I am so grateful we made the decision to see a new specialist now instead of waiting until December. I wish we had gone to him for a second opinion much sooner! I was so pleased with Dr. Gentry at Advanced Fertility Group. He is such a nice, welcoming, warm, loving doctor. I have never met a doctor like him before. The moment he walked into my room, he said, "Hi, Friend!" He then pulled his chair next to mine, sat down, pat my leg and cheerfully said, "How ya doin'?" What a sweet man.
He had so much to tell me and I loved his positive attitude! We talked about my history with my previous specialist and all of the procedures and medicines we tried. Without hesitation, he told me that it definitely sounds like my eggs are the issue, meaning my eggs are "older" than 24. He recommended doing the IUI again, but being more aggressive with the gonal-F shots, doubling the dose to increase the chance of developing multiple follicles. He informed me that one of the reasons I lost a follicle with both of my previous IUIs was probably because they had me on the minimum dose of gonal-F. He did say to me, "Now, I just have to warn you that if I double your dosage, that will put you at a higher risk for multiples. Are you and your husband okay with that?" My response was, "At this point I will gladly take as many babies at one time as I can get!" :) But in all seriousness, the idea of twins/triplets is a little scary and intimidating, but that's 2 (or 3) for the price of one, and only one pregnancy.
The nurse talked to me all about the procedure and went over the tests with me. Just like last time, I will have to go to their office every couple of days to get ultrasounds to check for cysts, and make sure I am developing the follicles. I will then go every other day during the second week until the follicles are at the right size for insemination. I will be giving myself shots in stomach again, but this time it'll be with a syringe instead of a pen. I'm a tad more nervous for that since I haven't done the syringe shots before. I also found out some interesting news, which could be a possible reason why our IUIs didn't work before.
I got the script for all of the medicines I will be taking, and took it to CVS so I could get it all ordered within the next week. When they told me the cost, they said after insurance I would be paying about $300! I was in shock because I remembered I didn't pay much at all last time we did this. I then told them that I was going to check another pharmacy and see if I could get it cheaper. I called the pharmacy based in Maryland and asked if I could get my meds from them again even though it's through a different doctor. Yes! Long story short, I am getting all of my medications totaling $2500 for FREE! Yep...I won't have to pay a single penny for any of it. Oh, happy day! What a huge blessing.
So that's the plan, my friends. My medications will arrive next Tuesday, and then we will begin IUI process #3 the last week of November. We are both incredibly excited and nervous about this next step, and are trying so hard to not get our hopes up, especially since we will be finding out if it works or not right before Christmas. Now wouldn't that be the best Christmas gift?
I have to try to stay focused and remember that it will happen for us if the Lord is ready to bless us with children. My patience has never been tested more than it has over the last year, since our first IUI. I am so grateful for the friendships I have made through this struggle, and the sisterhood I now have with other women fighting this same fight. We are all in it together, and I pray for them as much as we pray for our future children. I am grateful that Kyhle and I have become closer as husband and wife, and that we have learned many new things about each other through this process. It's not over yet, but I have never felt the comfort that I have been feeling today. I know that staying positive, hopeful, and faithful is what we need to do, and I am grateful that we have amazing family and friends to help us along the way.
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