Well, this past Wednesday, hubby and I met with the fertility specialist; to reassess, and figure out what comes next.
Before even walking in the door, we knew we couldn't really afford to do anything right now. I'm fine with taking out a small loan in the future, if we have to... but it just doesn't make sense to do it right now. Not when we're hoping to buy a house in the next 6-9 months, and taking out a loan could keep us from getting a mortgage.
Sure, my heart wants to just plunge forward and deal with it later.. but the reality is, that could leave me with no house to call our own, and no children if the treatments don't work. We both agreed that it made sense to secure a house first.
So, as we walked in, the doc basically reiterated that, "Well, doesn't seem that Femara works very well for you. So... this is where it starts getting expensive."
I had an idea of what that meant, but wanted to just clarify. "So, for the injections, how much does each cycle run?"
First, he replied as if slightly offended that I asked that way. "I don't like saying 'each cycle' because that implies that it'll go on and on.'"
Well... sorry doc. But it has already. One year of metformin. Three cycles of metformin and clomid. Three cycles of metformin and femara. Excuse me for planning ahead, and not assuming that the first time is going to work. Eh. And even if it DOES work, there's only a 20% chance of actually conceiving. So, on average.. that's 5 cycles.
Hopefully, it doesn't take 5 cycles.. because as suspected, his response to cost was, "about $3,000. Your medication for one cycle is $1500, and the ultrasounds and bloodwork will be about $1500."
So, if you do the math.. that's $15,000 for 5 cycles...... *breathe*
Yes, we could try invitro, for the bargain price of $13,000.. but that still might not work.. and it's all at once. On top of the fact that it's a full-on procedure (injections are scary enough), it just doesn't sound like something I want to do at this point; maybe not ever.
The doc reassured me that on the injections, there's around a 95% chance that you'll ovulate. So, it's just a matter of getting that sucker fertilized and growing.
He then also added, "But this is where your chance for multiples really comes into play. Your chance for twins is about 20%, with a 5% chance of triplets or higher."
Yes! Here comes my own reality show. :P
I explained to the doctor that we're going to need to put off anything further, for financial reasons. And I immediately asked, "Is there any concern about us putting this off for a six months to a year?"
He replied, "Oh no. You're still young. I'm not concerned about that."
Whew! Someone still thinks I'm young.
So, that's what we're doing. Waiting. In the meantime, they want to do an x-ray of fallopian tubes. They inject a dye to see if they're blocked at all. He doesn't suspect there's a problem, but with the costs of the procedures going forward, he doesn't want to waste all that money and time, if the tube does happen to be blocked.
And he only described the procedure as 'unpleasant.'
Well, color me excited.
