This IVF cycle made possible by....

We are not one of the lucky ones with insurance coverage that will pay for IVF.  Our insurance has covered some of the preliminary work at a discount but stops at IVF and medication coverage.  We are fortunate to have been able to easily find financing the two previous times -- the first was through a very generous line of credit through Wells Fargo bank.  It was one time where having a really good credit score paid off tremendously!  The second time we were able to fund ourselves through a patchwork of HSA accounts, credit cards, and bonus money.  It was a little more complicated but we made it work.

We are fortunate this time to have someone close to us lend us the money outright.  Using a contract that includes a generous repayment plan for us and a modest interest rate for him, we are able to make our pre-payment (with some leftover) without any worries at all.  For the difference, we have been lucky to have had enough time and ability to put aside the money.

I know many people desiring IVF are not so lucky.  I am very grateful that this part of IVF has been fairly easy and without a lot of worry or stress.  So thank you to our kind benefactor....your generosity is appreciated beyond words.  Rather than being a large boulder in the way, you've made it possible for it to be a very tiny bump.

IVF in the news

Yesterday there was an article in the New York Times regarding a very serious complication of IVF called Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS).  (The most famous recent example I can think of is when Giuliana Rancic did IVF. She unfortunately ended up with this condition and had to be hospitalized.) 

According to the article, there is some debate about the high level of medications used in some IVF cycles and whether or not they are needed to have a successful cycle.  This article intrigued me because my particular protocol, designed by my doctor, is very medication heavy.  It requires high doses of stimulation meds and very fine tuned doses of suppression medications. 

While this concerns me, especially since I ended up with so many follicles the last time (22!), I trust my doctors and the monitoring they do.  At the height of my cycle, I will be making clinic visits nearly every other day.  At these visits, I will have blood drawn and an ultrasound done to check my progress.  Based on these two tests, my doctor will determine if my medications need to be adjusted (they frequently are).

I would advise anybody considering IVF to do their homework very carefully.  While it's important to trust your doctor, it is also important to be educated, and ask questions.  The low dose method of IVF that is described in this article would not be appropriate for me, but it may appropriate for you.

One last chance

No one aspires to do IVF; at least no one I've come across in all my years of fertility treatments.  It's expensive, painful (emotionally and physically), and down right draining.

Those of us that are facing IVF, whether for the first time or like me, a third time, always hope for that one little miracle.  That surprise pregnancy that means IVF isn't needed.  We've all heard of those people; the ones that tried and tried for years and years, only to stop or take a break and suddenly find themselves pregnant.  I've known a few of these people in my life and of course wished to be one of them.

Given that both my husband and I have fertility issues, I'm fully aware that the odds are very much against me.  To be one of these people, I have one more shot at it.  One more cycle before it all begins again.  One last chance for Mother Nature to cooperate.