Meds, Acupunture & Photos!

Wow, this week started off busy!

This morning I put in my order for my meds.  Lu.pron, Es.trace, Progesterone in oil, and Va.lium.  A total of about $355.

Found out Lu.pron is not covered by my insurance, so I am paying $129 for it.  Es.trace, even with insurance comes up to $195 for 60 pills.  Kinda crazy!  That's more than $3 per pill.  Without insurance it would have come up to $243.  Unlike my previous IVF cycles, we have crappy insurance this time.  Still, I am grateful I do not need stimulation drugs like Follis.tim or Meno.pur which would cost thousands.  I should get my meds on Wednesday.  Won't get my FET protocol until 8/15.

I went for my acupuncture session today.  It was kind of weird going back after so long, but also nice.  The last time I was there was for my last IVF cycle almost exactly 3 years ago.  Back then she was pregnant with her second child.  Now, he is almost 3 years old.  Also, she bought out her partner, so she is running the business all by herself which is great because she really didn't need her partner.  She specializes in infertility and has had many success stories.  After my session, I asked her for some recommendations.  She said:

1. Avoid dairy as it can cause congestion in the body.  Especially if you drink coffee (which I currently still do), avoid using creamer (which I also love!), as it is especially bad.  Ok, ok, time to give them all up totally.
2. Eat more raspberries as they are great for building up the endometrial lining.
3. Use a warm/hot pad on the lower abdomen/pelvic area 2 - 3 times a week to stimulate blood flow to the uterus.

Fortunately, I do no need to take any Chinese herbs this time.  I did it for my last IVF cycle to help increase the quality of my eggs but since we are doing a FET (frozen embryo transfer) this time, no need for that.

When I got home, I received an email from Debbie, our fertility counselor for NEDC.  I had a discussion with her earlier today because we are considering switching around our order of donors.  Because the second donor family had be so upfront about sharing information and photos about their family, we felt we had more information about them than the first family.  After discussing this with Debbie, she suggested seeing if the first donor family would be willing to share some family photos.  The email from Debbie included 3 photos of our first donor family.  Oh my, they are a gorgeous family.  And the twin boys are so stinking cute.

Now that I have seen pictures from both donor families, I feel pretty good about both of them.  I feel like I am already in love with both families.  I still have not decided if we will switch the order or keep it the same, but for now, I love being able to put faces to names.  We have up to 2 weeks before our transfer to decide.

Finally, if you have not heard, I am having a giveaway in honor of my 40th birthday on Thursday!  Go leave me a comment here for a chance to win one of two $20 Amazon gift cards.