IVF Cycle Questions
1. How soon can we start our IVF cycle?
2. Will you be doing the egg retrieval/embryo transfer yourself, or will it be another doctor?
3. What protocol do you suggest for us, and why? What meds will I be on, and at what dosages?
4. How many follicles are you hoping for in a cycle? At what point would you cancel or convert to IUI? What abut concern for OHSS?
5. How many embryos would you transfer in our situation? Do we get final say?
6. Are embryos that aren't selected for transfer frozen?
7. What day would you normally transfer on, or does this depend on embryo quality? When will we know?
8. What are your success rates for our age group? Per embryo transferred? For our type of infertility? What do you anticipate our success rate being? What is your live birth rate?
9. How many cycles would we need, realistically?
10. How much information do you give as we go through our cycle? (ie: follicle size, count, E2, P4 etc… while stimming. What about fertilization and embryo reports?)
11. How will I be sedated for egg retrieval? Can you walk me through the procedure?
12. Do you perform “natural IVF”? (this was on the list I mostly C&P'd, I want to Google this, and Mini IVF and any of the other IVF options!)
13. Do you recommend bed rest after embryo transfer? For how long?
14. What are the pros and cons of ICSI?
15. What's the difference, and are both offered, between ICSI and assisted hatching?
16. If the first round fails, what's the process for doing a FET if there were frosties? How soon?
Medication/Supplements Questions
1. When should I be stopping supplements, and is there anything in particular that you would suggest, or that we should stay away from? (ie: Melatonin, DHEA, Tribulus Forte, CoQ10…)
2. Do you use PIO, Crinone, or suppositories?
3. Can we purchase our meds at an independent pharmacy?
4. What do you think about acupuncture?
5. What medications will we be on, and at what dosages?
Testing Questions
1. Does any testing needs to be repeated?
2. Any new tests?
Lifestyle Questions
1. What lifestyle changes do I need to make prior to cycling?
2. What will my physical limitations be while cycling?
Monitoring Questions
1. How available is a nurse/doctor while cycling? (via phone or email)
2. How often do you do monitoring?
Financial Questions
1. How much will this cost?
2. Do you have a price list? Detailed cost list?
3. What are some “extra” costs that might pop up during a cycle?
4. Do you have a shared risk or multiple cycle program?
5. What about other types of discounts?
6. How much will a FET cycle cost?
7. What is the cost of freezing embryos? Storage fees?
8. Where will they be stored and for how long?
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Holy god, that is a thorough list!!! LOL! I think you're ready :D I'm sending you all the luck in the world that you get beginner's luck!!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're on top of it! As a list maker myself, I love this!
ReplyDeleteI know your list making prowess, I used your RE questions list for our initial appt! Thanks for that, btw! :)
DeleteI love lists!! Thinking of you sweetie <3 <3
ReplyDeleteThat is super thorough! That's great. My suggestion to you would be to let the nurse/doc go through his/her information first and then ask whatever may not have been covered. I know during my IVF consult the doc actually covered almost every single one of these items without any prompting from me.
ReplyDeleteThe only other two things I thought of when reading this post was: (1) Make sure you specifically ask if there are any days the clinic is closed/unavailable. I doubt that would happen for you since it's spring but I cycled near the holidays and they were closed for a week. (2) Ask about costs for freezing your embryos. Storage fees specifically, when the money will be due, where they will be stored and for how long (for example, our frosties will be transferred to another bank after 1 year and the new bank charges additional fees on a different schedule).
Other than that, I think everything is completely covered! I'm a fan of lists too - I think you will be completely prepared for your consult :-) HUGS!
I will definitely add those in, thanks! And you're right, the plan is to let him talk and I presume it will answer a lot of these questions, but our RE is known for going off on random tangents where he tells me about the 40yrs old woman who had a miracle baby, or the other random case that had a happy ending that has nothing to do with us, haha! I mostly want this so we can help keep him on point!
DeleteThat's a great list! I think you covered everything (and then some) that I thought about. My biggest concerns were when can we start, how long does it take, and how much does everything cost. Your clinic will probably give you some consent forms and you'll get to make all the decisions about what happens to extra embryos (frozen? donated for adoption? donated for science?) or how you feel about selective reduction, for example. Some of the questions were kind of...uncomfortable to answer or weird to think about so I just wanted to give you a warning about that!
ReplyDeleteWow. That is a great list. I hope you get all of the answers you are looking for. Thinking about you always. <3
ReplyDelete