Wednesday, August 13, 2014

The final IUI

I love my RE clinic, I really do.

As soon as I walk through the door the receptionist always asks "where's my Spider-Man today?" referring to Ryan. 

Every single nurse that walks by me says "hello Jessica, how are you?". I feel like I'm getting individual treatment and that's the benefit of going to a small practice. You never feel like a number or statistic. 

I've heard of clinics turning women down for treatment due to various factors simply because they want to keep their success rate statistics high. That's utter bullshit. My office is not like that and I appreciate it so much.

When the nurse took me back to get the ultrasound she asked if I was going to do another IUI and I said yes. She said something along the lines of "are you sure it's not time to move on to IVF? I hate to think of you spending all this money on IUI's". I know that you might read that and think she was being rude but it really wasn't. 

I told her that insurance pays for both she got excited and said "Do it girl! We want to see your pregnant!". 

I told her that I had come to that same conclusion and had gotten my insurance ducks in a row to proceed on to IVF.

Then Girl Doctor came in. 

Side note: my RE's office has two doctors - who I refer to as Girl Doctor and Boy Doctor.

She was able to see both ovaries without any trouble. No cysts so I'm cleared to proceed with this IUI cycle.

Then I told her that if this doesn't work, I'm moving on to IVF. She said she was 100% in support of that decision.

We spoke about logistics and she told me she thought it would be beneficial if I lost 10 pounds. She only mentioned it because I asked and I'm glad I did. I appreciated the complete honesty, I needed to hear it.

Also, I made the decision then that if we do have to go the IVF route, I want Girl Doctor taking over my cycles. 

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Boy Doctor. He's fabulous and incredibly kind and attentive. Girl Doctor is a bit more matter of fact. 

However, Boy Doctor has rarely been able to find my right ovary. I don't know why this is but he tries and tries and moves that wand around like he's checking my tonsils. But, my right ovary always seems to elude him. 

Girl Doctor finds it in seconds. So, she is my best bet for egg retrieval purposes in my opinion. 

She explained that I'll come in on the first day of my period just like with IUI cycles and I'll be put on birth control for 2-3 weeks. Then we'll start injections and go from there.

I didn't talk to James about it last night at all, I guess I wanted to mull it all over before I spoke to him.

This morning as we're getting ready for work I told him about the appointment. He agrees also that it's time for IVF. We both agreed that waiting until October/November would be a good idea, too.

This gives me time to lose that ten pounds, save up more vacation days and save money. Even though all these treatments are paid for, it's not without some costs to us. Affordable costs for sure, but costs none the less. 

So there we have it. This is it, our fifth and final IUI. 

Come on sperm, hook up with my egg - you know you want to!




9 comments:

  1. I totally respect the fact that you are giving iui a true shot. So many people try it once or twice and move to ivf. In all honesty, ivf is not a proven success as so many people think and is SO much more invasive verses iui. Of course I am totally biased on this subject. We had two failed ivf attempts and six failed iui attempts before our 7th was a success. Of course with your awesome insurance, take your time and make the best decision for you, regardless what the decision is.
    Good luck!

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    1. You hit the nail on the head. I know a few IRL people who have tried IVF and there are no success stories to report from them.

      After this IUI, I'll still have 3 more that my insurance will pay for so if the 4 IVF cycles fail, at least I still have a few more IUI's cycles we can try.

      I don't believe IVF is the miracle people hope it to be. The success rate is higher of course so that's why we'll try that next. I'm not getting any younger, unfortunately.

      And thank you for sharing your story (success and failure!).

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  2. Fingers crossed that this IUI works, but glad to know that you're ready to move on if it doesn't. Also glad that Girl Doctor was able to find your ovary right away!

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    1. Double cross those fingers for a little bit if you don't mind! ;-)
      Wouldn't it be nice to have the IUI work just as I decide to move on from it?

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  3. Exciting! Really really hoping the IUI works, but it's exciting to know IVF is on the horizon. Good luck losing the 10lbs. I have been a total failure with my weightloss...

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    1. I'm trying to find excitement is all this, I really am. Right now, I'm just feeling a little discouraged.

      As for the 10 pounds... it sounds like a totally doable amount of weight but I know in reality, it won't be so easy. I'll do it because she wants me to. But, I'll bitch and moan while doing it!

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  4. We're on a pretty similar timeframe! I also had my final IUI in August, and will begin IVF (I hope) in October/November if all goes well. Our insurance doesn't cover IVF at all though, so we may end up having to take out a loan unfortunately. I also blog about my fertility journey, if you'd be interested in reading. My blog is maybenoonanbaby.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks for sharing your blog with me, I've added it to my reading list.
      (BTW - I'm a Virginian, too)

      I've decided to wait until the new year to get started on IVF. Hoping for a chance to miraculously get pregnant on my own or, at least, lose a little more weight before starting the IVF journey.

      I'll be following you keeping my fingers crossed!

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