We are doing injectables!!!

My favorite nurse at the RE's office called me this morning a 1/2 hour after I made my appointment for Wednesday to meet with the doctor. She was returning the call I had left on the nurses line, she didn't know that I had already talked to the receptionist. She told me she would talk to the Dr. again to see if he really needed to talk to us in person (cost $200) or if she could answer all of our questions over the phone for free. I was hoping he would go for that option.

She called me back and said the Dr. gave her the protocol and that we didn't have to meet with him as long as we felt comfortable with the nurse practitioner explaining everything. I was thrilled that he made a decision on our protocol and let us save time and money by having the nurse call me.

So here is the plan:
Follistim (75 IU) for five days starting Wednesday - CD 4
Ultrasound - Monday September 21
Ultrasound - TBA
HCG trigger - TBA
IUI - TBA

Since we are paying for everything out of pocket I was concerned about the cost of the injectables. They already give us a 50% discount on all services, which saves us money. The last three Clomid-IUI cycles have cost us $420 each w/the discount. The Follistim is $250 per cartridge and we need two cartridges so it would cost $500 for injectables this cycle. That wasn't as bad as I was expecting, but it still sucks. Then she told me about a patient assistance program that works with their office to help uninsured patients pay for medication. We have health insurance but it doesn't cover ANY infertility treatments, so we qualify. The office only chooses one patient per month to give this coupon to, and she chose ME!!! The coupon is for one free catridge of Follistim...which saves us $250!! I felt guilty at first because we can afford these injections, but the nurse told me that this is free and this is designed for people just like us (people who have to pay out of pocket for infertility treatments). So needless to say I am SO excited that things are working out in our favor this cycle....so far.

I never thought I would be one of those women who would take drugs to get pregnant. I was (maybe still am) afraid of putting drugs into my body without knowing the long term side effects. This idea is very foreign to me, but I am dealing with it. I will do just about anything to have a baby including giving up my prior hesitations.

I am done with my sulking now that I have a plan. I am actually excited about this new path in our journey. I have a renewed hope!!