A man with a plan

AKA our first appointment with the R.E.

We met with the RE and went over all of our medical history. He said that he was sorry that we went through so much trying to get hubby on the right track, but he thinks that we are on a good course of treatment. We also did an ultrasound. The doctor was happy that I am ready to ovulate because he could see the exact "conditions" we're been dealing with. My follie was the right size for an unmedicated cycle...about 18mm. My uterus looks good...no abnormalities. The lining is triple but too thin...only 6mm. The Dr. wants to see at least a 7. He said my lining is like teflon instead of velcro right now. The embryo would just bounce off. So, the plan is to do an IUI w/ femara + a trigger. He thinks my hubby's numbers are good enough to have a good chance of success with IUI. Assuming hubby's numbers are okay and I respond okay, then we'll do 3 to 4 medicated IUIs. If at any point the doctor thinks we just aren't going to have a shot with IUIs then he promised to tell us.

We really like Dr.Castelbaum. He seemed well informed, explained things well, and we felt comfortable with him. He did tell us that we are good candidates for IVF. He wasn't pushing it at all. He said he doesn't think we are there yet, but wanted us to know all of our options. I think he will be honest with us as to what our chances are with IUIs although the thought of financially (and physically) moving onto IVF scares the heck out of me.

So, I gave my blood for some initial tests and then we wait until CD1 when I call. I told him we are out of town on vacation at the end of the month and he said no big deal...we'll discuss what we think the schedule may be on CD1 and figure out if we will be in town then. If we aren't we'll hold off to do the IUI the following cycle.

Now I am sitting down and trying to figure out how much the IUIs will cost us. I know it is $350 for the IUI itself which insurance doesn't cover. Then we have the cost of the meds. I don't know if insurance will cover femara. I will call on monday. I know it won't cover ovidrel...I need to find out how much that costs. I also want to call back the nurse and make sure that our ultrasounds and bloodwork are covered by insurance.

I am excited to have a plan...but also a little scared that my body won't respond or hubby will not have enough sperm.