tell me about the Fertility Solutions Center (Mass)
BostonGayGal
member
I am thinking about making a consultation appointment there. I have done 5 donor sperm IUI's with a midwifery practice before I was referred to Boston IVF. So far at Boston IVF I have done all my testing - two months of all imaginable blood work, ultrasound, and hsg. All are coming back fine.
I have a 'game plan' appointment with my Boston IVF doc next Thursday. My doc's plan is to put me through the motions of one more unmedicated iui cycle then on to ivf. I have just really disliked a few different things about Boston IVF, but I don't want to switch for stupid reasons or delay things further without good reason either.
So, based on what you tell me, it might be worth the extra 20 minutes drive each way, I just don't know. Anyone have any insight or advice?
Re: tell me about the Fertility Solutions Center (Mass)
It opened, literally, 3-4 months ago so I doubt you will find too many opinions yet. As I said, we went to RSC but neither of us was crazy about K's doctor. It wasn't until she went in for her HSG and she met Dr. Aniana that she was totally sold on the group. But at that point, she had been through a year of treatments and was needing a break. She said when she was ready to go back, she would switch from Glatstein to Anania. A few months passed and she was ready to start the process, we called RSC and were told Dr. Anania no longer worked there. A few weeks later I was looking on the Boston bump board and I found a post about the new group opening - headed by none other than Anania. I called that day and was told I could get right in. She is considered on of the top endocrinologists in the country and just received some 'top doctor' award.
Also, we have friends who conceived after their 2nd IUI with her (lesbians) they absolutely love her. They decided to stay with RSC for their 2nd baby, even though she is gone (they live on the North Shore) but now, after 2 unsuccessful, slightly unpleasant IUI's, they are considering the drive.
If you are staying with your midwife for another cycle (which TOTALLY means this conversation is for naught - you are so getting knocked up this month
why not put in a call to them and see what the consult process is? If they are still seeing patients quickly, you might be able to get through it and not delay.
Have you posted on the Boston board? Good luck! Keep me posted!
Based on what you said and my craptastic feeling about Boston IVF, I emailed Fertility Solutions to set up a consult. Many many years ago I stayed with a doctor I didn't think was very good, and ended up needing 4 surgeries instead of 1, so as annoying as it is to switch, I want to make an informed decision.
Hopefully the consult won't cost 5 gazillion dollars. Insurance covered the one at Boston IVF but I am not sure they will cover a second one.
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I am so glad! I really hope it works for you! I am sorry this is so stressful - I totally understand. I was at my whits end (K and I both were), to the point we had decided to stop - indefinitely. It is so stressful, especially if you don't feel like you are being listened to or given the appropriate care. I STILL can't believe it worked. Every day I remember and I am like 'are you f'ing kidding me?!' I can't wait for it to happen to you. It will. For us, it happened when.. ugg.. I was in a bad, bad place. After my 5th failed IUI (but it was 16 cycles between me and K), I was a mess. I didn't stop crying for 5 days. K and I decided I would stop. She was concerned with my mental state - I was too..but it killed me to stop. But then my sister called, crying (and we aren't weepy people..) abut how useless she felt and how horrible it was and she and her husband bought us 2 vials for my birthday. If it wasn't for my sister, we wouldn't have tried this cycle - we were done. And..well the rest is history.
Have faith it works. I can't believe I can even say that.. I hope all of this scrambling is for naught and this last cycle with the midwife is what gets the job done. Are you going to be medicated? For what it's worth, the cycle I got knocked up on I was on 100mg clomid (for the first time) and did back-to-back insem's the day of and the next morning.. but I don't think any of that info really matters, I think it is just dumb luck.
Oh... the one thing I put more stock in than the stuff above is I cut out caffeine completely from my IUI's on. For some reason I feel like that had an effect... or maybe it was just the idea I was doing something 'good' for my body.. who the hell knows. (oh and I ate oysters the day of my 2nd IUI
and drank pineapple juice every day and, and, and...
Good luck with everything, you are in my thoughts.. keep me updated.
Thank you. Your story is heartening and I am thrilled for you.
The midwifery practice doesn't do medicated iui's since they do not do monitoring. I wish I could have paid for monitoring somewhere. I feel like the doc is just putting me through the motions this cycle so that he can work his magic with ivf next cycle, but I would love to avoid all of those meds and just try a medicated iui.
I have essentially cut out all caffeine - I still occasionally have an iced tea if I am eating out for lunch but that is really it.
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Butting in since I know nothing about the practice - but going from unmediated IUIs to IVF seems to be a huge leap. There is a lot of middle ground in there. Crossing my fingers for you!
Wait. They are having you go straight to IVF without trying a medicated, monitored IUI cycle? Is there a medical reason? That seems kind of extreme! Especially if you haven't been monitored yet. I mean, if that is what you want to do to get the job done, all the power to you! But if you are leery, I would absolutely put your foot down and say you aren't ready. RSC (and Dr. Anania) didn't recommend K go to IVF and she is in her late 30's and had 10 failed IUI (and 5 failed ICI) cycles. Still they wanted her to do a monitored cycle and make sure everything was working properly. Personally, after 10 cycles, I was hoping K would have jumped on the IVF but she wasn't ready and RSC didn't pressure her for it at all. Though, after I read up on the meds and the process, I was happy she was moving a bit more slowly.
I think you are making the right decision, having another consult.
There is a lot of middle ground being skipped with this doc's plan! I suspect it is related to the fact that once I have done the 6 iui's insurance covers either iui or ivf so why not jump to the more effective procedure? But I feel uneasy about it. I would like to try a monitored, medicated cycle first.
I made an appointment for the end of next week. So I will meet with both Boston ivf and Fertility Solutions within a day of each other. I will keep you posted. Thanks for all of your input.
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