IVF?

I'm just waiting around. Today is cd 20, so I have anywhere from 8-10 days before I can repeat the day 3 FSH test. This is almost as bad as a 2ww! I'm dying to know what's going to happen next. Can you say impatient?

I caught an online broadcast that discusses infertility today. I tuned in because my very own Dr. B was the guest and the topic was of all things, mini-stim IVF. I was happy to hear more on the topic in general, there just isn't much out there.

It sounds like my clinic may be moving towards using less drugs in general. Dr. B said that they have higher success rates with fewer drugs. They're not entirely sure why, but think that higher quality eggs result therefore better quality embryos are created.

That said, he gave an example of when he would not recommend using the mini-stim protocol... if a 31 year old has a day 3 FSH of 14. He would want to use more drugs to stimulate. Well, I'm 30 and have a day 3 FSH of 11.9. Damn.

He did say that some Drs. still believe that mini-stim is appropriate for women in my situation, going back to the theory that quality over quantity is the ultimate goal. But he said that not enough scientific data has been produced to back that theory up. Hmmmm...do I want to help prove this theory?

I also looked up the shared risk plan. The idea being that you pay a lump sum larger than one IVF (around $18,000) but you get three IVF's and three frozen transfers. If it doesn't work you get 70% of your money back. It's great if you need a couple of tries, but not as great if you get pregnant on the first try. But that's a risk I think I'd take, because the downside is a baby.

Well, due to my abnormally high FSH, I won't qualify for that anymore. Unless we can some how make that test invalid (assuming that I have normal results next time), I'm going to have to look at other options to help finance, especially if we do the big IVF.

I guess I'll know something next week.