NIAW: Resolve to know more

It's with a heavy heart that I celebrate National Infertility Awareness Week. My heart hurts that I have to be in the population that struggles with the disease of infertility, but I stand proud that I am a part of the Resolve network looking to increase awareness for this disease.

It's been three years for me. Sadly enough, in the infertility world I am a young pup.

The last three years of my life have been a struggle coming to terms with a condition classified as a medical disease, but treatment remains uncovered by the insurance world.

For two of the last three years, I was sad. I was sad about the situation that had no cure; sad to have a disease with no coverage; sad to have a disease that was kept hush-hush; sad when anything parent or baby related came up; and sad that no one seemed to care. When I wasn't sad, I was angry. The common, "why me?" question came up too many times to count. The fairness I once saw in the world around me crumbled to the ground. If you look at my life, you would see that I made the right decisions in my life 98% of the time. I went to college, got a bachelor's and a master's. I married the man of my dreams and bought a house. Then I found my dream of having a family to fill that house wasn't going to happen naturally.

I did my research. I researched and researched about what I could do. I took every single vitamin my sisters in infertility wrote about. I did fertility acupuncture. I cut out all caffeine. Then I prayed for a miracle.

My hopes and prayers changed more than my mood swings on fertility meds. If you haven't been on fertility drugs, my husband calls him the devil drugs because they turned me into a crazy person.
Two years and a half years with no positive results left me a sad, depressed, angry person who was hopped up (or angered up) on fertility meds.

I was so sick of feeling physically and mentally exhausted. We needed a break. I have no idea how my husband put up with me day after day. I wasn't myself.

Fast forward six months. We're both in a better place with fertility. I stopped letting the anger and sadness overtake my life. We're almost ready to restart treatment and my outlook is both positive and realistic because I've resolved to know more about my disease.

The financial emptiness of infertility

The world on infertility has been a quiet one and I understand why.
The emotional journey of it all is a lot in and of itself.
The other half is just as brutal. The financial implications of infertility are a black hole that puts you at a loss for words. Having a baby is a financial responsibility for any couple. For couples facing infertility, additional money is often needed for treatments and tests. The vast majority of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) are not covered by insurance, the patient has to pay out-of-pocket for it all. Only fifeteen states in the US have passed laws requiring insurance companies to help cover costs.

Here is my first reaction to the costs of it all.


Below are the estimated prices I was give.

One-cycle = $11,570.63 (a fresh and a frozen cycle of IVF)

Two-cycle = $20,149.83 (2 fresh and 2 frozen cycles of IVF)

Three-cycle = $26,821.28 (3 fresh and 3 frozen cycles of IVF)

ICSI = $1,124.00

This does not include any genetic or embryo testing which is estimated to be about $3,000.

They estimated that medications would be about $4,000 a month as well.

I left the consult feeling this way:

All in all our IVF consult was good. We're going to wait a little bit so we can figure out the financing with out me going crazy.

Popper bites

 

 

I love jalapeno poppers; they're my go-to appetizer. The only thing I'm not a fan of is taking one bite and having the whole jalapeno come out in that bite! I decided to do my own take on this and make popper bites of my own.

Ingredients

8-12 fresh jalapeno peppers, chopped, stems removed. Optional: remove the seeds to reduce the heat

6 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 bag of  real bacon bits
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese of your choice

2 large eggs
2 tablespoons milk
1 cup panko crumbs

1 cup breadcrumbs (season these as desired)

Mix the cream cheese, shredded cheese, jalapenos and bacon to form a paste.

Shape into balls using about 1/2 tablespoon of paste for each or to fit your palm. Be careful not to make these too big to ensure the filling is cooked.

Take the popper filling and dip into milk; then dip into the panko and breadcrumb topping. Allow the breading to dry (about 10minutes) and then repeat until the popper is adequately covered.

Fry: Place on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden brown 

OR

Bake: Place into pan with 2-4 tablespoons of olive oil and fry for 1-2 minutes on each side, until golden brown