On the road to IVF

We had our IVF consult this morning. It went really well; the sticker shock has definitely set in, but it wasn't as bad as we thought it might be. Granted, we could be driving around in a nice, expensive two-seater convertible for what this is gonna cost us, but I'd rather be in our regular ol' cars with baby seats strapped in the back.

I have a protocol in hand, but we're verifying that it's the correct one before I spend a lot of time researching it. Basically, the Dr. ordered this protocol based on my bad set of numbers, not the newer, happier set. I want to make sure it's not too aggressive a protocol. I mean, we want one baby – not eight!

I am so grateful for the online communities and friends I have found during this process. It was so nice to be able to sit there and understand everything I was told without having to ask a million questions. Yes, you can show me how to give myself a shot in my stomach. No, you don't have to explain ICSI or assisted hatching.

My favorite part of the appointment was when the IVF nurse handed me this really cheesy presentation with goofy graphics that explains the IVF process. (No, seriously. There was a graphic of a Dr. up on a stepladder holding up a ginormous telescope, looking at an egg in a petrie dish. Really?) She told me we should look through the presentation before we read the technical "novel" they give out on IVF. I pulled out my own copy of the novel that I was given six weeks ago and said, "This novel? Yeah, I've already read it. But aren't these little pictures fun!"

So, we're on our own for this cycle, then will start suppression next cycle. If all goes well, we should be doing our egg retrieval and transfer near the end of the year. This would actually work out well, as I've completely exhausted my vacation and sick days this year. January 1 I get five whole more sick days to blow! Let's hope at least a couple of them are spent sitting around letting an embie or two burrow in for the long haul.