Long Term TTC & Assisted Conception - Feb 2008 #1

[slyder]

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Just a reminder to all: all LTers love seeing a fellow LTer achieve that longed-for BFP, and we all find hope in one of our own having success in this difficult journey. But please remember that there are those who cycled with you who may not have received good news at the end of their cycle. Please do not post baby/child/pg tickers or pg related signatures (eg blinking BFP icons) etc in this forum out of respect for them.

As it's easy to forget to remove your ticker, please be advised that we will remove it for you if it's posted in here. Just easier, is all.

The old thread is here

[blackduckies]

Just a quick hi to Deni, hope things go smoothly today and congrats on the little one praying it's strong and sticky. May the TWW be a fast one.

[MeredithD]

Deni - crossing everything for your BT today, bring on the BFP!!!

PLC - sorry that AF has arrived. You are very good to not be upset. I always have a cry when I see AF.
Hope your natropath can help things along. I was having acupuncture for awhile prior to the successful pg with DS but just haven't had time this year, Going today as I really feel I need some extra help

Having a really bad day today. I am now on CD10. Have had 7 days of puregon and pregnyl injections but my E2 is still only 139. Last cycle I was almost ready for trigger by this time. really scared I am going to have a cancelled cycle like my first when I got lots of follies develop but no E2. However I wasn't having the pregnyl that time and last cycle worked so well with it (other than the BFN of course). Having another BT on thurs but not holding out much hope at all. This is all so hard. I don't know how much more I can take.

[Shel]

Hi everyone,

I came across your site while searching for information on IVF in Brisbane and have found some articles really helpful so I thought I would join in. I have had a bit of trouble navigating my way around so please let me know if I am in the wrong place.

I am 40 yrs and my DH and I have been TTC for nearly 2 years. I have had some investigations done at RBH and after much procrastination are now ready to do IVF.

It seems that my private health insurance which I upgraded just over a year ago won't cover me because it only covers private patient in public hospital costs which from what I can work out isn't possible in Brisbane? I was wondering if anyone has been down this path and can shed some light on whether anyone does this or what out of pocket costs are for an ivf cycle.

I have been referred to Dr Ashish Das at City Fertility Centre but just want to find out more so we can see if we can afford it!

Look forward to chatting more and having support from similar people on this emotional roller coaster!

Cheers
Shel

[plc1805]

Hi Shel - you def sound like you're in the right place but I'm sorry I can't assist you with your query. No doubt one of these lovely ladies will be able to. Good luck!!

Hi Meredith - I am sorry ur having a crappy day today. What a battle ur having!! Maybe you should take time out and use today as a day to focus on your blessings instead - like ur DS and the good people around you and then maybe you might have the strength to face these battles tomorrow with a better frame of mind. Sometimes this works for me. Also, I'm sure the acupuncturist will be a great help - I have an appointment on Wednesday (my 1st) that I'm really looking forward to. Chin up!!

[~BecD~]

Welcome Shel. I have found BB to be really helpful as I'm sure you will too

I received a surprise phone call from my clinic today to say that there was a cancellation for tonight, and would we like to move up our FS appt to 6.30pm. So we are having our review tonight, which has turned out well - no time for me to get nervous about it all! Am interested to hear her thoughts about our last cycle, things we can do differently next time, whether its worth doing a FET considering we only have one frozen embryo... I think I need to start a list of questions to take along

[tiggerlinda]

Welcome Shell and Abbie and will catch up soon

[Acacia]

Shel - welcome to BB Do you know much about the Medicare safety net? It is a system allowing you to recover some (or much) of your out-of-pocket, out of hopsital medical expenses. The threshold this year is (I think) $1,058, or something similar. This means that after you have paid $1,058 in out-of-pocket, out-of-hospital expenses from January 1st this year, 80% of any additional OOP, OOH expenses are refunded to you for the rest of the year. The threshold is lower for pensioners and those who have health care cards. You usually need to register with Medicare for the Safety Net, unless you are the only person listed on your Medicare card, at which point you are registered automatically. As an example, our OOP expenses, not including in-hopsital costs for our first and only IVF/ICSI cycle last year cost us almost $2,500. Of that, we got well over $1,000 of that refunded to us by Medicare (and some additional earlier OOP expenses before IVF). You can claim on the safety net as soon as you reach the threshold. The costs of each IVF cycle depend on the type of cycle you have (stimulated cycles are much more expensive than thaw/frozen embryo cycles as they are much more involved on all levels) and the prices differ between clinics all over Australia. I'm sure you could ask City Fertility Centre for a list of their IVF prices - most clinics make that available upon request. I'm not sure about private insurance for hospital expenses, but the Medicare Safety Net certainly helps with the other out-of-hospital expenses in IVF that build up. Hope this is helpful and apologies if I've gone into detail about stuff you already know about! Good luck with your IVF journey. I hope it is a speedy and successful one

Meredith - I'm sorry you're having such a difficult time at the moment :hugs: It takes a lot of strength, huge amounts of strength to go through AC, huge amounts of strength and courage to get started on the journey let alone continue on it, and that strength waxes and wanes according to your mental, physical and especially emotional state. But I've always found that there is strength and courage left to draw on when I remember what we are aiming to do. We are aiming to have a family. To have children in our life. It gets lost in amongst all the stress and concerns of AC, and lack of control about what your body is doing, but when I think about it, it helps bring my strength and will to go through it back. The lack of control on your body is hard, especially when it thwarts your efforts, but don't give up hope, hun. Just remember what the outcome is to be, in the end, and focus on that We're all here for you, too.

BecD - I haven't been around so much on BB since moving, so I hadn't heard the result of your cycle. I know it's a bit late, but I'm sorry to hear it was BFN Very glad to hear that your appointment got bumped up, so I wish you lots of luck for tonight, and hope that your FS has lots of good suggestions and that you can have a good chat and look forward to the next time round. Yay!


I had my BT today - my HCG level was 25, so it's a BFN-in-action for me. AF arrived properly on Saturday afternoon, and has been heavy and painful since, with no sign of let up yet. I have to go back for another BT on Wednesday to confirm my levels are dropping otherwise the clinic would be concerned about ectopic or a non-viable pregnancy. They were a bit surprised to hear that I've been bleeding heavily for 3 days, and that my levels were still 25. I feel like I'm in limbo now, as I don't know whether we'll be able to go straight on to a FET or wait until my body recovers from the chemical pregnancy - all will depend on whether my HCG levels have dropped to 2 or under by Wednesday. We'll see.

Have had a difficult few days, feeling like we came very close this time, but it was hard to wait for the blood test to confirm what we figured was going on after HPT's were positive but AF arrived after a couple of nervous days waiting to see whether it would or not. DH is optimistic as we got further this time, and is feeling hopeful about the next cycle. I'll get over this one in time, and I think a proper resolution will help me, rather than the limbo at the moment. Hopefully Wednesday will bring that proper resolution.

Good Luck to Deni and Tish today for their BTs - I've been thinking of you both a lot today, and I hope there is lots of good news all around! Fingers crossed!

Hugs to you all,

Miss C

[deni]

Hey all,
Pam- thanks for the GL wishes!
Meredith - hope that E2 gives you a nice rise over the next day or two
Shel - welcome to BB, I'm sure you'll find heaps of info and support here. Sorry I'm not familiar with services in Brisbane - hope you find some way of getting private contribution to costs.
Bec - great news on the FS appt change !
Miss_c- oh I'm sorry about AF and chemical pregnancy.. that's so disappointing for you both. Great that DH is being optimistic and a good support for you. :hugs:
all other ladies and gents, hope everyone is doing well and coping with the jabs/sniffs or the TWW or that yuck limbo land waiting for things to happen

My ET was today - my final BT isn't until some time yet, I guess about two weeks. As mentioned before they only collected 1 egg out of my 2 follis at EPU - I met the embryologist today and she said it is always a bit "nerve racking" when they do ICSI and there's only 1 egg. I admire them in holding it together - my hand would be shaking - if this is successful I'm going to make sure we personally congratulate them!

Embie is looking quite good she said (interestingly, the Embryologists' name was also Sharon and she was heavily pregnant.. I'm hoping it's a sign??) - grade 1.5 (I'm not sure what it's out of) as the cells were a little on the slow side in dividing. At day 3 they should be 8 cell, and they're still 4 cell; but she says sometimes the embies have a slow start. DH reckons it "just needed to get into the nursery" (ie my uterus) to make it get cracking.

I was a bit worried though that I didn't make it the whole 30 minutes lying down - I was busting so much to go to the loo it was hurting - I always accidently do it, overfill the bladder - and I'd already been for a few quick "mini trips" to the loo before ET to take the top off things, so to speak, but it obviously wasn't enough. I had to get up after 15 minutes to quickly use the loo or risk major embarrassment. The nurse seemed to think it would be fine, and I got back to the bed afterward. They reckon it wouldn't implant for another 3 days anyway, so surely standing up wont make it come out, if it is floating around in there for 3 days?

Anyway, so the TWW has started for me. I'm so relieved to have made it through to ET on IVF as I was so worried they'd cancel the cycle.

Goodluck to everyone !! (go and plant those gypsophila seeds, I tell you it's therapeutic watching the baby's breath sprout then flower !!)

[tiggerlinda]

Sharon - so gald that the ET went well today

[plc1805]

Deni praying for you hun!!!

[Peta]

Hi everyone!
Not much happening here but just wanted to pop in and say a quick hi. I am reading everyday & hope that all of you are doing well.
Miss C I am so sorry to hear of your BFN but have to say it was great to see some of your strength coming through in your posts today. Take care xo.
Sharon best of luck for the TWW, may it bring the desired result for you!
BecD I hope your appointment has given you some of the answers you were after tonight.
Meredith I hope your day improved for you! Keep your chin up and remember we are all here for you anytime you need to "talk".
Shel, welcome to BB. You will find all of the girls here to be most lovely & helpful. Re you questions with private health & costs, I am on the Sunshine Coast & only pay an excess once per calendar year for hospital stuff (eg EPU) then all anethasist (don't know how to spell that sorry) and hospital fees are covered. I also get 80% back after reaching the medicare safety net. So for our next stim cycle I am expecting to be out of pocket approx $1500 but will get approx $3200 back from Medicare. Big money to pay upfront, but its not so bad when you know some is coming back (eventually).
Take care everyone & I look forward to catching up again soon.

[Abbie]

Hi shel

Agree that costs are very confusing, I'm going thru Wesley/Monash in Bris and can't get my head around total $$ - anywhere from $2-4K depending on what happens i think...and some of that comes back from medicare i believe... Ours is more because of the TESA (and my DH is a bit of a wuss and needed a general for anyone to be poking around in his privates) :-)) lol

Reading all your posts, I reckon that this has gotta be the most awesome bunch of strong women.. best of luck Deni, hope mother nature is kind to you

[tiggerlinda]

Abbie & Shel

Costs do get confusing we go through City IVf in Bris and ICSI with Blast is around 7K for stim and we get about 4,000 medicare and about another 800-1000 Private Health as the saftey net rises we get closer to 5k back from medicare. I do hope this helps.

Good luck

Abbie my DH does his Tesa under local (Iam sure it is just to get the wow you are brave from the FS and nurses.)

PS: I just bought a fertility spell on Ebay I do hope it work Baby in April would be so great

Peta - Hi Back

Miss C

[tiggerlinda]

Shel - I also go to Dr Das and I belive he and the team are worth every cent PM me if you would like to chat more

[~BecD~]

Miss C - I am sorry to hear about the chemical pregnancy, it must be hard to get so close yet be so far. Sending big (((hugs))) to you xxx

Sharon - Glad to hear the transfer went well. Dont stress too much about the lying down for 30 minutes, some clinics (like mine) dont even get you to lie down afterwards.

Had our appointment with FS today who said that everything went well with our last cycle, except of course the result. She said next time we do a fresh IVM cycle that they will prime me a little more with FSH, as the egg collection was really difficult which is why I was in so much pain afterwards. We explained our PHI situation with her, and that we can do another fresh cycle until May.

So we have decided to go ahead with a FET. It's a little nerve wracking as we only have 1 blast frozen, and the thaw rate is around 70% so there is a chance we wont get to transfer, but it's better than not doing anything at all. We were going to start next cycle, but as I'm only CD 6 today, we are going to go ahead with it this cycle! We are doing a natural cycle, even though my cycles are quite screwy, I'd rather just be monitored with blood tests and scans and not have all the hormones pumped into me.

I'm actually really excited about it now!

[plc1805]

Miss C - I am very sorry for what you've been thru - sending you
Bec - good luck hun for this cycle, it's great it can happen for you so soon
TL - what is a fertility spell?
Abbie - hi!!
Meredith - hope you have a better day hun, don't forget how strong you are

Hi to everyone else - hope everyone has a good day!

[~BecD~]

Am back to feeling like crap.
Got a call from our embryologist today.
Apparently there has been some 'miscommunication' between the clinic and us.
We dont have a frozen blast, and therefore no FET.
Steve claims he told us that, but I 100% remember him telling us we had one.

Am so close to a nervous breakdown, I just don't know what to do anymore.