So…we will start with an apology. I have been really busy, and quite frankly I got tired of listening to myself talk. I know…crazy, right? Well, I’m back to my normal self – and look forward to continuing to bore you all with my life. So, pretend that I posted all of this over a month…then it won’t seem so long and boring.
So…since we left off, we took a month off, had an unsuccessful month on Clomid, and now we’re going into a month on yet another hormone regimen. This one came with 2 pill bottles and 3 shots. This is scary. Well, the good news (for the wife) is that I’m travelling this week – right in the middle of hormone hell. The bad news (for me) is that I have to smile, be nice, and I don’t have anybody to go off on. So I sit here seething with my hot flashes and no outlet. Where’s my kickboxing class when I need it?
So we are looking to the future, and thus the title of this post. Inevitably, the fertility battle ends at IVF. That is the last frontier. IVF (in-vitro fertilization) is the method by which they take my eggs out, and introduce the egg and sperm in a petri dish. If they don’t greet each other nicely, they are forced together (sperm is actually injected into the egg). Then, they let it grow for a few days there in the petri dish, and then give it back to me.
Our conversation with the doc went something like this (the Doc talking):
"Well, there are really three main reasons for “unexplained infertility” like you have.
#1 – we’re not 100% sure that you are ovulating. The only proof of ovulation is pregnancy…we have no way of really knowing if the egg got out or not. We know that there is an egg there, we know that your hormone level is at the right place to start the ovulation process, but who knows.
#2 – your egg may not be “calling” to the sperm. We know scientifically that the egg must call to the sperm, or they’ll just swim in circles without any direction (ok…note from me…does anybody see the premise here…the boys don’t know where do go unless the girl tells them? I’m just sayin’). If the egg isn’t calling to the sperm, then we know that fertilization will never occur.
#3 – you might be ovulating, your egg might be calling, but your egg may have a hard shell, and the sperm are bouncing off.” (at this point I shared the joke about my body being genetically disposed to rejecting anything male. The doctor was REALLY not amused by that one. Oh well).
And then we went on to discuss our options:
"#1 – Keep going with hormones – we can switch to a stronger therapy which will produce 3-4 eggs, rather than the 2-3 that Clomid is producing. (this is what we are doing this month)
#2 – go straight to IVF. With IVF we are sure that the fertilization will occur – we make it happen. Another bonus of IVF is that we can take one of your eggs, stick it in a petri dish with some of the sperm, and see how they get along. If the egg is hanging out all by itself, we know it isn’t calling. If the sperm are all gathered around, but bouncing off like a pinball game, then we know your egg has a hard shell. If the sperm and the egg get along right away…well, either you aren’t ovulating, or something really odd is going on (gee…thanks doc). "
From that conversation, we walked away with the following stats:
- Chance of pregnancy from normal intercourse: 6% (ok…this one does not so much matter for us, but I’m throwing that one in for all you straighties)
- Chance of pregnancy with IUI – 9%
- Chance of pregnancy with Clomid – 14%
- Chance of pregnancy with injection hell – 19%
- Chance of pregnancy with IVF – 55%
Wow…55%!! I guess that’s why it comes with a $15,000 price tag. :-)
So – we are investigating how financially feasible IVF is for next month. There is a chance that my insurance will cover it…we won’t know until we get an idea of what the procedures are, and how my insurance has been processing stuff thus far.
If insurance will cover it, I think we’ll go ahead. I go with the “genetically disposed to reject anything male” theory, and figure my egg is hard-headed, or is anti-social. Neither would shock me. IVF gets us moving down that road faster.
So:
A boatload of hormones to produce 6-7 eggs,
A surgical procedure to harvest those eggs,
And a good doctor with a talent for matchmaking... $15,000
A set of triplets…pricey…I mean…priceless. It’s a good thing there’s Mastercard. :-P
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