Mock Transfer, SHG, and More

Soooooo, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! {{Please read until the end, specifically the final paragraph}}

I called Empire Plan (my new insurance) to activate my infertility coverage yesterday, and they were closed, CRAP :( I didn't even think about the holiday. So I figured I'd call this morning when they opened on the way to Buffalo IVF for my appointment. Called them and their systems were down, REALLY?! So I called back as I pulled into the parking lot, they looked up my benefits and said my coverage ended August 2013 (that's when we switched to Casey's insurance), I told them I submitted my paperwork for the insurance to kick back in on January 1st. They informed me that they hadn't received anything from my benefits office, I was FREAKING OUT!!

Went into my appointment and informed billing that I was trying to work out insurance and haven't received new cards yet, so hopefully everything will be okay there. Fast forward a couple hours, talked to benefits office and since the option transfer period was until 1/16/15, she was still processing the applications. They sent my insurance application into insurance at 10 am. I called back to Empire and they see that the info was sent but it doesn't show up under benefits until 24 hours later, and of course they're closed over the weekend. So I know what I'll be doing first thing Monday morning. This was the LAST thing I wanted to be stressing over this morning. The regular insurance coverage is retro-active to 1/1/15 but with the infertility coverage, I have to personally call to activate that, and of course couldn't do that without the insurance. So I'm really hoping they'll cover today's appointment. Benefits think they will since I obviously took the necessary steps, but it's still stressful. My hormones are on overdrive and this of course set me over the edge today.

But, let's talk about good stuff. My appointment! Dr. Griffin did my mock embryo transfer and saline sonohysterogram (SHG). First he did the mock transfer, where they insert a catheter completely into my uterus to make sure it's a good environment for an embryo to live. They use an ultrasound to view the catheter and see everything that's going on. He even touched the back of my uterus just to make sure there were no obstacles. He was very happy with what he saw. He said my uterus looked "text book" and a perfect environment for a embryo, very great news! Pregnancy can change things which is why they wanted to do this again. Then he did the SHG where they do a transvaginal ultrasound and basically squirt a bunch of saline in to make sure the uterine lining looks good, make sure there are no cysts, or abnormalities, etc. Again, everything looked great here, YAY! I also learned that when I come in for my monitoring appointments I'll be seeing Dr. Sullivan in January and Dr. Griffin in February. I've worked with Dr. Sullivan since March 2011, he's my main doctor and we've put a lot of trust into him, he's an amazing Doctor so I'm glad I'll be able to work with him during some of my process. Dr. Griffin came into the practice as they released me when I was pregnant, so I've only met him a couple times, but he was really nice today and I'm looking forward to working with him as well.

Finally, I know this is a public blog, but if you are reading this, please no sharing on Facebook or social media sites or even face-to-face. We're wanting to keep this round of IVF a little more private and to ourselves. I've shared this blog with my IVF and mama groups. But anyone else that is reading this, it's because you've come here on your own. People wonder why I would publicly blog if I wanted this kept quiet, it's because it helps me a TON to blog about the process. It's VERY therapeutic for me. Plus, I don't want to forget anything. So please respect our privacy. I would love for everyone to continue reading and follow our process. We appreciate any prayers and support we can get. You will get all necessary updates here as well. So refer to this blog for questions :D Thanks again for respecting us!