The Cost of Infertility

This post is mostly going to comprise of a bunch of numbers, but I think it is really important to highlight the financial strain that goes in to infertility on top of all of the emotions. I think it is common knowledge that IVF is crazy expensive and usually used as a last resort. But what about all of the tests, doctors and procedures leading up to it? I am going to highlight just the cost of the month of services surrounding our successful IUI.

I am lucky to have a job that pays a lot of money AND insurance that covers infertility services. I did, however, have to pay a $1500 deductible for the year. The benefit to submitting to my insurance, even though I was still having to pay "full-cost", is that insurance companies have contracted discounted rates and therefore the doc's office or lab cannot charge you more than that rate.

I also had set aside a part of each paycheck (about $48 per paycheck) in to a HSA (health savings account). I don't think it is always worth it to do this, but we knew we would be spending a lot of money this year either trying to get pregnant or being pregnant (or both!). The money set aside basically covers most of my $1500 deductible, so I just have to pay my bills up front, then submit my receipts to my insurance and they cut me a check back for the amount. The major benefit to doing it this way, versus traditional saving, is that the money is taken out pre-tax, so on my taxes I will not get taxed for the $1,248 I put aside for my health care costs.

Below is the list of tests followed by price and amount I was asked to pay for everything involved from my initial visit with Dr. Pasquarette through my pregnancy confirmation test.

                                                                                        Cash Price           I Paid
July 2nd: New patient office visit                                                $185.00                  $85.41
July 2nd: Transvaginal ultrasound (check ovaries/uterus)        $334.00                  $189.05
July 8th: Cystic Fibrosis Titer                                                     $612.50                 $1225**
July 8th: Progesterone Level                                                      $99.00                    $12.97
July 8th: HCG Quantitive Level (pregnancy hormone)              $39.00                    $5.44
July 8th: Rubella Titer                                                                 $87.00                   $17.87
July 8th: Varicella/Zoster Screen                                               $188.00                 $32.06
July 8th: Antibody Screen Reflex                                               $175.00                 $10.01
July 8th: ABO Blood Type                                                          $49.00                   $3.71
July 8th: RH Type                                                                       $35.00                   $4.85
July 12th: 5 days of Femara (prescription)                                $43.83                   $5.00
July 19th: Transvaginal ultrasound (check egg maturity)         $253.00                 $112.68
July 19th: Ovidrel Injection (prescription)                                   $79.50                   $30.00
July 22nd: Sperm Wash                                                             $345.00                 $215.15
July 22nd: IUI                                                                             $300.00                 $129.19
August 12th: Progesterone + HCG Quant (confirm pregnancy) $138.00                 $18.41
August 14th: Progesterone + HCG Quant (recheck levels)        $138.00                 $18.41

Grand Total:                                                                               $3100.83              $890.21

The grand total numbers for cash price may be inflated because all of the lab tests have increased rates that they send to the insurance company. I know this because the cystic fibrosis titer came back rejected from my insurance pending more information. I did not include this amount in my total because I have not paid it yet as I am working/fighting to get this paid through insurance. When talking to the lab they offered me a 50% discount off the price they charged my insurance ($1225.00) which sent me in to fits of rage. What kind of highway robbery is that, I wouldn't want to pay as an insurance company either!! So, assuming all of the labs are inflated by 50%, you could expect the cash price to be closer to $2626.83. Also, a lot of the July 8th blood work is not done until confirmed pregnancy or from a prior pregnancy so not everyone will have as many lab costs.

Moral of the story is, infertility is expensive as shit. I think it is good to understand the financial strains that your friends/co-workers/family might be going through and also to see what the costs are if considering trying more advanced treatments. Of course all of these numbers pay off in the end when you get those two lines on the pregnancy test!

Happy Happy Joy Joy!

So, here is the blog post I've been hoping to write since beginning this blog! Travis and I are excited to announce to the blogosphere that 

WE ARE PREGNANT!! WE ARE PREGNANT!! WE ARE PREGNANT!!

And...we have been pregnant for about 9 weeks (due April 14th). I was very conflicted on when to post this on here, because anyone that has been following the blog knew I should have been posting a yay or nay at the beginning of August. We decided to err on the side of caution and wait until we had some serious confirmation.

Said Confirmation

Here's how it all went down. We had our IUI appointment with Dr. Pasquarette on July 22nd and I spent that entire day on bedrest. After that, I only had 4 days of work before I went on vacation for two (GLORIOUS) weeks. I felt SO tired during those couple days at work. So tired that I nearly fell asleep in the dentist's chair 2 days post procedure and fell asleep before the acupuncturist could apply the needles 3 days post procedure. I know this is too early for even implantation but something was definitely going on! 

I was able to stay really relaxed and not overthink the whole pregnancy thing during the two week waiting period. I cannot attribute it to anything other than I felt at peace with everything we had tried this month. Dr. Pasquarette was so thorough that there was no guesswork or what if's left for me to stress about. I cannot say enough about him or his staff, but if you are reading this, you live anywhere near Wilmington and are going through a similar problem, USE HIM. Get on the waiting list, put up with his quirks and listen to what he says. This man is a miracle worker.

Anyways, I had decided to test on August 2nd because we had a wedding the next day and I wanted to gauge my drinking status beforehand. Plus, I didn't want it to consume my thoughts or put me in a bad mood the day of the wedding. So, here is how my special moment went down. I was in Montana at our hotel. Travis wasn't in town yet because he had a huge state exam to take for his law enforcement certification. Our good friend, Dan, was there but passed out from the bachelor party the night before. I was really excited to test and couldn't sleep so I decided to just go for it. 

I am VERY meticulous about my pee tests. I read the instructions every month and follow to a "t". I was using the first response with the one or two line readout (as per last post). As per instructions, I peed for about 10 seconds, capped the test and set it in a back corner of the bathroom where I couldn't see it and then set my phone timer for 2 minutes. Once 2 minutes was up, I looked at the test and only saw one line - negative. I got upset and cried a little. I picked up the test again to dramatically throw it away in disgust and there, plain as day, were two lines. I suppose my brain just played a little trick on me out of the habit of disappointment. So, then my tears turned to joy and I did a little happy dance alone in the bathroom.

Positive test and a positively tired mama!
Weird fact, I cannot throw these tests away, nine weeks later!

Next came wait time. I wasn't picking up Travis until 11:30 that night, so I got to spend the whole day with me and my secret (sorry Dan you could not be the first to know!). I decided to wrap the positive test in a gift bag to give to him as a "gift" for finishing his exam. I picked him and another friend up from the airport and, once back at the hotel, had to beg him to come up to the room because all he wanted to do was go hang out with his friends. He did agree and when he opened the gift bag, his response was classic: "well no shit."

The next couple days that followed, we literally could not believe it. Travis had me retake a pregnancy test a couple days later just to make sure it wasn't a fluke. The second test came back VERY positive but the anxiety still continued. I went in for a 2 part series of blood tests measuring my HCG (pregnancy) hormone and progesterone levels, separated two days apart. When those came back positive (within range), I then worried that the baby wouldn't thrive. Studies show 15-20% of pregnancies end in miscarriage, that is almost one in five! 

We were able to schedule an ultrasound for week 7 (which they have to do vaginally that early in the game) and it couldn't come soon enough. I was so nervous that morning that when they started the scan I couldn't talk. They first did a quick scan to count the # of babies, which is only 1 for us! They did find 2 other follicles which I believe means that out of my 4 viable eggs, three tried to fertilize/implant and then the 1 was successful. Pretty crazy! They slowed the scan down to focus on our baby and found the heart beating, which you can actually see beating. Then you could hear it (137 beats per minute, just FYI)! And I just died, literally could not hold my tears in any more. I was so happy and just so relieved. 

So I know I am not completely in the clear but I feel really confident with the battery of early tests that were done and I FEEL pregnant. Now it is about staying as stress free as possible, drinking lots of water and trying not to eat everything in sight (I am one of the lucky ones without morning sickness). Here is the announcement that we just sent out to our friends and family:

Duty Starts April 2014!

And in the meantime our family got a second surprise. My sister, Becca and her boyfriend, Josh are ALSO expecting a baby. Becca is due about two weeks before me, but found out about a week after I did. I'm pretty sure there was a little divine intervention in the timing of everything. I am so happy and excited for them but had the news come before we got pregnant, the pill would have been a lot to swallow. Now we get to go through pregnancy together and our babies get to grow up together! We did a 3 part series for our dual pregnancy announcement:

Baby Stachel due March 2014; Baby Galan due April 2014

So, to conclude I just have to say a huge thank you from the bottom of my (and Baby G's) beating heart to everyone that took the time to read this blog and send their advice and words of support to us. I honestly believe that the support, prayers and good thoughts were a huge part of making this finally happen and I cannot express how touched I am by all of my amazing friends and family. I am going to keep blogging, both on some continued infertility topics and about my trials and tribulations as a first time preggo. I hope everyone keeps reading and sharing!