Getting Started

I'm Meg (on the right in the picture above). My partner Kaitlin and I have been planning for a while now that we would start our TTC journey this month. I attempted TTC a couple of years ago, and did four cycles of at-home ICI with donor sperm, but no luck... and then circumstances in my life changed and I had to take a two-year break from TTC. During that time, I met Kaitlin and we started a life together. We got engaged in June of 2013, and we plan to get a civil union in our home state of Colorado as well as getting legally married in a state that permits it (right now we're thinking New York.) But, we've both known since the start of our relationship that we wanted to be moms, and that I would be the gestational carrier. Because I'm now 34 years old, it's important to both of us that we start our TTC journey sooner rather than later, and that we are as aggressive about it as we can afford to be.
Basic Stats:
Me: 34, social worker and romance novelist
Kaitlin: 36, 3D animator and college professor
Our pets: Three cats (Motome, Brienna, Orion), one min pin (Cricket - featured in the pic above)My cycle: 24 days with ovulation around day 11, and a 12 - 14 day LP
Our Sperm Bank: Northwest Cryobank, and we are leaning toward Donor #6497
Our RE: Dr. Susan Trout, Colorado Reproductive Endocrinology

A Little History:
Having done this TTC thing a while back - and having obsessively temped, charted, OPK'd, taken vitamins/pineapple core/royal jelly/anything else that I read on the internet would help, done daily fertility yoga, etc. - I'm pretty familiar with how this all works. I haven't done temping or charting since October 2011, so I'm going to get back into the game with my next cycle (which should start on or about December 17th). While we do plan to be aggressive about our attempts at TTC, I'm going about it in a different way this time and getting medical assistance. My biggest hangup is the correct timing. My charts consistently show that I ovulate on the same day as a positive OPK. Since most women ovulate 24 hours or so *after* an OPK+, this is a little unusual. The four cycles that I attempted went like this:TTC #1, June 2011: 2 vials, 6 and 12 hours post OPK+; BFN
     (Timing based on charting)
TTC #2, July 2011: 2 vials, 3 and 14 hours post OPK+; BFN
     (Timing based on charting)
TTC #3, August 2011: 3 vials, approximately 12 and 6 hours *before* OPK+, and 12 hours post; BFN
     (Tried something different this time, and insemmed when my CM and cervical position seemed most fertile.)
TTC #4, September 2011: 2 vials, approximately 0 and 12 hours post OPK+; BFN
     (Tried to balance CM/cervical position with charting)Though the timing of the insems may seem early, I really felt like they were timed well, because my body was showing all the signs of maximum fertility (high, soft, open cervix, lots of EWCM) and by the time we did the last insems the fertile signs were disappearing. However, I didn't have any luck getting pregnant... which could mean the timing wasn't right, or it could just mean that the dice hadn't rolled my way yet. Not including the cost of OPKs, pregnancy tests, vitamins, the fertility yoga program, etc... I spent about $3000 in those four months alone.

This Time Around:
At least for the first few cycles, Kaitlin and I are going to try Dr-assisted IUI. We figure that way the doctor can give us some additional insight into the timing and make sure that we're on the right track; and also we can check to be sure that there aren't any other fertility issues we should be addressing, so that we don't waste a ton of money and cycles just to find out that there was some issue getting in the way all along.So here's the game plan so far. I'm reaching the tail end of my current cycle (on CD21 today) so I've resumed taking prenatals and charting cervical position/CM. When my next cycle starts, which will probably be next week, I'll resume BBT temping every morning. Unless the RE recommends it, I don't think I'm going to resume all of the obsessive things I was doing last time - the yoga, the mucinex, the baby aspirin, the pineapple core, the grapefruit juice, switching to decaf, and so on. I think I was probably putting too much pressure and stress on myself and probably hindering conception more than helping it. This time I'm going to take a more relaxed approach, and be aggressive via modern medicine instead. We'll see how that works out...I called and made our first RE appointment yesterday, so we'll be meeting with the RE for the first time on January 3rd, after the holidays. Kaitlin and I are both taking time off work that day so we can go together. The initial consultation is going to cost us somewhere from $193 - $400. I've already completed all the paperwork the RE office requested and faxed it over. Today, I need to call my insurance's infertility hotline and get "signed up" to see if I will qualify for any coverage of these appointments. Honestly, I'm not holding my breath. I don't think my insurance covers infertility, and even if it did, from what I've read on Aetna's website there's a minimum number of cycles of donor sperm that have to fail before anything at all would be covered. Still, it's worth trying, because this is going to get really expensive, really fast.My hope is that after we meet with Dr. Trout we can set an appointment for the IUI procedure. Since we're ordering IUI-washed sperm, the cost of the procedure is $293. I'm going to ask her about the possibility of Clomid or other ovulatory med, and/or a trigger shot - if we're going to do this we really want to just GO FOR IT. I also need to ask her if she's going to want us to order one vial of sperm, or more than one - the cost of vials has increased since I last ordered them. One vial is $469, after shipping, while two is $769. It's a really expensive venture, but I'm willing to go for the two vials if the doctor thinks it will increase our chances. All in all, then, our first TTC cycle will likely cost at least $955, and that doesn't include the cost of OPKs, pregnancy tests, any other meds or tests the doctor might want to do, and so on. *sigh*I did talk to Kaitlin about whether she wanted to buy a "practice vial" for my next cycle, while we're waiting to see the doctor, just to see if we might not get lucky. But because it's so expensive, we agreed that we'd wait and save the $469 to go toward a full-on doctor assisted cycle instead.

Our Dream:
So the last time I tried this, my partner at the time was really, really hoping for a daughter. Honestly, I've never really had a preference one way or the other. I spent my high school and college years working at a daycare center, and can say with certainty that I'd enjoy a child of any gender. Luckily, Kaitlin feels the same way. We do have a boy-name and a girl-name picked out... It's important to Kaitlin that we give the child a name with strong Irish Gaelic influence, so whichever gender we are blessed with, kiddo's going to have a funky-spelled, highly unusual, but nonetheless awesome name. I'm actually particularly attached to the boy-name, so I have to admit I'd be excited to get the chance to use it. I've even had dreams lately that we had son with the name. ;)Kaitlin really wants more than one child. I really want a singleton. Since I'm the one who will be carrying, I kind of have a bit of an (unfair?) advantage in the argument. I suppose it's possible my opinion might change once I already have one, though right now I strongly doubt it. :P I really think the only way we'll end up with more than one is if I get pregnant with multiples. (ACK.) I'm really hoping NOT to have multiples... at the same time, I've always believed that things that are meant to happen will happen. So if I do end up with twins or more I am just going to have to take it as the universe's sign that we were intended to parent more than one.

Other Stuff Going On:
We have a lot of stuff going on in our lives right now that will also have an effect, in some way, on our TTC journey and raising a child together. Marriage and wedding plans, of course, are a big one. Also, I plan to change my legal name (currently I still have my ex's last name) prior to the baby being born and prior to getting married, so that Kaitlin can take my new name and we can pass it to our child. I'm in the process of finishing up the invisalign braces I've been wearing for the past... oh, two and a half years... and I'm really looking forward to getting the little hooks taken off of my teeth and having my pretty, straight smile all finished. Kaitlin's currently working at a (rather high-profile) temp job, and just last week she found out that her master's degree thesis has been approved, so once she recieves her diploma her goal is to start looking for a more permanent position that includes benefits (and hopefully paid time off). I'm really hoping she'll be able to find something that will allow her maternity leave. We are also on the edge of getting some bills paid off that will hopefully allow us to put a new floor into our basement - we have a ton of home improvement plans that hinge on getting that new floor put in, but finances thus far haven't allowed it. So 2014 is shaping up to be a big year for us. Keeping fingers crossed that by 2015, we'll be moms!