Friday, July 15, 2016

4th of July Up North and IVF Update

"Up North" is what Minnesotans call anything north of the Twin Cities. During the summer everyone goes up north on weekends to their respective cabins on various lakes. It's like a mass exodus. We went up north to Mike's parents' cabin for the week of the 4th. We had some rainy weather, the mosquitos were insane, and the fish weren't biting after the first day, but the company was excellent and we had some beautiful sunsets.
Regarding IVF, we got all the blood results and genetic testing back, so we have our official program start on Monday. The only issue found was that I'm slightly deficient in Vitamin D which is apparently typical for caucasian Americans. I started taking 2000 IU of Vitamin D3 but I was experiencing crazy fatigue (I felt like I was wearing a 25 lb blanket) and stomach upset so they dropped me down to 1000 IU. Anyway, the Vitamin D won't hold us back from starting so that's a good thing. 

I did find out today that we are only $500 away from hitting the lifetime max coverage on fertility medication which means we will be paying out of pocket from here on out. At this point, I'm guessing the medication will cost more than the actual procedure. I cried when I found out. The small amount of coverage for infertility is totally ridiculous. And apparently I was one of the lucky ones with my meager coverage! On the plus side, I can now just go to a pharmacy and get my meds and not have to deal with insurance. 

So Monday, our appt is supposed to last 3 - 3.5 hours and will mostly consist of signing lots of consent forms. We had to pre-fill out a few forms that asked us what should be done with our leftover embryos if: I die, Mike dies, we both die, we divorce, or I lose the ability to carry a baby. Strange conversations to have. We joked about leaving the embryos to my brother if we both die. "Surprise! You are the proud owner of Stacey and Mike embryos!" Haha! It makes me laugh just thinking about it (sorry, Brad!). I will also have another sonohysterogram to check my uterus (even though I just had one a couple months ago :-P) and a trial transfer where the doctor practices placing the embryo in my uterus. After the appt, we wait for a call from the scheduler to determine the actual timing of everything: stimulation start, egg retrieval, and embryo transfer. Then things get really real.

2 comments:

  1. Hmmmm, intersting idea, I'll have to start thinking of some good names for them just in case :)

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  2. I'm glad you all had a get away together! And the company is the important thing! The sunsets DO look beautiful! I love the pictures of you with fish. Those make me laugh!

    Get ready, get set!! Here you go! This is exciting stuff! I hope all goes smoothly as things "get real!" I think they will. You have had your share of bumps in the road. Now the cool part!!

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