I talked to my nurse today about this cycle and the "plan". I thought that we were going to do a monitored cycle with blood work and follicle checks; but that doesn't seem to be the case. Of course, if I wanted to, we could. The nurse and doctor don't think we need to monitor just yet, since last cycle was so spot on. They were very happy with the way I responded to Femara. The plan is that I will finish up the Femara and start OPKs on CD 10 (Tuesday). Once I see a change in the OPK- I am to call the office so we can schedule an IUI for the next day,(if we want to do IUI) then we will check progesterone on CD 21-22.
I really like the follicle checks because I like to know exactly what we are "working" with. But, we are trying to be consciousness of cost, since most of these test come out of our pocket and are not covered by insurance. We have and HRA account that has almost been depleted for the year and won't be reset until August, so we are trying to be careful and smart. Which seems silly in the world of infertility."Careful"? "Smart"? If I had it my way, we would be doing blood work every three days, and I would have my follicles checked almost daily. I would know exactly when to do IUI, or TI. I feel like it really is all about timing for me. I wish I knew EXACTLY when that egg is released! I do have a $150.00 credit with my OB, who does my follicle checks. I could use it-- and since the payment is good for 30 days, I can have as many U/S as I want in that time frame. I wonder if I should schedule the U/S on CD 11-13, to see where we are, and then again a few days later? Or I could save the credit and put it towards the $375 for IUI...
The second opinion doctor thought we should do three more rounds of Femara, 7.5mg, with IUI before moving on to IVF.
What would you do?
Why IUI this time and not just TI like before?
ReplyDeleteWe might just to TI again- but if we wanted to opt for IUI, we have that option. I think we are going to go unmonitored and hope for the best... for now. I may change my mind! LOL!
DeleteGah! Well that's tough. If it didn't cost anything but time, I'd say go in! But if the doctor doesn't think it's necessary yet, maybe save that money for down the road. But the more info you have now, he quicker you can get to answers and results later. I'm not sure exactly how long you've been on this infertility train? Or how old you are? I always think of age just because of myself feeling like I wasted too long before pursuing treatments. If I were you younger, I would feel like I had more time. If I were in your shoes, I'd probably go whatever route that wouldn't cost me as much. I probably didn't help at all!!! Lol
ReplyDeleteGah, is right! I am 31 and DH is 37 (almost 38). We have been trying Clomid/Femara for about 7 months now.. we did 4 rounds of Clomid, then 3 rounds of Femara and then 2 rounds of injections. We have gone back to Femara, since I respond so well to it. We have been at this for 2 year +.
DeleteI honestly don't know what would be the best to do, but I do know you have to do whatever it takes to make you feel like you have the best chances.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad the Femara seems to be doing it's job. Good luck this cycle!
Its so hard, In infertility I am always worried I will make the wrong decision! I think we will just do TI for now, and IUI when we do monitor.
DeleteAs long as the Femara is working maybe you should stick with that and save some money. Hopefully you will not need to move to ivf and this will do the trick!
ReplyDeleteI think that is the plan! I ovulated last three tries every time... so maybe we just quit too early. Fingers crossed that we have great results again! And I hope YOU are feeling better!
DeleteSo you don't know me...but I went through similar stuff. What ultimately worked for me was femara 7.5, then we did follicle checks and a shot (to release the egg, and I totally forgot the name, then we did TI- knowing that within 24 hours of the shot I was ovulating- I got pregnant several times with that combo, the one that stuck was when I added progesterone suppository when I got my positive.
ReplyDeleteOf course I only had to pay a $20 copay for my US, my insurance covered diagnostics only, no treatment, and the US were considered diagnostics- but I had to pay OOP for the shot.
I tried 33 months and spent thousands of dollars. Looking back I wish I would have listened to myself more than the Dr. who would assure me, that he didn't think I needed something. He told me that progesterone wasn't going to help anything, but I'm now that is why I was able to stay pregnant with my daughter.
Anyway I "know" your sister Kim from couponing:)
So you don't know me...but I went through similar stuff. What ultimately worked for me was femara 7.5, then we did follicle checks and a shot (to release the egg, and I totally forgot the name, then we did TI- knowing that within 24 hours of the shot I was ovulating- I got pregnant several times with that combo, the one that stuck was when I added progesterone suppository when I got my positive.
ReplyDeleteOf course I only had to pay a $20 copay for my US, my insurance covered diagnostics only, no treatment, and the US were considered diagnostics- but I had to pay OOP for the shot.
I tried 33 months and spent thousands of dollars. Looking back I wish I would have listened to myself more than the Dr. who would assure me, that he didn't think I needed something. He told me that progesterone wasn't going to help anything, but I'm now that is why I was able to stay pregnant with my daughter.
Anyway I "know" your sister Kim from couponing:)
And I think knowing exactly when the egg is released is worth the money...
ReplyDeleteAnd we went with TI because there were no issues with my husband- we did a few IUI and I never got pregnant with those cycles, but on our TI cycles I always got pregnant.
I agree. If this cycle doesn't work we will monitor more closely and use the trigger shot. This is our 5th round of Femara. We did 4 others but only 1 round with and IUI and trigger. DH is all good, so TI should work!
DeleteHI Misty! Kim told me she shared my blog. She is such a good big sister! Love her!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your story with me! I am hoping that Femara and TI do the trick. I am ovulating, and that was our biggest hurdle ... since I never seemed to ovulate on time before. Fingers crossed!