Getting closer

I finally got ahold of the business manager at the fertility center, and they've finally accepted that I do have insurance. Yay! Unfortunately, they're out-of-network for IVF (even though the doctor is in-network as an OB/GYN -- weird), so I'll have to meet my deductible and pay 20%. But I'll take it! The business manager sounds totally on top of things and is getting all the paperwork taken care of, and they'll call before our next appointment on Feb. 17 to tell us how much money we'll need to bring. The business manager was super-friendly and super-helpful; I was really relieved to talk to her.

And the drugs have all been ordered with no problem, completely covered -- $3000 worth of drugs for a mere $150 or some such.

We're getting there.

An up-and-down update

We had a doctor's appointment this morning, and everything went well. From the doctor's perspective, everything looks good to start the IVF cycle. We have all our appointments set up for the next six weeks and are looking at egg retrieval between March 1 and 3.

Unfortunately, I got a call from the front office woman this afternoon saying that they didn't think my insurance covers IVF. I called back, and she was more annoyed than helpful. She kept saying that my chart says "diagnostic tests only," but wouldn't tell me where she got that information -- because, of course, my insurance documents don't say that! But she couldn't seem to get me off the phone fast enough. I efaxed the documents (which they already have) to her late this afternoon, and she said she was going to check with my insurance company. I'll give her a few days before following up. I know most people out here don't have infertility coverage, but I can't for the life of me figure out why she was being so difficult about it.

In the meantime, I've started to worry that some slightly abnormal (nothing to worry about!) results from a regular doctor's appointment may lead either the insurance company or the doctor to want to postpone this cycle, which would be really disappointing.

Fortunately, we are only in the suppression stage, so this stress will only serve to further suppress me rather than interfere with the stimulation phase! And hopefully in 30 days, when stimulation is supposed to start, it'll all be worked out. Keep your fingers crossed.

At the starting gate

Our first IVF cycle will be underway tonight when we start birth control pills (me) and antibiotics (both of us)!

It's a happy day on the interwebs...

Go meet Sprogblogger. She's going to be a mama.

Blue Christmas

I love the Christmas season; or more, precisely, I love Advent: the candles, the dark stillness, the anticipation, the carols on the radio, the lights on houses. But starting about 5 or 6 years ago, Christmas Day started losing some of its sparkle. With friends married and having babies, I felt "too old" for Christmas, which is, as Kenny Rogers sings, for kids. That feeling seemed even worse this year, whether because we're closing on in the two-year mark of infertility or because the pregnancy/baby announcements seem to be coming fast and furious. I couldn't even drag myself to church on Christmas Eve. Though the midnight service is not designed for children, there are always infants dressed in Santa outfits or other furry wear. I couldn't face it. Fortunately, Christmas morning brought a flight to Kauai, where I was able to escape from it all. But the blues have lingered. I had thought I might spend part of this vacation working on a "Dear Birth Mother" letter, but I seem frozen and unable to start it. I did spend a few hours on rainbowkids.com and found the cutest little Korean girl with a hearing impairment. I'd bring her home tomorrow if I could!

First dinner party

As part of the law school's annual fundraiser for the Women's Resource Center, B and I donated a wine dinner for four. A group of my students bought the dinner, giving us the opportunity for our first dinner party in Norman! Our dining room was cozy and sparkled with winter cheer.

On to IVF

We have completed, unsuccessfully, our fourth IUI attempt, and so we will begin IVF shortly after the new year. We started with an initial round of tests and an IVF class at the new clinic. My blood tests had better results than back in February. There's no good explanation for that, but it does suggest that I should respond well to the IVF drugs. More interesting is that we had our third semen analysis, under more rigorous (and more reliable) criteria. The result was a normal morphology of 6%. Using these criteria, >15% is considered fertile, while <5% is considered infertile and not eligible for IUI. (It would have been nice if either previous clinic had run this test. We probably still would have been advised by the docs/required by insurance to try IUI, but our expectations would have been even more realistic.)

What this means for IVF is that we are currently scheduled for "traditional IVF," where the sperm and the eggs are combined in a petri dish to do their thing. But if day-of results are <5%, we will be converted to ICSI, a procedure in which a single sperm is injected into a single egg. Wild!

When is day of? Early March. I will start the first round of drugs (including one the infertiles on the interwebs call Loopyron for its tendency to induce irrational rages - fun!) in about four weeks. They will completely shut down my reproductive system for a month. Then, if all goes well, we'll begin stimulation drugs to grow eggs, hopefully 10-20. I will have minor surgery to retrieve them, around March 1, followed by embryo transfer (we hope!) 5 days later. And in the meantime, of course, I'll be teaching 5 days a week.

The IVF class was our first real exposure to our new clinic. We were pleased that we were very comfortable with the nurse and embryologist. Not surprisingly, we were the most informed couple there. (We were also the only ones who laughed at the jokes. Apparently other people have trouble seeing the humor in the infertility. But that meant we were a favorite of the nurse, which we always like.) We are also very blessed to have my continuing insurance; we were the only couple not paying a lump sum $12,000 out of pocket. (We are paying $12,000 to the insurance company, but in $500 bites, which is manageable. And if IVF #1 doesn't work, any more attempts in 2010 will essentially be free instead of an additional $12,000.)

I will call the clinic tomorrow to get on the schedule officially!