IVF update #3

Well a lot has happened since the last post, so I will try and go in somewhat of an organizational order....

Have to pay for meds which first quote is 2900 and after many many many price quotes from many different pharmacies from lots of stalking on the Internet to find where others got their cheap drugs from....1650.00 Awesome job!


Wednesday night I go to a friends lil girl party at Chucky Cheese. There are two ladies there that did IVF. One, it failed and she adopted a beautiful lil girl, the other just finished and she found out a week before she is pregnant. YaY. She did the mini ivf. She only paid like 5k ...it seemed to be quick. I thought they only got like 3-4 really good eggs with that though, she got 24 eggs...hmmm So she tells me that she has an entire vial of follestem and the pen that she will give me. Im like omgoodness, really? thankyousomuch!!!!!!! She is a nurse too so she gave me the inside scoop on how to inject myself...she said I can go by her hospital and get hands on training if I have any trouble....

Then I get a call from my insurance- the prescription insurance- on Thursday. The tell me are covering all the meds, 100%. I was beyond thrilled and almost ALMOST speechless. The insurance calls me again, different girl and tells me it is covered and that she is faxing a request for a "real" script. The one I had given them was just a lupron protocal that my Dr gave me.


Well she brought by the meds to Loveys work. She is awesome.


Here is the list of the pharmacies that helped me....

1. IVF meds-price list online at website

2. Fertilitymeds.com-price list online at website

3. Alexanders- 877-750-3582

4. Freedom- 800-660-4283

5. Roxsan- 888-371-9919

6. Walgreens/Schraft- 800-876-4545

7. Mandella- 877-252-0553

My Dad did the DNA cheek swab for our PGD and sent it back. I was waiting to get my period because the $3750.00 is non-refundable and I thought how funny the one month that I pay this money, Ill be knocked up...hahaha but I started spotting today so period should be here at any moment. I have to call my Grandma to see if she did it and mailed it back yet. Once we send this in it should be done in 4 weeks. So meds will start in about 4 weeks or so!!! I am doing the lupron protocol...if anyone has any suggestions- PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE give them to me.

Our company is not good. Payroll is late- due Friday. Not good. It is what it is....I keep praying that God's will be done and this must be it.

I faxed over all my records of all my treatment to preauth department and hopefully will have in writing in a few days that the IVF is completely covered. This will definitely help our nerves, well mine and me acting physcho to lovey hahahahha.

I have posted so many pictures of cooper on FB. He is eatable....and my brothers Calleigh is getting so big too....I have a pic on my myspace that I stole from her mommys page. I love how much my brother loves Calleigh soooo much. He sends me pics and videos multiple times a day of her...LOVE IT.

One of the many of Cooper I have- he is 6 months here.


Calleigh at 7 weeks..


and my Dad came to see her for the 2nd time after he found out that he was about to start new chemo that monday and it he isnt aloud around anyone because his immune system is down.

IVF Update #2

I went in for 3 things today: HSG, PGD consult, and Financial discussion.

Well the PGD consult was great. The embriologist, Dr Sweetpants, was more than nice. Explained everything. He even drew diagrams. It was great.
So the idea is to grow a litter and not carry a litter...so 20 follicles are ideal. He said about 80% are "mature" eggs so that leaves us with about 16. then we do ICSI and wait to day 3 and see which ones fertilized. That will leave us with about 8 or so to send a cell away for PGD. they then grow to blastocyst by day 5. Yes, 5 day transfer for me. Dr Sweetpants prefers this. He explained that on day three they all look about the same and on day 5 you can see better which one is growing the best. He said he will pick the best one. If they don't make it to blastocyst, they will transfer three of the...."." I forgot the non mature name.
Also, Dr Sweetpants has been an embriologist for the lifetime of IVF. He used to do this with animals before they were aloud to do this to humans, so a loooong time. YaY!
The HSG not as wonderful. Dr Smartandnice put the wonderful tongs aka duck feet in me and then waited to get my STD results from my last visit. Well they couldn't find them and he asked me if my husband and I were monogamous. ( the last test 2 years ago were clean)..this made me laugh. And then I realized that maybe I shouldn't be laughing about faithfulness regarding STD's as we are about to have some quality time. I assured him that we only had eyes for each other. So once he finally started the HSG, it was fine. It was minor cramping. Then I sat up and thought I pulled a muscle in my shoulder. Well I didn't. It was gas, he said that we know my tubes arnt blocked...um nice....but omg painful.
Then the awesome financial consult. My insurance is suppose to cover IVF 100% with a 1k deductible. Then we are paying for the PGD which is about 2-3k. Well we find out that we have to pay and have paid the 1k deductible. Then on top of that they want the below:
$1380.00 for Freezing for 12 months
$1765.00 for facility fee
$340.00 medical supplies.
2k to them for PGD
2k to the geneticist for PGD
$3100.00 for meds
grand total=10,585.00
What?!?!?!?!

So I have a small freak out.

I ask the lady regarding the facility fee and she said that my insurance wont cover transfer/retrieval unless it at the hospital which they don't do. She also wanted me to sign a paper that said I would pay that amount even if my insurance told them that it needed to be adjusted. I declined to sign.
I ask Mrs. Sterness about the meds and she tells me that my insurance was adimate about the meds not being covered. Well I dont understand how you can say IVF is covered but the meds arnt? if it was $20 ok...but $3100.00 holy Toledo batman.
So I get home and talk to my brother and feel way better. Crying in Jess's arms was nice, then DJ's pep talk was good. I called Lovey and told him that we have to put 10k on credit cards...oh well, we will have a baby...

I will call the fertility clinic after I talk to my insurance to confirm what they cover and what they dont. I want the clinic to adjust the facility charge and the PGD charge. Whats the worst they can do, say no? thats all.

And I looked up the meds at a few places and it is around 1700-2k for meds....thats a huge difference than 3100. Also my insurance only covers one cycle. I will confirm this tomorrow but we shall see.

So if we can come up with the money than we can start our protocal in 2 weeks which will put a test day at mid april...nice.

So this was my emotional day!

GREAT NEWS

So yesterday I babysat baby chub...I love him. He is sosososo cute. Not only is he cute but he is so good too. Smiles for miles. I had a cold and so did he but we had the bestest time.

Yes we had a photoshoot...look how cute he is.

Mommy and Daddy gave us a swing to keep at our house...he LOVED it.

and I took alot of pics but Ill only post a few...but omg is he cute?



i think he may be teething



he so little yet so big!


he LOVES his cereal and I love giving it to him..It was one of my favorite moments.



After the day with Chub I called the insurance rep. She assured me that no ifs ands or buts it is $1000 deductable and 100% coverage...What an answer to prayer. This is becoming more and more real every day.


I put this on the wall over our bed....Its a little bit of faith.
Everyday hold a possibilty of a miracle.


Life is great!

IVF update #1

So I decided that I am going to be a good little girl and update everything as it happens. I love reading others stories, so here is mine..

First of All Happy Birthday Amy...Hope it was a GREAT DAY!!!

I went to the IVF center....and woahhhh talk about as fancy as a 5 star hotel. Spiral stair cases, marble floors. It was WAY fancy. It is attached to the A Baptist Hospital which is suppose to be really good.

Our appt was at 3:45. We filled out ppw till 4:45, then about a half hour after that we were called to see Dr Smartandnice. We give him the basic rundown of the treatments I have already had. I gave him copies of all my records. He told me again its basically Secondary infertility because of my miscarriage over 10 years ago. Also he said it is unexplained. That was good to hear because by this stage of the game I completely blame myself considering that Lovey has enough swimmys to populate South Florida.
We discussed the PGD. We are doing it. For those that don't know. I have a hereditary disease. They are going to look at each embrio to see which one carries the sickness and not use those. He said that we have a world re known geneticist. Praise the Lord for that.

The said they will stem me- hope for 15-20 eggs. Hope as many as possible fertilize and then they will take one cell from each of them and send that out for analysis. Then send a report of which one we can use on the 5 day transfer. They want to transfer 2. They said we have a 30% chance of twins. Lovey told him to make as many as possible. After a look that wasn't so nice, I explained to Dr. Smartandnice that Lovey only feels that way because he a twin.

I got pleasure of having a personal relations with the dildocam. Nice, oh so nice. Lovey said, I don't know how your girls do it. I laughed. It was fun. They then pricked me and sucked my blood. by the end of the appointment, I felt violated. haha

So we go to pay AT 7:10PM and the girl tells me $350.00 because I have a 2k deductible. And then I see on that same lovely paper it says that IVF is covered for 4k...What?!?! And the girl tells me that it is sooooo much cheaper than out of pocket, like 18k or something...I look at her and was like, ok...its not your fault, you are only telling me what you were told. Ill call them tomorrow seeing how its too late right now. (Just in case you didnt calculate that, it was over 3 hours)

We joined this more expensive insurance because it covered IVF 100% with a 1k deductible. We have to pay for the PGD which is anywhere from 3k-5k per cycle. So I will call tomorrow and see what the deal is. It says on my benefits page that its 4k MAX OUT OF POCKET I hope this means its not the 2k+4k+3k....wow that's still way cheaper than out of pocket I know and yes we will finance it or put it on a credit card.

I have an incredible peace about this. I looked at lovey tonight and said we could be pregnant with twins in two months!!! YaY!!! He just smiled from ear to ear.

I get to babysit my Cooper tomorrow.

So I got home from a very long trip to Teaxs last night and I am beyond happy. I am sick and it doesnt even bother me. I love my husband. He is such a great man and I am truly lucky...

Lucky me:)