Saturday, November 10, 2012

bump #37: stepping up our game

On Friday we met with our RE (reproductive endocrinologist) and OBGYN to conduct an ultrasound, collect bloodwork, and ask a lot of questions about what our next steps should be after 2 failed iui's. The doctors were super helpful and informative, but I learned that in dealing with infertility issues you really have to be your own advocate and do a lot of research on your own. So I did. You would have been so proud of me using big grown up words like luteal phase, uterine lining, and laparoscopy (except I kept saying it like lap-row-scopey and it's lap-uh-ross-cuppy). Ugh. I guess that's the difference between me and med school. The only difference I'm sure.


I will NEVER get used to "scooching" down on that stupid table!
Shouldn't they buy me a steak dinner first? Come on guys, I have standards!
The plan was always to do 3 iui's before moving on to more effective (read: expensive and invasive) procedures. I just didn't anticipate even needing 3 iui's because, duh, the first or second one will totally work. Right. So here we are again.

IUI #3: clomid and injectables
Is it just me or does that sound like the title of a horror flick?

In the past I've only taken a low dose of femara to boost my follicles and an ovidrel shot to induce ovulation with insemination on cycle day 14.  Easy peasy. As far as I know the medications did what they were supposed to, and increased our likelihood of conception, but not enough to make a difference. So for this third and {probably} final iui, we are stepping up our game and I am taking 100 mg of clomid everyday for 5 days and then 3 days of follistim (follicle stimulating hormone) injections. Initially we chose femara over clomid because clomid has a greater risk of multiples which could be complicating for my midget frame. But to that extra chance of twinsies, we say BRING IT ON! We decided to add injectables along with the clomid because they dramatically icrease the chances of success. There was also a voucher reducing their cost, and I'm a stickler for a bargain.  Even with that voucher the cost of this iui is significantly more {like $700 more} than our other iui's, which is why we will probably only do this once and then start selling our vital organs on the black market work on saving funds for ivf in the next couple years. 

There was talk of in vitro, or the "ferrari of fertility treatments" as Dr. Martin referred to it. Which leads me to believe that our past iui's would fall into the not-so-fancy el camino category.
Hopefully this new iui is closer to the luxury category like a Lexus or something.
But an SUV one just in case the clomid works overtime :)

9 comments:

  1. I've been following quietly, and let me just say how strong you are. I'm currently in the 'almost' same position as you are. I'm on day 4 with clomid and this month I'll be following with a trigger shot. [First month doing this]. I'm hoping you get your baby bump soon. I have a friend going through some of her own things as well. You can find her at http://bensgirl10.blogspot.com.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for reading! And thank you for the blog link, I'll check it out. I hope this month brings you a baby bump :)

      Delete
  2. Haaaa!! I like the "compare your fertility cycle to a car" game! I guess my first 2 IUIs were like...a bicycle, cause I did them completely unmedicated. The 3rd one was pretty on par with your El Camino, protocol-wise, but I'm going to choose a different car. I'm going to go with like a '99 Civic. Nothing fancy, but gets the job done. Except for when it doesn't. Not sure where my surgery and Matt's upcoming surgery fit in with the metaphor, though. I'll have to think it over.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The consensus is that surgery is comparable to a pedi-cab :)
      Praying that everything goes well and that there will be no more surgeries after this, only babies!!!

      Delete
  3. Props to you both for pressing onward- I know it's not easy! Glad to know our ferrari ended up with two babies, but I hope you're able to get your own sweet bump with the cheaper (but by no means cheap!) version of treatment :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Girl, you are the trail-blazer in that ferrari! Love ya!

      Delete
  4. Your doctor sounds hilarious! Ferrari of fertility… hahahahaha! hopeful that the upgrade gets you knocked up at the luxury family sedan rate. : )

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. At this point I'm ready to hail a freaking cab!

      Delete
  5. Praying that the clomid + follistim do the trick!

    ReplyDelete