Fertility treatments if you work FT

[Anonymous]

I have been TTC #2 for 9 months now and am AMA with secondary infertility. I am planning to start treatment soon (likely IVF) but am very concerned about all of the doctor's appointments and monitoring that will be required. How do people who work full time out of the house manage? My job is NOT flexible and I cannot be out all the time for a couple months or however long it takes. We also have a 3 year old at home. DH leave for work by 7am and I drop him off at camp at 8:30am (or school during the year) before heading to work.

Also, how much time is it really - how many times do you have to go in for monitoring with IVF? I am still a bit fuzzy on the exact process. And how long are the appointments? I always have a bad wait at my RE's office so I can't imagine dealing with that multiple times per week.

How do people make this work?

[Anonymous]

Every clinic is a bit different, but my clinic in DC (GW) had monitoring appointments early in the morning. I would get there at 7:00 and be done by 7:30. You will have to take a little leave for the appointments at the beginning when you work out your protocol with the RE and for retrieval and transfer, but you can probably get to work on monitoring days. You will probably want to go on care.com and hire a morning babysitter for the days you go to monitoring because you won't be able to get home to do drop off.

[Anonymous]

I don't think it is as bad as you think. There are some appointments leading up to the cycle.

Typically, initial consult, day 3 testing, HSG, (get husband tested, too), see doctor regarding results.

Depending on treatment plan, for IVF, I did something similar too: injection class, mock transfer, start cycle daily or every day blood work and monitoring for about 7-10 days. Egg retrieval (need to take at least 1-2 days to rest), transfer a week later.

Most appointments are early morning. You either find flexibility at work, get sitters, take time off between you and your spouse or ask family for help. Work late, if you come late, but most of your early appointments will have lots of notice to fit into your schedule. Monitoring appt are usually quick and early. Hopefully, your clinic will be close to home.

Think about it, you had to schedule OB appt with your first right. You found a way to do those, this is similar except the clinic runs on time. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I am also TTC #2, have a 2 year old, and about to start IVF. But I just completed a medicated IUI cycle with injectible FSH, so I had a similar monitoring schedule to IVF, I had about 8 monitoring appts. total (more toward the end before trigger shot). Then the appt. for the IUI.

I'm a SAHM but my husband has a very inflexible job and he could not take any time off for my monitoring appts. We don't have local family or anyone who could babysit that early in the morning (and be reliable). Also, a lot of the timing of appointments depend on what the u/s and bloodwork show, so the appointments were somewhat unpredictable, which would make scheduling a babysitter challenging. So we flew in my MIL (who lives in the midwest) for 10 days to cover all the monitoring appts. and the IUI appt, because of the fact that many of the appointments ended up being unpredictable (in other words I'd go in for a monitoring appt. and get my 2 pm phone call that day about the blood test results, then they would tell me when to come in next, sometimes in a few days or the next day). Having my MIL here was the only way we could make it work. Now we're deciding when to do IVF and we'll have to do the same thing, flying my MIL again for 2-3 weeks this time. It's challenging to find childcare for all these appointments, etc. if your spouse doesn't have a flexible job.

[Anonymous]

Try to go into the clinic first thing -- if you are first in line at 7 you'll be out by 7:15 and possibly home in time to get your kid. Agree that you will just need to get a sitter for the mornings.

There are a lot of working women doing it, it's not easy but it's doable.

[Anonymous]

There are not as many appointments for IVF as you may think. The following is based on my experience at Shady Grove. The vast majority of appointments prior to a transfer are for blood tests and ultrasounds, which can be done in the early morning and take only a few minutes. I've done this at my local Shady Grove at 6 am in the morning. These were 5 minute appointments with 0 to 10 minutes of wait time. I think, overall, there were 5 such appointments prior to the transfer. No time off from work needed. The two times I needed to go to Shady Grove in Rockville for more involved procedures - the HSG and the actual transfer - were done by appointment. The HSG was a morning procedure which took less than 10 minutes. The transfer an afternoon procedure, which also took less than 10 minutes. For me, it was necessary to take time off from work only on those two days. The appointments after a transfer consist of a blood test 2 weeks after the transfer and then again 2 days later (to determine if you are pregnant and then make sure your HCG numbers are progressing as they should), and these too can be done in the early morning (6 am times lot). After that, if all is well and you are pregnant, your next appointment will be a 6 week ultrasound, soon after which you will leave Shady Groves care and your ObGyn will take over. Good luck! You can make this work with minimal disruption to your schedule!

[Anonymous]

Can you drop DC1 in for early care from 7:30 or 8 on and then get to the clinic? If so, you could be to work by 9 or 9:30 if you work near your clinic. That's what I did, and it was always easy (putting aside the early mornings).

[Anonymous]

Here's the sad truth...if you can't handle work and fertility appointments you can't handle work and prenatal appointments or taking time off for the baby.

It's similar to women who can't afford the cost of IVF. If you can't afford the cost of IVF you can't afford a baby. Daycare is around 3k a month here. So 36k a year.

Fwiw most of the IVF monitoring appointments are in the morning. You can probably go first appointment of the day for your consultation appointment. Go for the bloodwork (infectious diseases) during lunch one day. You'll need half a sick day for the hcg, one sick day for the egg retrieval and one sick day for the embryo transfer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's the sad truth...if you can't handle work and fertility appointments you can't handle work and prenatal appointments or taking time off for the baby.

It's similar to women who can't afford the cost of IVF. If you can't afford the cost of IVF you can't afford a baby. Daycare is around 3k a month here. So 36k a year.

Fwiw most of the IVF monitoring appointments are in the morning. You can probably go first appointment of the day for your consultation appointment. Go for the bloodwork (infectious diseases) during lunch one day. You'll need half a sick day for the hcg, one sick day for the egg retrieval and one sick day for the embryo transfer.

That's just not true. For one thing prenatal appointments are spaced out more and can be done at different times of day. I had no trouble getting to prenatal appointments during my lunch hour, but it takes much more effort to get to the clinic during the set early morning hours, especially if you have to do several in a row.

And as for cost, the difference is day care is monthly whereas IVF is a huge up-front cost. I can afford $3k a month because I am earning more than that each month. But I don't have more than $15k sitting in the bank that I'm willing to spend on IVF. Others may not even have that, if they haven't been saving it. So unless you are paying it on installment, it's a much bigger up-front expense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the sad truth...if you can't handle work and fertility appointments you can't handle work and prenatal appointments or taking time off for the baby.

It's similar to women who can't afford the cost of IVF. If you can't afford the cost of IVF you can't afford a baby. Daycare is around 3k a month here. So 36k a year.

Fwiw most of the IVF monitoring appointments are in the morning. You can probably go first appointment of the day for your consultation appointment. Go for the bloodwork (infectious diseases) during lunch one day. You'll need half a sick day for the hcg, one sick day for the egg retrieval and one sick day for the embryo transfer.

That's just not true. For one thing prenatal appointments are spaced out more and can be done at different times of day. I had no trouble getting to prenatal appointments during my lunch hour, but it takes much more effort to get to the clinic during the set early morning hours, especially if you have to do several in a row.

And as for cost, the difference is day care is monthly whereas IVF is a huge up-front cost. I can afford $3k a month because I am earning more than that each month. But I don't have more than $15k sitting in the bank that I'm willing to spend on IVF. Others may not even have that, if they haven't been saving it. So unless you are paying it on installment, it's a much bigger up-front expense.

If you are going to compare, getting to my IVF appointments and getting to work was a thousand times easier than getting to my prenatal appointments after my successful cycle. In fact, it was easier to hide I was going through IVF than itwastohirgnancy during the first trimester. IVF actually isn't that bad and FETS are even easier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the sad truth...if you can't handle work and fertility appointments you can't handle work and prenatal appointments or taking time off for the baby.

It's similar to women who can't afford the cost of IVF. If you can't afford the cost of IVF you can't afford a baby. Daycare is around 3k a month here. So 36k a year.

Fwiw most of the IVF monitoring appointments are in the morning. You can probably go first appointment of the day for your consultation appointment. Go for the bloodwork (infectious diseases) during lunch one day. You'll need half a sick day for the hcg, one sick day for the egg retrieval and one sick day for the embryo transfer.

That's just not true. For one thing prenatal appointments are spaced out more and can be done at different times of day. I had no trouble getting to prenatal appointments during my lunch hour, but it takes much more effort to get to the clinic during the set early morning hours, especially if you have to do several in a row.

And as for cost, the difference is day care is monthly whereas IVF is a huge up-front cost. I can afford $3k a month because I am earning more than that each month. But I don't have more than $15k sitting in the bank that I'm willing to spend on IVF. Others may not even have that, if they haven't been saving it. So unless you are paying it on installment, it's a much bigger up-front expense.

If you are going to compare, getting to my IVF appointments and getting to work was a thousand times easier than getting to my prenatal appointments after my successful cycle. In fact, it was easier to hide I was going through IVF than itwastohirgnancy during the first trimester. IVF actually isn't that bad and FETS are even easier.

Not the PP, but I've done 6 IUIs, 3 IVFs, and 2 FETs. I found scheduling for them much more challenging with work than I found prenatal appointments, particularly ER and ET.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the sad truth...if you can't handle work and fertility appointments you can't handle work and prenatal appointments or taking time off for the baby.

It's similar to women who can't afford the cost of IVF. If you can't afford the cost of IVF you can't afford a baby. Daycare is around 3k a month here. So 36k a year.

Fwiw most of the IVF monitoring appointments are in the morning. You can probably go first appointment of the day for your consultation appointment. Go for the bloodwork (infectious diseases) during lunch one day. You'll need half a sick day for the hcg, one sick day for the egg retrieval and one sick day for the embryo transfer.

That's just not true. For one thing prenatal appointments are spaced out more and can be done at different times of day. I had no trouble getting to prenatal appointments during my lunch hour, but it takes much more effort to get to the clinic during the set early morning hours, especially if you have to do several in a row.

And as for cost, the difference is day care is monthly whereas IVF is a huge up-front cost. I can afford $3k a month because I am earning more than that each month. But I don't have more than $15k sitting in the bank that I'm willing to spend on IVF. Others may not even have that, if they haven't been saving it. So unless you are paying it on installment, it's a much bigger up-front expense.

If you are going to compare, getting to my IVF appointments and getting to work was a thousand times easier than getting to my prenatal appointments after my successful cycle. In fact, it was easier to hide I was going through IVF than itwastohirgnancy during the first trimester. IVF actually isn't that bad and FETS are even easier.

Not the PP, but I've done 6 IUIs, 3 IVFs, and 2 FETs. I found scheduling for them much more challenging with work than I found prenatal appointments, particularly ER and ET.

Good point about ER and ET! My ER was on a Saturday--jackpot on that one! And I never had a ET with my IVF cycle. For FETS, I only went in for a 3 day, a lining check, and transfer I think. It also is dependent on your protocol and what type of responder you are.

I think you should take it in stride OP. There are so many variables that are individual here. I am sure you will figure out how to manage it.

[Anonymous]

As other posters have said, the monitoring is early in the morning so likely your work will be unaffected (figuring out childcare may be tricky though). You will have to miss work the day of retrieval, and will have a few days notice for that. Just think of it this way - if you came down with the flu, you'd be out of work for a day or more with even less notice. You can work before and after the transfer - bed rest makes no difference. I found prenatal appointments and random appointments for my kids now that I have them to be much harder to manage than IVF. The hardest part is if you have a job that demands last-minute travel. if that is the case, you will have to come up with a plan for that.

And the PP who said "if you can't afford IVF you can't afford a kid" is nuts - there is a huge difference between child care costs that are spread out (and most people can find an option for less than $3K/month) and the huge up front cost of IVF.

[Anonymous]

You get the earliest appointment possible at the clinic location closest to your work. I did this 2X. If you can't bring your child to the monitoring appointments you will have to hire a sitter. It really isn't that bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You get the earliest appointment possible at the clinic location closest to your work. I did this 2X. If you can't bring your child to the monitoring appointments you will have to hire a sitter. It really isn't that bad.

P.S. For both IVFs my work had no idea. The only person in the world who knows I did it (other than my docs) is my husband. So it's do-able.