How was your experience with Michael Swanson at Conceptions Reproductive Associates?
He was great. I was pleased with his knowledge & bedside manner. I really appreciated his sense of humor, his kindness, & his confidence. We only met with him a couple of times during the entire process, however, I never felt slighted, disregarded, or felt like I was looked at as just another patient with money to spend.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Michael Swanson at Conceptions Reproductive Associates?
Unfortunately, he has retired. I have referred a lot of friends to him and Conceptions as a whole. My nurses, ultrasound techs were wonderful.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Michael Swanson at Conceptions Reproductive Associates?
He was wonderful. He took a lot of time with us, answered all of our questions, and was frank with us about the predicted outcomes. He was right!
Describe the protocols Michael Swanson used in your cycles at Conceptions Reproductive Associates and their degree of success.
Our journey has been in three parts with Dr. Swanson.
1) In September of 2012 I met Dr. Swanson. We started testing then and it was decided to move on from IUIs to IVF.
2) We began shots in January of 2013 to prep my body for my egg retrieval.
3) We retrieved my eggs in March 2013. We planned on doing PGD, so I knew we were going to have to wait to transfer. Dr. Swanson gathered 30 eggs. 14 of those eggs fertilized and of those, only 5 made it to the blastocyst stage. We sent those 5 to be genetically tested. I recall it was nice because to take a break because I did slightly overstim a bit and felt AWFUL after my retrieval.
4) I found out that I had a couple of cysts, so we did have to delay my transfer to the fall. I was devastated for the delay. I started meds in early September, and we transferred our boy embryo in late October. I delivered him on his due date in July.
For this cycle, what helped me prep was an IVF Calendar that I could read and reminders. A number of shots and pills was crazy and expensive!
Since we had one remaining female embryo, we did the same protocol for our girl embryo and transferred last March 2016. Our daughter was born in November 2016.
I do recall we used lupron, estrogen, and progesterone to help stim. And of course we had those HUGE shots of progesterone for 12 weeks after my confirmed pregnancies.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Conceptions Reproductive Associates. (Assigned nurse: Tanya)
Tanya was my primary nurse. I loved her. She was timely, thoughtful, smart, communicative, prompt, and caring. I adored working with her. She was wonderful and I miss her!
Describe your experience with Conceptions Reproductive Associates.
I had been to another, rather well-known clinic in the area. So, my experience is based on comfort and gut feelings. Conceptions is warm, welcoming, friendly and helpful. I never felt like I was a cash cow... although I did have to pay out of pocket.
Describe your experience with your monitoring appointments at Conceptions Reproductive Associates.
As unpleasant as some of these appointments can be, I always had wonderful monitors. I loved this team so much!
Describe the costs associated with your care under Michael Swanson at Conceptions Reproductive Associates.
We paid around $20,000 for our retrieval and first FET. Our second FET was around $8,500. These prices include meds.
Describe Michael Swanson's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Conceptions Reproductive Associates.
I followed my doctor's lead on this. He suggested transferring only one embryo due to my "mature age". 33/34 and 36. He cited studies supporting his opinion on transferring one embryo. That worked for us!