My name is Ben Kamper, and I am infertile.
I've never really put it that way before. It's simple that way. I'm not usually a confessional person. I don't talk about my feelings unless I'm in a fight or I'm trying to get someone else to speak from the heart. Part of this exercise is finding ways to open up about something with which, a year ago, I was deeply uncomfortable. I'll certainly talk about this more in future posts. Today, I'm more interested in outlining what the goal for this blog is, and the direction that I hope it will take.
I've never really put it that way before. It's simple that way. I'm not usually a confessional person. I don't talk about my feelings unless I'm in a fight or I'm trying to get someone else to speak from the heart. Part of this exercise is finding ways to open up about something with which, a year ago, I was deeply uncomfortable. I'll certainly talk about this more in future posts. Today, I'm more interested in outlining what the goal for this blog is, and the direction that I hope it will take.
My wife Leah and I have been trying to make a baby for 17 months now. Last April I got a semen analysis at the request of her general practictioner. When the results returned, I was diagnosed with ogliospermia, which means that the number of healthy, active sperm I can produce is low. Essentially, the odds of Leah and I being able to naturally produce a child were one percent of one percent of five percent. So we decided to try more technologically advanced options.
Yesterday, Leah had the first visit of our in-vitro fertilization cycle. She's been on birth control for the last 28 days or so, to give her ovaries a rest before the workout they'll receive over the next 18 days or so. Her visit consisted of a blood test and an ultrasound. The blood test covered a baseline of her hormone levels. The ultrasound checked to make sure that she had no ovarian cysts that would become trouble once her reproductive system gets kicked into overdrive. According to our N.P., her ovaries looked great.
We also wrote our first check of this process. $11,500.00. That's more money that either of us have ever spent at one time. It might be more money than either of us have ever spent in one month. Thankfully, that will cover all of the expenses through our doctor through this first cycle. It covers all the testing (at least two more ultrasounds and blood tests), as well as the egg extration, ICSI fertilization, a year of embryo storage, and an implantation. Insurance doesn't cover anything.
Today, we're picking up the medications for the first few days of the process. They cost $1,300.00. For the next sixteen days I will be giving her two injections every morning before I leave for work. We've gotten pretty good at this, me giving her the injections and her enduring them. When we're successful and she's pregnant, she'll be getting daily injections through the entire first trimester.
Right now, I think we're in good spirits. We've been disappointed for so long, I think we're ready to try something new. We're hopeful for the first time in at least six months, and I think that's good.
There's a lot that I want to talk about in this space. We've been working for almost a year now, and there's lots to tell. I'm planning on posting something every day, either what we're going through that day with the IVF cycle, or our experiences from the past. It hasn't been easy, but we've learned a lot about each other.
Yesterday, Leah had the first visit of our in-vitro fertilization cycle. She's been on birth control for the last 28 days or so, to give her ovaries a rest before the workout they'll receive over the next 18 days or so. Her visit consisted of a blood test and an ultrasound. The blood test covered a baseline of her hormone levels. The ultrasound checked to make sure that she had no ovarian cysts that would become trouble once her reproductive system gets kicked into overdrive. According to our N.P., her ovaries looked great.
We also wrote our first check of this process. $11,500.00. That's more money that either of us have ever spent at one time. It might be more money than either of us have ever spent in one month. Thankfully, that will cover all of the expenses through our doctor through this first cycle. It covers all the testing (at least two more ultrasounds and blood tests), as well as the egg extration, ICSI fertilization, a year of embryo storage, and an implantation. Insurance doesn't cover anything.
Today, we're picking up the medications for the first few days of the process. They cost $1,300.00. For the next sixteen days I will be giving her two injections every morning before I leave for work. We've gotten pretty good at this, me giving her the injections and her enduring them. When we're successful and she's pregnant, she'll be getting daily injections through the entire first trimester.
Right now, I think we're in good spirits. We've been disappointed for so long, I think we're ready to try something new. We're hopeful for the first time in at least six months, and I think that's good.
There's a lot that I want to talk about in this space. We've been working for almost a year now, and there's lots to tell. I'm planning on posting something every day, either what we're going through that day with the IVF cycle, or our experiences from the past. It hasn't been easy, but we've learned a lot about each other.
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