Here's yesterday's post:

Today I went to Dr. P's office and had a baseline ultrasound. I love quick and simple doctor's appointments. (It helps that I know what to expect this time around.) The ultrasound looked great! The lining of my uterus has thinned out and there are no remarkable cysts on either ovary. So I was given my schedule of medication and my prescription for Femara and I was out the door. Well, first I had to check out at the desk and pay my part.

"That will be $335 please." She said with an expectant look. As I gave her a dumbfounded look she added, "Oh, and I need a copy of your insurance card. I know you don't have coverage, but we need it on file anyways." .....

The funny part is that I was told at my last appointment (by the same person) that I did have coverage. And since we knew we were going to probably need it this year, my husband and I made sure we had fertility coverage (and we pay for it too). So you see how I still haven't responded yet. "Um, I'm pretty sure I have coverage." I said. "Nope. It says right here that you have coverage for diagnosis, but not for treatment."

After a brief conversation where I tried not to yell at her, I payed my $335 bill and briskly walked to my car. I called my husband to complain and said I would call the insurance company when I got home, but if we truly didn't have coverage we would only be able to afford one cycle right now. Fighting back tears by blaring my music, I drove to the pharmacy to get one of my medications for this cycle.

I get to the pharmacy, drop of my prescription (15 minutes until it's ready), get a Starbucks drink and coffee cake, and sit down to talk to my friend and let her know how things went. By now, I've calmed down and I'm trying to stay positive that either this cycle will work or we have insurance coverage...hopefully both. When I go t get my medication, the pharmacists comes to me and says we have a slight problem. Not what I wanted to hear. She said that on the prescription it says the medication name, the concentration of the pill, the number of pills, and to "take as directed." The problem with this is that the pharmacist doesn't know what directions to put on it. She has a call in to the doctor, but has to wait to hear from them until she can give the medication. Awesome!

So I go home and sit and chat with my aunt, who was there to watch the girls while I was at my appointment. 30 minutes later, the pharmacy calls and says all is well and the medication is ready for pick up. Fortunately I live about 2 minutes from my pharmacy.

After that whole fiasco, I got home, took my pill, and decided it was family nap time. My husband was already napping because he had been up all night on work calls and it was nap time for the girls so I took advantage. 2 hours later I woke up in a whole different world. I had forgotten how quickly these meds can work. I felt like a normal human being for the first time in a few months...my hormones were close to balanced.

Time to bite the bullet and call the insurance company. I call and ask the representative if I have fertility treatment coverage. It took her about 2 seconds to tell me YES...BUT I have to 'sign up for it'.

So now I get transfered to another department to answer 15 questions about my infertility. Once that's done, I'm signed up and Dr. P's office needs to call an 800 number to get authorization for my treatment. Now I only owe $45 (co-pay) plus 10%...much more affordable.

To let you know how much this costs:

visit 1: baseline ultrasound - $335

visit 2: mid-cycle ultrasound and blood draw - $400

visit 3: 2nd mid-cycle ultrasound and blood draw - $400

(it's possible to have more than 2 of these)

insemination - $410

progesterone blood draw - $100

This means, without insurance it would cost at least $1645 for each IUI cycle.

In the grand scheme of things, that's not a TON of money (IVF is much more expensive). BUT that is a LOT of money to spend in 1 month, and if you have to do it more than once... You get the idea.

Look at it from this point of view (the one I had the first time around). It costs me that much money for that one little part. Keep in mind I've already had many many tests and a surgery to be able to get to this point. Now think how much it costs most people to get pregnant...ZERO. This is one of the reasons why some women who go through fertility treatments want to beat the crap out of pregnant women who complain all the time. We would spend more money that you can imagine and go through hell and back to be able to smile when we get kicked in the bladder.

I will post today's post tonight after the girls go down. Sneak peak? Mail order injectable medications for infertility aren't easy to come by.