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Cassandra asks:
What made you decide to resume IVF now rather than when Bo is a bit older? I'm not second-guessing your decisions, but rather gathering intel for my future.
Thanks for the question, Cassandra!
There are numerous reasons why we are resuming IVF now...
1. Insurance
Mike's current job has IVF coverage. For our first 4 cycles, we used my insurance from the high school but it had a cap on infertility coverage. When that ran out, I did extensive research until I found a plan available from Mike's work that covered IVF. The new insurance plan has impacted us in numerous ways - the closest doctor we can see under our new plan is an hour away - which is a royal pain. It also meant that we had to change RE (reproductive endocrinologist) which I was initially quite upset about but then the first cycle with the new RE produced Bo (IVF #5), so ultimately, I think that was a good thing. There are many negatives to our current insurance plan (Satan's HMO) but we've stuck with it with the intent of using the 2 fresh cycles and unlimited frozen cycles that we have available under it. But at the same time, we do not like this plan, and would like to change back to Blue Cross and Blue Shield sooner rather than later.
Mike is currently looking for transfers and depending on where he transfers, this plan could not be available to us. That is a big motivator to jump back on the IVF bandwagon while we have insurance coverage.
2. Children close in age
Before Bo was born, I actually planned to start IVF again when he was 6 months old. There are numerous reasons why I didn't do that but the biggest one was that I decided to breastfeed for the entire first year. It was going well for us and Bo was thriving. It isn't possible to do IVF while breastfeeding so I had to wait until he was a year old. I had about a week between the time I stopped breastfeeding (on his birthday) and the day I started birth control pills for this cycle.
The main drive behind starting IVF again so quickly is that we would really like for our children to be close in age. I think there is a higher chance that they will get along, play together, be friends later, etc. if they are close in age. Granted, some siblings don't get along and I realize that, but I do want to give them the best chance for a good relationship and I hope that growing up together and being able to do enjoy a lot of the same things because they are close in age will help with that. Selfishly, I also think it will make it easier to plan vacations down the road. :)
3. Need to be done
Besides the obvious insurance issues, I also have a need to be done. I am ready to put IVF behind me -- one way or another. Mike and I have decided that when the insurance runs out, we will be done. We will not pursue further treatments or adoption if these cycles do not work. We have Bo who is the light of our lives and if the cycles do not work we will cherish every day with Bo - who is already more than we could ever ask for.
I also want to be done with treatments because it will allow us to move forward with our lives. I want to know how big our family will be. I want to know when I can start to plan to return to work full-time (obviously it will be longer if we have another child). So these type of issues factor into the "need to be done" as well.
4. Location, Location, Location
Mike is currently working in Champaign, where my current RE is located. For many reasons, I thought this would make cycling easier, but I'm not sure that it really has. :) But that definitely factored into my decision to restart IVF now.
5. Age
While I'm "lucky" to be a fairly young infertile, (We discovered my infertility when I was 23) there is no doubt that with each passing day my body and my eggs age, making the process less likely to succeed. I am currently 27 and I have a history of abnormal cells, so the sooner we can move forward, the better -- both in terms of chance for success and for my body.
I hope I answered your question fully. Please feel free to ask follow-up questions in the comments and don't forget to ask any questions you would like for me to write about!
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6 comments:
SO excited for you guys Jamie! Keeping you in my prayers that this IVF cycle is a SUCCESS!! :)
Thanks for sharing and being so open! I do have one question - does your fertility coverage stop once a 2nd child is born? I didn't really think about that from the perspective of the frozen cycles (if you wanted a 3rd child). Just curious. Good luck!
Wow, you've obviously thought everything through! I can't think of any follow-up questions; I think you've covered every angle. Thanks so much, and best of luck with the IVF cycle!
I am wishing you all the luck you need with this cycle! It will be nice to be done with IVF once and for all! We had a 4hr drive to our clinic, it's no fun when you have to go so far, good luck with the driving!
Take care
I hope your next round of IVF goes great and that Bo soon has a sibling! :) Sounds like you have a great plan!
Your decision-making sounds a lot like ours. We don't have coverage now, but we have our frozen embryos and it's important to us to use them before trying anything else. And we both know that what we plan doesn't necessarily happen.
Good luck. Hope it's a lot easier this go-round.
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