Monetarily speaking. I wouldn't even begin to know how to put a price on the emotional toll, the days missing from my life when I was heartbroken, the issues I had in my marriage, all from infertility. All I can do is look through my checkbook.
My friend Julie spoke to her cost, which made me figure out how much I spent on my journey to conceive this baby.
IUI #1: $650
IUI #2: $500
Monitored cycle: $350
Meds for IUI/Monitored: $120
Co-pays for all of 2007 RE visits: ~$960
OPKs/HPTs/Ferning Microscope/pre~seed: $250
Ovulation Monitor: $100
Monitor test strips: $90
Vitamins/Supplements: $75
2 years of FF membership: $90
Co-pays for 2008 RE visits: ~$720
IUI #3: $500
IVF/FET out of pocket (not incl copays): $3,000
IVF meds: $250
FET meds: $350 (due to viagra)
acupuncture IVF package: $650
acupuncture FET package: $400
Out of pocket for HSGs, HSSs, and 4 surgeries: $1000 approx.
2 frozen sperm cycles: $450
Total out of pocket cost ~I spent~ to conceive this baby: $10,340.00
Quite a bundle if I may say so myself.
Now. On the other hand, so far you all have read what's been going on with this pregnancy: Ectopic scares in the beginning resulting in u/s and tons of blood tests. The Nuchal Translucency test. The blood screen. The Down's Syndrome scare. The CVS. The cord issue. The weekly BPP which consists of 30 minutes of heart beat monitor plus an ultrasound (that's 26 ultrasounds). A growth u/s every 4 weeks. OB appointments: every 4 weeks from 8-30 weeks, every 2 weeks from 30-36 weeks, every week from 36-40 weeks.
Total out of pocket cost ~I will spend~ to grow this baby: $20.
The insurance people sure are screwed up, aren't they?
update: Ack. I meant to talk about how the amount I spent is literally a drop in the bucket to ~so~ many other people. Denise's comment reminded me I did not say that. Just wanted to get that out there.
... Once (and still) Infertile, but still Schnarky as hell. This blog is dedicated to the daily ramblings from the mind of Nancy. It isn't about anything profound in the grand scheme of things, but it ~is~ about things in my life, schnarkiness always included. I have a second blog, listed in my profile, but the blogs will continue to remain separate.
"I'm aiming for heaven, but I'll probably wind up down in hell"
About Me
- nancy
- I am a 39 year old woman. I am the mother of two beautiful daughters and a handsome son. I am a career woman. As for my TTC world, it certainly doesn't seem like I am "infertile", but I fought for my pregnancies and my TTC/IF history is on the sidebar. I have two blogs, which are both listed in my profile. One focuses on my daily life - including IF, TTC, pregnancy, delivery and even some "children mentioned" posts. The second blog is ~soley~ posts directly about being the mother to my three children.
Belly Pics for #3 only.
Click stick figure to see the consecutive pictures from this pregnancy only.
My TTC History
- Jul 01 ~ married
- Jan 02 ~ First cycle off bcps and opk shows ovulation!
- Dec 02 ~ Went to pcp for RE referral
- Jan 03 ~ Testing commences. S/A perfect. HSG clear.
- Feb 03 ~ Lap #1. All clear.
- Apr 03 ~ Clomid cycle #1. BFN.
- May 03 ~ Clomid cycle #2. BFN.
- Jun 03 ~ Clomid cycle #3. BFN.
- Jul 03 ~ Supposed to be IUI#1, but we missed cd3 so natural cycle
- Aug 03 ~ BFP on C18.
- Apr 04 ~ Ella born.
- Oct 04 ~ decided to ttc #2 and went off minipill to see if I am ovulating. I am. Will start next month.
- Nov 04 ~ TTC#2 starts. BFP. Holy Crap. No freaking way. No way.
- Aug 05 ~ Allison born
- Oct 06 ~ IUD removed. TTC#3
- Jan 07 ~ Large cysts found.
- Feb 07 ~ Femara cyle #1
- Mar 07 ~ Started w/ RE. HSG #2 showed R tube blocked. S/A normal.
- Mar 07 ~ more cysts, up to 9cms.
- Apr 07 ~ more cysts, 3 @ 7-9cms.
- May 07 ~ IUI #1 cancelled due to more cysts
- Jun 07 ~ IUI #1 (take two) w/ Clomid. BFN.
- Jul 07 ~ HSS showed scar tissue in 70% of uterus. Diagnosed with Asherman's Syndrome. Uterine surgery #2
- Aug 07 ~ HSG #3 showed clear tubes.
- Aug 07 ~ IUI #2 w/ Femara. BFN.
- Sept 07 ~ Monitored w/ hCG trigger. BFN.
- Oct 07 ~ HSS #2 showed scar tissue in 30% of uterus. Uterine surgery #3.
- Dec 07 ~ HSS #3 showed tiny amount of scar tissue. Uterine surgery #4.
- Jan 08 ~ HSS #4 showed clear uterus.
- Jan 08 ~ IUI #3, C16. BFN.
- Mar 08 ~ IVF #1, Transfer Cancelled due to lining. Out of 15 eggs, 9 were mature and all 9 fertilized. I have named my 9 embryos "The Mod Squad" and they are in the freezer, waiting for mommy to be ready.
- Apr/May 08 ~ FET #1. C20. 4 embryos "The Fab Four" transferred on 5/05. BFP!!! Very Low Beta (15 at 11dp3dt) but the numers continued to double every 48 hours. Told it was "most likely not viable" and later "most likely ectopic" but we beat all the odds.
- May 16, 08 ~ 11dp3dt (4w0d), beta #1: 15
- May 19, 08 ~ 14dp3dt (4w3d), beta #2: 43
- May 23, 08 ~ 18dp3dt (5w0d), beta#3: 213
- May 27, 22dp3dt (5w4d), beta #4: 1,073
- Jun 08 - Ultrasound showed one heartbeat at 7 weeks.
- Jul 08 - Had CVS testing. Chromosomes are normal and it's a BOY!! EDD: 1/23
- Aug 08 - Jan 09 ~ High risk due to: 1) Velamentous Cord Insertion, deemed biggest risk 2) Previous Placenta Accreta 3) Previous rapid degraged placenta 4) IVF alone can create weak placenta 5) AMA - Advanced Maternal Age. -- All resulting in almost 30 u/s and lots of testing, which ended up saving my life.
- Jan 09 (38w0d) ~ Karl is born! -- Crazy 3 days in hospital. Manual version to flip baby from breech to head down, Labor, Delivery, Emergency surgery due to cord detaching from placenta, Scary heart issues from losing over 40% of my blood supply, and then a blood transfusion due to the extreme loss of blood. Whew!
Blog Archive
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2008
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October
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- ~~ I Gained Weight!!! ~~
- Pictures are fun.
- Sorry Tampa Bay
- WhatEVER Chicklet.
- Because I'm an Idiot Too.
- I Like Big Butts and I Cannot Lie
- It's hard to keep my mouth shut
- The Day After
- I Feel Like Such a Fool.
- Sexy Hot (and pregnant?)
- A Few Quick Pictures
- I'm in Arizona
- My Boy's 1st Tees
- Bullets.
- We got robbed.
- Sometimes I just can't help myself.
- ICLW!
- Things I don't "do"
- It's monday.
- There's always two ways to look at something.
- Come Out Tonight.
- I don't deserve this.
- Name just ~one~ thing.
- My Cost of Infertility
- I have a new post for today
- I'm lighting my candle now.
- Do you know what today is?
- HumDillyDum.
- Elective Inductions?
- Sheesh. Do I post ~that~ much?
- A poll for infertiles.
- Things I learned from IF.
- Let's get it going on a Monday
- A question for the mommies out there ...
- Photographic Proof I ~am~ a Dork.
- Staying up past midnight.
- Thank Goodness it's Friday.
- The Big Baby Penis.
- No baby shower for me and Karl.
- My body
- Home Schooling.
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October
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14 comments:
I hear ya... yesterday I picked up some birth control pills for my next IUI cycle... no copay, just walked out with them. Health insurance sure is strange in what they choose to cover.
That's crazy, but not surprising. The state of health care/insurance costs in this country is in shambles. I hope whomever makes it into office next makes healthcare a top priotity.
Insurance companies just plain suck.
Mine pays 100% for almost everything to do with prenatal care and delivery (small charge I'll have to pay, about $10/day, for the hosital I'll deliver at). On the flip side, I had co-pays for all of my visits once my last pregnancy was determined to be non-viable. That was nice.
I'm even scared to total up my costs. I don't think I'll ever summon up the courage to calculate and "know" the number.
Insurance sure is screwed up - in so many ways! But I am so so grateful that my plan covers IF treatment. There's no way I could have reached where I am, or known what I do without our insurance coverage!
Insurance is DUMB. Plain and simple.
This whole TTC thing is ass-backwards. In the beginning, I was all "Save money! Save money!" I have since spent saved money plus so much more.
Ugh.
That just puts into perspective how clearly fucked up health insurance is in our country.
I don't even want to count how much we spent to conceive. The shared risk program alone (which didn't cover meds, assisted hatching, anesthesia, embryo freezing, or any of the IUI's prior) was almost 3 times your number. Vomit. That being said, we would have spent more if we didn't do shared risk.
This is like a mastercard commercial..hehe but you forgot to add this...
Having little Karl to hold in my arms, Priceless
For everything else there mastercard hehe.
Its def worth the $$ in the end!
Oh my. I'm very impressed that you keep records in that kind of detail.
But thought provoking,
J
Adding, I think I'm well over ten grand myself, and IVF is cheap here....
Ain't that a bitch? People say babies are expensive, but they usually mean after they are born, not before they are conceived.
I like the growing part though :) It gives me visions of a little cabbage patch...
Insurance companies are messed up. I really think ivf should be covered. If it was, then most people would only transfer 1 or 2 embryos at a time. They would save money big time on less multiples! I've been fortunate with ivf to be in a study where I only paid $1100. But I will have to pay quite a bit for having the baby (at least $2000).
yep, now that I am knocked up, I have only paid $35... they only want to cover care for living tissue. No coverage for fertility treatment or the anaesthesia for my D&C - hypothetical and dead babies aren't worth the investment, apparently.
i pay $350 deductible at the beginning of calendar year, up front.... 20% each dr visit there after every visit... and if i get PG... it's $200 for each U/S 3-d 4-d not included, must pay in full... 20% each check-up or exam and depending on when it is born, will depend on the delivery costs... 12 weeks unpaid by law... and if i take longer i'm not guaranteed my job back, but i would save more money by staying home after that... gas prices, daycare... but then i would lose my ins... it's a catch 22, i'd have to spend $775 to keep $800... i think i'd rather be a SAHM for $25... this system sucks.....
The costs are astronomical! Its amazing what we are charged for things. My husband is a type 1 diabetic... when out of work he had to pay full price for all his supplies, supplies that allow him to live. Just live. So sad.
I know my sister during her adoption process payed more than 40K
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