Fertility Future, Part 1

*Warning: This is a long post, with more information than you may care to know, lol...*

What an emotional rollercoaster the past 24+ hours have been. I was incredibly nervous going into my appointment, elated when I was told we were good candidates for IUI, and then the worry about the medication costs set in on my drive home. And then, I called the insurance company and was told that the least I could expect to pay for only a third of the medication I would need was probably $1000. Yeah, soooo not in the budget. Then today, I'm told that's wrong...needless to say, I'm emotionally exhausted, and it isn't over yet. Before I get more into all of that though, let me talk more about what I found out at my follow-up consultation yesterday.

First off, let me just say for the billionth time that I absolutely LOVE this fertility clinic. They are all sooo nice, so caring, and so sensitive. I'm so grateful for that! So my doctor reviewed all the results of both Jeremy's tests and my tests, and here's what I learned:

The Good
1. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with Jeremy. His tests all came back well above where they need to be, so we know he is not contributing at all to me not getting pregnant. Good news!
2. My good and bad cholesterol levels are all normal and in a healthy range, and both Jeremy and I tested negative for the slew of things they tested us for.
3. My hysteroscopy back in November showed that I had some tissue that my body didn't get rid of when I had my miscarriage back in 2009. Thankfully the hysteroscopy removed it, and it shouldn't be a problem in the future. (It being there could lead to future miscarriages, so I'm glad it's gone!)
4. My fallopian tubes are completely open.

The Not So Good
1. My PCOS is producing a crazy amount of eggs. This wasn't too surprising to hear since my doc had show at least 20 of them to me when I had an ultrasound done back in October.
2. Because I produce so many eggs, some of them are bound to be made up of some abnormal chromosomes...this is most likely what caused my miscarriage in 2009 (although there's no way to be 100% sure, it's a pretty good guess).
3. My body has a hard time metabolizing folic acid correctly - which is sooo important during pregnancy! Because of that, I have to take medicine to correct that, from now until the time my first trimester ends, whenever that happens!
4. Somehow they have tests that measure how close you are to starting menopause ( I can't remember exactly what it is that they measure). A menopausal woman measures at a 10 - at age 28 I'm measuring at 7.5...I should be between a 4-6. Basically, it just means I have less time than someone else my age to get pregnant (like I really needed something else working against me!).

Overall I am pleased with the results of all the testing. One thing is for sure - I now definitely believe in seeing a fertility specialist and going through the tests for anyone who has unsuccessfully been trying to get pregnant for awhile. We were going to do IUI in Fairbanks but decided against it because the timing wasn't right for us financially - I can't help but think how that may have been a blessing in disguise...had we had a successful IUI cycle without me knowing about my folic acid deficiency or the excess tissue from my previous miscarriage, we could have lost the baby or had a child born with serious health problems.

Anyways, here's the overall conclusion: The only thing standing in our way of getting pregnant is my PCOS. I can't even begin to explain to you how relieved I am to have heard my doctor say that. I went into the appointment prepared to be told that I would never be able to get pregnant. Instead, I'm told that pregnancy is totally possible. Saying that I was relieved would be the understatement of the century!

My doctor recommended IUI, done with injectable FSH (follicle stimulating hormone). So here's the plan:
1. Wait until my cycle starts again, and call the clinic the first day. If I don't start on my own by New Years then I will once again take Provera for 10 days to jumpstart my cycle (the last time I took it I started the day after I stopped taking it).
2. On day 3 of my cycle I will go to the clinic for an ultrasound and bloodwork. That's also when I will start injecting myselg with a drug called Follistem (the FSH medicine).
3. For the next 12 days approximately (give or take a day or two) I will inject myself daily - really I should say that Jeremy will be injecting me, since I have a fear of needles and there is no way in heck that I could poke myself daily with a needle in my abdomen or thigh!!
4. During the 12 days I am injecting the FSH I will go to the clinic every 4 days for an ultrasound and bloodwork, where they will measure the follicles I have growing inside.
5. When I have some (or maybe just 1? but I'm guessing at least 2) good sized follicles, they will give me what is known as an HCG trigger shot, which will induce ovulation.
6. 36 hours after the trigger shot Jeremy and I will be back in the clinic. Jeremy will give his sample, they "wash" it (basically they seperate the sperm from the seminal fluid, and the not so good sperm are left behind), and they will then place it directly inside of my uterus using a special catheter and syringe. The idea is that the sperm will be right there waiting for the egg. Usually sperm have to travel through a pretty hostile environment to get to the uterus, so IUI removes those obstacles:).
7. After the procedure I will go back to the clinic a few more times to do bloodwork to measure my progesterone and other things that are needed to sustain a healthy pregnancy.
8. Two weeks after the procedure, I go in and they tell me if I'm pregnant!
9. If I am, I will see my fertility doctor up until I am 10 weeks, and then start going strictly to my OB/GYN in Lake Havasu, and the rest is history!

Phew...are you tired of reading yet? Yeah, there's more...sorry, lol! So the IUI - which includes my ultrasound on day 3, the collection and wash of Jeremy's sperm, my bloodwork, the ultrasounds throughout the whole process, and the actual insemination - should be roughly $650. But then there's the cost of the medications...that's the game changer...

Ok, take a breather...that's the end of Part 1, lol!