New Here and Need Advice

VandalLuvsCoug

Hi Ladies,
My name is Ashton and I am 25. My husband who is 29 and I have been trying to get pregnant for a little over a year. We have been seeing a RE since July because I was never getting a post ovulation test and my periods were irregular. Everything else for us was good and healthy. We did two cycles on Clomid and I didn't not ovulate either time. We are now on our third cycle of 5 mm Letrozole with an Ovidrel trigger and timed intercourse. I have ovulated twice so far on Letrozole (both times had just one follicle) my day 12 ultrasound for cycle 3 is on Wednesday. My question is if my husband and I should talk to our RE on Wednesday about if this cycle doesn't work moving to IUI or some other kind of treatment? Any advice is appreciated! 

tamalahoops

Hi @Knottie50386141 Sorry that you've found yourself in this situation but glad that you've found yourself here. I did 3 timed intercourse cycles with letrozole then 3 iui's with letrozole. I ovulated at lower doses, but didn't get an ideal response until I was maxed out at 10 mg. My iui's were not successful in that they didn't get me pregnant, but they were successful in that I had a good response to the medicine. 

Our limit was 3 iui's. We've now moved onto our first round of IVF. We are paying entirely out of pocket and we wanted to start putting money into better technology. The iui's were really draining on me emotionally. The highs and lows of desperately clinging to hope and then devastating disappointment were not worth it anymore. I think that the decision to move onto IVF is a very personal one. 

KLake42

At your age, you might benefit from trying a little more with medicated/timed cycles.  If you get the point where you're medicating, monitoring, and using a trigger shot, you might as well do an IUI-- it's not much more expensive.

Does insurance cover anything?

I tried 7 IUIs before moving to IVF.  I'm significantly older (in fertility years), but I couldn't try timed intercourse because I'm gay.  Of course, I wish I'd moved to IVF sooner, but I still think I made educated decisions.

Honestly, I can see trying quite a bit more with medication and TI or IUI before going to IVF.  IUIs are just a bit more successful than timed intercourse, presuming the sperm is fine.  And they are way, way cheaper and less invasive than IVF.

You could talk to your doctor about a low dose gonadotropin with timed intercourse or IUI, like gonal-F, or other drugs used for IVF.  You have to be monitored with that, but it can do stuff that letrozole or clomid don't do. 

But of course, your doctor knows better than me about what is likely to help you!

VandalLuvsCoug

Thank you both for your input I will really appreciate it. I think we are going to finish out this cycle with timed intercourse and maybe one more depending on doctor advice and then move to IUI's. I think I am going to set a limit on the number of IUI's reattempt. Our insurance will cover our ultrasounds and part of medications but nothing past that. It's really nice to have a community like this as none of my friends have ever struggled with this and have all gotten pregnant the first couple months of TTC. So @KLake42 and @tamalahoops I really appreciate both of you taking the time to help me.