Leading up to today...the medical stuff.

     I started this blog for a couple reasons. 1. Adam and I moved to Seattle from Indiana 6 years ago and most of our friends and family live in the Midwest still. So this is a way for us to keep everyone up to date on all the craziness that happens! We are an open book and do not believe that infertility is a struggle that any couple should be alone in! 2. I have LOVED reading other IVF and pregnancy blogs! They have helped me tons! I hope that ours can help other families along the way. I actually really love watching video IVF blogs but...I am a CRYER! (my dad has nicknamed me "his little basket case") I am very emotional and honestly cry more out of happiness than I do when I am sad...and no one can understand me when I am crying..I do that high pitch voice thing that only dogs can hear. So pretty sure once the hormone shots start I will just be in a constant state of tears (hopefully happy of course!) that combined with my ugly cry face and the fact that my husband hates me and my camera (which is always snapping!) is why I choose to do a written blog :) So here goes the fun stuff. I am pretty open, so will not censor much of this blog, I will try to give as much detail as possible as that was helpful to me.

   I wanted to do a quick snapshot of what have experienced up to now for anyone who is looking into IVF and wondering about the whole process.

   Once we told our regular OB that we were ready to start trying to have babies knowing my history she immediately gave us a recommendation to a fertility specialist. We are very lucky to have one of the top fertility clinics in the country 5 minutes from our house. Seattle Reproductive called us to set up the appointment. The first opening they had for new patients was over 2 months out which seemed like forever! However any other time I have called for an appointment since being a patient I have never had to wait more than a few days for an appointment. Our first appointment was about 2 hours long. We met/talked to our doctor about all the options, upcoming test they would do, met the nurse that would be assigned specifically to our case, and they drew blood from each of us to do testing.  Most of the time they do not do any sort of exam at your first appointment, however I currently have a large ovarian cyst that needs surgery so our doctor wanted to get a look at that. At this time we were also given the option to do full genetic testing. You are given the option to only figure out specific things, do full testing or nothing at all. I know that these are controversial test however we decided to have them done. (they all came back fine) The full genetic testing is usually not covered by insurance they told us it would cost around $500. We were pleasantly surprised when we got the bill and the insurance company did cover about half of the cost.

    While we are on the subject of insurance...we have great insurance and in fact I am double covered not only by my own insurance but my husbands. However our insurance company does not cover ANY of the cost of fertility treatments. From my research not many do. The only ones I have heard of have been military or people that work in the health care field. But it's always good to check (Seattle Reproductive did the work of checking for us)! I am assuming they covered part of the genetic testing as it could save them money in the long run. ALSO because of my ovarian cyst the Seattle Reproductive could bill most of our appointments as "seen for medical reasons" appointments which made it so the insurance company covered most of them up until now.

 At the end of our first appointment we were told to book a semen analysis for Adam and a Hysterosalpingogram (yes I had to google how to spell that!) for me.  Even when they know that the fertility issues are on one partners end they do a full workup on the other partner to insure their are no surprises later. My doctor after looking at my history also confirmed that I have PCOS (Polycystic ovary syndrome) For me this didn't mean much other than it makes it harder for me to loose weight as my hormones are unbalanced. My doctor actually told us having PCOS will hopefully work to our advantage when it comes to IVF as it means that your ovary produces more than average amount of eggs so they are hoping that there are more than average to retrieve on retrieval day.
   
  Semen Analysis- well not much to explain here. Self explanatory, man puts stuff in cup...doctors analyze this for the count and strength. The test took about a week to come back and no matter the results they will tell you in the office not over the phone. The things that did surprise me about this process; 1. they only do "collections" on one specific day of the week? not sure why, for us its Thursdays? 2. You are aloud to go with your partner for "help" (we decided that Adam could handle this appointment on his own :) 3. You/ your husband is not supposed to wear deodorant, or lotion that day as it could mess with the results.

   Hysterosalpingogram- The hysterosalpingogram is an x-ray test that takes a picture after dye has filled the inside of the uterus and fallopian tubes.  This test can show areas of scarring inside a fallopian tube or changes in the uterine cavity, as might occur with a polyp or other growth in the uterus. I believe this is a standard test they do before determining that IVF if the best option. However we did it early on as my doctor suspected with all of my scaring that my tubes would be closed. Before the appointment I was sent home with paperwork telling me about the procedure, and to take ibuprofen that day as there might be "slight cramping" after. They basically place a tube in vaginally and push dye thru it then take X Rays to see what that dye is doing in there. So...all my ladies know...that anytime you go to the gyno they give you this same warning..."take a little ibuprofen there might be slight cramping" Well I honestly I have a decent pain threshold and RARELY ever have cramps so I always take these warnings with a grain of salt. BAD IDEA this day! This "quick 15 minute procedure" was 15 minutes of uncomfortable hell! I don't know if it was more painful because of my scaring or what but each time he pushed the dye in it caused a ton of cramping...and because my tubes were scared shut he kept trying to push more thru! Not to scare anyone too much...I just want you to be ready...as I was not and that made it worse for me...I like to know whats coming. Also I have heard from others that this was just uncomfortable, not painful so I am sure that my scaring made it worse.  Husband did not attend this appointment with me, which I was happy for as I might have cried with him there. Being alone forced me as it forced me to be a big girl.  The test confirmed that my fallopian tubes were scared shut. The dye couldn't get anywhere...meaning an egg couldn't get anywhere. Which meant our only option was IVF. Again this is where I believe our journey has been easier than most. Only having one option (even if its the hardest, most expensive option) makes things easier, cleaner, less decisions, less possible heartache.

    After determining that IVF was our only option we spoke with our doctor about the plan. IVF involves surgery. Surgery to retrieve the eggs from your ovary. I am overweight. About 5 years ago I was in a skiing accident where I tore my ACL and ended up gaining 70 pounds in 3 months! (yeah crazy I know) Doctors will not do voluntary surgery if your BMI is over 40. At the time mine was about 43. So let me say, I do not over eat, but I am also pretty dormid. I usually don't gain easily my body is great at MAINTAING my weight, but pretty lousy at loosing it! So after gaining the 70 pounds I had a hard time getting any weight off. While none of my fertility problems had to do with my weight I needed to get it off for the surgery and because of course it couldn't hurt. Healthier body, healthier baby! Our doctor scheduled a Sonohystogram and told me to work on loosing the 17 pounds I needed to loose in the meantime.

   Sonohystogram- (also known as a uterine sounding) This is required before all IVF procedures. They go in vaginally and inflate a "balloon" type tube in your uterus. This inflates the uterus so they can get a clear ultrasound of the entire uterus. They do this to check for any issues, scaring, cyst etc that may cause problems during the pregnancy. They had some trouble inflating the fake balloon so this took longer than they thought and was pretty uncomfortable and a little painful. At this time they also took a biopsy of my uterine lining. Compared to the balloon this was easy, a little cramping but not bad. They also do a fake implantation where they stick a straw like tube thru the uterus and drop a couple drops of water in there. Once they are ready to "implant the eggs" this is how they will do it...simply drop them in with a tube. The fake implantation was really easy, quick and painless. Now that I think about it, its kinda nice that way the day of the implantation I know exactly how it will happen and how it will feel. I figure the more relaxed that day the better. All of these test came back fine for us.

    The weight-  For some reason I couldn't wrap my mind around this for a while. I took my time. (about 6 months) and lost nothing. Then I woke up one day and decided to loose the weight. So I did :) I lost 30 pounds in about 3 months. (the safe way, the right way) My BMI was now 37.8. We were now ready to move forward with the IVF we did some final blood test. (state required blood test before doing and IVF cycle) We also applied for Attain at this time. (which I will talk about in a seprate post as this one is already crazy long!)