Pulling out all the stops.

I will admit that I’m one of those kooky people that really believes in the mind-body-spirit connection. I won’t say that I go overboard and chant, hug crystals, eat only organic, and all that, but I do believe that there is something to the connection that your body has with all elements of life. I considered very strongly starting acupuncture treatments with this IVF cycle, but after learning that there is very differing opinions out there about the effectiveness of acupuncture and infertility, I decided against it. Ever the practical person, I also learned that our insurance doesn’t cover it, and adding more of a financial burden to our treatment would certainly not help the stress-level right now. On the other hand, having had chiropractic care in the past, I opted to start seeing chiropractor again. Similar to the acupuncture results, the link between chiropractic care and infertility (and even IVF treatments) is spotty at best. So why am I bothering? First of all, my migraines have come back full-force since stopping the last IVF cycle. Second, I’ve also been lugging around a 38 pound child on a semi-daily basis, so my back and neck are completely out of whack and I can feel it getting worse. My first hope is that the headaches will get better, but I won’t deny that I’m hoping the general feeling of well-being that chiropractic care can bring will benefit this second IVF cycle. My first appointment with the new chiropractor is on Monday.

And, if chiropractic care wasn’t enough, I’ve also borrowed a friend’s yoga tapes and I’m going to try to do it twice a week as soon as this cold stops kicking my butt. I already asked R to get me a gift certificate to a yoga studio so that I can start taking classes again. I took prenatal yoga when I was pregnant with E and I just loved it.

When I was researching the insurance coverage of the acupuncture, I logged onto my health insurance account to look at the claims. It’s still too early to tell, but it looks like some, if not all of the anesthesia costs from my egg retrieval were covered by insurance. When I called the insurance company to ask her about it, she said that it was covered and I shouldn’t see another bill. I’m confused because the IVF financial counselor said that we would have to pay for that portion out-of-pocket when we went for our first IVF meeting, but the claim when through. I called the IVF financial office to see if they had any outstanding balances due, but I’m still waiting for her call back. I don’t want to jump the gun, but if those costs were covered, that saves us $600 per cycle! That, combined with the fact that we don't need ICSI with cycle #2 means that we'll save about $1,000 this coming cycle.

The RE’s office called twice in the past two days to make sure that I know that they got my message about starting our next IVF cycle. The IVF coordinator is out of the office today, but they said that she should be back to me with my cycle dates by December 3 or 4. In the meantime, I’m still just taking the birth control pills and biding my time, trying to get the rest of my ducks in a row.