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Infertility
MelleTX
member
Beta # 3 (I think my RE is trying to kill me)
MelleTX
member
in Infertility
So, even though Beta #2 was almost a perfect doubling of Beta #1, my RE still wanted me to come back today for another one. Today's Beta was 187. That's a doubling time of 34 hours - good job Melle!
To recap: Beta 1 = 58, Beta 2 = 114, Beta 3 = 187
However, he wants me to come back Monday for another Beta. Seriously, my veins are shot. It takes a minimum of 3 sticks to find a place to get blood and I am covered in bruises.
I am really trying not to complain. But this will be $600 in blood tests alone. When I asked why another one on Monday or why we didn't skip today and go back on Monday, the nurse said my RE just wants to make sure it keeps rising.
I know the numbers are on the low-ish side, but they are perfectly normal for being now 10dp5dt.
Plus I have an ultrasound at 5 weeks to check for the gestational sac and another at 6 weeks to check for a heartbeat - each at $375 a pop. These two weeks are going to cost me about half of what my entire pregnancy will be with my OB.
Arghhh. Sorry. I will stop complaining now. He's my RE and I trust him, but I'm going broke!
Single Mother by Choice.
Life didn't work out the way I planned so I did it on my own.
IUI #s 1-3, unmedicated = BFN, IUI #s 4-6, 50mg Clomid, Ovidrel = BFN
IVF #1: 23R, 20M, 17F. 5 day transfer 2 blasts. 2 Snowbabies
BFP 6dp5dt, Beta #1 7dp5dt = 58, Beta #2 9dp5dt = 114, Beta #3 10dp5dt = 187
1st Ultrasound = 5/3, not much to see yet. 2nd Ultrasound = 5/17, TWINS!!!
Hospital Bed Rest at 32 weeks due to pre-ecclampsia and severe edema.
Audrey Grace, 5lbs9oz, & Lydia Louise, 6lbs, born via emergency c-section on 12/6/12 at 36w1d
My IVF Journey
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Beta # 3 (I think my RE is trying to kill me)
Great news! I thought the general school of thought was once your beta hits 1000, you don't need any more. It doesn't make sense to do so many betas so often though.
But that is crap about the cost. I would be furious and look for alternatives. Is there a reason insurance isn't helping you with these costs?
***signature & ticker warning***
Me: 30 ~ Stage IV Endo ~ AMH .38 ~ AFC 8
AMH .97 as of 4/2012! ~ AMH 1.63 as of 4/2013!?!
Him: 29 ~ perfect swimmers
Laparotomy w/partial oophorectomy 8/2009 to remove cysts/endo.
Stopped BCP 4/2010.
Multiple clomid rounds from 11/2010 to 6/2011. ~ All BFN
IUI w/clomid 7/2011. IUI w/clomid & injectables 11/2011 & 1/2012. ~ All BFN
IVF:EPP 5/2012 ~ (4R, 3M, 2F w/ICSI). Both embryos txfrd. ~ BFN
BCP to manage endo from 10/2012 to 12/2012.
FET w/donor embryos #1: 10/2013 Cancelled
FET w/donor embryos #1.2: 11/2013 ~ ET of 2 beautiful blasts on 11/27.
Beta 1: 503(12dp5dt) Beta 2: 1035(14dpt) Beta 3: 3001(16dpt) Beta 4: 8503(19dpt)
Twins with an EDD of 8/15/14! Team Purple
G&B born 6/30/14 at 33w3d via emergency c/s.
If you're wondering about my avatar...it's a fried pickle chip shaped like a fetus!
I live in Texas. I am self-employed and have private health insurance. Because Texas is not a mandate state, insurance carriers do not offer prenatal coverage unless you are part of a group plan. I will be 100% OOP for prenatal care and delivery. Sucks.
And of course, I make way too much money to qualify for Medicaid. There really are no options for middle-income pregnant women.
I really suck at staying pregnant
***signature & ticker warning***
Me: 30 ~ Stage IV Endo ~ AMH .38 ~ AFC 8
AMH .97 as of 4/2012! ~ AMH 1.63 as of 4/2013!?!
Him: 29 ~ perfect swimmers
Laparotomy w/partial oophorectomy 8/2009 to remove cysts/endo.
Stopped BCP 4/2010.
Multiple clomid rounds from 11/2010 to 6/2011. ~ All BFN
IUI w/clomid 7/2011. IUI w/clomid & injectables 11/2011 & 1/2012. ~ All BFN
IVF:EPP 5/2012 ~ (4R, 3M, 2F w/ICSI). Both embryos txfrd. ~ BFN
BCP to manage endo from 10/2012 to 12/2012.
FET w/donor embryos #1: 10/2013 Cancelled
FET w/donor embryos #1.2: 11/2013 ~ ET of 2 beautiful blasts on 11/27.
Beta 1: 503(12dp5dt) Beta 2: 1035(14dpt) Beta 3: 3001(16dpt) Beta 4: 8503(19dpt)
Twins with an EDD of 8/15/14! Team Purple
G&B born 6/30/14 at 33w3d via emergency c/s.
If you're wondering about my avatar...it's a fried pickle chip shaped like a fetus!
And most groups won't take it anyway because most of their employees won't use it. I live in Texas too and have checked everything, but still OOP!
Sorry about the money, it does suck, but yay for good numbers!!
TTC #1 since 3/2011
DX: anovulatory and severe MFI
DH is a testicular cancer survivor
IVF#1 w/ICSI lupron, gonal f, ovidrel
ER 6/15/12 6R 6M 6F! ET 6/20/12
Beta #1: 154 Beta #2: 509 Beta #3: 7326
Baby Boy born 3/1/2013
TTC#2: 6/2014 all testing came back normal
IVF#2 (#1 for LO#2) 9/2014 - 17R 10M 10F 4 blasts frozen on day 6.
FET #1 10/15/14 - Beta #1: 216 Beta #2: 823
Baby Boy born 7/10/2015
Yes, when I worked for corporate giant from hell, I worked 80 hours per week, made an average salary but had fantastic health care.
Now, I work for myself, 30 hours per week for a fantastic salary and crappy private health insurance with no prenatal coverage and a $5000 deductible.
Because I have an open unemployment claim from 2011 with benefits still left, I might be able to game the system and qualify for medicaid, but I need to do more research on it.
Don't get me wrong, I am prepared to pay OOP for pregnancy and delivery (about $6-8k)- otherwise I wouldn't have done IVF. It just sucks sometimes.
me (36): Hypothyroid (on Levothroid), low vit. d, borderline/high fsh (day 3: between 7-10) (day 10: 13 during CCCT), AFC: 14
dh (31): awesome (minus one sample with agglutination)
Diagnosis:possible DOR and/or unexplained + elevated NK cells + MTHFR (C677T - one copy)
MAY 2011 - FEB 2012 - 3 injectable IUI's with numerous cancellations due to high TSH levels
MAY 2012 - onto IVF/ICSI (Antagonist Protocol) on BCP and Folgard (3 week delay - cyst - boooo) 5/21 start stims 5/30 ER 11R 8M 3F 6/2 3DT of 3 6/12 Beta #1 83 | 6/14 Beta #2 196 | 6/21 Beta #3 3818 | 6/28 Beta #4 22,213 | 7/2 1st U/S - 2 on board! 8/24 CVS reveals that we have a boy AND a girl on board!
Healthy baby boy and girl born in February, 2013 at 38 weeks and 2 days!
Hopefully you don't get a bill for 1 million dollars then.
https://news.yahoo.com/australian-couple-1-million-hospital-bill-baby-born-080702717.html
I had no idea prenatal care was not standard. I'm so grateful for that coverage now!
And yet we think a more socialized health care system would be damaging. I'm so sorry this is costing you so much.
Me:40 AMA, DH:36 0% morph, TTC#1;
BFP#1 4/2011, MMC 6/2011 11wks Trisomy 13;
BFP#2 11/2011, CP
FSH: 17.9, AMH: 2.2
IVF#1 w/ICSI: ER 4/3: 5R,4M,4F
ET 4/6 All 4 (1-8A+, 2-8A-, 1-3A) BFP#3
Two weeks of beta hell = Blighted Ovum
IVF#2 Aug/Sept: ER 8/27: 4R,3M,3F
ET 8/30 (1-8A+, 1-6A+)
Beta#1 9/10: 350; Beta#2 9/12: 796; Beta#3 9/20: 9155
Expecting Boy/Girl Twins! My babies were born 4/23/13 at 36w1d!
my betas werent doubling so I had to go every two days for 2 weeks for a blood test, its draining, and my poor vein, then to top it off you got to pay for it, double whammy! triple whammy for me bec I had a loss so then I had to keep going back until the betas went negative! UGHH!
Beta#1 (12dp3dt)= 353, Beta#2 (15dp3dt)= 1466, Beta#3 (22dp3dt)= 14,139, First u/s: TWINS!!
After 10 weeks of bedrest, our two little ladies joined us at 28w6d
************ticker warning*****************
I'm going to go against the grain here... I'm sorry but I think that's ridiculous, especially since you're OOP both for this and your pregnancy! I wouldn't stop with the nurse's answer, and would ask to speak directly to the RE. You deserve an explanation directly from the doctor for the extra monitoring.
This is your money, and you are the consumer of services... And since you've seen a lot of IVF cycles on here and know that this is above and beyond the standard of care, you have every right to question it and ask for an explanation. Does he suspect ectopic? Is there a reason to? That's the only reason I can think of for 4 betas and 2 u/s.
You can also decide to decline the u/s; I did, postponing it to my OB, and the sky didn't fall down or anything. If he's concerned about ectopic, then the first u/s should be sufficient to make sure the sac is within the uterus. I'm not suggesting you decline; I'm not a doctor and obviously have no right to be giving you medical advice. I'm just pointing out it's always an option, and encouraging you to talk directly to your doctor if you're frustrated about the cost of the monitoring
Severe MFI. Me: supposedly all clear but eggs showed vacuoles.
IVF #1 January 2012, ER Jan 14th: 34R, 27M, 23F. Day 3: 18 embies still strong. Day 5: zero "good," one "fair," the rest "poor." Transferred 3. None made it to blast or to freeze. Jan 28: BFN.
Lucky IVF #2: Transferred two beautiful day three embies on St. Patrick's Day. BFP on HPT 7dp3dt. Beta 1 (14dpER)=106; Beta 2 (16dpER)=140; Beta 3 (19dpER)=264! First u/s 4.17.
Hope is the thing with feathers - that perches in the soul - and sings the tune without the words - and never stops - at all - (Emily Dickinson)
I decided when I go in on Monday I am going to ask again about the reasoning for the 4th Beta and see if I can decline it. It's more that my veins are shot than the money although the money is a big factor.
As for the US, I am going to decline the 5 week ultrasound and ask for 1 at 6 weeks when it is more likely to see a heartbeat.
Truthfully I think they are just used to women having health insurance that covers all this. And if I did, I would probably appreciate all the extra attention.