I had a consultation with my RE today to discuss different protocols for moving forward with infertility treatments. Long story short: he highly recommended going straight to IVF. So that’s kind of what we’re going to do. I want to try a medicated IUI at least once & we scrounged up enough pennies to pay for one cycle, so we’re on track to do our first and only IUI in October. If that fails we’ll have to start digging in the couch cushions for more pennies because IVF will cost $20K-ish (more on that down below).

Honestly, though I’m excited to continue moving forward with treatments and hopeful that there will be a baby in my arms sooner than later, I’ve been having a hard time wrapping my head around IVF. I never thought I’d need to go that far. In my mind, as soon as I fixed the whole not ovulating thing I’d be able to start popping out babies. That seems to not be the case for whatever reason. Moreover, having to resort to IVF for conception totally changes what our family will look like. You see, I’ve always wanted at least 4 kids (ideally 6). Yup. You read that right. With IVF, unless I have twins or triplets twice, that just won’t be possible. A couple clomid cycles or IUIs here or there are manageable costs. Dropping $20K every time we want a kid doesn’t seem like it’ll ever be feasible.

Don’t get me wrong though! I’m not complaining. Just processing what IVF means for our future. All in all I’m very fortunate to go to Shady Grove Fertility, where they offer a shared risk program for IVF that I qualify for. Basically that means we pay an upfront fee that covers everything associated with 6 IVF cycles (except meds … nothing ever covers meds). If by the end of 6 cycles I haven’t delivered a baby, then we get all our money back.

So there you have it. Next month we’ll give it one last go for the year (IUI), and if that doesn’t work we’ll start saving for IVF in the (hopefully) near future!

Have any of you been through IVF? How did you feel when you made the choice to go that route? I’d love to hear your thoughts if you’re willing to share!