New to Board, not to IF. IVF planned Jan./Feb. '16

sassysd7

Hello all! I decided to start a board for those of us who plan to have an IVF cycle in Jan. and Feb. I hope to meet lots of new buddies during this journey. A little bit of background. We went to our most recent appt and were told to go straight to IVF. DH and I have been together for almost 9 years, married since 2011. I am 24, DH is 26. No IUIs or IVFs. No prior pregnancies. We are super broke with low credit scores but willing to go into debt for a baby! I am in school for my 2nd degree win nursing which I finish in May 2016. Right now I am in the process of all the testing with bloodwork scheduled 12/4 and HSG scheduled 12/8. DH is scheduled for another SA on 12/7. We have MFI with DH being low in count, morph, and motility. Anyone have any tips/thoughts/advice on the HSG? How does it feel? Any advice on financing? Any recommendations for loans? I look forward in getting to know everyone! I can't wait to share my IVF schedule with you all in the future.

twomommiestobe

We are doing ivf in Jan or possibly early Feb. We are almost done with all the testing. I didn't need HSG since we are doing ivf, DR said it doesn't matter if my tubes are clear/blocked.
We are financing as well. We have saved up as much money as we can. The interest rates are out of this world for medical loans!! Shop around and think of other ideas if you need to (bank loans, credit cards, etc)
Welcome!

Minnie1155

I'll be starting the process in January as well. My HSG was not bad, just felt like pressure and strong AF cramps. I had heard it could be very painful so I was expecting a lot worse, I hope yours isn't too bad! I guess my tip would be to remember it will be over quickly! I don't have any tips for financing, my insurance covers IVF so I am considering myself incredibly lucky with that. We have still had to spend quite a bit out of pocket it feels like, with copays and things that insurance hasn't covered.

sassysd7

twomommiestobe Welcome! Thank you so much for joining me! Yes I am looking into those too! The interest rates are horrible but unfortunately it seems that is the only thing that may be able to finally help us. Keep me updated on your journey! I go in for blood work tomorrow so I have been chugging lots of water lol.

sassysd7

Minnie1155 Well I hope I can take your word for it lol. I will be taking Ibuprofen so hopeful that will work. You are so very lucky with your insurance! Where do you live and work?! I am moving there. Lol! I am from South Carolina. We need a little more help on our infertility laws here. Also, my husband's insurance just partnered with Reproductive Resource Services. With them, they have centers of excellence and require us to go to a center 2 hours. I learned this today and I am so bummed. We will be starting IVF hopefully but with another fertility center than where we are now doing all of our testing. This was a blow but only a small bump in the road.

Minnie1155

@sassysd7 I know, I was surprised my insurance covers it! I'm very thankful for this! I took a high dose of ibuprofen before mine, I'm thinking that helped. Best of luck to you! Sorry for the bumps in the road, hopefully you like this center!

mskeenan

Hi there !! Welcome !! I am doing my IVF stim cycle and egg retrieval in January and doing my transfer probably in March ! We can be IVF buddies

The HSG isn't as bad as I expected either . I had a friend that said it was so bad she had to take off of work the rest of the day for it . I ended up taking the day off but having no pain afterwards . I second that it goes by really fast ... Just when I started to be like oh crap this is really hurting it was pretty much already over . Def take some pain meds before hand though if they recommend it !!

As for financing , it is a huge pain in the you know what . I looked into the medical loans and DANG they were high . We are using a lot of money from my husbands flexible spending account at work (they let him set aside almost 8k) . Strangely enough insurance covered most of our meds (but not the procedure ) . The rest for us it out of pocket . Unfortunately , we are having to dip into our savings that we had been planning to buy a house with . Sucks but a baby is more important to me than buying a house but that's our reality right now . My husband has a lot of debt from his degrees so we are working on paying that off , too ! Luckily we are both employed right now and I am grateful for that !!

I wish you good luck on this journey !!! Let's stay in touch !!

laur2835

Hi girls! Was on the IUI boards for awhile over the summer and have been taking a break after 3 failed attempts with injectables. Will start IVF in January when I go on my husbands insurance that covers 2 rounds! Can not wait to finally start the process!!! Go to RE tomorrow for trial transfer and will learn more about my protocol/timeline. Most likely will start sometime mid January!!

StephanieWalstrom

Hello! I have my frozen embryo transfer in January or February! We began IVF with ICSI and PGS in October, 2015. Whew, talk about an experience. It was brutal, but we made it and you all will too! I highly recommend the pre-genetic screening (PGS). We had 13 eggs retrieved, 6 mature, 4 grew to 5 day blastocyst. Of the 4, only one was chromosomally normal (euploid) and it's a girl. I am hopeful for our early 2016) transfer and feel fortunate knowing which embryo is truly our best chance at a healthy pregnancy. Please use me as a resource, ladies! It's so important to have resources!!!

StephanieWalstrom

You are so fortunate insurance will cover! We paid $30,000 out of pocket.
Insurance SHOULD pay! Good luck! You can do it!!

laur2835

I know @StephanieWalstrom it's nuts that some provide nothing!!! We live in Connecticut which mandates that you get 2 cycles covered, but because I am a pharmacist at price chopper, which has its headquarters in New York, their insurance doesn't have to follow the CT law.....so I've been just mentally preparing since my last failed IUI in October and waiting for my husbands insurance to kick in. Thank goodness I've already done all the leg work so can literally just start once the prior auths go through in January. My RE doesn't think we need any genetic testing yet....my husband and I are both 29, his numbers are phenomenal, I have hypothalamic amenorrhea from being an avid runner (even though my BMI is completely normal I am 5 ft 3, 125-130lbs) and potentially a little endometriosis but it doesn't appear to be too severe. Hopefully this first cycle will work .....I am so discouraged from the past year of tests and Failed IUIs and seeing every other person I am friends with on Facebook put up a pregnancy announcement. I have already discussed with my husband that when we finally get pregnant I refuse to do anything on social media related to the pregnancy....I think it's so hurtful to those who are struggling and you have no idea what other people are going through. Here's to 2016 lets make it a great year for all of us!!!

StephanieWalstrom

I know how hard the pregnancies around us can be! Try to remember you'll get there too! Even with one, I feel optimistic it will work!!!
I'm 34, hubby is 37. He has issues, me too! Loads of hurdles, but celebrate each jump! Good luck and sending sanity your way! The shots aren't so bad. Clomid was the drug that really kicked my a**. Take care!

sassysd7

mskeenan Thank you for joining me! Welcome! If all goes well then Feb it will be for us! I feel a little bit better about the HSG now that everyone has shared their experiences. They did tell me to take Ibuprofen so I will make sure that I do! The medical loans are very expensive. We are going to try our credit union first and if not then we will go with Prosper Lending I think. I have my fingers crossed! We have terrible insurance and plus I have lots of loans. I am currently finishing up my 2nd bachelor's in nursing! No house for us yet either but that is fine! I look forward to sharing my experiences with you!

sassysd7

Minnie1155 I will be taking Ibuprofen too! Yes I am very thankful for the coverage that we have! We could not try otherwise if we did not have it! I had a good surprise call from the insurance company and come to find out we can stay at our center since the other center is over 60 miles away! Our center just has to submit a prior authorization form which hopefully will be approved so we can keep going! I can't wait to share the rest of my journey with you!

sassysd7

laur2444 Welcome! I wish we could have done IUI but I am thankful for just a shot! He has amazing coverage yayyy! Let me know all about the trial transfer!

sassysd7

StephanieWalstrom Welcome! I am glad to have someone who has already been through it! I am sorry you have to be here but this is your time! I will definitely look into PGS.  What is your recommendations for coping? What was the hardest part? How did your respond to the process? I am very thankful that insurance covers it! It should be mandatory! Good luck and lots of baby dust to us!

KLake42

I'll be doing IVF in early January, if all goes as planned.  I'm waiting for my cycle to start so I can start birth control pills-- any day now!

I'm 38 with low reserve.  I know that means I might not respond well to IVF, but I also seem to have an adhesion that's holding my right ovary out of place, so that may have contributed to the 7 failed IUIs.  We're just going to try one cycle, and then try partner IVF using my wife's eggs, my uterus, if we don't succeed. 

We're self-pay all the way.  The only relief is through taxes-- we hit the threshold to claim medical expenses as deductible for 2015, and we're going to make sure we pay for this IVF cycle in December so it counts.  I'm also taking a loan against my 401k, so at least I can keep the interest lower on the debt.

I did have the HSG done.  I only say this to help you prepare, and not to scare you, but it hurt me a lot.  One of my tubes was somewhat blocked, but cleared after extra dye was pushed through.  It made the process last longer.  I wish I'd brought my wife with me to the appointment, because I *really* needed a hug after it was over. I also had a saline sonohystagram, which hurt but not as much, but I had moderate bleeding for almost a week.

Minnie1155

It's nice to hear from others going through the same thing. @laur2444 I was just saying how I don't think I would want to post anything online when the time hopefully comes. Experiencing infertility has really made me look at pretty much everything differently. Hope everyone is doing well. This is going to be our first time doing IVF so I'm nervous but excited to get it going. Hoping 2016 is going to be a good year for us all!

laur2835

@sassysd7 appointment went well today! Not really sure what the RE was doing during the test.....it was basically a sonohysterogram but longer. A little uncomfortable but not bad. He said everything looks great, endometriosis shouldn't interfere with the success of the transfer as its not severe at all. I will only need to be on menopur injections (which I did for my IUI cycles but at a lower dose) then hcg trigger and the dreaded progesterone shots! As long as insurance doesn't delay me too much, should be able to start the 2nd/3rd week in January after I get my period!! Can't wait for these next few weeks to fly by! Thank goodness for the holidays to distract me!!!

sassysd7

@laur2444 Thank you for updating me. Im getting excited for you lol. Mines is tomorrow at 2:30pm. We have been unpacking. We moved to another apartment on Friday. Ugh I'm stalling with cleaning the kitchen lol. I'm ready to go tomorrow with my ibuprofen on hand lol. Hopefully I get my game plan. It looks as though when I start my period in Jan I will start my birth control and have my sonohysterogram for a fact. I can't remember what else was said lol. Next time I'm taking my notebook. I have a very bad memory. It is very thoughtful of you to remember others on social media who may struggle too. I know that battle too well. I have to decide. I don't know if I could contain my excitement. I just have to share everything that's amazing. My husband hates it. He's very private.

sassysd7

@KLake42 Welcome! I am so happy you could join me. I didn't want to be on this journey alone. It is almost time to start soon yay! I love your game plan and back up. I'm sorry for all of the hardships. I could not imagine. I hope this is it for you! We are going to do one IVF cycle then recoup for a year.

Ugh I'm so sorry it's out of pocket for you. If we did that we could never have kids. I've been shopping around for loans and those interest rates omg! Next week we're visiting our bank during our anniversary lol.

Thank you for sharing your HSG experience. Mines is tomorrow! Baby dust to you. This is our time!

Foxy8609

Hi! I'm new here. Hubby and I had our first consultation today at the fertility clinic. I had an us done and they took a bunch of blood. I read through everyone's posts and I wish you all good luck. I will be having my hsg and 3 day blood work done in about 3 weeks when my next period hits. The US today showed I had 8 eggs on each side of my ovary. Dr was nice enough to talk us through what she was doing. I'm hoping I can start medication for ivf at the beginning of February.

I read how some will have egg retrieval done in January but not have the insertion done until say a month later. Does that mean the embryos are frozen until?

Just a little background our infertility is 0% morphology. So far no other factor has been found.

Would love to hear how every one is doing through all of this.

sassysd7

@Foxy8609 Welcome! Glad to have you here. That's a good amount of eggs to start with! Yes I believe some of us will have a frozen transfer. I'm doing fresh so far. Hopefully I'll have a couple to freeze. I want to transfer 2.

Foxy8609

@sassysd7 Thank you!! I spoke with my manager at work and she said it sounds like im really healthy and they might not put me on that many meds. I wish I didnt push my consult appointment out a week otherwise I think we would have been starting everything in January rather February. 

I wish I could do frozen embryos. Insurance doesnt cover freezing eggs and we already decided to do the genetics test on the embryos. 

Are you excited for your first cycle (and hopefully only cycle)?

babyexpress

Hi Ladies- I know some of you from last cycles. I am scheduled for IVF transfer around Jan 15th, after multiple failed IUIs, unmedicated cycles and lap surgery showing I have stage 2 Endo. IVF is the best option for me and I hope it works this time! Boy it's been a hard 6 months of trying. Looking forward to some new IVF buddies.

sassysd7

Foxy8609 Omg I love that you have support at work and someone to talk to. The less drugs, the lower the cost. I hope that is true! I can't wait until our bloodwork comes back. We can then actually move forward! Patience is what we need lol. Our time is almost here. These 2 months will be worth it. We couldn't afford the genetics so we decided to freeze if we have some available. If I could afford it I would totally do it. That way all our odds are kind of known.  I am very excited. Everything that I can tick off the list gives me hope lol. I am really excitable. I am simply glad to be moving forward. Read my next post about my HSG lol.

sassysd7

Hello ladies! I had my HSG on the 8th. It was relatively painless. I took 3-200 mg Advil 45 mins to an hour before. Tubes are clear and good. I got an A+ according to my RE. My left tube though is cramped a little and my right looks really long lol. There was a lot of leakage. I had to wear pads up until last night. I had an order to have no sex, no tampons, and call if I had abdominal pain or a fever of 101.

I had a funny experience. I walked in all alone and the machine was huge and scary lol. I undressed to find out that I had my underwear inside out all day long lol. After sitting on the table,  I decided I needed some chap stick. While I was standing there with my butt in the air, the RE walked in and yelled "get her she's trying to escape". LOL it was the funniest thing. I was trying to wrap that stupid, flimsy white sheet around my butt while trying not to laugh lol. Anyways, I got to take home a picture of my uterus to show my husband lol. I was really excited. It was like show and tell all over again.

sassysd7

babyexpress Welcome! The 15th is right around the corner! We think IVF is the best option for us too. I am so sorry it has been a hard 6 months. IF is never easy and many don't understand. I am glad we are here to support each other. I can't wait to hear about your journey! When we get all our labs back we will talk about the birth control, my stim month, and the meds. I have never been so excited for my period to start lol.

KLake42

@Foxy8609, so it sounds like you have some insurance coverage?  That's good!  I have none.

I believe that if you get genetic testing, there will be freezing of embryos.  According to my RE, that's part of the process-- they retrieve the eggs, fertilize them, let them develop for 3-5 days.  The 5-day blasts are then frozen, and thawed/re-frozen as part of the process of running the genetic tests.  Then you have your frozen embryo transfer later.

That's a bit different than freezing eggs, which is something that I don't expect anyone's insurance to cover.  We might be doing that-- if I get pregnant, then my wife will have some of her eggs frozen, so we can try for a sibling later.  We have a better shot if we freeze her 37-yr-old eggs now, than if we wait and try to use them when they're 39 or 40!

@sassysd7, I'm so glad your HSG was relatively painless!  And that flimsy piece of paper is almost more trouble than it's worth.  I call it my "modesty napkin."  As many times as I've had to strip from the waist down with this doctor, I'd pretty much be fine not to use it-- I have nothing she hasn't already seen!

Minnie1155

sassysd7 said:

babyexpress Welcome! The 15th is right around the corner! We think IVF is the best option for us too. I am so sorry it has been a hard 6 months. IF is never easy and many don't understand. I am glad we are here to support each other. I can't wait to hear about your journey! When we get all our labs back we will talk about the birth control, my stim month, and the meds. I have never been so excited for my period to start lol.

I feel the same way, excited for my period to start! Instead of being terribly dissapointing it will mean we can finally start doing something! I keep browsing these boards and just trying to keep my mind off things. Can't wait for us all to start and for everyone's updates!

Foxy8609

sassysd7 said:

Hello ladies! I had my HSG on the 8th. It was relatively painless. I took 3-200 mg Advil 45 mins to an hour before. Tubes are clear and good. I got an A+ according to my RE. My left tube though is cramped a little and my right looks really long lol. There was a lot of leakage. I had to wear pads up until last night. I had an order to have no sex, no tampons, and call if I had abdominal pain or a fever of 101.

I had a funny experience. I walked in all alone and the machine was huge and scary lol. I undressed to find out that I had my underwear inside out all day long lol. After sitting on the table,  I decided I needed some chap stick. While I was standing there with my butt in the air, the RE walked in and yelled "get her she's trying to escape". LOL it was the funniest thing. I was trying to wrap that stupid, flimsy white sheet around my butt while trying not to laugh lol. Anyways, I got to take home a picture of my uterus to show my husband lol. I was really excited. It was like show and tell all over again.

Oh! That is a relief to hear! I've been getting psyched out about my HSG because I've been told there will be a lot of discomfort later. I have 2.5 weeks left until my period and I feel it will be a very long 2.5 weeks. I really wish I had my consult a week earlier then I would only have a month left not 2 months. 

@Klake42 Yes we do have insurance. We are so lucky that a good portion of everything is covered. I spoke with our financial rep and we can get a package that will do the genetic testing and freeze the embryos for an ok price. She said the only way the genetics testing would be covered is if there is a factor involved and then gives reason, just like any other type of medical testing. If its selective they wont cover. I cant wait to find out what my meds are. Id like to know what is covered if anything so we can plan better. 

kjplaza

Welcome!

I will also be joining the IVF in Jan. group. AF started today so ill have to call the RE on monday and get started on BC. My clinic tends to do FET vs fresh  unless the RE sees a reason to not freeze the embryos. We have to do a split cycle so would have to do a frozen transfer anyway. were hoping to do the transfer in April. I didnt have any trouble with the HSG or Saline Sonohystogram but i also dont experience much cramping with AF so perhaps thats why i didnt have much cramping after either procedure, i was also warned that they were extrememly painful and had it really built up in my head. We also have zero coverage and will be using savings and racking up travel miles on the credit card! I am actually more worried about how medications and lab work are going to add up to, i know the price tag of IVF but its all the extra things that come along with it.  

We've been doing testing since last February so its been a long frustrating year so i just hope that next year goes according to plan and things dont get pushed back any further. Some days it feels like ill never be at the end of the tunnel!

Wish you all the best and excited to see where this journey takes us all. 

DIsneyMom9113

How much have or will you have to pay out of pocket of insurance covers ivf ?

sassysd7

@kjplaza welcome! I'm so jealous yours had stated lol. I'm awaiting the end of Dec or early January for my AF. I still have the saline thingy to check off my list. Wow that's a lot of pretesting. I hope everything does go smoothly for us all. I can't afford to have anything pushed back. All of our labs were covered since it's diagnostic and a standard test. I have been debating a frozen over fresh cycle. Do you know any pros or cons? Thank you for joining us!

sassysd7

@DIsneyMom9113 our insurance covers 90% after the deductible is met and we were quoted 11872 for IVF with ICSI. We have a lifetime max of 35,000 for infertility. I think next year though we will only have 80% covered.

sassysd7

Hey ladies! How is everyone doing? I wanted to check in. What has everyone been up to? Our 4 yr wedding anniversary was the 14th which also marked 9 years for us. We went to The Biltmore and the casino to celebrate. Ugh along the way one of the hotels had bed bugs so I'm itching lol. That sucked big time. On a better note all my lab work is in. Hopefully tommorow I'll receive my schedule and med protocol. I can't wait to order and start this whole process. Also on Monday we were approved for a $6,000 loan. I'm excited but feel that this isn't enough. I look forward to hearing from y'all.

twomommiestobe

Just wanted to check in and see if anyone got their schedules? We have our next appt Jan 8. I am already on bcp and just waiting. DW has done all of her testing and we are just unsure of when the retrival and transfer will be.

mrsstarski86

Good luck on your upcoming testing, I hope everything goes well! I had the HSG done and it was relatively painless, a little crampy afterwards but nothing too terrible.

Loans etc...we have pretty good coverage and plan to pay the leftover out of pocket. Ask your clinic if there are any clinical trials that you can be a part of, I believe they would help with a lot (if not all) of the cost. My doctor told me about it and said I would be a good candidate but since we have coverage, we declined. 

We're planning on February IVF, my husband needs to have the m TESE done to see if he has any sperm we can work with, we're crossing our fingers and hoping for the best  

babyexpress

@twomommiestobe I attached my schedule.  Does this look normal to you?  This is my first time trying IVF

babyexpress

sorry the pic turned out so big

laur2835

Hey guys! I am on bcp now and all set to go in January as soon as I get insurance approval (they can't submit for anything until January 4th the way the holiday falls). I should get my period sometime the week of the 4th, but my RE said we can extend the active pills until I get approval so I don't have to start another round of bcp and wait another month. Hope I get clearance sooner rather than later!!! I will be on just 3 vials of menopur to start. Fingers crossed!!!