The Next Step

We have been cleared to take the next step – IVF! I am excited (and anxious) about it.

The day we found out the good news I immediately called our fertility doctor (and started prenatal vitamins). She was out of the office that day but we came up with a plan the very next day. I stopped the megace right away and started on a progesterone only birth control pill (ironic, right?). They gave me a tentative IVF schedule, to start right away.

We go in tomorrow to go over all kinds of things.

1. We both have to have infectious disease bloodwork. Apparently when they are going to freeze your embryos they have to confirm that you don’t have HIV or hepatitis C every 6 months.

2. We have to pay…  At least we can pay by credit card and get lots of miles?  (finding the silver lining)

3. I will have a mock embryo transfer done. They use ultrasound and put a catheter in the uterus to look at its size and shape. Apparently this makes it easier for them on the day of embryo transfer and possibly more successful?

4. They will give us some instructions on injections. I think this is going to be my hubby’s job. I can draw up the meds just fine but I think sticking me with needles will be up to him.

5. We will pick up thousands of dollars worth of donated medications that they will give us because our insurance will not cover IVF at all.  Wonderful news.

6. We will sign the IVF consent forms. Holy cow.

More about IVF consent forms… First of all, the consent form is 23 pages long. It goes over risks of every part of the IVF protocols – the medications, the procedures, potential risks to the baby, risks of multiple birth, legal and ethical implications of freezing embryos, etc, etc, etc. We have both read (and initialed) every page.

My husband and I had to have some very serious conversations – things that we never thought we would have to discuss. “Even though we will never get divorced, just in case for some horrible reason we do, what do we do with our frozen embryos?”  “If one of us dies, what do we do with our frozen embryos?” “If we are not going to have more children but have embryos left, what do we do with our frozen embryos? Do we donate them to another couple struggling with infertility? Do we donate them to research? Do we destroy them?”  Heavy stuff…

But, here we go – the next step!