Change of plans - again

So now we are cycling this month. We had to move some money around but on a wing and a prayer we're cycling. Bravelle is shipping today and my baseline ultrasound/bloodwork is tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed for no surprises or sudden jumps in FSH/E2 and a healthy AFC.

$4,796.94

That's my cost for enough Bravelle for another IVF cycle (54 vials) via the specialty pharmacy our insurance company has been having us use. We have used up our $5,000 infertility drug benefit and we are now paying 100% out of pocket. I found the information on the Bravelle HEART program and called Village Pharmacy to inquire about it. I ordered my progesterone from Village because the specialty pharmacy our insurance had us use didn't carry it. Anyway the very nice patient care rep at Village told me with the HEART program my costs would be a lot less than $4,796.94, about $2000 less. It's still a crapload of money that will put even more of a strain on us but it's slightly more manageable than the first number.

Between the time I called pharmacy #1 and the time I called Village I thought of other ways to spend $4,796.94. In no particular order:

• Buy a used car
• Partially remodel Doug's bathroom (maybe even fully remodel it, it's pretty small)
• Airfare and a five star hotel for two persons to London for two weeks
• Purchase 171 skeins of Madelinetosh Pashmina yarn
• Canon EOS 5D Mark III and an assortment of lenses and accessories 
• Vintage Heywood-Wakefield Dining Room set (with some leftover cash for new china)

Moo

Stimming report seems to be okay, at least as far as I can tell. They weren't very specific when they called but I had an ultrasound this morning and my left ovary had several follicles (I'm assuming they're actual follicles because the nurse said they weren't antral follicles anymore?) and my right had at least three. When my coordinator called this afternoon she just continue on with the same amount of Bravelle, the Letrozole, the Dexamethosone and the DHEA (not to mention the doxycycline and the prenatal).

I'm starting to feeling sluggish and bloat-y, hello elastic waistbands. I also feel like I could eat a bear. On a typical day I have a bowl of vegetable soup and a side of baby greens for lunch. Today I ate a slab of leftover meatloaf and corn and still had room for an apple. Now I'm hungry again. As my high school friend Drew used to say, I feel like a heifer.

Trial Transfer (or my feet were in stirrups twice this week) & Meds

So we’re edging closer to stim-start date. This past Monday I had my pap smear at my regular OBGYN’s office. I was a little confused as to why my RE’s office didn’t just do a pap during one of the half-dozen times they’ve been perusing my lady bits lately, but whatever. My gynecologist is a nice-enough person. She used to be part of a big, huge practice in the women’s hospital but then she went out on her own and has her own one-woman show. I didn’t enjoy having to share a waiting room with a couple who couldn’t have been more than 19. The guy looked totally petrified and the girl seemed totally bored. I sat playing on my iPhone trying not to seethe with too much jealousy that they’re knocked up and I’m not. The RE’s office is waiting patiently for the pap results and at first I didn’t think too much about it but of course now I’m totally panicking that something might possibly be wrong. Neurotic much?


I also ordered all my medications, which should arrive next Wednesday. By some sort of miracle we only have to pay around $550 out of pocket for the medication. But I was also informed by the insurance company that we have now used up our $5,000 lifetime maximum on infertility drugs. So there’s that. Our injection class is Tuesday and I think the Bravelle is more complicated than the Follistim was. I used the Follistim pen, which you just filled with a cartridge and clicked. Based on what the nurse told me we have to mix up the Bravelle, which will probably involve math and I’m terrible at math. Mister B will be injecting me, the shots don’t hurt but I don’t want to give them to myself unless I have to, especially the progesterone in oil, ouch and ugh.

This morning after downing a vanilla latte and three large glasses of H2O, I drove over to the RE’s office and waddled into the waiting room for my trial transfer. Bitch-ceptionist* was there of course and of course told me I had a balance. I would be shocked if I ever went up to the desk and I didn’t have a balance. This time it was $267.19, the remainder of what we owe for the hysterosonogram. Not to mention that we’ll owe the lab $250 at the end of September for Doug’s sperm storage fee. So.much.money. When I got called back I had my weight and BP taken (BP is perfect, of course) and then got to go to the exam room, put on my pretty paper skirt and meet up with everyone infertilie’s favorite BFF, dildo cam. I sat in there forever, becoming so bored I emailed my friend Lynsey with a pic of dildo cam. Eventually Dr. K arrived with a mostly competent looking medical student and he went over my chart to make sure everything was in order. He also looked through the file to see which of Doug’s frozen sample’s we will be using – it seems it will be a vintage from July 1996, which is really long damn time ago – fourteen years!?! Dr. K assures us its fine though, hmmph. The procedure itself was nothing special, med student used the outside ultrasound wand to show what was happening while Dr. K passed the empty catheter through. I felt crampy and I really, really had to pee but other than that it was fine. He had no problems and doesn’t expect any problems on the actual retrieval day.

Once I start stimming everything will move along super fast which scares the crap out of me. I’m trying so, so hard to be optimistic but I’m also freaking out about what Plan B is going to be if IVF #2 The Final Chapter doesn’t work.


*Bitch-ceptionist is the affectionate nickname I have for the PIA receptionist at my RE's office. She has the compassion of a paper towel. Also every time I see her she wants more money.