.


Edit: Looks like both images are blurry. Let me know if you need me to load them to a hosting site, which will might make the text easier to see.