We had our IVF consult with the RE yesterday. It went very well. I found out that my RE's procedure is very similar to what I have read from others who have been through IVF so that made me feel a little more comfortable. I was hoping he would be ok with us doing ICSI (where the embryologist actually injects a single sperm directly into my eggs) and he actually told us that he is going to "make" us do that since we are unexplained infertility. He said that he doesn't want to take the chance of fertilization being our problem if we are going to be spending the money to do IVF. That made me feel really good! Good to hear we are on the same page. He did seem to think we stood very good chances of this working given our age and health. That was a little reassuring but he also gave us good odds of the IUIs being successful. But our odds of IVF working are at least 50% whereas the IUIs were only 20% so I know this is our best chance.
After our meeting with the Dr. we met with the fianncial coordinator. She was really sweet and we liked her a lot. She reassured us that we should explore our option of the Refund Guarantee program that our clinic works with. She said since we haven't had any miscarriages or other known health problems that we should be good candidates. I told Jared that this is the first time that unexplained infertility actually benefits us :-) She was also very reassuring that it is common for the men's main concern to be the cost and the woman to be willing to put aside any and everything to have a baby. Jared wants very badly to have a baby but the cost made him very nervous. Debbie, the coordinator, has been doing this for awhile so she perfectly understood both Jared and I's concerns and helped to alleviate them. So we should hopefully get our answer as to whether we can do the refund guarantee program on Monday. Please say a little prayer for us that we qualify and it doesn't cost an arm a leg!!
So I think our next steps are to get the financing stuff together and wait until my February period. Never thought I would be so anxious to see my next period :-)
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I have started reading your blog recently. My hubby and I are doing our first IVF this month and just started Lupron. It is hard to look at the finances of it all, but I think it is worth it. My insurance was willing to cover 9 IUI's, but my HSG showed both my tubes were blocked, so we are skipping right to IVF and paying out of pocket. My clinic offers a discounted rate for those paying out of pocket. I found something called the compassionate care program with fertility lifelines and ALL of my meds ended up costing $50.00. I take it insurance isn't paying for your IVF either?
ReplyDeleteI know how you feel about being anxious about getting your period. I am waiting to get mine and will then go in for baseline testing and hopefully start the stims. It is all so exciting, good luck!
We had unexplained infertility, too. It sucks not knowing what the problem is, doesn't it?? Our RE said the same thing about ICSI, and it was my thinking as well that if you're spending the money on IVF, you might as well spend the extra bit for ICSI. That is just a drop in the bucket compared to the total cost! Good luck on your cycle. My cycle was in March two years ago!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments ladies! Unfortunately, insurance doesn't cover anything at all for us so I'm glad he's letting us do ICSI.
ReplyDeleteCady-I'm hoping I have the same success as you did!!
Hi Lori! Thanks for commenting on my page. My husband and I did ICSI with IVF, and if you have any questions at any time, I'd love to attempt to answer them for you (although there are several fellow bloggers that can do the same). It's all still pretty fresh in my mind! Ha--as if I could forget. :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck to you--hope this is your year!!!!
Im glad the appointment went well! I was back and forth about ICSI because my husband always had super high numbers. One day, I just decided to do ICSI since the rate of fertilization is higher. I was SO glad I did, because all 12 of our embryos fertilized!
ReplyDeleteFebruary will be here before you know it..!
Glad to hear you feel comfortable with your Dr. and that you are all on the same page. Hoping the financial side of things works out for you and you can keep your arms and legs:)
ReplyDeleteHi Lori! I am glad to hear your consult went well! We are also doing ICSI even though hubby's sperm has been fine....why take chances? We decided to go with the 6-try/shared cost program. It was a difficult decision, one that we thought about for months and months before making the final decision. This is all out of pocket for us so it isn't an easy decision. Our flat fee is $26k (not including initial testing, meds, anesthesia or any of the cost for embryo freeze or storage.) We feel really good about our decision. Good luck....I know it isn't an easy one!
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