Moving Forward

Today is CD 22… and I have a terrible feeling that this cycle did not work either. I feel exactly the same way I did last month. I know that it is still pretty early (I’m 8 DPO) so I guess we will see what happens in the next few days. Regardless, I’m planning to call my nurse tomorrow to find out what the plan is for next cycle if this one ends with a BFN. My fertility clinic only lets you do 3-4 cycles of Clomid before moving on so I’m curious to find out if they are going to want me to move on to the next step… which I assume would possibly be injectables (with or without an IUI). I have been doing a lot of thinking, and I honestly don’t think I want to go that route. I have been thinking a LOT about moving straight to IVF. I know that seems like a huge step (especially since I’ve gotten pregnant twice before) but it’s one that my husband has been wanting me to consider for a while now.  

My fertility clinic offers a “Shared Risk” program which includes 6 fresh cycles of IVF (plus all FET cycles) for one price. If you are NOT successful (and they define “success” by bringing home a baby) then you get a full refund. The cost of the program is about the same as buying that new Honda Pilot we have been looking at for a while. Call me crazy, but I think I’d rather spend the money on a baby than on the new SUV we’ve been wanting. :) The only thing is that they make you opt out of your insurance to do this program. My insurance would only cover about 40% for IVF right now so we’d still have to pay out of pocket for a lot of it anyway. So I really am not too concerned about doing this since the program gives you a money back guarantee. We have a little over $5000.00 in cash that we would be able to put towards it but we would need to get a loan for the rest. This really wouldn’t be a big deal either since we don’t have any credit card debt or car payments so we could definitely afford the monthly payments. Right now, we are spending a few hundred dollars every month in co-pays, medication, acupuncture, and gas money for timed intercourse cycles. I’d rather start spending that money on IVF instead of continuing with treatments that may or may not work. I know that IVF doesn’t guarantee us a pregnancy or even a baby but the success rates are a lot higher than what we are doing currently…. Especially for someone in my age group (I’m 25).

So… bottom line, I’m calling my nurse tomorrow. I will see what she and the doctor are suggesting for next cycle and depending on what they say, I may see if we can set up an appointment with the doctor for an IVF consult. Everything is still up in the air, but I’m hoping that it all works out. So even though this all feels like a huge leap, it’s one that I’m getting more comfortable with making. I’m so ready to move on!