Starting again and the hidden costs of Infertility/Fertility treatment

After being MIA for 5 days AF finally arrived on Wednesday which meant a phone call to the FC to start another cycle.  As it'd been over a month since our last scan, they wanted me over again for another one before I could start which I was happy about as I'd been told just to call up then go over and collect the drugs.  Anyway, off we trotted on Thursday for another date with the dildo-cam, and thankfully everything looked fine and we were given the green light to start another IUI cycle.

We were at the supermarket the other day and as there was a 3 for 2 on vitamins I stocked up as we were both running out.  Even on the special offer, for my prenatal vitamins for a month and hubby's for two months it still cost us £20 for them!!!  It got me thinking, although we all know that fertility treatment is expensive and are always relieved if we qualify for NHS funding, there are still a hell of a lot of hidden/un-thought about costs involved with having fertility treatments.  Every month you're shelling out for vitamins for you both (£20 at least depending on what you take), fuel to and from the many (many) hospital appointments, time off work (as I know a lot of us take holidays in order not to have to tell bosses what we're doing so in effect it's costing you a day's wage) not to mention the copious amounts of wine and chocolate required every month when it's yet another BFN!!  We've been TTC for 28 months, so in that time it's cost us roughly £560 for vitamins alone!!!  At the moment each month is costing us about £60 a month plus four days off work to have treatment - that adds up to quite a lot when you're having treatment month after month.  It just goes to show, even when you are lucky enough to have NHS funding, the financial cost of treatment is actually pretty substantial.

So, I've just given myself my first injection of this cycle - 150iu Gonal F - and have another 150iu to take on Tuesday then 75iu on Thursday before going back for a scan on Friday.  Fingers crossed I don't over stim on the higher does and that I manage not to OV before next Monday when we "should" be having IUI done again.

S x