Longwood Gardens

My co-workers and I went to Longwood Gardens on Tuesday night when I got into the PA/DE. They were very beautiful but very COLD! I hope to go again when I'm in PA for Anna's wedding in April.

Here are some pictures....I tried to get some good ones but I'm not the best photographer.

I licked a ninja at the dinner table because I think I need serious help!

I am cleaning out my old emails and came across this one:

Pick the month you were born:
January-------I kicked
February------I loved
March--------I karate chopped
April----------I licked
May----------I jumped on
June----------I smelled
July-----------I did the Macarena With
August--------I had lunch with
September----I danced with
October-------I sang to
November-----I yelled at
December-----I ran over

Pick the day (number) you were born on:
1-------a birdbath
2-------a monster
3-------a phone
4-------a fork
5-------a snowman
6-------a gangster
7-------my mobile phone
8-------my dog
9-------my best friends' boyfriend
10-------my neighbour
11-------my science teacher
12-------a banana
13-------a fireman
14-------a stuffed animal
15-------a goat
16-------a pickle
17-------your mom
18-------a spoon
19------ - a smurf
20-------a baseball bat
21-------a ninja
22-------Chuck Norris
23-------a noodle
24-------a squirrel
25-------a football player
26-------my sister
27-------my brother
28-------an iPod
29-------a surfer
30-------a homeless guy
31-------a llama

What is the last number of the year you were born:
1--------- In my car
2 --------- On your car
3 ----------- In a hole
4 ----------- Under your bed
5 ----------- Riding a Mot orcycle
6 --------- sliding down a hill
7 --------- in an elevator
8---------- at the dinner table
9 -------- In line at the bank
0 -------- in your bathroom

Pick the colour of shirt you are wearing:
White---------because I'm cool like that
Black---------because that's how I roll.
Pink-----------because I'm NOT crazy.
Red-----------because the voices told me to.
Blue-----------because I'm sexy and I do what I want
Green---------because I think I need some serious help.
Purple---------because I'm AWESOME!
Gray----------because Big Bird said to and he's my leader.
Yellow--------because someone offered me 1,000,000 dollars
Orange--------because my family thinks I'm stupid anyway.
Brown---------because I can.
Other----------because I'm a Ninja!
None----------because I can't control myself!

Soooo....I licked a ninja at the dinner table because I think I need serious help.....

Clotting Disorder...

Wouldn't you know that my doctor's appointment was cancelled for today! Very frustrating. My doctor's office called last week and said that he had some unforeseen events causing him to cancel and that his next available appointment was for February 7th. That is a LONG time from now! When I was talking with the receptionist, I asked her to have a nurse call me because I still didn't know what was "wrong" with me and February 7th was an extremely long time to be in the dark.

I was so thankful when the nurse took time on her Friday afternoon to visit with me about my "disorder". I can't remember what she called it but my Factor VIII level was elevated. Normal was some number up to 158 (sorry, I don't remember the lower number). My number was 168 which is very slightly elevated. She said the reason for my visit was for the Doctor to run more tests to see if there are other "factors" that are playing a role in this. She didn't elaborate what those other factors are but I'm OK with that. Basically, it is a blessing in disguise because had we gone forward with the IVF, there would have been a higher risk for a miscarriage because there isn't a good enough blood flow between me and the embryo/placenta/whatever you call it for it to remain attached to my uterus. If we had not miscarried, there could have been severe damage to the embryo/baby including lower brain development, etc.

I learned that when I am traveling, I need to make sure that I get up and walk around and very often. This includes car rides! I also cannot be on "regular" birth control anymore but the progesterone only birth control. When we do get pregnant, I will most likely need to be on some sort of a blood thinner (she gave the name of the drug but I don't remember).

David and I had a good weekend. We stuck around home on Friday night. I was actually able to stay up until 10 pm that night despite only getting two hours of sleep the night before. Saturday we went to his work Christmas party where he got to go up on stage to get an award for 5 years of service! We also went to my God Daughter's 2nd birthday party which was just a blast! I love that little girl so much. Sunday we went to church and then David took me to Doolittle's for supper to celebrate his 5 years at Swanson's and him getting employee of the month. It was an OK meal. My favorite part was the flight of sparkling wine I got. So yummy! I know what I'll be getting at the next Happy Harry's penny sale!

I'm off to DE this week. I leave tomorrow (Tuesday) but I'm back on Friday morning by 10:30 am. I am really excited to stay in a "real" hotel on Thursday night. I'm staying at the Embassy Suites in Philly so I don't have to get up so early for my 6:10 am flight!

We head to Rugby on Friday night to celebrate Christmas with my family. We're back in time for the kids' Christmas Program at church Sunday night. Tuesday we'll celebrate Christmas by ourselves. I think I'm going to make Suzy's (Tammy's Mom) Peppercorn Ranch Chicken for supper. I can't wait for David to open up his gifts! He actually made a list this year! The on Wednesday morning we will leave for the cities to spend a few days with David's parents. We're also planning to have coffee with Laura (from my Outreach group).

Operation Baby Making: On Hold...

WARNING: Some "foul" language will follow. Not an easy post to make.

I had finally come to a point where I started to talk about having a baby. Like really, really talking about having a baby. As I always say, "I should have known...."

I have always experienced some sense of disappointment when I get excited and look forward to something. And it seems that whenever I allow myself to feel this way, I experience another disappointment. It is SO frustrating!

David and I will not be going through the IVF process next month (or anytime soon for that matter) because my blood sugar has been too high. They are classifying me as a Type II diabetic which really pisses me off. I am disappointed in myself for letting my eating and lack of exercise habits get out of control. I am mad because yet again another factor that has pushed back our IVF cycle was never discussed with me until AFTER it became a problem.

I also have a clotting disorder. I have no idea what this means but I'll find out more during my appointment with the hematologist on Monday (12/13). I don't think it affect our IVF but I'm not getting my hopes up that it won't.

In the midst of all the appointments I had to determine if we could go forward with the IVF, I was even more pissed off because I had to answer the same set of questions four different times in the span of 2 hours. This would normally annoy me but not make me mad. I was mad that day because I had applied for a position with Sanford in their electronic health records department and never heard anything back. I can clearly see an issue in the implementation of their electronic health record system...

Too many people are having babies..which also pisses me off....

We've been going through this process since March. That is an awfully long period of time...I'm quite sick of it. If we don't do the IVF before March, I have to do all of my tests all over again. All the blood work, ultrasounds, etc. This really, really sucks not only for me but our bank account.

My goals are:

• To get through the holiday season by remembering the birth of Jesus as the Reason for the Season. Our God is an awesome God. He has a plan for me...I just need to sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.
• Not kill anyone that says that they are pregnant (I really am happy for you..I'm just annoyed with my situation).
• Continue to lose weight (my pants are falling off me as it is).
• Join Carbaholic Anonymous (does you think there is such a thing?).

100 (or so) Truths

A friend posted this on her FB page.

WHAT WAS YOUR:

1. Last beverage: Water

2. Last phone call: Call from Sanford Reproductive Medicine NP.

3. Last text message: David

4. Last song you listened to: Miley Cyrus "Party in the USA"

5. Last time you cried: This morning-during and several times after my phone call

HAVE YOU EVER:

6. Dated someone twice: Yes

7. Been cheated on: Not sure

8. Kissed someone & regretted: Yes

9. Lost someone special: Yes

10. Been depressed: Yes

11. Been drunk and threw up: Vomit free since 93! Ok, I've never vomited after drinking too much.

LIST THREE FAVORITE COLOURS:

12. Pink

13. Purple

14. Black

THIS YEAR HAVE YOU: (2010)

15. Made a new friend: No (met my new friends in '09)

16. Fallen out of love: No

17. Laughed until you cried: No

18. Met someone who changed you: Not in 2010

19. Found out who your true friends were: This started in 2009 and continues...

20. Found out someone was talking about you: No

21. Kissed anyone on your Facebook friends list: Yes, my husband.

22. How many people on your Facebook friends list do you know in real life: Probably about 60%

23. How many kids do you want: 2-4

24. Do you have any pets: Nope

25. Do you want to change your name: Nope.

26. What did you do for your last birthday: I had a birthday party but I don't think that was on the day of my birthday. I think David took me out for supper.

27. What time did you wake up today: 5:34 am but went back to sleep.

28. What were you doing at midnight last night: Sleeping

29. Name something you CANNOT wait for: ??

30. Last time you saw your Mother: November 7th

31. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life: I'd be lying if I said nothing...we'll just leave it at that.

32. What are you listening to right now: Nothing. Got my hearing aid turned off.

33. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: Yes.

WHAT HAPPENED TO #34??

35. Most visited webpage: Facebook, University of Phoenix

36. What’s your real name: Carmen Beth Davidson Burleigh

37. Nicknames: Carmie, Carmel, Carm, Silly Bear

38. Relationship Status: Married

39. Zodiac sign: Aries/Taurus

40. Male or female: Female

41. Primary School: Ely Elementary

42. Secondary School: Rugby Junior High

43. High school/college: Rugby High School

44. Hair Color: Dirty Dirty blonde

45: long or short: Short

46. Height: 5’2"

47. Do you have a crush on someone? I have a girl crush on Bristol Palin.

48. What do you like about yourself: My positive attitude

49. Piercings: None

50. Tattoos: None

51. Righty or lefty: righty

FIRSTS:

52. First surgery: When I was a baby

53. First piercing: Had my ears pierced...Maybe at 12.

54. First best friend: Gretchen

55. First sport you joined: Soccer

56. First vacation: Medora most likely. I think we went to Wyoming or Canada but I don't remember.

Where’s 57??

58. First pair of trainers: WHAT??

RIGHT NOW:

59. Eating: Nothing

60. Drinking: Water

61. I'm about to: Finish my work

62. Listening to: Nothing

63. Waiting for: 4 pm or when I'm done with work so I can start my school work.

YOUR FUTURE:

64. Want kids: Yes.

65. Get married: Already am.

66. Career: Hoping to get a some sort of a position working with Electronic Health Records, etc.

WHICH IS BETTER:

67. Lips or eyes: Lips

68. Hugs or kisses: Hugs

69. Shorter or taller: Tall

70. Older or Younger: Older

71. Romantic or spontaneous: Romantic

72. Nice stomach or nice arms: Arms

73. Sensitive or loud: Sensitive

74. Hook-up or relationship: Relationship

Where’s 75??

76. Kissed a stranger: Nope.

77. Drank hard liquor: Yes

78. Lost glasses/contacts: Yes

79. Sex on first date: No

80. Broken someone's heart: Yes

Another missing one…81??

82. Been arrested: Nope

83. Turned someone down: Nope

84. Cried when someone died: Yes

85. Fallen for a friend: Yes

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

86. Yourself: Yes

87. Miracles: Yes

88. Love at first sight: Not sure

89. Heaven: Yes

90. Santa Clause: Yes

91. Kiss on the first date: Yes

92. Angels: Yes

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:

Missing numbers 93 and 95

94. Had more than 1 girlfriend/boyfriend at a time: No

96. Ever cheated on somebody: No

97. If you could go back in time, how far would you go: 2008 when David and I first met. Things were so much easier then.

98. The moment you would choose to relive: IDK.

100. Are you afraid of posting this as 100 truths: Nope

Tae Kwon Do Tournament

David competed in a Tae Kwon Do tournament yesterday. It was a VERY long day for us. We got there about 10 am and didn't leave until after 8 pm. He did an awesome job! He didn't place but he learned a lot and had fun judging too.

David is judging a sparring match.

Awesome job on your pattern, honey!

Better watch out or he'll kick your butt!

Halloween!

I only have one picture from Halloween! I might have to make David put his costume back on to get a picture of both of us. I was Beth Chapman from Dog the Bounty Hunter and David was Leland. We're hoping next year that I'll be "barefoot and pregnant"!

Here is a picture of the Penningtons (John, Diane, and Elsa) and I. I scared Elsa when I answered the door with my wig on. She was NOT having it after that. But she sure did make a cute puppy dog! :)

Delaware Pictures

As promised, here are some pictures from our trip to DE! We had a great time! David was impressed with my driving skills in Philly! We took a trip out to Atlantic City. I lost BIG TIME! David came out ahead as he always does! We had a very nice visit with Rick, Rosa and the girls. The next day we spent in Philly with Anna and Brian. Very good day but very HOT! We went back to the hotel and watched movies the rest of the night.

Look at the fog! This is the Walt Whittman bridge!

I immediately freaked at this intersection because I thought ALL of the driving was going to be this crazy. Not so much....

We got ROCK STAR parking at the Showboat. I wanted to start at one end of the boardwalk and make our way down to the other end. Luckily this was the place to go to get replacement Total Rewards players cards too! Boring slots...hardly any penny slots. :(

This picture sums up the beach in Atlantic City. Trashy. Trashy. Trashy! No way. No how!

Still foggy out there!

A peak at the carnival rides on the boardwalk.

Pretty fountain at Trump's Taj Mahal

Ripley's Believe it or not. We love that place!

Here's a better picture of that trashy beach!

David, the ocean, and I!

Rosa and the girls! :)

David and I in front of a sand castle.

We made it to the LOVE sign in the City of Brotherly Love!

Anna and Brian

All of us are full of love!

David and Brian run to the top of the Museum steps just like Rocky!

They made it!

Anna and I give it a try!

We made it too!

David and I in front of the Liberty Bell!

Back to School

Wow! I am horrible at updating my blog! I promise I'll try harder!!

I'm headed back to school. I'm enrolled at the University of Phoenix to get my Master's in Health Care Administration-Informatics. Recently, my company merged with another who's primary focus is electronic health records and health information technology. Both of these topics have interested me for awhile. I'm hoping that by taking these courses that I'll either advance in my company to a position that might allow me to work from home more often OR perhaps there is a position in town at one of the hospitals or even Blue Cross. Only time will tell.

My first class is going well so far. I'm amazed that I haven't taken to procrastination yet! Haha! I'm the worst one for procrastinating. I was so proud of myself for creating a calendar and writing out my goals for each week! If I take all of my classes back to back, I'll be finished by April of 2012. I don't think I'll be taking them back to back if we have a baby anytime soon but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

David is busy with Tae Kwan Do! He entered his first tournament and took fourth (I think). I feel so bad that I didn't go watch him but he has another one coming up!

A weekend in DE

David was able to fly into Philly this past weekend. I was super excited to show him around and to show him how good of a city driver I've become!

We took a few pictures and I'll try to upload them at some point--I have the camera here but don't have the USB cord to upload them to my computer. Bummer!

We spent Friday in Atlantic City. Wow...AC may have been nice at one point but it is a total dump now! I was afraid to walk on the beach because of all the glass and cans that were in the sand! We started our day at the Showboat casino on one end of the boardwalk and made our way down to Bally's. I gambled away all my money and David came home with $25 profit (JERK!).

After we spent the day gambling and walking around, we met up with my friend (R0sa), her husband (Rick) and her two girls (Gabriella and Bella) at Angelo's. We had a delicious meal although David and I filled up too much on the buffet and just had appetizers. We walked around the outlet malls and then parted ways.

Saturday we hoped on a train in Willmington, DE and took it into Philly to spend the day with Brian and Anna. We went to Love Park, the Philadelphia Museum of Art (aka the Rocky steps), the Liberty Bell and Redding Terminal Market. My favorite was probably running up the steps because I could do it! It wasn't THAT hard. The Liberty Bell was a little underwhelming because you have to stand in line for awhile and then walk through a hall with tons of information about the Bell. Then...there it is...It was still cool to see!

We got back to the hotel early enough to spend the evening watching movies and eating supper in bed. It doesn't take a lot to entertain us! We just want to be together. It was very hard to say goodbye to him on Sunday morning. I cried all the way from Philly to Deleware and pretty much all day. I cannot wait to get home on Friday to see my honey!

This weekend is my 10 year college reunion. In preparation for the reunion, I completed my college scrapbook! It feels wonderful to have it done!!!!! My lists of upcoming scrapbooks include:

• Wedding (I'm almost done)
• Honeymoon
• May Seminar trip (Europe)
• Summer Outreach
• High School
• After College (10 years worth of scrapping! Ugh...)
• Childhood

We're having a "Croptoberfest" at my church in a few weeks. I'll finish up my Wedding scrapbook and move onto my Honeymoon one. I hope to get MOST of the honeymoon done. I'll have 12 hours after all! I told David last night that once I finish those, then it'll be time to have a baby and then I'll get behind again. :)

Speaking of scrapping and David....He is SOOOO supportive of my hobby! I just love it! He will talk about it with me even though I'm sure it bores him to death. He practically BEGS me to go to my events (which is probably because he wants time alone!)! He knows that scrapbooking gives me one night a month where I get to spend time in fellowship with other ladies and I really enjoy it!

Oh shoot! Just realized I'm going to be late if I don't get moving! Just SIX MORE SESSIONS for me to lead! I cannot wait until I get some time at home with my husband. I can't wait to make his lunches and cook him supper!

Delaware

What does one do when stuck in Delaware?

NOTHING!!!!

I am so bored! It has become painfully obvious in the past few weeks how my life is slipping away from me as I sit in my hotel room. My solution: Today I'm going to a weight watchers meeting in a part of Newark, DE that I've never been. I think it's in a mall. So maybe I'll get a good walk in and do some people watching.

This weekend I'm going to decorate our house for fall and have a few hours ALONE in the house. This never happens! I usually have to share the joint with David and Tristan. I'll have to post some picture when I'm done.

I started a running program which solves the boredom problem except I've been waking up at 4:45 am to get on the treadmill. I'm never bored in the morning...just in the evenings. So this doesn't solve my evening boredom problem.

I thought about bringing my scrap booking stuff but I really don't want to lug it across country. I have no desire to knit or even cross stitch. :( What's a girl to do??

Bully!

David and I begin our journey west to Medora tomorrow! We'll leave after work and head to Bismarck to stay with my cousin, Cory. I'm so excited to see his "new" home. He's lived there a long time and this is the first time I've been able to visit! Bad cousin!

Friday morning we plan to go to the North Dakota State Capitol, Fort Lincoln, and then on to Medora. I think I'm more excited about this road trip than any other trip we've been on!

Here are some pictures of what we'll see on our road trip:

North Dakota State Capitol:

Fort Lincoln (Custer's House):

Pitchfork Fondue in Medora:

Medora Musical:

Well this sucks...

BCBS is still stating that I have primary insurance with Great West. I called BCBS and got it resolved-including asking them to run AND approve my pre-authorization ASAP! **If the pre-auth wasn't approved, we would have had to pay the full $15,000 tomorrow morning.

I called Sanford back to let them know. I got transferred to the gal that runs the insurance. She tells me that we cannot do the IVF until JANUARY because the woman who does their part of the genetics (pulling the cell from the embryo, packaging up the cell to go to Detroit, receiving and analyzing the results from Genesis) will not be available in the October, November or December groups.

Son of a.....Have I ever told you that I have a sixth-sense? All day today I've been thinking, is tomorrow really the day? I have a tendency to day dream or envision of what an event will look like...I was having troubles getting a "vision" on this one. When this happens, it usually means that the event isn't going to happen.

I'm not upset. I'm not sad. I'm not frustrated. I'm just, "eh".

Positives:

Gives us time to save up more cash

More time to lose that weight I've been trying to lose

More time for David and Carmen time

Get to work on the DC project (who wouldn't want to work in DC).

Not having to travel to St. Louis while taking progesterone

A fall baby

Negatives:

Hormones during Christmas

Was looking forward to the DE project being my last project for awhile.

Being super, duper pregnant for my high school reunion.

Yeah, in the grand scheme of life-my negatives aren't that bad. I'm thankful I have a God who loves me and a husband who adores me!

Tomorrow is the day!

Tomorrow is the day that we have our "calendar appointment" with the Nurse Practitioner. We'll be able to secure our spot in the November IVF group and find out when I'll start taking the medications.

Paper work has been completed.

Discover card is paid off and credit limit is increased....

We have somewhat prepared ourselves for the sticker shock ($6,100 is due tomorrow) after already spending $3750 on the genetic testing.

We were so excited because we thought we were going to be able to sleep in tomorrow. I looked at our letter and our appointment is at 8 am not 9 am (so glad I looked!). So much for sleeping in. :)

I have nothing to be nervous about tomorrow. It's just a meeting with the NP...no medical procedure will be performed. I think I'm just nervous about the fact that this process is REALLY starting. The days of just David and I are soon going to be behind us. We look forward to having children but I know we'll miss all the time we have alone together. Yesterday we spent 6 hours watching Sex and The City episodes (we're on Season 6 now!).

Looking forward to telling you tomorrow that we have a date set!!!!

Official Confirmation

We have OFFICIAL CONFIRMATION that our genetic test is complete and that we are ready to start making some babies! YAY!

I love cake....

Hence the new background....

Genetic Testing

David and I had the wonderful privilege to speak with Dr. Mark Hughes of Genesis Genetics last week regarding our test. Here is what we learned:
1. He is a VERY smart man!
2. My mutation is located in the 32nd chapter, 23rd book, and 9th sentence or something to that effect. I can't remember the exact location and the information is at home.... :) Crappppp....
3. Right now, the error rate is 1-2% of correctly identifying the embryos with the TCS gene.
4. Our test was VERY difficult because my TCS was spontaneous (this is good news for my sisters and other family members).
5. Our error rate will become LOWER than 1-2% if I create any eggs/embryos with TCS because they'll develop our test even further. Sounds silly to wish for this but we kind of are. Even if we end up with no viable embryos, this would be a success for me!
6. So thankful for my fellow TCS mommy, Amy, because she totally understands what I just wrote! :)
7. All systems are GO! They have completed our test and are ready for our embryos! Yahoo!

Looks like NOVEMBER!

Wow! It has been forever since I've updated my blog and I appologize for this! Summer is a good excuse though, right?

Let's bring you up to speed...

The last I wrote was about deciding between the September group or the November group. My insurance "woes" and work pretty much made that decision for us! We will hopefully be doing our IVF cycle in November. We have our calendar visit with the Nurse Practitioner next Tuesday (8/24) where we will be able to nail that date down.

Speaking of insurance woes....My insurance FINALLY terminated July 31st...or so I thought! I received a call on a Friday afternoon that my pre-authorization to Blue Cross had denied because I was still enrolled in Great West (now part of Cigna). I did the logical thing and called my HR rep to make sure I didn't do something stupid like sign up for medical insurance! She confirmed that I opted out of the medical insurance coverage. I got a membership card from Cigna on Sunday. I called them and they said there was no termination date on my file. This was not a good way to start my vacation!!!! I sent a frantic email to my HR rep. She was SO GREAT! She got it resolved within 24 hours! But...the gal at MeritCare/Sanford that does the pre-authorizations to insurance is out until tomorrow. I really, really hope this doesn't ruin our chances to get into the November group!

As my Grandma always said, "if it's not one thing, it's another." :)

September or November???

David and I went to our IVF class last week. Wow! We got a ton of information thrown at us. Lots of warnings! Lots of consent forms! It's a good thing they sent a binder home with us and we can study that.

We found out that they only do one IVF cycle per month. With my insurance ending July 31st, we aren't sure that we'll be able to make the August group or even the September group. We really, really want to get into the September group. They don't do a group in October because the sucess rates are always low in October. If we don't get into the September group, we will have to wait until November. I'm looking at the delay as a chance to get as healthy as I can but I really, really don't want to be pregnant during the summer months.

Birthday and Marathon Weekend!

I'm a little behind on blogging...again! So I'll have several posts for y'all!

David's birthday was on May 21st which happened to fall on the same weekend as the Fargo-Moorhead Marathon. We celebrated David's birthday by going out for supper at Space Aliens and followed that up with desert at Doolittles. I made him a cupcake cake which turned out pretty good!

Friends, Jill and Ben Auran, spent Friday night with us because Jill's sister, Julie was participating in the 10k. We woke up bright and early on Saturday to head to the half-way point (3ish miles). We made it just in time to see Jill's cousin Cheri run past! So fast that we almost missed her! It was great to watch the 10k but it sure made me miss participating in the weekend events. Jill and I decided that we're going to try to do the 5k next year...pregnant bellies and all!

Cost of IVF/Insurance Coverage

One of the questions that I get asked is, "how much is all of this going to cost you." The truth is, we really don't have a hard number. We have a guesstimate but we haven't really asked the question because it's not really a deciding factor for us. Now, don't go thinking that David and I loaded. We've made choices in our lives the last few years that have allowed us to become debt free (with the exception of our home) and we've both decided that we will save every penny we can for this to happen.

I'm sitting here with my EOBs and will give you an estimate of what it has cost us thus far for those initial tests that have been done.

Initial Office Visit: $362
Bloodwork for both Me: $666
Bloodwork for David: $238.50
Sperm Analysis: $175
Vaginal Ultrasound: $200 ** That $666 could include the transvaginal ultrasound procedure and this $200 could just be for the Technician in the room.
Saline Sonogram: $787
Sperm Analysis: $175
IVF class: $35 and this is usually not covered by insurance.
Bloodwork for DNA testing: $37
DNA testing: I was told it was going to be $1800 but I have not received my EOB yet.

When researching online, I found a figure for the median cost of IVF throughout the US which was $8000-$10,000. Now keep in mind that if your insurance covers infertility then you're total cost will be lower. I'm not sure if this number was for the IVF procedure or all tests/procedures prior to the actual IVF.

I haven't done any research for coverage of infertility services with other insurance. David and I are covered by BCBS of North Dakota. We are very fortunate that David's policy covers infertility services. We have a $20,000 lifetime maximum of fertility treatments (per member) and a $500 per member lifetime deductible. After our deductible is met, BCBS will cover the "standard" 80% of services and we will have the "standard" 20% out of pocket expenses. Our insurance will cover all of the procedures and drugs related to our IVF except for the cost of PGD (preimplantation genetic diagnosis). That's the $$ amount that I'm worried about.

I'd suggest that you get to know your insurance policy and get to know it well. Keep in mind that your claims are run by computers and computers DO make mistakes. Some nerdy IT guy has to enter a rules table into the system and that table could be wrong! I have started a file of all of our Explanation of Benefits and bills we've received from the clinic. I also write all of our appointments on a master calendar and what procedure is being done. That way I can reference that when I'm reviewing the EOBs.

I realize that some people might be offended by me listing out the cost of these procedures. People just don't like to talk about money. Please know that my heart is in the right place. I've met so many wonderful people who have Treacher Collins. I want them to be able to read my blog and have all the tools they need when they choose to have children-either through IVF or the old fashioned way.

NOTE: I live in good ole North Dakota. I'm not sure if the prices of services are more or less than other parts of the country....please keep this in mind when reviewing the cost information.