Now that we've finally welcomed Baby H {{Ella}}, Dave and I wanted to share our story. While we haven't exactly been secretive, many people don't know all of the details of the path we took to get to this point. I have a tendency to be long winded, but I will make this as concise as I can.
Because of a thyroid disorder I was diagnosed with at a very young age, Dave and I knew going into starting a family that we would require some sort of assistance getting pregnant. Not knowing exactly how much help I would need, I met with a Cooper Hospital reproductive endocrinologist (RE) in April 2012, before we got married. The RE assured me that I would only need some minimal help by way of fertility drugs (most like injectable medications) and that I would conceive pretty easily that way.
Knowing that, Dave and I decided to wait to seek any treatment right away. Around February 2013 I started to get the itch and called to make an appointment with the original RE I met with. After finding out she had left the practice and was now with U of Penn in Philly, I decided to follow her there and make an appointment. The appointment went well, and I really liked her but her hours were impossible for me to meet with her during the school year. Dave and I thought it over for a few months and ultimately I decided to go back to Cooper in Marlton, where I met with the doctor originally.
My first appointment with Dr. Check at Cooper RE was in April. Like the doctor before him, he also believed I would only need the assistance of injectables. At the end of our consultation, he called over the the specialty pharmacy with my prescription. Unfortunately, the pharmacy did not take my insurance at the time. We were looking at spending close to $3,000 out of pocket for that medication alone, which we were hesitant to do, so Dr. Check decided we could try a round or two of Clomid, which was much, much less costly under my insurance.
We ended up doing 4 rounds of Clomid from May-July. It was awful. Not only did I not respond AT ALL, it made me moody, emotional, and extremely exhausted. I was coming home from work everyday and napping for hours.
We took a break from treatments in July because of vacations. During this time, one of my nurses somehow discovered that there was an error in the computer for insurance and injectable medications were in fact covered under my prescription plan. This was the first of many miracles we would encounter along the way to conceiving. I had been on the phone twice with insurance and had gotten nowhere. I still can't believe that stroke of luck.
In August, I started my first round of injectables. The plan was to monitor how I was responding to the drugs with daily blood work and ultrasounds to check my follicles. I felt like I was at the doctor every day for about 4 weeks, and basically was! Once I was "ready", Dave and I would try the old-fashioned way to conceive. We got the news around Labor Day that I had over-responded to the drugs. This meant that I had too many follicles (eggs) and had we gone forward with trying to conceive that cycle, there was a strong chance I would end up pregnant with multiples. I think it was something like a 6% chance of triplets or quads, which might seem like nothing but is super-high compared to a regular person's chances. This was a risk we weren't willing to take, and so, after a month of treatment, we had to cancel the cycle. It was our first major set-back.
We started another cycle in mid October. By the beginning of November I had again over-responded. This time they offered for us to convert to IVF. We had literally 15 minutes to make the decision in order to determine what medications I would take to cancel the cycle vs. go forward with IVF. I cried hysterically for probably 14 of those minutes while Dave tried really hard to calm me down. Ultimately we decided to convert.
The first week of November we had our first IVF cycle. Normally, patients are on high doses of meds to produce as many eggs as possible for an IVF procedure. Because we were trying to have me not over-respond (remember, we didn't start the cycle planning for IVF) I didn't produce as many eggs. I was put under local anesthesia while the procedure was performed. They were able to harvest 12 eggs, 8 were mature, and 5 were fertilized. We made the decision to transfer one embryo 3 days later.
Then we waited for 2 agonizing weeks. Unfortunately our first cycle did not end in a pregnancy. It was devastating and we were feeling very down. We had now been actively trying to start a family for 7 months and we hadn't caught a break yet.
In the same phone call that I was told I had a negative pregnancy test result, the nurse mentioned that I could start for a Frozen Embryo Transfer right away if I wanted to. Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET) is an IVF procedure with our frozen embryos, of which we had 3. Again, I didn't have much time to think about it because the clinic closed for the winter holidays on December 22nd. If I was going to do an FET before that, I needed to start treatment right away.
We decided to go for it and had our FET on December 20th, 2013. This time we decided to transfer our 2 remaining embryos (our third embryo had not survived the thaw). We knew this upped our chance of twins, but I think we were both so needing a success we were willing to take the risk.
Another agonizing 10 day wait...
Then, on December 30th (Happy Birthday Dad!!) I took a pregnancy test while Dave was in the shower (after he had been urging me all day). My hands were shaking as I watched the test turn positive. I really could not believe it!!! A blood test at the RE's the next day confirmed that I was pregnant (Happy New Year to us!!!), and the beta numbers for the blood test continued to double over the next 96 hours.
Throughout the beginning of my pregnancy I continued to take several medications, including daily shots which HURT!!!!!! I was also closely monitored throughout my first trimester with biweekly ultrasounds and blood tests. The first 14 weeks were exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time, but ultimately we made it through and were able to breath easier with each passing week.
We feel so fortunate that my insurance has such good infertility benefits. We still had to pay a lot of money out of pocket, but in comparison to what it would have cost completely out of pocket, we are so blessed.
Thank you to our family and friends who offered support during our pregnancy, especially early on.
We love you all!
Halle & Dave
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