Insurance Advocacy

Hi Friends & Family,

Just wanted to let you know about a new House of Representative’s Bill (H.R. 2892: Family Building Act of 2007) that would require insurance companies to cover infertility diagnosis and treatment. It was just introduced on September 11th, 2007. I have great health care coverage for most medical needs, but my coverage specifically excludes infertility treatment (as do the majority of health care plans).

To learn more about infertility insurance coverage & this Bill, follow this link: http://www.infertilitypetition.com/index.html

Please consider signing a petition to support this new Bill. You can sign it at: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/insurance-coverage-for-infertility.html

I also encourage you to write to your Representative and ask them to support this Bill. You can find out who your Representative is here: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ (Most have links to send e-mail directly to the Rep.). Resolve (the national infertility association: www.resolve.org ) provides a draft letter that you can email to your Representative (if you want me to send you a copy of the draft letter, leave a comment requesting it, and I'll send it off to you!).

Please let me know if you have any questions. I hope you’ll continue to support me and Todd by supporting this bill.

Thank you for your help.

Love you all,

Julie

Starting down a new path...

We had our appt with our doctor today to discuss where to do next. She said we have 2 options:

1. injectable medications with an IUI
20-25% chance of getting pregnant each cycle
2-3K per cycle

2. injectable medications with IVF
65% chance of getting pregnant each cycle
14K per cycle

She said she thought I'd respond well to either. If we went w/option 1, we'd give it a try and see how I respond. If I don't respond how they need me to, they can change the dose a little. If I'm still not responding (or responding way TOO much) then we might need to go to option 2.

I think we'll end up doing option 1, and crossing our fingers (& asking everyone around us for positive energy) that it works. I just don't think we're ready to shell out 14K yet...maybe we'll get there, but not right now.

Of course my insurance doesn't cover anything IF related. Other states have mandated insurance coverage for IF treatment--and their medical bills are cheaper than those that don't cover IF. I think I'm going to write a letter to my employer and plead my case. Maybe they'll consider covering it? It's worth a try.

So once AF comes, my next cycle will officially start. I think it will be somewhere around my birthday (oct 25). Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, I get to be stabbed in the stomach, happy birthday to me. :) haha We'll start doing the injectable meds once a day, and then go in for an u/s every other day. (Yikes!) I'll have to see if work will let me change my work schedule to 11-7p because they don't do u/s past 4 in the afternoon.

I feel good from this appointment. It's not where I thought I'd be right now in my life, but like it or not, it's where we are. So I might as well keep a positive attitude--for all I know this next cycle could get me pregnant. Keep your positive thoughts and energy flowing our direction.

Here's a picture of the fertility god that I get to borrow. The top picture is one side, and the bottom is the other side. Maybe it will help!

Funny, huh? The pictures don't quite do it justice, so next time you're over at our house, ask, and I'll show it to you! :)

Talk to you soon,

Julie

Moving on...

We had our u/s appt yesterday, and big surprise, my follicles are still tiny. Arr! My doctor wasn't in the office yesterday so she's supposed to call me today to discuss next steps. I went ahead and made an appt for sit down conversation about injectables for next Tuesday, and then another appt with a different dr in the same office for a second opinion, a week later.

I'm really disappointed. This isn't supposed to be this hard. I never thought in a million years that'd we'd be where we are right now. And at this point, I have no idea what it's going to take for us to have a child...will this work, or will we have to do IVF, or adopt? And how do people pay for these things?? It's just crazy.

We do appreciate everyone's support. As you know, I'm really open about our IF journey and openly talk about it to my friends, neighbors, & colleagues. Some people are more private about their IF experiences, and that's ok; everyone has a right to how they want to deal with it. But I've got to say, since I've been open about it, I've had such positive interactions. I learned about RESOLVE, received special lubricant samples (tmi, I know. But it's so nice!), been offered a fertility god, found out there's more people with IF than you think, and received so much more support than I ever would have thought we would.

And so while I hate that Todd & I have to go through this process, we are finding some positives out of this. Thank you.

Much love,

Julie

Real Quick...

Just wanted to say how much I appreciate everyone's positive thoughts & energy directed at my follicles this week! I'm nervous for our u/s tomorrow, but knowing all of you are supporting us helps so much.

Thank you.

Love you all.

Julie & Todd

Ultrasound Results

Well...hmmm.

Not exactly what I was hoping for. My biggest follicle at our u/s today was 8.6mm (i.e. too tiny!). They're going to have me come in on this Thursday at 8:45am for a repeat u/s to see if my follicles have grown any more. Sometimes it takes longer for follicles to respond and so there is a chance that I could have a better u/s on Thursday. There's also the chance that they aren't going to respond at all and then we'll be moving on to injectable medications to stimulate follicle growth (which I'm not really looking forward to).

So please continue to send some positive follicle-growing thoughts my way! I appreciate your support!

Julie

Waiting to Ultrasound

Hi Friends,

Well, I'm starting to feel a bit anxious for my u/s on Sunday. We'll be going in for an u/s where they'll look at my ovaries to see if they've responded to the femara. If they have responded well (i.e. follicles >18mm), then I'll do a trigger shot (a medication injected into my muscle to induce ovulation) and Todd and I will, uh, get busy. If they respond a little, but the follicles are not quite bit enough, then I'll probably go in for a repeat u/s in a few days. If they don't respond at all (like all my previous u/s appts), then we'll be scrapping this cycle, and next cycle we'll start with injectable medications (where I'd give myself shots daily to stimulate my follicles to grow--more invasive and much more expensive).

I want to be hopeful that this cycle will work, but I'm so nervous. Each time I go in for an u/s, I think positively, but then when we see that my ovaries haven't responded, I am so sad. Somehow Todd is able to stay more balanced during this than I am. So I'm trying to take good care of myself this week...I scheduled a massage for myself for later today and have yoga tonight. I think I'll do some relaxation exercises as well.

I'd appreciate some positive thoughts from all you, my family & friends. I need strength to get through the next couple days, and to accept whatever results we receive at our u/s appt.

Thanks for checking in.

Julie

Ovary Education

I wanted to include some pictures to make it easier to understand. My ovaries look like the polycystic example. In the ultrasound pictures, the black areas are the fluid-filled follicles. All of my ultrasounds so far have tiny, tiny follicles (<8mm), and look more like the very small ones you can see in the pcos example. When I take fertility medicine, it's to help the follicles grow and someday, I hope I'll see a big follicle on ultrasound (like the bigger one you can see in the example). They have to be greater than 18mm to ovulate!

Refresher on normal woman reproductive cycle:

The ovaries are two small organs, one on each side of a woman's uterus. A woman's ovaries have follicles, which are tiny sacs filled with liquid that hold the eggs. These sacs also are called cysts. Each month about 20 eggs start to mature, but usually only one matures fully. As this one egg grows, the follicle accumulates fluid in it. When that egg matures, the follicle breaks open to release it. The egg then travels through the fallopian tube for fertilization. When the single egg leaves the follicle, ovulation takes place.

In women with PCOS, the ovary doesn't make all of the hormones it needs for any of the eggs to fully mature. Follicles may start to grow and build up fluid. But no one follicle becomes large enough. Instead, some follicles may remain as cysts. Since no follicle becomes large enough and no egg matures or is released, ovulation does not occur and the hormone progesterone is not made. Without progesterone, a woman's menstrual cycle is irregular or absent.

Fertility treatment is aimed to stimulate the follicles to grow so that I can hopefully grow a big enough one to ovulate and then get pregnant.