Pictures!

My fridge full! 

The total gamut of meds for this IVF cycle

Put 'er right there in the left cheek, please...

You should have seen Dustins eyes as he asked "does the whole thing have to go in?"

After rearranging, they all fit nicely in the crisper drawer!

***Sorry this is so goofy looking...Im just today figuring out how to post pictures!

No room for groceries...

We need to get groceries.  The problem is, after putting all of my meds in the fridge, there is not any room left for food!  I wish I knew how to post pictures in my blogs, I would take a picture and show you.  The Doctor changed many of the drugs I am using this IVF cycle in hopes that with different drugs, I would receive different results than the last miserably failed IVF cycle.

Many of the drugs are now given thru IM injections, rather than sub q ones.  What this means, other than the fact that the meds take up much more room in the fridge, is that I now get to bare my heiney to multiple people daily.  Dustin is terrified to give me shots, and seeing how I am not flexible enough to shoot myself in my own tookus, I had to recruit others to do so for me.  So, I never in my life thought I would be baring my tush at work for my co-workers but.....I AM!  The things one is willing to do in the name of hope!

Last time I took pictures of the bruises on my stomach from all the shots....maybe Ill get one of my tush too!  Maybe Ill even figure out how to post them!  Ha!

Day One

Its starting.  Its 8 PM and I just gave myself my first injection in the IVF cycle.  This drug they have started me on, Lupron, will put my body into menopause so that I do not release the eggs that I make next month. I will take this drug nightly, along with my prenatal vitamin, my birth control pill (so that I actually get a period!) and a low dose aspirin.

 I'm excited to start actively pursuing a child again....it seems like we took a long time off from actively doing something.  We took many months to recoup, think, pray, discuss, pray, pray, pray about what our next step should be.  It feels good to actually do it now.  I know that the next few weeks will feel like they drag by since I am excited.  I'm working some different hours, and more hours than in the past few weeks, so the time should pass quickly.  Wish us a luck and send a prayer above for us, please.

Close call!

Many people gripe and complain about insurance companies, and sometimes I can understand why.  But let me tell you why I am L-O-V-I-N-G my insurance company right now:


Some of you may remember the last minute issue I had in January for the pre-authorization on my IVF procedure.  For those of you who are not aware of what I am talking of, let me fill you in.  We were all set to attempt our first round of IVF for Feb of this year.  I had faxed the pre authorization form to my Doctors office for them to fill out and then send on to Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Massachusetts. 

The time drew near for me to start on the Lupron (the first steps/meds taken in an IVF cycle) and I still had not received my approval from the insurance company.  I finally called them and was told that they had never received a pre auth request from my doctors office.  The docs office then claimed they had never received it from me when I faxed it (though I DID have the fax confirmation that I had received saying it went thru to them).  The Docs office scrambled, the insurance company scrambled, and at the last minute, I received the OK to go ahead with the procedure. 


Fast forward to July of this year:  the EXACT SAME THING HAPPENED!  I faxed the pre auth form to the docs office.  Only this time, I got smart and called to confirm that they had received it.  They had and said they would fill it out and fax it to BC/BS of Mass right away.  Weeks go by.  No word from the ins. company.  I'm starting my cycle.  I should be starting on the Lupron in the next 10-15 days.  Still no word.  I called the insurance company to see what the status is on my request.  Surprise, surprise!  They never received a request from my doctors office!  Now I'm furious!  Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me!  I'm looking on the Internet to find a new fertility clinic.  Lucky for my Doctor, there aren't any closer to us than Indy other than him.  Guess I'm stuck with his incompetent staff!  So, I call the docs office back.  Again, they insist they never got the fax I sent....which I point out is funny since they confirmed they got it the day I sent it, and, bummer for them, I wrote down the day, time, and person I talked to so now they cant worm out of it!  SO....I'm not sure what they did on their end:  beg, grovel, bribe, threaten?!?!  but some how they got the approval from my insurance company in 24 hours!  Unheard of!  A record!  It usually takes 6 to 8 weeks! 


So....we are back on track for IVF the end of August. 


That being said, I have complete trust in my Doctor, but obviously not in his staff any longer!  When I called them to see why my insurance company didn't receive the request, they hem hawed around about it, tried to blame it on me, and made a myriad of excuses before finally accepting that it MIGHT be their fault.  AGAIN.  I love Dr. Bopp, and he has been good to us for years now.  But I do think if this IVF doesn't work, and we continue to seek treatment, I may look into a new fertility clinic.  I cannot handle bad customer service, nor can I handle a company CONSISTENTLY loosing my personal information time and again!  Who knows where it went!!!


On the plus side, KUDOS for Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Mass for pulling thru not once but twice!  Please take note that the Massachusetts part of that company is very important.  I only have infertility coverage because my company's US headquarters are in Mass, and Mass is one of a few states that requires infertility coverage!  See, the liberals are good for one thing, at least! 


Alls well that ends well, right!?!

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

What is your favorite children's book?  Which book holds the best memories for you as a child?  Are they one and the same?  Or two different books?  Those of you who know me know how much I love to read pretty much anything I can get my hands on.  So, I've been thinking about children's books today.

A friend of mine and I are hosting a baby shower this evening.  (Yes, I know, ME hosting a BABY SHOWER?!  Ironic, isn't it!?!  It actually isn't bothering me...shes a great gal and I've never felt like she has rubbed her pregnancy in my wounds.  Its actually been kind of fun.)  Part of the invite included wording for those who are coming to bring a children's book, rather than a card.  So, I've been debating which child's book I should take.  I had so many favorites....which to choose?  "Are You My Mother?"  "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs"  "The Velveteen Rabbit" "Amelia Bedelia" "The Bernstein Bears"  I could go on...

I thought I had settled on Cloudy With a  Chance of Meatballs.  I even bought it.  But then found out yesterday someone else also got Oliver (that's the baby's name) that book so now I have a book for if I ever have kids. So....I had a list of things to get done this morning before heading to the church to set up for the shower.  My hubby spent the morning fishing so I called and asked him to stop on his way home and pick me up a new book to save me the time of running to the store.  He came home with two books:  Curious George (which I LOVED as a kid!!!) from me.......and a WWF wrestling book about the Undertaker from him!  FUNNY!  The babies Dad will love it! 

That brings me back to my original question:  What was your favorite book as a child? 

We had a great 4th here.  We had a cookout and invited anyone who wanted to join us.  The pool was a big hit with the kids.  Corn hole and ladderball for the adults!  Thanks to all who came.  We really enjoyed having you here to celebrate the day with us!

Sunny days, chasing the clouds away...

So the weeks seem to be flying by this summer.  We've got so much going on, I can't seem to keep my days straight.  Case in point:

A friend of ours asked yesterday "what are you doing for Big D's birthday?" 

My answer;  "when is it?" 

Our church puts out a monthly calender that includes all birthdays, anniversaries, meetings, etc on it.  Its a good thing they do, too, because it had completely slipped my mind that my husbands birthday is NEXT WEEK!  Yikes! 

So, I suggested having people over either this Sunday or next for swimming, a cookout, a campfire, and cake and ice cream.  Dustin gave the idea the O.K., with the exception of the cake and ice cream (he doesn't want me to do anything special for his birthday with a group....just the two of us!)  So....if you are free this Sunday, feel free to come over!  Bring your swimming suits, a lawn chair, and a smile!  We'd love to have you join us!

On another note, I woke up this morning to my laundry room flooded for the third time in two weeks!  The first time was frustrating, the second was kind of comical....this third time, its just getting absurd! 

I called my brother, Tyler, and he came over and worked on it for a bit.  He needs to do some torching to it so is stopping by tonight to finish fixing it after he gets the torch. In the meantime, Dave brought over his dehumidifier, which I'm running in there to suck up all the moisture that is now in the walls, under the washer/dryer, etc.  All in all, a pretty funny story!  Guess God felt it was time for me to scrub the floors in there.....more than once!  Ha!

I hope you are all having a great week!