New here, but had a questions--My husband and I are experiencing secondary infertility. After a couple failed IVF cycles at a local clinic, we had a phone consult with CCRM and have decided to do the one day work up at the clinic in Denver before deciding whether to pursue another IVF cycle. Has anyone been there before? Any tips/things we should know (about being there itself or other logistics). our other issue is we have a 4 1/2 year old and no one to watch her--can we take her with us? Thank you!
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Hello! I am actually getting ready for my FET at CCRM next week! Your story sounds almost exactly like mine. We have one daughter conceived through IUI and for our second we had a failed IVF at a local clinic before we pursued CCRM. Let me first tell you how absolutely amazing our experience has been there. They do everything incredibly well and I really felt like I could relax and be the patient instead of constantly second guessing my other doctor.
The one day work up is a long day but it is so nice to get all of your testing done in one day! Unfortunately, they do not allow children in the clinic. We had to leave my daughter home with my parents. They do have 2 drop in daycares they recommend - Kid's Town Drop-In and Club 4 Kids Piney Creek. As far as travel, if you are flying, get there the night before and don't make your return flight until at least 7 if not later the day you have your workup. We ended up being there from 6:30-5pm. I am happy to answer any other questions or if you want more info of what the actual day looks like too!
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@twithw: I'm so sorry I missed your message! I didn't get a notification for some reason.
Thank you for the response---I am open to ANY tips you have for this trip. Things to bring along, things you wish you had known, etc.
I ended up calling the clinic and they said it would be find to bring our kiddo (though obviously it wouldn't be ideal). We might look into the drop in places if we have time when we get there, but she has major stranger anxiety, so it wouldn't be ideal given the long day. We're in the process of trying to find a sitter that can at least cover part of the day (and nap time!) and we'll bring her with us for the rest. I would ask my mom to meet us in Denver (she doesn't live near us), but she is not really supportive of doing this, so it would just be extra stress to have her with us
I'm guessing by now you've had your FET? Good luck and hope it's good news when you test!!
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Oh that is great! I must just be remembering that kids can't be in the surgical area when you have your retrieval then. I am sorry your mom isn't more supportive of it. Infertility is such a hard thing to understand unless you go through it. We have definitely had our share of questions about our choice and in the end that is exactly what it is. Our choice.
When is your workup scheduled? Which doctor did you choose? The day itself is long but it actually goes pretty quickly. They are a well-oiled machine and we had less than a 10 minute wait between each appointment during the day. They may have already sent you a schedule with all your appointments but if not that will give you a good idea of what your costs will be if you are paying out of pocket. It helped to know before going in what we would be spending. You do have to pay for each individual appointment as you go which is a little weird but not a big deal. If you will be having an HSG bring some Aleve or Advil with you and take it 30 minutes to an hour before the procedure. It wasn't fun but not nearly as bad as people had described. They also do have a snack cart that has a few things but they only take cash, so bring some of that with you! During lunch, if it is a nice day, there is a walking trail pretty close to the clinic, next to Cabelas. It is a nice chance to move around a little bit if you are into that sort of thing! For lunch there are a bunch of restaurants really close too. If you have time for breakfast while you are there, go to Snooze. The line is a little long but the pancakes are awesome!
And yes! We had our FET last week and will do the blood test on Thursday. As I am sure you can imagine, there isn't quite the excitement as your first cycle but I do have renewed hope because of CCRM. Their results are so incredible that it really does make it worth it!
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No tips really, it's quite a well oiled machine there. Arrive on time in the morning for the orientation, and then the rest of the day is pretty much as laid out in the schedule they send out. For us it actually went faster than scheduled since everyone was just moving from one thing to the next. We never really waited longer than 10 minutes for the next procedure. Then they order out lunch around noon for everyone to pick up and eat there so that you can just continue and not stop for lunch.
I'm sure secondary fertility has it's challenges and is painful also, but I beg of you if at all possible, please do not bring your child for the sake of the other couples there... many with primary infertility and possibly going to CCRM as a last hail mary. These people who are wondering if they will ever even get to be parents, don't need the additional pain of being faced with a child all day. The orientation is the only time you and your husband will be preoccupied at the same time. If your daughter could be watched for just even the morning hour or two... then your husband could pick her back up after that and have him watch her for most the day. The only thing he is needed for is the SA and blood draw, so if they could even arrange to get him done with that first thing, then he's pretty much free the rest of the day except the consultation with the doctor. Most of the day is really all you.
Good luck!
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@twithw: Thanks for the tips! (esp bringing cash for food, i reach HANGRY pretty quickly ;)) I will be having an HSG, so will have the advil (which I carry all the time anyways, thanks to migraines :p). And DD loves pancakes, so will check out that place for breakfast.
Testing day is almost here--sending all good thoughts to you!@PurplePumps: We definitely will only bring her as a last resort--for the consideration of others and our own benefit of being about to concentrate on the matter at hand. so much so that we've also put the word out locally to see if anyone we know (who she is comfortable with) can fly with us to watch her (so the added expense of flying someone out, putting them up at a hotel, covering food/transportation expenses, paying for their time, etc), but we've come up short so far. Most of the people we know work full time or have kids of their own to juggle. The drop-in I am sure is great for most people, but having tried it a couple of times here (at a couple gyms and at a freestanding childcare center), we have always been called to come get her. and we even vaguely tried to assess my mom's availability and she is going to be out of town with her sister visiting from out of the country. I have a friend who knows someone there who is trying to find a sitter for me who can meet with us the couple days before to get DD comfortable, but so far we've come up with nothing there either, but we're trying. We're just running out of time as our appointment is coming up in a couple weeks. If we do have to bring her, DH will have her out for all the stuff that's just me
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@allhope: Ditto on what @PurplePumps: said about bringing kids to an RE's office. Just have your husband watch her at the hotel. I don't think its necessary in any way for husbands to be at the RE's office unless they are giving their own sperm samples, you are getting a baby ultrasound, or you are having surgery. Its truly awful to see babies at the RE's office as someone who is trying so hard to have a baby and I really can't think of anything worse for a child than having to be at an RE's office.
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@agold: Both people are required for the orientation, for the consent notarization, and the dr consult (for his sa/bloodwork), I could have her. So if i can't find someone she'll have to come for those 3 things. I know it sucks, and I'm really, really not trying to do it to hurt anyone, but when we have 2 people needed for parts of the workup, I don't really have a choice. If I can't visit the drop in centers (I need to find their hours), I'm really not willing to just show up and drop her off to a place I know nothing about. Same thing with a sitter, i"m not willing to leave her behind with someone I have never met before (forgetting for a second that it would be a nightmare for her)
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@allhope: Well, you can only do what you can do! Best of luck with everything. I do remember now that my husband came to sign some paperwork once when we started everything. So maybe your husband can just be there when needed. Hopefully you get all that done up front. I would imagine it would be easier for you to go through all the lab work on your without your husband and child standing around during all of that anyways. Best of luck to you!!
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@agold: Thanks! Just called the 2 drop in places and they don't even open until 8 (the orientation part of the work up is at 7, we're supposed to check in at 6:45), and at around 20 minutes away, it's at least an hour break we'd need to have for someone to take her, settle her in, and get back to the clinic (and that much time if we do take her to go get her if they call us to come get her :/)
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@allhope: Bummer you don't have anyone to watch her. That must be tough on a day to day basis. And really.. who cares if you bring her. There's always people with kids running around an RE's office. Sucks for those without kids, but that's not your problem. Best of luck to you, though! That is really exciting that you are getting this process started!!!
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