The Baby Journals

About the health insurance thing.  We went to State Farm Thursday to talk to them about it, and unfortunately, a call to the underwriter confirmed that their policies would not cover any testing, diagnosis, or treatment for infertility.  Bummer.

So, if anyone out there has any suggestions of an insurance company that may cover these things without a year waiting period, please let me know.  Insurance is so complicated and confusing and I feel like I’m drowning in all the information out there.  Of course I feel like if I’m honest with any company about my plans, they’ll immediately turn us down.  It’s like I’m saying, “I’d like to pay $300 a month for coverage, and, oh yeah, next month I’m going to claim over $1000 in tests, followed by $3000 in prescription drugs.”  Sort of sounds crazy to me.

Help?

I ran across this here. Just want to do my part to spread the word!

For anyone who has ever had a miscarriage, struggled with pregnancy, and all things infertile…there is a movement upon us that you might want to join. It’s rather simple actually: a discreet ribbon on your right wrist to signal to others that they are not alone in their struggles.

Pomegranates, a longstanding symbol of fertility, serve as a strong analogy to those suffering through infertility. Though each pomegranate skin is unique in colour and texture, the seeds inside are remarkably similar from fruit to fruit. Though our diagnosis is unique—endometriosis, low sperm count, luteal phase defect, or causes unknown—the emotions, those seeds on the inside, are the same from person to person. Infertility creates frustration, anger, depression, guilt, and loneliness. Compounding these emotions is the shame that drives people suffering from infertility to retreat into silence.

In addition, the seeds represent the multitude of ways one can build their family: natural conception, treatments, adoption, third-party reproduction, or even choosing to live child-free.

The pomegranate-colored thread holds a two-fold purpose: to identify and create community between those experiencing infertility as well as create a starting point for a conversation. Women pregnant through any means, natural or A.R.T., families created through adoption or surrogacy, or couples trying to conceive during infertility or secondary infertility can wear the thread, identifying themselves to others in this silent community. At the same time, the string serves as a gateway to conversations about infertility when people inquire about its purpose. These conversations are imperative if we are ever to remove the social stigma attached to infertility.Tie on the thread because you’re not alone. Wear to make aware. Join us in starting this conversation about infertility by purchasing this pomegranate-colored thread (#814 by DMC) at any craft, knitting, or variety store such as Walmart or Target. Tie it on your right wrist. Notice it on others. Just thought I would pass the word along!

We went to Jacksonville yesterday for our first meeting with Dr. W.  I would say that it went very well.  He was very helpful with making plans, and very informative about the procedure itself.  It was sort of surreal to be sitting there and actually moving toward this long time dream of ours.  It still doesn’t quite feel real yet – I guess when I start having to jab myself with a needle to the stomach for 12-14 days straight, I will wish it didn’t feel so real!

Anyway, Dr. W suggested that we look into getting some type of insurance policy that would at least cover the doctor visits, and maybe the medications.  Believe it or not, if we can get that, it could save us as much as $3000 (the drug companies must be making billions).  Of course we’ll be paying a premium, but it could very well be worth it in the long run.  So, I’m looking into that ASAP so we can go back for our 2nd appointment.

When we go back, we’ll both be undergoing some testing.  He wants to make sure that there is no simple reason that I was losing the other 4 pregnancies before I get pregnant again.  He’ll do some chromosomal testing on us both, a test for clotting factors, and an x-ray to look at my uterus.  This is why he suggested insurance as well.  He was talking about how expensive these tests were, and that insurance would cover them all.  I was thinking in the thousands, so it made me feel good when he said they could be as much as $800!  I’m glad to know he thinks that is expensive.

Also on that visit, Jay will have to do the infamous semen analysis.  I’m sure you can imagine the jokes that were flying all the way home about that one.  My mom was with us and Jay was having too much fun trying to embarrass her!  I said that in the future I would have to put a **WARNING, GRAPHIC CONTENT** on this blog!  I guess that is the nature of reproductive science!

As soon as these tests are done, and we get the “all is well” we can start the IVF process.  It would be great if we could start it in January!  So, please pray that all the tests will come back with normal results, and that we can get a good insurance plan that doesn’t break the bank.  Also pray for the upcoming benefit concert that our friends are putting on for us.  It would be amazing to be able to pay for all of the procedure up front without finances being an extra burden on us.   Right now we’re looking at needing about $10,000.  We had about $1,200 saved up before we started this and we’ve cut into that to pay for yesterday’s appointment, and we’ll be using some of it to get an insurance plan started.

That’s about it – I’ll be sure to keep the updates coming.  Thanks for listening!

~Brooke~

Well, I’m finally ready to share! About a month ago, our good friends T.J. and Kim Thompson took us to dinner and shared with us that they would like to host a benefit concert for us at The Ritz. We were beyond surprised, and so grateful! So now it’s all coming together and I am proud to share that we will be the benefactors of a night of amazing music with some of the most talented musicians around!

A special thanks to Chris Moncus for an amazing poster design, and other advertisement helps! I hope all of you who live anywhere nearby will come out, and help spread the word. I promise, the music will be amazing, and it would help us reach our goal! Don’t we have great friends?!

Guess you’re probably wondering what the sausage is all about.  I promise you’ll get it in a minute.

So, I picked up my medical records yesterday for my appointment with Dr. W on the 25th.  This morning, while killing time before class, I pulled them out to read them. (These are the full records of my surgery from 2005 when I had a ruptured tube from an ectopic pregnancy) Granted, half of the words I didn’t understand – like, salpingectomy and hemoperitoneum.  However, I almost fell out of my chair laughing when I read this:  “The left tube was dilated, looking like a swollen sausage”.  Parts of my organs have been compared to breakfast food.  Nice.  I slightly remember this being said while I was in the hospital back in 2005, but I was so drugged up that it was quite blurred.

Really, though, medical records are quite entertaining.  Get past the fact that I lost all chance of ever getting pregnant the natural way, and there’s actually some funny stuff in there.  He used words like “soft and boggy” to describe my uterus (sorry, is that TMI?) and listed under “General” says “The patient is a pale looking white female in distress (duh) laying on the exam table.  Ha!  I think distress is an understatement.  Try “inches from the edge” or “complete and total panic accompanied by severe, blinding pain”.  Either of those will suffice.  It’s much easier to joke about it now that it’s been two years.  Maybe that’s just the “infertile” way of coping.  Oh, and I’ve adopted a new condition…it’s called “Infertourrettes” and it’s something like regular Tourrettes, but you’re infertile and you just start spouting off TMI about everything fertility oriented.  The word was coined especially for women like me by Erin at The Vicious Cycle of Cycles.  I liked it.

I guess that’s it.  Just needed a bit of comic relief for the end of the week.   Enjoy your weekend!

~Brooke~