This post was meant to be written a week ago so pretend you are reading this one week before you are actually reading it... or something.
I went back to the RE office last week to endure the "IVF Nurse Teaching" session which is required for anyone that is interested in starting an IVF cycle. This MUST be done or else you are not able to move to the next step, which would be actually beginning an IVF cycle. I begged and pleaded with the staff to see if there was any way that I could do this over the phone, but according to the nurses this session was too important and went into too much detail for us to be able to complete by phone. Instead, I must miss a half day of work to drive up and back to listen to a young, skinny, blond and bright eyed nurse tell me what I already know about IVF.
Did I mention that I wanted to punch this girl in the face for approximately the first 15 minutes of my visit? Maybe it was because I waited half an hour, after driving two hours. Maybe it was because this little girl simply told me what was clearly written on a packet of information that would come home with me anyway.
OK, enough with the anger already. What did I learn?
1. There are two main reasons that I will need to take birth control pills prior to the "superovulation" process:
a) The body tends to respond better to the IVF meds after being on birth control... and...
b) The clinic batches IVF patients each month so that every step can be planned for accordingly. This doesn't happen at all clinics but I think it has to do with the fact that this RE has multiple offices and needs to have some sort of system to make everything happens at just the right time. The birth control provides an opportunity to manipulate a cycle so that you will not get your period and start a new cycle until you stop taking it. This leads to learned item #2.
2. The earliest that I can realistically complete an IVF cycle is in August. We are moving in July on the same week that the July "batch" of ladies will be undergoing embryo transfers. Now that would be a recipe for disaster!
3. All the drugs will be ordered by the clinic and sent directly to me, so that I don't have to deal with running to the CVS every damn day. Less work for me = good.
4. There's a lot of shots. Between 2 and 4 each day. That blows.
5. The numbers: I sat down with the financial person and she went through the total cost and how it is all broken down. I now know what it will cost us and when we must have everything paid.
That's it. August.
Now, I wait for the next menstrual cycle. Once that happens, I call the clinic and they will likely confirm that I should start taking birth control pills (sans placebo week). At some point during my 3-4 weeks of birth control I'll have to return to the office for a sono HSG / trial transfer during which they will verify that my uterus/tubes are still open for business. This will be my 3rd HSG this year and let me tell ya, there's nothing I love more than having a catheter forced through my cervix, followed by some kind of balloon inflating inside me, followed by liquids being forced up my womb and into my fallopian tubes! Pure ecstasy! (Apologies for the thick layer of sarcasm - it's not my best coping skill but it's all I've got left in me right now).
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