Thinking Things Through

So, a lot of my "down time" seems to be consumed with thinking.  Thinking about what could have been different.  Thinking about what to do next.  Thinking about what-ifs.  You name it, I've probably thought about it.

The last three months have been a bit of a whirlwind for us.  Not only have we lost a child and thought we had truly lost all hope of any more children, we were actually given the news that there are ways for us to bear another child.  My OB, who is the greatest in the world, suggested we look into a couple of options.  One was a tubal reversal and the second was IVF (In-Vitro Fertilization).

During a follow-up visit, the OB shared that our success rate with either procedure would be roughly 50%.  Age, egg reserve, etc. plays a huge part with the success of a reversal.  The pros to a reversal are the cost (little out of pocket for us), the "natural" part of conception, the ability to try every month without injectable drugs, etc.  Now, there are down sides.  One down side is my age.  I'm currently 35 years-old.  Hubby is 36.  We're not spring chickens anymore.  Also, I have PCOS, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.  It took us four years to conceive Tyler.  We really don't have four years to wait.  That would push to a very fine line.

On the other hand, there is the possibility of IVF.  Ironically, our insurance will cover the cost at 90%.  The difficult part of that has been finding a doctor who will bill the insurance and accept what they pay.  But that's another story for another day.  :~)  So, yes, our insurance will cover IVF as well as the injectable drugs that must be taken.  Our out of pocket would be so small compared with other women who have taken this route.  There are risks.  The risk of multiple pregnancies is greatly increased with IVF.  The cost per round is astronomical.  And 10% of astronomical is still a lot of money.  But this process by-passes the problem we had for those four years and could potentially make conception a one-shot wonder for us.

There are pros and cons to each procedure.  I'm still not sure which direction to take.  We saw a doctor in St. Louis, but he would not bill my insurance.  I also just felt like a number in their factory.  We are scheduled to see another doctor in Memphis next week and I'm hoping for a personal approach by this clinic.  I still haven't ruled out a tubal reversal, but at this point, I'm just thinking things through.

--Kathy