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I did not think I would be so happy about having a break after egg retrieval. Not having to stick myself with nasty hormones, a break from the terrible acne, bloating, not being able to get out of bed, it has been awesome. My body is finally feeling normal again. All of the bloating has gone down to reveal an unfortunate semi-permanent weight gain that I suppose comes with the territory. Nick and I have been able to talk about other things besides IVF, and it was a much-needed break.
I feel like our minds have cleared and we are ready for our appointment on Friday; excited for our appointment is more accurate. June 22 we meet with the doctor to go over our egg retrieval more in depth, and then meet with a nurse to get a new calendar. We will have an outline of when to do new injections and take pills to prepare for our FET (frozen embryo transfer). Hopefully, we get a date as well! Unfortunately, this will be the last appointment Nick will be able to attend. He checks back into Scout Sniper School next week and that will become the new normal for a while. Which means, as I am sure you figured out, Nick will not be there at the embryo transfer. How many women can say they got pregnant without a man present? We are hoping a 15 minute FaceTime call will be possible and he will be able to see it happen.
Right now, I am on a break from work for a couple of weeks. Originally, I took this time off to be able to relax during the two-week wait (embryo transfer) and beginning of the pregnancy. Our embryo transfer was supposed to be the first few days of June, and our pregnancy test on Father's Day. Since I already had the time off I decided to keep it and rest. I wanted to really make sure my body and my mind were healing. I am so glad I did. However, now that means I will be working summer camp during injections and embryo transfer. We had planned for me to take the entire summer off, be safe and take it easy, but with the IVF bills, it just was not possible. I would be lying if I said I was not nervous about it all. I want to be able to take it easy, to not be chasing after five-year-olds during this time. I wanted to make sure that God forbid this first transfer did not work I could still say I did every single thing I could to be healthy and not stressed. I know the miscarriage rate for PCOS and Endometriosis, and I know the success rates of IVF, and I wish I could put myself in a little healthy, stress-free bubble until we are confirmed pregnant. But hey, life.
I have used this time to read, binge-watch Gilmore Girls, do way too many facemasks, and work on my migraines that have slowly been showing their ugly face daily. These things are 100% my number one tip for anyone going through IVF. Do whatever you need to do to take care of yourself, every aspect of yourself. Nick has captured me mid-migraine decompression and I swear you could just see the stress leaving my body!
Nick and I are in a really great place right now, I wish I could have a camera attached to me and show you all how happy we are. This whole experience has brought us closer as a couple, and as best friends. We are so excited for the next few weeks and what they will bring us, who they will bring us!
Keep Praying Team D!
xoxo, ALD
Some exciting financial news! Because we could not do a fresh transfer, we were going to be tacked with a new $3,000 bill for the frozen transfer. I called yesterday and inquired about how much Friday's appointment will be and was informed that they are not charging us for the FET due to circumstances out of our direct control. Our cycle, and what we paid, came with inseminating 15 eggs and freezing 5 embryos. We choose to inseminate 20 eggs (per doctors advice) and freezing 10 (but ended up with 9). Since we made these decisions, we are charged a bit more. Friday's appointment will be $755 and hopefully the last big bill.
Baby D IVF ttd: $12,255.38
Consultation: $124
Nurses Class & Procedure - $7,965
Medications - $1,644.38
Saline Ultrasound - $470
Medications Pharm. 2 - $450
Monitor Visits - $750
OHSS Ultrasound - $97
ICSI for 20 eggs - $300
Cryopreservation for 9 Embabies - $400
FET Nurses Class - $55
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