My husband and I were married May 2010. I was 34 and he was 37 and I knew we married
later but felt really good about our careers and that we were settled and we
both couldn't wait to start a family. We
began trying to have a child shortly after we were married.
I began temping, charting etc and after about 6 months of
trying and seeing a negative pregnancy test each month I began to worry that
something wasn't right. I went to my OB
and had FSH, AMH, HSG, Saline Sonogram etc and my husband did several tests
including a sperm analysis test and we waited for the results. My tests came back okay but my husband's test
showed he had a very low sperm count. We
were told to meet with an RE and that our chances of having a child of our own
was less than 1%. We were devastated and
told IVF with ICSI was our only chance of having a baby. I have good insurance and live in CA - A
mandated state for infertility insurance - but I found out we had no IVF
insurance coverage for medications or the procedure.
We saved for the first cycle and medications which were over
$20k and our cycle didn't go as planned and we failed that cycle. Our RE told us to walk away and not
"break the bank”. During this
difficult time I consider myself so lucky and fortunate to have met a wonderful
group of women on the bump boards for TTC after 35 and the IF board to help me. I had so many questions and they were
incredibly supportive. I really believe
that without these ladies I don't know that I would have been able to continue
this process for a second time and really believe IVF could work for us.
We switched RE's and began the process all over again. We exhausted our savings from our first cycle
and started saving again. I signed up
for the OOP Meds donation program. This
cycle my meds were doubling and the price was doubling too. If I was lucky to receive any donations - I
was beyond grateful. I received
responses from women all over the country who were willing to ship their meds
to me. I offered to always pick up shipping
as a small gesture and many women wouldn't accept and I sent Thank You cards to
all and yet it seems like such a small gesture for what they were doing for
me. It is really important to me that
they know without them I wouldn't be here - where I am today.
I'm 30 weeks along and due August 19th with a baby boy. As I write this the tears fall because I want
all these women to know that the OOP Meds donation program and the ladies that
run it and dedicate their time are truly angels to me.
There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of these
women. I think of all the women that are
still going through IVF after multiple cycles and still trying for their take
home baby - these ladies will be a part of me always and I will continue to
follow their journeys.
