Catching you up to now

Tonight I start stimming (taking stimulant shots) so I figured I would catch you up on what has happened with this cycle so far.

First of all this is our second cycle that we have done and it is the last cycle in the "plan" we bought at the doctors office. It is called the shared risk plan. We paid xxxx dollars for 2 IVF cycles. If we do not have a live birth after 2 tries then we get a portion of our money (about a third) back. (the second cycle is supposed to be completed within 6 months after the first, but our awesome doctor gave us an extension... twice.) The money we paid does not cover office visits before my supression checks, medicines, or Jarrods TESA procedure. We borrowed money for it all last time, but this time we had to come up with it all ourselves. Our insurance does not cover anything having to do with IVF and has a $2,500 max on fertility meds. For a round of IVF the meds cost about $5,000. When we went for an appt Aug 2009 we told Dr. Long that we would have the money for the procedure, but probably not enough for the medications. He told us that they would get us donated meds. When it came time to start this cycle we had saved enough for Jarrods surgery plus about $150 more. When the IVF cycle started we asked again about medications and they told us that they would be able to donate Follistim (which costs about $3,000). That was such a blessing, but I was still freaking out about the medications because if we could not afford them then we would have had to cancel the cycle. I prayed and I worried. I know I shouldn't have worried because I knew that whatever happened it was Gods plan, but I did. So the cycle started- An IVF cycle starts when the menstrual cycle starts. *Each cycle is different and their are different protocals for each person. On Day 4 of my period I went in to have bloodwork done and have an ultrasound to make sure everything was ok to start- It was. When I was at the appt I was telling the CRNP, Sarah, that we could not do the cycle without help with the meds. She said, "well all we can do is pray!" That day I started looking online for anyone who may be selling the meds that I knew I was going to need. Alot of times there are leftover meds from someones cycle and they sell or sometimes give away the meds online. I found nothing. I proceeded with the cycle and kept on worrying; That night I started birth control to regulate my cycle. About a week later we still had gotten no where on the meds I randomly googled "menopur for sale". Menopur is the second most expensive med costing about $1000. I ended up finding a girl who had gotten pregnant before she started her IVF cycle, but she had already bought all of her meds. She still had her menopur and was kind enough to wait a few days until I could find out exactly how much I needed before she sold it to someone else. She ended up selling me the 2 boxes of menopur I needed for $75 a box- retail price is $500 a box! PRAISE THE LORD! The medication prayers were answered. The other expensive med I thought I needed I didn't and we only had to pay an additional $100 more than we had saved. God worked it out for us and that makes me so excited that maybe this time its His will for this to work!! moving on....

Next, On July 7 I had an appointment over the phone to go over my personalized protocal and schedule with the IVF nurse, Janet.

On last Friday morning (7/9) I went into the Montgomery office for bloodwork and ultrasound. I also got suprised with a uterine biopsy and yes its as bad as it sounds. OUCH! I definitely didn't remember that from last time! I took the whole day off from work Friday. After the appt I picked up Will and we went to Birmingham were Jarrod was at a football camp. Before we went to watch football we met Jarrod at the ART office in b'ham because Jarrod and I had to sign all of our consent forms and Jarrod had to have an exam to check for scar tissue from his last surgery and he had to have bloodwork drawn. We were in and out of the b'ham office and we spent the afternoon watching the football camp. After that we went by the hospital in Alabaster to meet Elayna Ann Noble- my cousin Davids new baby. She is beautiful!

On the way home we stopped in Clanton and met up with Michelle and Kyle! It was the first time I had seen her since her wedding! I was so happy so see her. She gave me my bday present which was a beautiful cross she had painted me. She has a God given ability to create beautiful and creative things and I am so happy that she has discovered it and is putting it to good use!

Thats all for now, gotta go get my shots ready. I'll update the blog about how it goes tomorrow!