Dr. WD2: The Fertility Experience Discussion

I finally met my fertility doctor, or WD2 as I will call her.  She's a sweet little Asian woman who looks to be about 20 years old.  I see pictures of a man and two children in her office.  I'm not sure if this is her husband/children, or her dad and pictures of herself as a child.  This is the strangest part of getting older...when people you rely on for answers are so much younger than you.  Not that I don't trust her experience...hell, she graduated from Harvard med...I hope she knows what she's doing.  Actually, she was recommended by Wonder Doc so I have faith.

So...we begin to delve into our options.

By the way, my sweetheart of a husband has been at almost every appointment with me.  I think the first Tommy Lee experience traumatized him a bit, but I'm glad he's here.  Not only for the support, but also because he is having his own experience through this journey.  He keeps thanking me for doing this for our family.  I keep thinking, of course!  But then I relent and relish in the sweet sentiment.  See...sensitive...like me!

Anyway, so we begin to delve into our options.  Here they are:  1)  The shots!  Remember Charlotte (Sex and the City) going through this?  It's the image that pops in my head every time I think about 'the shots.' The shots consist of Follistim and Ovidrel.  One of them I take everyday and the other is a one-time deal I inject when WD2 tells me to.  I have been taught how to give them to myself; however, I think my husband will have to help...at least the first few shots.  The shots will cause me to ovulate, possibly more than one egg at a time...this is why women taking this route have a higher chance at multiple births. My multiple chances, I've been told, are twins:  20-25%; triplets:  about 2%; more than that:  because of my age, no chance at competing with Octo-Mom.  That was good news.  The shots cost about $1,200/month.  Most insurances don't cover them so this will be something we will have to sell our belongings to afford, but it's worth it.  For those of you wondering, some insurance companies will cover all the testing/diagnosing but once you get to the point of fertilization, they won't cover the costs.  Maybe this will change one day.  Like when insurance companies were forced (yes, they had to be forced) to cover reconstructive surgery for women that require masectomies to save their lives.  For years, insurance companies considered fake boobs in situations like this 'cosmetic.'  Is that disgusting or what? 

Sorry...another blog for another day...back to my point.

Or, 2) I go straight to IVF, which is in vitro.  Ok...listen to this...they take the egg straight out of your ovary, add a little sperm, implant the egg back in the uterus and voila...baby on board.  This process takes 6 to 7 minutes!  6 to 7 minutes!  Is that incredible?!  The chances of success at my age are roughly 50% that IVF will work.  This process is $11,000.  Ouch!

I think my doctor is leaning towards IVF; however, after a long discussion with the hubby (actually, it was a short conversation because it was an easy decision), we decided to try the shots first.  The thought of having twins is exciting and we want to take our chances.  Besides, my trust fund hasn't replenished itself since I bought the Italian villa and Cris Craft so $11,000 is a little steep right now.

After making this decision, I opted for the fallopian tube test, or HSG.  HSG stands for some unnecessarily long name for this process.  I had the procedure done Christmas Eve and will blog on it next.  It wasn't pleasant and the outcome wasn't what I wanted to hear.

Stay tuned and thanks again for stopping by!