Whirlwind...
Being a CPA, this time of year is absolutely crazy for me. No, I don't do taxes, but I still have busy season where I'm working 55-65 hours a week from the middle of January through April 15th, and usually through April 30th. I am an audit senior manager, and in our practice, we have a very big bubble of audits that are due anywhere from 3/31 through 4/30 that drive our busy season hours up. I've discovered this year, this has really helped me keep my mind off of our fertility struggles. Luckily, I have a boss that is so incredibly understanding and is aware of what Dusty and I are going through, and understands when I am out of the office for a few hours here and there, and also understands why those appointments come in chunks. Thank goodness for that!
All that being said, busy season does cause other problems that can be hard to work around. I really was frustrated last week as I was trying to schedule an appointment with the APN from the RE clinic in Little Rock. She comes up to NWA every 2 weeks, and of all days, the day she was planning to be in NWA, Tuesday, I tentatively had a meeting at a client's 4 1/2 hours away, which would mean I'd miss this time around and would have to push it to April 1st. As it turns out, my client meeting date changed, but I didn't find out until late Friday and wasn't sure if I should reach out to change the appointment anyway, as my husband also is going through a very busy time at work, and has a meeting he can't miss on Tuesday, so I didn't think it would matter anyway, and continued my plan to meet with her on April 1st.
Dusty and I were talking on Saturday and he said that if the available consult appointment was in the morning, he could make it. Well, it was at 10:30, so I emailed the APN to ask her if she still had an opening. She emailed me back yesterday and as it turns out, actually had to move her NWA visit to Wednesday and still had a 10:30 slot available.
So, that all being said, I feel blessed to be able to meeting the her on Wednesday, with Dusty there too! I'm very anxious to hear what she says is the next step and to get moving forward with it!
All that being said, busy season does cause other problems that can be hard to work around. I really was frustrated last week as I was trying to schedule an appointment with the APN from the RE clinic in Little Rock. She comes up to NWA every 2 weeks, and of all days, the day she was planning to be in NWA, Tuesday, I tentatively had a meeting at a client's 4 1/2 hours away, which would mean I'd miss this time around and would have to push it to April 1st. As it turns out, my client meeting date changed, but I didn't find out until late Friday and wasn't sure if I should reach out to change the appointment anyway, as my husband also is going through a very busy time at work, and has a meeting he can't miss on Tuesday, so I didn't think it would matter anyway, and continued my plan to meet with her on April 1st.
Dusty and I were talking on Saturday and he said that if the available consult appointment was in the morning, he could make it. Well, it was at 10:30, so I emailed the APN to ask her if she still had an opening. She emailed me back yesterday and as it turns out, actually had to move her NWA visit to Wednesday and still had a 10:30 slot available.
So, that all being said, I feel blessed to be able to meeting the her on Wednesday, with Dusty there too! I'm very anxious to hear what she says is the next step and to get moving forward with it!
Hi Michelle! It's been great reading your blog today. I just found out today that my husband and I have been recommended for IVF this next cycle. We were doing IUI, but I just produced so many follicles on this past cycle (our 2nd) that they had to cancel the cycle, so they are recommending just moving on to IVF since I was such successful producer.
ReplyDeleteMy question to you, if you have the time and could be so kind -
If you had found out in January that you were doing to do your first IVF cycle, would you have done it during busy season? I'm also a CPA and the timing would be terrible from a work perspective, but I just don't want to wait. I'm ready to be pregnant. If we go ahead, I would start 2 weeks of birth control as soon as my cycle starts (hopefully by the end of this week) and then start stims 4 days after that. Basically I would be going through the retrieval and transfer smack dab in the middle of February. Most of my client work is due by March 15th (tax person).
Part of me says it would be smarter to take a month off and shoot to start mid-to-late busy season when my schedule slows down a little bit (it will still be busy through end of April, like you said). The other part of me can't bear to think of doing nothing for another month after already having just cancelled a cycle because I produced too many follicles.
For us, the doc is only about an hour away and just a half hour from work, so that makes alot of the labs/ultras not that taxing on my schedule, but I know that the injectable hormones can be cruel to your sanity.
Thoughts?
TTC in Chicago
Jess
Hi Jess -
DeleteI'm so glad you reached out and commented! Yes, absolutely, I would have done my IVF during busy season if I had found out in January. However; here are a couple of things I'd want you to consider first.
First, how stressed are you during busy season? Are you working killer hours, or is it pretty manageable and can you manage your stress level pretty well? I had some worry about an audit that was due right around the time of my transfer and my stress level around the time of my transfer (obviously it all turned out fine), but it is something to think about. You would hate that stress or long hours from work caused the embryo to not take.
Second - how much does your boss know about what you are doing and will they be understanding about the time off? Mine was great, and would have been had the retrieval and transfer been during busy season. I ended up taking off the day of my retrieval (Thursday), day after, and the day after my transfer (Monday). Other than that, I didn't really feel like I needed more time off.
Also, I never felt like my hormones were out of control, until right before my retrieval. Then, I ended up crying and such a couple of times at work over things that normally wouldn't have set me off.
Please feel fee to email me, I'd love to chat with you more and will gladly answer any questions or give any advice I can. My email is mlhurst10{at}yahoo.com
I just caught up reading. I'm so sorry if my post came off rude or comes at a bad time.
ReplyDeleteYou are doing great things for others by sharing your story. I don't know if you are taking time off or facing the same decision to start again now, but I will check back and keep you and your husband in my thoughts.
Many hugs and hopes for a better 2015
Jess
Thanks so much, no worries. I'm glad you found my blog.
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