I told you all about my pending fertility appointment I had on Thursday. Overall it went great. My doctor was pretty awesome. His name is Dr. Whitten (Scott Jason Whitten). I wanted to ask him if he was related to Jason Whitten the tight end for the Dallas Cowboys, but my husband just shook his head at me. Sorry babe.
We went over my husbands and my history in total detail. Talk about it being awkward to tell your husband (who has asked me to be discreet in what I tell him. No gross details.) how heavy your periods are or aren't, if you have painful periods, if you check your cervix position, if you check and document your cervical mucus (gross word again), about past procedures in detail (Leep procedure) and the list goes on.
He told us that he thought I do have PCOS, but wanted to do a blood test and ultrasound to confirm because I don't show the normal signs of PCOS. Like any of them. This gave me comfort since I didn't think I have PCOS.
He did an ultrasound on me where they stick the wand up your hooha and look around at your girly parts. I know there is a technical term for this, but I don't want to look it up. He showed us my cervix, uterus and the pathway the sperm travels. He said everything was looking good so far. He asked me where I was in my cycle which is post ovulation and this is where our first bad news came from. He said my uterus lining should be thicker at this point in my cycle. Like twice as thick (5mm to the usual 10 mm). He said he could still conceive on this, but it makes it harder for the egg to attach. First problem.
Then he moved on and showed up the top of the uterus. He said it was a good thing he couldn't see the fallopian tubes because he if could, then they would be irregularly shaped which would other tests. Then he found my right ovary very quickly. He showed us some follicles (cysts) on that one, but far less than the time before. He then had trouble finding the left one (same as the other doctor). He had to push down on my stomach and move it into view and angle the wand in many directions. It wasn't that painful, but it wasn't comfortable. He finally found the ovary and again cysts, but less than before. Since there are still cysts, he thinks PCOS, but wants my blood test results to confirm. Second problem.
He then talked about genetics testing now instead of later to see if Rory and I carry two different chromosomes linked to cystic fibrosis and another one (so bad with disease names). That is a scary thought. Good news is, my mom said it isn't carried on either of my parents side, so she thinks we will be ok. Please be ok.
Then they drew several viles of blood for hormone testing, blood panel, genetics testing and another test. Then I had to pee in a cup. Just lovely. My husband got away with one vile and a pee test. Lucky.
He told us our upcoming plan and I am excited, but scared at the same time. I will go into the doctor's office next week when good ole Aunt flow comes (unless I am pregnant). They will do an ultrasound, more blood work and then prescribe me Clomid. I will take the Clomid on the prescribed days. I will continue to use my ovulation kits and come in for an ultrasound around cycle day 15. This is where they will check the follicle size (egg size). It needs to be over 18mm (I believe or close to) for ovulation. If I haven't gotten a positive ovulation strip by the time my follicle is the right size, they will do a trigger shot to release my egg on the day it is ready. When I get close to my ovulation time or the trigger, like the day before, my husband will put his sperm in a cup (nicest way to say it) and they will wash it and prep it. Once they do the trigger or my natural ovulation occurs, they will artificially inseminate me (IUI).
IUI is done by sticking a catheter into my uterus and put all the spermies in there. Instead of the usual 100 sperm that make their way to the fallopian tubes (on average) due to the travel through the cervix, there will be over 40,000 sperm making their way to my freshly release egg. I hope it works.
And now my insurance progress. I changed insurances due to fertility treatment not being covered and the cost of delivering a baby was only a few hundred dollars difference on each plan. I figured (with the help of my insurance plan providers) that having a HSA card and my husband having one, it would be cheaper over the course of the year rather than the higher monthly premium. I signed up for the change in early May (deadline was end of May). Then yesterday I was told that there was an amendment to the plans and now the HMO would cover 6 IUIs completely plus other tests. They won't cover IVF, but IUIs and that is what we are doing. I was really upset by this. You mean I now have to pay $400 to $800 each time (sometimes could be more depending on the amount of ultrasounds) when they could be covered and it was changed with no notice and less than 2 weeks before the deadline?
I couldn't sleep that night I found out. I was really angry and upset. But Friday morning I called and since I changed my plan, I hadn't submitted one last piece of documentation on my beneficiary change. So my plan change was still pending approval. They talked to the eligibility staff and said they could cancel my change, but only because it hadn't been approved. If it had, they couldn't do anything. So we are good to go. We will stick with my same plan I had this last year, but higher monthly premiums and get up to 6 IUIs. So happy. And the cost to have a baby is only $200 more, but I get all of the IUIs and follow ups paid for. Such great news.
Now to get pregnant. Stay tuned for an update on the next steps.
