Our New Reality

Sorry, that title sounds a little New Age-ish doesn't it? After our big $$$ shocker on Tuesday at the clinic, Rhea asked me to call the clinic and take down all upcoming fees and any possible fees the staff could think of that might pop up during the process.

I was able to talk to A. She was my nurse on Tuesday and she was wonderful on my appointment day and on the phone yesterday. We went through all procedures that are upcoming. The main thing is that we need to wait a week for all my autoimmune tests to come back. Since I have had 4 losses in less than 2 years, Dr. M suspects an autoimmune response is going on in my body when I am pregnant.

A, (my nurse) explained that if my RIP,NKA, or my ETA tests came back positive/high, I would need IVIg treatments. Uh, 5 to be exact at $2,500 a pop! Uh, well, choke, gasp, uh, excuse me? Would you mind repeating that?

Rhea and I both agree that these tests, the ones mentioned above, and the others that are being run, are important. I, unlike a lot of EA ladies, am very fertile. I was  told originally, over a year ago, that I just had "mature" eggs and that is why I m/c. This was reasonable, I am after all, forty-two, a bit older than most EA ladies. So, EA seemed perfect for us as I have uneventful pregnancies and L&D has always gone smoothly.

We are blessed that we have Dr. M. His experience says, it may not be just "mature" eggs. Think about this though: If we had found Dr. M at the time I was Dx w/ just mature eggs, we would have done the testing we are doing and proceeded to enlarge our family through natural (not really the word I am looking for here, but I hope you understand) means. We would never have gone with EA. Seeing these other doctors in the past was no mistake. It was foreordained by God. Of course, we know this, but it is an unexpected and undeserved blessing when the Lord reveals even a glimpse of His plan in our lives this way. God chose us to adopt these 5 special little ones and He used doctors with hasty diagnoses to guide us to this type of adoption. AND to bless us even more, led us to a doctor who is focused on determining why I have repeated miscarriages to ensure the best possible situation for these embryos to grow and any future pregnancies!

So, Rhea and I are humbled by His tender mercies and care for His sheep. We are so glad we were patient and allowed His plan to unfold. This, as those who know me, is against my nature. A fallen sinner, yet obedient this time, is humbled as God allowed us to see a speck of the plan.

Good thing I am practicing all this patience, because with experienced doctors comes a hefty price tag sometimes. This is one of those times. When we were at the clinic in Houston we knew we had $3500 left going to the agency and approximately $2500 going to the clinic. Our new clinic in Dallas is going to be a lot more.

Returning to the conversation yesterday on the phone with our nurse, she gave me all the fees I needed to know. I placed these fees side by side (actually I made a very organized chart on iPages for Rhea) with the Houston clinic's fees and what our new reality Dallas FET will be in the future.

Houston clinic fees (tests, meds, FET) total: approx. $3,000
Dallas clinic fees (same+more tests, same+more meds, FET) total: approx. $ 6,000
If/when any autoimmune issues show up we are looking at another $1,000-$12,500 in meds/treatments.

See, it is shocking isn't it?? We had planned to pay a total of $6,500 to get us through the FET stage and now we are looking at $9,500 -$21,500 + travel/meals. Are we discouraged? Maybe a bit deflated/disappointed, but we never wanted this to happen in our timing or under our terms. These are huge numbers, but we have a great and mighty God. He knows our bank account balance and we will do all we can to raise the funds. We know He will provide. We will just need to be patient a bit, or maybe a lot longer than expected!

Thank you for your encouraging comments and the continued prayers. They are all appreciated!

I sought the Lord, and He heard me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces were not ashamed.
This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him,
And delivers them.   Psalm 34: 4-7