Hey ladies, I have a couple questions for you. First of all if any of you went out of state to have your IVF done?

IVF in my state is twice the price that it is in one state below me and the city is about 5 1/2 hours from me. I spoke with a lady from there today and not only is their price half of what it is here, their price includes ICSI which I might need because we're dealing with male factor. The success rates are great, about the same as the ones in my state.

She told me I would only have to make 2 visits, the first one being the consultation, reviewing our records, etc. Than the second one would be the actual procedure, the only problem is for the procedure I have to be there for 8 days. I don't know how that will work around dh getting time off work and all. Not to mention having to get a hotel for 8 days which adds a lot to costs. So how did you all deal with doing it out of state and what were your reasons for going out of state?

Another question is, during those 8 days, what type of process will go on? About what day in that 8 day process does the actual ICSI process take place? Because thats the only part of the process that my dh would need to be there for and he could return home after the fertilizing day and I would return home when everything was finished. Its a big step and doing it out of state is an even bigger step, I was just wondering how you ladies may have dealt with it, any info on this would be great, thank you and God Bless!

Well, I am assuming the 8 days are probably the few days before your retrieval, the retrieval itself, and then the transfer a few days later (3-5). He will need to be there on the day of retrieval. It sounds odd that they only said 8 days...I think it would be more.

I have not or won't be going out of state but I will tell you that so far I have had 7 visits in my IVF cycle: the first consulation, the signing of all the papers and info consult, the injection class, the seminar, the first b/w & u/s to start BCP, the saline sono and trial, and the 2nd b/w & u/s to start Lupron. I will be going back on Sat for the baseline u/s & b/w to start the Follistim. Then, my clinic monitors me EVERY DAY until the retrieval. (I know that in other clinics they only monitor every other day and sometimes even less than that.) They said I could be on the follistim for 10-14 days before the retrieval.

I hope this info helps. I'm not sure what my opinion is about going out of state for this. On one hand it could end up being much cheaper, (although you do have to factor in hotel, gas, food, time off work, etc.). And on the other hand, you may not be monitored that accurately. How and when will you be monitored for the injections? At a home clinic or OBGYN? You want to make sure wherever you go, that it is a reputable place. Your regular OBGYN may not know exactly what they are looking for like an RE would who is especially trained for this. Also, it may be hard for them to have your records straight in both places. I guess these are just things to think about...I am certainly not an expert on this, I have never done it.
It must be really hard to make the decision to go out of state. I wish you all the best! :angel:

Thanks for the info, the reason for only two visits was that everything else that needed to be done could supposively be done through my obgyn. I think it depends on the case with the monitoring, etc. If their is a history of failed attempts, miscarriages, a lot of female problems, considering I have none of this, they think I am going to be a good success, which I hope their right! I know that doesn't always mean success but that might be the reason for the non constant monitoring of me. I have a brother about an hour and a half from the clinic but if I went back and forth from there to his house, gas would be an issue, but at least it would save 8 nights in a hotel.

This is a very reputable place, a history of good successes and their opening another branch in August in another state that is actually a little bit closer to me, so I am thinking of waiting until then, but not sure yet. Its definitely a big decision, but thank you for all your infomation, God Bless.

I really don't know about the monitoring. :confused: I don't have any of those things either: failed attempts, miscarriages, or other female problems, and they are going to still monitor me ALOT! This is my first IVF, so I was surprised that it would be that much, especially when other women on this board have not gone that often. I guess it really depends on the clinic. I am happy though that they do monitor this much b/c I'm worried about possibly overstimulating and I'm guessing that wouldn't happen if they do monitor every day.
I didn't think the place you found wasn't reputable. I'm sure you did plenty of research. ;) I just hope your OBGYN knows what he/she's looking at/for. I read on another post that a woman went to her OBGYN for u/s b/c her RE was so far away during her cycle. It turned out that she had overstimulated and they had to stop the cycle b/c her OBGYN didn't or couldn't see the accurate size of her follicles. That's the only reason why I was concerned for you.. :angel:
Anyway, good luckl!

Thank you, I am just guessing that they may not monitor me every day, but they may, they really didn't discuss that with me, I am sure they'll want to see me every day for those 8 days that I am there but they said they get a lot of out of staters because their prices are so good and that their are only two visits required. First visit being 2-3 days, second visit being 8 days. I've had all tests they require done already besides an u/s for me, the rest we've done already so I just need to bring records of all that. Do you know what the u/s for me before my visit would be for? She said it so quick and had a particular name for it but I don't remember now, she said I would need it done before my first visit.

I can understand obgyn's not exactly knowing what their looking at, I assume that I could probably end up staying for 12 days after the tranfer, as I don't work, just to make sure I wasn't over stimulated and just have my dh go back home after the procedure. Since I have my brother an hour and a half away, I might be able to stay with him until the pregnancy test.

I need all the info I can get on this stuff, so thanks for taking the time to reply to me and explain things to me because I know very little about all this. God Bless.

That u/s might be the saline sonogram. They look for polyps and/or anything that may prevent the IVF cycle from working well. At mine, they did the trial the same day so that I could tell what it would feel like the day of the transfer and they could see any potential issues...like they found out that my uterus is "curved" which isn't a big deal but just a little harder to put the catheter in the right place.
Just so you know, the overstimulation actually can happen before the transfer. They say, although it is unlikely, the follistim or other similar drugs can make you grow so many follicles and it enlarges your ovaries, and this can potentially make you sick~bloated, throwing up, etc. which can get worse if you become pregnant. Sometimes, women are even hospitalized. My RE gave me that info at the first consult. Don't feel bad about not being knowledgable, I wasn't either at first. You learn all these things pretty quick, and this board has been a big help for me as I know it will be for you too. :)

Yes I believe the saline sonogram is what she said, she said they do something with dye, does that sound like the saline sonogram? So what would you suggest if I get the over stimulation before I get down there, since you said an obgyn might not recognize it. I am still hoping not to have to do the IVF process, I am still thinking of IUI but if I go for that, I will only try it once and hopefully it will take or then I will move onto IVF. But I want to get all the info I can before hand, it probably won't be until July if I go for it, I know anything can happen from now until then, thanks again for your help. God Bless.

Well no, I didn't do the dye. I think it's a similar procedure though. The overstimulation has to be monitored. I would think if they detect it, or if you do by getting symptoms, then you have to decide to go ahead with the procedure or cancel it. Some clinics, I think don't give you a choice especially if the overstimulation is really bad. I wouldn't worry about it too much since it rarely happens. The nurse who took the first huge round of blood for me, (when they test everything under the sun it seems!) said (after having 4 IVFs) that the liklihood of having multiples is higher than overstimulating. Well, good luck and keep us posted. :angel:

Thanks, I'll keep ya posted...actually the thought of multiples is nice to me, well twins is, I dont know about more than that..but twins would at least keep me from having to go through another procedure for quite sometime :) . God Bless!