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Our First RE Appt is Today
As some of you know, DH and I have been TTC for baby #1 since Sept of 2006 - 2 very long years. We got a BFP in July, only to m/c 4 weeks later. I am not waiting another 2 years for a BFP, so we have decided to see a specialist.
The long awaited appt is today. Poor DH had to get up at 3:30 this morning to work an early shift so he could be there on time. It brings tears to my eyes that he is willing to do this for me. He is so nervous about the possibility of having to do the s/a today. He keeps asking me questions about what kind of room do I think they will put him in :)
I only pray that the testing will go well and by this time next year we will be celebrating our little miracle at Christmas.
I will post tonight to let you all know how it went today and what sorts of things they are going to do to me :)
The long awaited appt is today. Poor DH had to get up at 3:30 this morning to work an early shift so he could be there on time. It brings tears to my eyes that he is willing to do this for me. He is so nervous about the possibility of having to do the s/a today. He keeps asking me questions about what kind of room do I think they will put him in :)
I only pray that the testing will go well and by this time next year we will be celebrating our little miracle at Christmas.
I will post tonight to let you all know how it went today and what sorts of things they are going to do to me :)
THANK YOU. That is fantastic news. I see my GP on Monday for my blood pressure and I'm going to try to get a prescription out of her. Otherwise I'll lose out on another cycle and a winter baby due date is fastly approaching. You would understand my fear if you saw the amount of snow we are getting. Another 5 - 10 inches tonight. There is already talk of shutting down work tomorrow. Plus DH snowmobiles - how awful would it be to go into labor and have him out on the trails!
I asked the pharmacist last night how much clomid was and she said for the generic its only $29 for 10 pills. I thought that wasn't too bad.
YogaChick - Now what you are explaining is much more what I expected. But she was ready to jump in with treatment on my next cycle without knowing IF or WHAT I needed. That bothered me. I don't have money to being throwing around (afterall I just paid $40 for an OPK - LOL). I guess maybe I was expecting just a little more hand holding or even interest in my situation - which the intern expressed more then she did. I left the office with very little hope, and I don't think that's how it should go.
I feel much better kow that I have made a decision. Now I feel as if I can totally relax this cycle and next knowing that I have a backup plan in place. Besides I still need to get my blood pressure under control. I guess one of the better things that happened yesterday is that the RE suggested an RX for the blood pressure that I can give to my GP that is safe with pg, since the diruretics are not working I know we'll need to switch to something else.
I feel much better kow that I have made a decision. Now I feel as if I can totally relax this cycle and next knowing that I have a backup plan in place. Besides I still need to get my blood pressure under control. I guess one of the better things that happened yesterday is that the RE suggested an RX for the blood pressure that I can give to my GP that is safe with pg, since the diruretics are not working I know we'll need to switch to something else.
Bam-- I'm sorry the appointment was disappointing :( I don't know much about that stuff as I have never gone to an RE. I did sound a little shady though, especially that they didn't know what pre-seed was. It's a little odd when you feel like you know more than the dr. your paying...I think we all know how that is :P I hope your appt. goes well in Jan. but I'm hoping more that you'll have a BFP before that :) You should all move to Canada where they don't charge to see a dr. :) Although that wouldn't really help you with your snow problem...lol! I hope your feeling better about things, now that you've made a decision about the RE.
Hi-- congrats on making it though the first RE appointment! It's a drag I know but they have some tricks up their sleeves that can help-- the u/s is the biggest one.
Most important though is that I got my BFP from a 17mm follie on the left side... ideal size is 18-20-something (maybe 24 or 26mm) so you may not need their services at all after you O. : )
I can share my experiences so far if you'd like a point of comparison... just grab a cup of tea, it's a bit long!
My "first appointment" with my RE took about 6 weeks (4 months to get the appointment, 6 weeks from the beginning to the end of the diagnostic stuff)-- we met, had the internal and external u/s and were sent away with paperwork for a lot of blood tests (9 vials for me, less of course for DH). After DH & I both did all our blood work and DH did his s/a we met with the RE again to get the scoop on what she could tell from all the tests. Then day 5 of my next cycle I had the awful HSG to check my tubes... then we finally got started with the baby making!
What I like about my RE is I go in on CD 2 or 3 and we decide on the plan for the month, she gives me meds and then each time I return, they check my blood & do an internal u/s, and I meet with my RE every time... so there are a lot of data points to help us with the timing and other decisions & I am certain she is looking at my info and answering my questions.
My second cycle (after the m/c with the un-medicated 17mm follie + IUI) was clomid with IUI, then Femara with IUI-- I didn't respond well (only 1 follie) to low doses of either which is how we ended up in this cycle with Follistim injections. On this cycle I've really seen some good stuff that I know my GYN couldn't do-- like the injection they gave me to keep me from O'ing so my follies could develop further. I also like that they make progesterone a standard part of treatment after O'ing since low progesterone is a major cause of m/c.
The down side of all of this is the same as the up side. I'll be getting blood work & u/s for 7 days straight this week for example which takes a lot of time and isn't exactly how I like to spend my mornings. The extra meds, like the progesterone are $$, and trust me, if you don't feel completely violated yet, you will-- it's not exactly as fun as being in your bedroom!
The fees we've paid may not help you since DH & I are living outside of the US right now & are thankfully covered by the socialized medicine system but we pay:
- about $250 per IUI and do one before O and one after so it's about $500 per cycle and that's the same as some of my friends in the US have paid.
- clomid and femara, one tablet a day for 5 days were $30 or $60, I don't remember exactly
- progesterone, 2 per day -- my RE uses the natural suppositories which are $80 for 12
-- I won't scare you with the cost of the injections since it depends on your dose & you're not going to need them anyway. : )
Drop me a note if I can help with anything else... the RE should be a source of hope, not more stress.
Most important though is that I got my BFP from a 17mm follie on the left side... ideal size is 18-20-something (maybe 24 or 26mm) so you may not need their services at all after you O. : )
I can share my experiences so far if you'd like a point of comparison... just grab a cup of tea, it's a bit long!
My "first appointment" with my RE took about 6 weeks (4 months to get the appointment, 6 weeks from the beginning to the end of the diagnostic stuff)-- we met, had the internal and external u/s and were sent away with paperwork for a lot of blood tests (9 vials for me, less of course for DH). After DH & I both did all our blood work and DH did his s/a we met with the RE again to get the scoop on what she could tell from all the tests. Then day 5 of my next cycle I had the awful HSG to check my tubes... then we finally got started with the baby making!
What I like about my RE is I go in on CD 2 or 3 and we decide on the plan for the month, she gives me meds and then each time I return, they check my blood & do an internal u/s, and I meet with my RE every time... so there are a lot of data points to help us with the timing and other decisions & I am certain she is looking at my info and answering my questions.
My second cycle (after the m/c with the un-medicated 17mm follie + IUI) was clomid with IUI, then Femara with IUI-- I didn't respond well (only 1 follie) to low doses of either which is how we ended up in this cycle with Follistim injections. On this cycle I've really seen some good stuff that I know my GYN couldn't do-- like the injection they gave me to keep me from O'ing so my follies could develop further. I also like that they make progesterone a standard part of treatment after O'ing since low progesterone is a major cause of m/c.
The down side of all of this is the same as the up side. I'll be getting blood work & u/s for 7 days straight this week for example which takes a lot of time and isn't exactly how I like to spend my mornings. The extra meds, like the progesterone are $$, and trust me, if you don't feel completely violated yet, you will-- it's not exactly as fun as being in your bedroom!
The fees we've paid may not help you since DH & I are living outside of the US right now & are thankfully covered by the socialized medicine system but we pay:
- about $250 per IUI and do one before O and one after so it's about $500 per cycle and that's the same as some of my friends in the US have paid.
- clomid and femara, one tablet a day for 5 days were $30 or $60, I don't remember exactly
- progesterone, 2 per day -- my RE uses the natural suppositories which are $80 for 12
-- I won't scare you with the cost of the injections since it depends on your dose & you're not going to need them anyway. : )
Drop me a note if I can help with anything else... the RE should be a source of hope, not more stress.
So I've officially decided to ditch the RE. I called my OB/GYN clinic and I have an appt in Jan. They said the most they do is prescribe Clomid, so I'm all good with that, as that is all I really want anyway. The bummer is that the appt is on 1/13 and I will O on 1/16, so I'll miss another whole cycle and it will be too late for the Oct baby I really want. I have an appt with my GP next week, do think it is possible for her to prescribe Clomid?
nickswife - no I've never bought anything off of e-bay, but a few years ago my sister tried having her own business by selling baby clothes on it. She would buy them at garage sales and then try to re-sell them on e-bay. She was not very successful. But after you made that suggestion I went and checked it out.
I'm almost 100% positive I won't use the 7 sticks I bought last night. If I'm lucky I'll get the smiley face tonight and then I'll have 6 more for next months cycle.
nunu - I'm pretty sure the dr is Indian, but she ended almost every since in "whatever, ok?". So it was confusing. That stinks about the $900 bill. I know how hard it is to work with insurance companies when the billing or EOB is screwed up. I had to watch them like a hawk during DH's broken back to make sure they weren't charging us for anything more then they should - it was like a full time job sorting that whole mess out - LOL!
nickswife - no I've never bought anything off of e-bay, but a few years ago my sister tried having her own business by selling baby clothes on it. She would buy them at garage sales and then try to re-sell them on e-bay. She was not very successful. But after you made that suggestion I went and checked it out.
I'm almost 100% positive I won't use the 7 sticks I bought last night. If I'm lucky I'll get the smiley face tonight and then I'll have 6 more for next months cycle.
nunu - I'm pretty sure the dr is Indian, but she ended almost every since in "whatever, ok?". So it was confusing. That stinks about the $900 bill. I know how hard it is to work with insurance companies when the billing or EOB is screwed up. I had to watch them like a hawk during DH's broken back to make sure they weren't charging us for anything more then they should - it was like a full time job sorting that whole mess out - LOL!
nunu- When I went to the dr. a couple of weeks ago he had just been called to a delivery and I was stuck sitting there waiting for ever amongst all of the beautiful pregnant women. I even saw one of my friends there who didn't know I lost the baby and I buried my head in a book and didn't look up. Then of course I heard them say he had another lady in labor, but he ended up coming back before he delivered her. I've got my fingers crossed for you!
the dr that did my d&c was really nice but hard to understand because he was maybe Israeli or something.
I am sorry that you didnt get as much out of the visit than you wanted. that is weird that they didnt know about pre-seed of especially EPO.
I just got a bill for $900 fjust for the dr knocking me out for the op. my insurance wont pay anything until something they think is pre-existing has been cleared. it was for my back and i went to a chiropractor and now everything is being investigated. how stupod.. a m/c obviously isnt pre-existing!
i have to get to the dr now. he was called into surgery so im going in an hour late just to sit for four hours im sure so he can catch up.
I am sorry that you didnt get as much out of the visit than you wanted. that is weird that they didnt know about pre-seed of especially EPO.
I just got a bill for $900 fjust for the dr knocking me out for the op. my insurance wont pay anything until something they think is pre-existing has been cleared. it was for my back and i went to a chiropractor and now everything is being investigated. how stupod.. a m/c obviously isnt pre-existing!
i have to get to the dr now. he was called into surgery so im going in an hour late just to sit for four hours im sure so he can catch up.
i got my fertility monitor off ebay (im an ebay nut) for $110 with the sticks, both new. i just started using it yesterday (finally got 1 st AF) i see they have them on there right now for $129.99 free shipping with 30 sticks both brand new in box. i did alot of research on them and read alot of great reviews so i wanted it try it, i dont really have a problem getting preg but having it stick is the problem. didnt know if you were familiar or bought anything off ebay before but just thought i would let you know. if you want to read more about it go to clearblueeasy.com..
I saw you post again and saw how long it was..I went and made lunch so I could have a little picnic at the computer LOL I didn't want to miss anything :D That really is disappointing, I would have expected a lot more too. It's pretty sad when you can get better advice on here than from a specialist. I had a psychologist after the hurricane who I couldn't understand half of what she was saying...It drove me nuts! I will be hoping and praying that you don't even have to deal with those people again and that you are celebrating your BFP soon instead of having to worry about any of this :D
I did an IUI in June, and my insurance also did not cover it, but it only cost me about 200 dollars. I am confused on why it costs so much there. The procedure is fairly quick, but it was kinda painful. I was just way off on when I was ovulating, thats why I wasn't having any success my first few months on clomid, and the month we did the IUI. It only has a 33% more success rate than the natural method. I bought the Clear Blue Easy Fertility Monitor. http://www.early-pregnancy-tests.com/clearblue.html That is the cheapest place I found it, and it comes with 30 test sticks. We used to BD up to day 15, and turns out I wasn't even ovulating till day 20 or so, no wonder I had so much trouble getting pregnant!
The only thing they said about the 1 pg is that it is a very good indication that my tubes are not blocked. It was just so frustrating that there didn't seem to be a whole lot of tests to do - which is what I was expecting. Or even any advice. Don't you think these people would do more research than what I have done on the internet? The intern actually made a comment about how much I knew and I just told her that I've been at this a very long time. How could she not know what pre-seed is? That just doesn't seem right.
I have talked to my 2nd mom about this TONS. Her son is 18 now, but prior to him she had a m/c, then went for test years later for infertility. I realize this was a long time ago, but she sad they did all sorts of tests on her and finally diagnosed it as unexplained infertility. She accepted that and joined a women's fertility support group - after just one meeting she got a BFP, so she jokes about what those women must have thought with her never coming back.
I was doing the math and $40 OPK's for just 4 months, would make it cheaper to try to find a fertility monitor. Cacy - I know you've told me this a million times - which one did you get?
I have talked to my 2nd mom about this TONS. Her son is 18 now, but prior to him she had a m/c, then went for test years later for infertility. I realize this was a long time ago, but she sad they did all sorts of tests on her and finally diagnosed it as unexplained infertility. She accepted that and joined a women's fertility support group - after just one meeting she got a BFP, so she jokes about what those women must have thought with her never coming back.
I was doing the math and $40 OPK's for just 4 months, would make it cheaper to try to find a fertility monitor. Cacy - I know you've told me this a million times - which one did you get?
Bam, I am sorry you had to go though all that without getting any sort of clear answers. Did they say anything about the fact that you did get pregnant one, if that is a good sign or not? I HATE when dr.s can't speak clear English, it is like calling the computer help hotline and not being able to understand a word they say!
As Cacy said, the fertility moniter is what that thing was I was talking about that many women have reccomended.
Anyway, keep ttc this weekend, maybe this RE appointment wont even be something you have to keep worrying about :)
As Cacy said, the fertility moniter is what that thing was I was talking about that many women have reccomended.
Anyway, keep ttc this weekend, maybe this RE appointment wont even be something you have to keep worrying about :)
Do they really have a smiley face on the OPK's? That's funny. My insurance will give me 30 vicodin's for $2.45, 30 xanax for $4.15 but they cover 10% of the progesterone cream they had me on last pregnancy. It was $300.00 but I only had to pay $270.00.(woo-hoo) There are 18 doses in the pack and it's supposed to be used for 12 weeks. (I didn't even need it anyway, so it was money down the drain). If I ever do need it I'll have to sell the vicodin and xanax on the street to cover it.
I hope you just get your BFP and don't have to worry about it anymore.
I hope you just get your BFP and don't have to worry about it anymore.
Thanks AP, but I'm going to call my OB/GYN next week.
As far as insurance goes, it doesn't matter if the treatment is necessary, it's still not covered. I guess that they feel a pregnancy isn't "necessary".
Trust me we are still TTC this week!! :) I better get that darn smiley face on the expensive OPK tonight!!
As far as insurance goes, it doesn't matter if the treatment is necessary, it's still not covered. I guess that they feel a pregnancy isn't "necessary".
Trust me we are still TTC this week!! :) I better get that darn smiley face on the expensive OPK tonight!!
Hey Bam I have a app with my obgyn I can ask him some random ques for you he has been my dr for 10 yrs. If you want it I would be more than happy to ask him he can atl least give you some direction. As for your ins is any re procedures If being the key question needed to be done would it be covered? I would probably feel the same way I would have wanted to know what was going on leaving the office too. You will get your answers and in the mean time keep ttc it always happens when you least expect it. Anyways try to have a good day and I will ttyl....
HUGS,
AP
HUGS,
AP
wow..i thought you would of heard more too......hmm.....didnt seemed to explain things well huh? well keep us updated! hugs!
Every year around this time I wonder why the heck I live in WI. My 30 minute commute this morning was well over an hour :( Stupid snow and we are supposed to get over 10 inches tomorrow!!
So here is everything that happened yesterday, in detail.
Before I even had the appointment, they had me fill out a long questionaire about health history, meds, etc . . . Then when I got there the nurse walked me back and asked me the exact same questions all over again. Then when she was done with me, an intern came in (the nicest person I met there) and asked me all the same questions over again. Then she asked about the m/c and for some unknown reason, I just started crying. I couldn't seem to get the words "small gestational sac" out of my mouth. It was embarrasing, but the intern was so nice. So after our conversation she went back to talk to the dr, then they both came in. Well the dr had a very strong accent and it was really hard for me to understand half of what she was saying, so I'm still slightly confused. Basically just from my info, she couldn't determine anything that was immediately wrong. The first step is to get DH to do his s/a next week. Then on my CD2 they are going to draw blood and test for I don't know what. The next step is timed BD, where on CD3 I would take an RX similar to Comid, then on CD11 they would have me come in for an u/s to check the follies and if everything is good, I would get a trigger shot and DH and I would know exactly when to BD. If that didn't work the next step is IUI. Same thing as timed BD, only with the turkey baster :)
I was a little surprised that she didn't ask anything about my CM, since it's been my impression that that is an important part of TTC. Also, the intern had never heard of pre-seed or EPO and looked slightly puzzeled when I mentioned I was taking the EPO for CM. She is an intern at a fertility clinic - I would really like to hope she is up on CM?
So after all of that the dr said she was done and somebody else would come talk to me. Well a few secs later she poked her head in the door and asked (like it was an after thought) if I would like a u/s. Of course I said yes. She pretty much let the intern do it, which was fine with me. Well that is when they saw the follie, just one on the left side. I asked her about the fact that I never have pain on my right side and if that meant that I was only O'ing on the left, but she didn't have an answer for me. I was disappointed that she didn't say anything about seeing any more eggs, just the one follie. But she also mentioned that my ovararies are small - so I don't know what that means. I was also disappointed there was only one, since I'm leaning towards desprately wanting twins, so I never have to go through this again.
After the u/s another lady came in and explained further about the s/a and what RX's I would need for the timed BD and the timing of all of it. If we do bloods on CD2, we would not get results back in time for me to start the RX on CD3 and we would be doing it "blind" not knowing if my bloods were all ok or not.
The downside to all of this is that my insurance does not cover treatment, just diagnostic. I really couldn't get definitive answers to how much each cycle would cost, only that an IUI would be over $1000 for one cycle. They told me to call my pharmacy to see how much the RX would cost.
All in all I was fairly disappointed with the visit and didn't leave with a very positive attitude. I cried when I got home and DH couldn't understand why and I couldn't explain it to him. So I've decided to call my OB/GYN clinic and see what they have to say about the whole thing. I'm almost positive my dr said they can do minimal diagnostics at their clinic and I would rather go see him. I don't think I'll go back to see this RE again (no point I couldn't understand what she was saying), but if I do go back to the RE clinic, there is a different male dr there I can see.
Sorry for the long post, but those are all the nitty gritty details.
So here is everything that happened yesterday, in detail.
Before I even had the appointment, they had me fill out a long questionaire about health history, meds, etc . . . Then when I got there the nurse walked me back and asked me the exact same questions all over again. Then when she was done with me, an intern came in (the nicest person I met there) and asked me all the same questions over again. Then she asked about the m/c and for some unknown reason, I just started crying. I couldn't seem to get the words "small gestational sac" out of my mouth. It was embarrasing, but the intern was so nice. So after our conversation she went back to talk to the dr, then they both came in. Well the dr had a very strong accent and it was really hard for me to understand half of what she was saying, so I'm still slightly confused. Basically just from my info, she couldn't determine anything that was immediately wrong. The first step is to get DH to do his s/a next week. Then on my CD2 they are going to draw blood and test for I don't know what. The next step is timed BD, where on CD3 I would take an RX similar to Comid, then on CD11 they would have me come in for an u/s to check the follies and if everything is good, I would get a trigger shot and DH and I would know exactly when to BD. If that didn't work the next step is IUI. Same thing as timed BD, only with the turkey baster :)
I was a little surprised that she didn't ask anything about my CM, since it's been my impression that that is an important part of TTC. Also, the intern had never heard of pre-seed or EPO and looked slightly puzzeled when I mentioned I was taking the EPO for CM. She is an intern at a fertility clinic - I would really like to hope she is up on CM?
So after all of that the dr said she was done and somebody else would come talk to me. Well a few secs later she poked her head in the door and asked (like it was an after thought) if I would like a u/s. Of course I said yes. She pretty much let the intern do it, which was fine with me. Well that is when they saw the follie, just one on the left side. I asked her about the fact that I never have pain on my right side and if that meant that I was only O'ing on the left, but she didn't have an answer for me. I was disappointed that she didn't say anything about seeing any more eggs, just the one follie. But she also mentioned that my ovararies are small - so I don't know what that means. I was also disappointed there was only one, since I'm leaning towards desprately wanting twins, so I never have to go through this again.
After the u/s another lady came in and explained further about the s/a and what RX's I would need for the timed BD and the timing of all of it. If we do bloods on CD2, we would not get results back in time for me to start the RX on CD3 and we would be doing it "blind" not knowing if my bloods were all ok or not.
The downside to all of this is that my insurance does not cover treatment, just diagnostic. I really couldn't get definitive answers to how much each cycle would cost, only that an IUI would be over $1000 for one cycle. They told me to call my pharmacy to see how much the RX would cost.
All in all I was fairly disappointed with the visit and didn't leave with a very positive attitude. I cried when I got home and DH couldn't understand why and I couldn't explain it to him. So I've decided to call my OB/GYN clinic and see what they have to say about the whole thing. I'm almost positive my dr said they can do minimal diagnostics at their clinic and I would rather go see him. I don't think I'll go back to see this RE again (no point I couldn't understand what she was saying), but if I do go back to the RE clinic, there is a different male dr there I can see.
Sorry for the long post, but those are all the nitty gritty details.
I didn't know ya'll were just now doing the s/a, we did that awhile back, and his was lower than normal, but we were thinking it was because of all the time we had spent in the hot tub last fall and winter. So now that we haven't done that at all we figure he's back in normal range. Hubby said it was so embarrassing and nasty, and swore he'd never do it again. They also have at home tests if he doesn't want to go in and have it done. You can even get them at your local drug store. I pay $40 for my clear blue easy opk's, it is a box of 40, but it goes into that fertility monitor that I have recommended. First time I used it I got pregnant, and I'm hoping for another miracle this month!
i know my dr didnt measure mine on the machine but he prints out images every time i got there so maybe he can estimate from what he printed out.
Me too. I'm curious to know what they measured to see if I might have actually O'd so soon...That would be so wonderful! That would mean that I might be able to test soon instead of more towards CD 34 or later.
yes im going to ask that question to my dr today. there were a whole in both ovaries last time i was there.
I'm glad to hear it went well...Hopefully you and DH will catch this egg and not have to go back again especially him lol
I wish I would have known about the size of the follie indicating when you will O. I would have payed more attention to all of those she was measuring a couple of weeks ago!
I wish I would have known about the size of the follie indicating when you will O. I would have payed more attention to all of those she was measuring a couple of weeks ago!
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