Insurance calculations

Here is an example of how screwed up the whole health care/insurance industry is.

I went through and added up all of my claims on my insurance for IF related stuff.
The grand total that the insurance has been charged (or what I would have been charged had I not had insurance) is $15,188.95. WOW

The total they have actually paid (since they have agreed prices with the Dr.) is $6276.93.

That is less that half of what I would have paid had I been self pay.

I think that is so unfair. I mean the people without insurance usually can not afford insurance yet they are being charged the most for the services that they are receiving.

And another thing that really upsets me about insurance, at least here in Texas, is that none of the private policies really cover maternity. Meaning if I am self-employed and just pay my insurance privately, maternity will be MINIMALLY covered at best. Hopefully things have changed since I was looking into it 4+ years ago, but back then there was ONE company that covered maternity and that was if you had been with them a year and only up to $3000. THAT IS IT. So I guess mid-income self employed women either have to pay their own pre-natal care or they just don't get it.
We had to pay for our own care, even though we had insurance. The policy didn't cover maternity.

I don't know what the answer is to fix the problem, but something needs to be done about it. I hope whoever gets elected President will be able to, at least, get a plan started to turn this around.


I just don't understand...

Halfway through the 2WT

We are half way there. I went in this morning for Estrogen and Progesterone tests. They said they would call me if I needed to increase or decrease meds. If I heard nothing from them everything was fine.

I kinda wanted to know the numbers but I do know that they will be skewed because I am on supplements and I do know that even if they are high it doesn't mean that I am pg. So I guess it is best for me not to know- one less thing to stress about right?!?

They said to take a pg test on the 14th and call them if positive. If negative stop meds and call them on cd 1. I expected that they would want to do a beta either way, but at least this way is saving me the $30 copay I guess.

Monday is so far away...

The inlaws are coming this weekend to visit so at least it will be a busy weekend to keep my mind off of it.

Will I test before Monday?? Probably! It would be fun to tell both sets of Grandparents on Sat night when we all go out to dinner. Maybe, just maybe that will happen.

We have our fingers crossed...

Funny thought

I was just reading on an IF support group. A girl on there was asking all kinds of questions about her DH having to give a "sample". She was embarrassed and said he was embarrassed...

So the other ladies on there were giving her support and telling her it wasn't that bad and some things to bring to make it easier for him to "perform"

One of the suggestions was a LAMP in case the room didn't have soft lighting.
A lamp? Really?
Can you see a man sitting in the waiting room with a lamp?

I really got a kick out of that response. I wonder if he brought a lamp with him??!!

IUI complete

Ok IUI is complete. RE said the "sample" was great and that everything looked good.
I wished I would have gotten another ultrasound or something but didn't- just the IUI.

I need to start Prog. and Estrace tomorrow.

Don't know about follow up- I think I will need a prog test in about a week, but my RE wasn't there, it was the on-call Dr. I will call on Wednesday to find out what the next step is.

Jason and I are going to the hockey game tonight to ring in the New Year. Should be alot of fun. The city of Dallas is putting on a big party at Victory Park, which is where the Stars play, complete with fireworks and everything. Driving home scares me a bit- but I am the designated driver so it should be fine.

Happy New Year!! Hopefully 2008 will bring a BABY!

We've TRIGGERED!!!

So I went for a follie check yesterday. It was good!!

Lefty had 19.5mm, 18mm and 15mm
Righty had 17mm, 17mm, 15mm and 14mm
Lining was 9.3

RE said he would have liked to see a follicle at 20 BUT since I had so many that were pretty close if we did the stims one more night he would have to cancel. Each follie 17 or bigger has the chance of maturing with the trigger shot.

We did the trigger shot last night at around 8pm
I go in tomorrow morning (New Year's Eve) for the IUI.

I am so excited! Maybe I have a chance this cycle! Supposedly you have a better chance post-lap and this is my first cycle post lap.
Also I have 4 nice follies that could mature- So the fimbria will have more than one chance to pick one up.

My old friend, "HOPE", is here. Jason thinks this is our lucky cycle. He says there have been signs pointing to that-I hope he is right!

Tomorrow begins the "two week wait"-- UGH!!!

CD 13 ultrasound

Woo-Hoo, they have grown!!!

Lefty has 16.5mm, 15mm & 11mm
Right has 14mm,13mm, 12mm and 11.5mm
Lining is 7.7 (needs to be 8)

So two more nights of shots, another ultrasound on the 29- then probably trigger that night and do IUI on the 31st! So a New Year's baby is possible

Wow- this has been a rollercoaster- I can't imagine how it feels to be doing IVF and all of the money to be coming out of your pocket.
There is no way we could be doing this!!!

I am very pleased with the results at this point! Hopefully this will be the one and only time we have to do this!!!

CD 10 ultrasound

I had this ultrasound on Christmas Eve. It was kind of a bummer-- I had quite a few follies but none over 8mm. I had 4 on righty around 8mm and then a bunch of smaller ones. Can't remember the exact measurements of lefty but I think close to the same as righty. My lining was also a bit thin-- I think 6mm- but the ultrasound tech said that is normal considering how small the follies are. As the follies grow, the lining should grow as well.

It is still early but I looked at my last monitored cycle with Clomid and at this point they were 18mm, 16mm and some smaller ones. So I am a bit discouraged.

I suppose is a good thing there aren't a ton of big ones which would run the risk of having to cancel or convert to IVF, since the chance of multiples would be higher.
BUT I was expecting to see at least one or two big ones considering I have been doing the injections.

The Dr. bumped up my dose of the injections to 150 units for 3 nights.
I go back tomorrow to see if they have grown--

Grow follies Grow!!