IVF Infertility Treatments
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Mark and I have been trying to have a baby for 3 years now. About a year into our quest for a child, we started working with our doctor in Glenwood Springs to find out why we weren't having any luck. After multiple tests came back abnormal, we found out that I had to have surgery to make our dream possible. We also discovered that my thyroid was low, so I placed on medication along with a few other supplements to help make our dream come true. A fertility doctor diagnosed me with a septated uterus and endometriosis. I had surgery in June of 2016 to get rid of the abnormality that I was born with. Our doctor was hopeful that this was all I needed because without it we wouldn't be able to have children. After I was fully healed (3 months after my surgery), I was put on fertility medication to help my body ovulate naturally, but still this was having no effect. In January of 2017 we started doing IUI infertility treatments with our doctor locally in Glenwood Springs. We did two rounds with my doctor in Glenwood Springs with no luck, so we went back to our infertility doctor in Denver. He changed the fertility medication I was taking because the previous one put me on such a rollercoaster of emotions. Our next round took place in July and again we had no luck. He changed my course of treatment to now include injections that Mark gives me at home to help create more follicles. Once we were placed on injections we had to make more frequent trips to Denver for them to check me more frequently. We were driving down there for a simple ultrasound or just for them to give me my final injections. Most of our trips we were able to drive there and back in one day, but there were several occasions where we ended up staying the night which added to cost. July's treatment failed.
Our fertility doctor changed things up again in August to include a heavier dose of medication along with more injections. August's treatment failed, so again things got adjusted to include other injections so that they could control when I ovulate for our course of treatment in September. At this point Mark is giving me injections 2 per day for 5 days until my treatment. After I receive the IUI treatment, I received 3 additional injections to keep my progesterone levels up. Again we were faced with the disappointment of another failed IUI treatment. After September's failed attempt we took a break from treatments to help recoup the money we have spent on failed treatments, injections, and surgeries. We resumed treatments in February of 2018. After I took my medication and started my first round of injections, we drove back to Denver for a recheck, and they discovered that despite being on injections to help my follicles grow, they were shrinking and they don't why that happened. After this devastating attempt, we were told that IUI treatments probably won't work for us anymore and that we need to be moved to IVF or In Vitro Fertilization. For each round of IUI treatments we were having to drive about 3 hours to our infertility doctors office.
We are now faced with a dilemma because with IVF you need to have all the money upfront before you can begin this type of infertility treatment. As you can see from how much we are needing to raise, it is incredibly expensive. Our health insurance does not cover any infertility treatments, so we have been paying for all of the above stuff out of pocket. It is not cheap. We are currently still trying to pay off all of our past failed fertility attempts.
We need your help to get to our dream of becoming parents. Mark and I are both teachers in the state of Colorado in a rural district. I have been a special education teacher for 9 years teaching at various K-12 levels. Currently, I teach at a middle school where I am the special education for mild-moderate students, significant supports needs students, and behavior students. Mark has been teaching for 12 years now. He is currently teaching at a middle school where he teaches Pre-AP and intervention. Previously he taught 9-12th graders English and theatre. We absolutely love what we do, but you don't make a ton being a teacher. Your help is needed and will be greatly appreciated. We would like to begin to raise money for our dream to become parents ASAP so that we can begin the next round of treatments. These funds will help us to become parents which has been a lifelong dream for both of us. I nannied for a family for 6 years while I was going to college and helped watch 3 of their children from birth-kindergarten. We both have an extreme love for children, so this journey has definitely been one of the hardest things we have had to deal with. We never envisioned that having children would be this difficult. As soon as we get our funds, we will start the two month process of IVF with our infertility doctor in Denver.
The process of IVF starts with me being put on medication and injections that I will take to stimulate my ovaries to produce multiple follicles. Once my follicles are at a certain size I will have a surgery to extract my eggs. Our fertility doctor will then do testing on all the eggs that they got to weed out the bad ones. After that is complete, they will inject all the good eggs with sperm. They will watch the embryos grow, and they will do testing on them to make sure only the best are left. A month following the egg extraction they will implant me with one embryo, and I will be placed on bed rest to help maximise our chances of it taking. After those days of bed rest, I will be able to regain my normal activities within reason. They will put me on limited activity to give the embryo a chance to fully implant.
The most difficult thing is our doctor doesn't know why our previous IUI treatments are not working. We have unexplained infertility which makes this journey even more difficult. I am going to be 33, so this is somewhat urgent due to my age. Right now, things look reasonable, but every year that I get older creates more difficulties for my doctors to make our dream come true. Age is starting to become a factor; that's why we need to move along with this new course of treatment sooner rather than later.
Our fertility doctor changed things up again in August to include a heavier dose of medication along with more injections. August's treatment failed, so again things got adjusted to include other injections so that they could control when I ovulate for our course of treatment in September. At this point Mark is giving me injections 2 per day for 5 days until my treatment. After I receive the IUI treatment, I received 3 additional injections to keep my progesterone levels up. Again we were faced with the disappointment of another failed IUI treatment. After September's failed attempt we took a break from treatments to help recoup the money we have spent on failed treatments, injections, and surgeries. We resumed treatments in February of 2018. After I took my medication and started my first round of injections, we drove back to Denver for a recheck, and they discovered that despite being on injections to help my follicles grow, they were shrinking and they don't why that happened. After this devastating attempt, we were told that IUI treatments probably won't work for us anymore and that we need to be moved to IVF or In Vitro Fertilization. For each round of IUI treatments we were having to drive about 3 hours to our infertility doctors office.
We are now faced with a dilemma because with IVF you need to have all the money upfront before you can begin this type of infertility treatment. As you can see from how much we are needing to raise, it is incredibly expensive. Our health insurance does not cover any infertility treatments, so we have been paying for all of the above stuff out of pocket. It is not cheap. We are currently still trying to pay off all of our past failed fertility attempts.
We need your help to get to our dream of becoming parents. Mark and I are both teachers in the state of Colorado in a rural district. I have been a special education teacher for 9 years teaching at various K-12 levels. Currently, I teach at a middle school where I am the special education for mild-moderate students, significant supports needs students, and behavior students. Mark has been teaching for 12 years now. He is currently teaching at a middle school where he teaches Pre-AP and intervention. Previously he taught 9-12th graders English and theatre. We absolutely love what we do, but you don't make a ton being a teacher. Your help is needed and will be greatly appreciated. We would like to begin to raise money for our dream to become parents ASAP so that we can begin the next round of treatments. These funds will help us to become parents which has been a lifelong dream for both of us. I nannied for a family for 6 years while I was going to college and helped watch 3 of their children from birth-kindergarten. We both have an extreme love for children, so this journey has definitely been one of the hardest things we have had to deal with. We never envisioned that having children would be this difficult. As soon as we get our funds, we will start the two month process of IVF with our infertility doctor in Denver.
The process of IVF starts with me being put on medication and injections that I will take to stimulate my ovaries to produce multiple follicles. Once my follicles are at a certain size I will have a surgery to extract my eggs. Our fertility doctor will then do testing on all the eggs that they got to weed out the bad ones. After that is complete, they will inject all the good eggs with sperm. They will watch the embryos grow, and they will do testing on them to make sure only the best are left. A month following the egg extraction they will implant me with one embryo, and I will be placed on bed rest to help maximise our chances of it taking. After those days of bed rest, I will be able to regain my normal activities within reason. They will put me on limited activity to give the embryo a chance to fully implant.
The most difficult thing is our doctor doesn't know why our previous IUI treatments are not working. We have unexplained infertility which makes this journey even more difficult. I am going to be 33, so this is somewhat urgent due to my age. Right now, things look reasonable, but every year that I get older creates more difficulties for my doctors to make our dream come true. Age is starting to become a factor; that's why we need to move along with this new course of treatment sooner rather than later.
Organizer
Jodi Elizabeth
Organizer
New Castle, CO
