We have a 4 year old son that took about 16 months to conceive. After 1 year of unsuccessfully trying, we went to the Dr. We lived in West Michigan at the time and my Dr. was very conservative. She said to chart my Basal Body Temperature and after that we could talk about other options. Well, I guess that was the trick. Our son was born in July 2007!
- January 2011 met with Reproductive Endocrinologist at Aurora Fertility in Milwaukee. They assured us that everything looked good and because we had already had one child things should move along quickly. Again, they did not!
- February 2011 did blood work...everything comes back fine.
- March 2011 HSG test to make sure my tubes are not blocked and semen analysis for Randy...everything comes back fine. Conclusion is to try IUI (intra-uterine insemination) because everything looks "fine". Go in for an ultrasound to see follicles, etc. for IUI monitoring. Find cysts on my ovaries. Need to wait until next month to see if cysts go away.
- April 2011 cysts are still present. Dr. prescribes a month of birth control pills to see if they go away.
- May 2011 cysts are still there and growing. Dr. recommends surgery to remove cysts.
- June 2011 undergo laproscopy to remove cysts and some spots of endometriosis. Again, they say everything goes "fine". Need to wait 2 months before trying the IUI.
- August 2011 do first round of clomid and hCG injection for IUI. IUI is not successful.
- September 2011 do second round of clomid and hCG injection for IUI. IUI is not successful.
- October 2011 get second opinion from a Dr. in Gurnee to see if the path we are doing is the correct one. He suggests that our chances of conceiving through IUI are about 14% because of the endometriosis and I have a low antral follicle count because of the surgery to remove the cysts also removed a large number of eggs from my ovaries.
- November 2011 take the month off to come up with a plan of action. Decide that we will do one more IUI and then move on to IVF.
- December 2011 do third round of clomid and hCG injection for IUI. IUI is not successful.
- January 2012 move forward with plan to do IVF. Aurora Fertility offers a shared risk program that costs $22,000 (excluding medication) for three rounds of IVF. If not successful you are refunded 70%. Ask the Dr. if we would qualify for the program and says yes that everything looks good to proceed. Do more blood work for IVF and start birth control pill. Get a call from the Dr. that my bloodwork has come back and my AMH level is 1.05 and must be 1.25 in order to qualify for the shared risk. We can proceed with IVF schedule, but the cost for one round is $14,800 (excluding medication) and if it doesn't work you are not refunded anything! Decide that is too great of a risk to take and start looking for another ferility clinic.
- Had gotten a recommendation for a clinic in Middleton, WI (2 hour drive from Kenosha). Decide that after watching videos on their website we should give it a shot.
- February 2012 have initial consultation with Dr. in Middleton. She advises that there was almost no chance that we would have gotten pregnant with the lowest doses of clomid and IUI. She also states that because of the surgery and the Dr. in Milwaukee burning the inside of my ovaries that I lost a great deal of eggs and that I am at the end of my reproductive years! WOW! We did not see that coming! Get over the shock of this and decide to pursue IVF with the Dr. in Middleton. She advises that the chances are good at 40-50%. We'll take it!
- Do one last test...HSG to make sure my uterus looks good. Everything goes great and we are off to plan the schedule for IVF.
- Last week, I drove to Middleton for one more consultation on IVF and chose the plan that gives us the option of up to 2 fresh cycles and anything frozen for $18,000.
