Nicole Ulrich

Dr. Ulrich treated me like a himan, and also explained the why behind her decisions and recommendations. She sometimes performed the ultrasounds herself during stimulation and called personally to talk through options after disappointing results.

Not specifically for Dr Ulrich, but for any fertility clinic - do some research before you go in and understand what questions to ask your whole care tea.

My first IVF cycle was 225 follistim and i cant recall the menopur dosage, but i started that 4 days into my cycle. I had one IUI cycle previously at another clinic, amd given my response and age we started with the higher dose. 6 eggs retrieved, 6 fertilized, 1 day 5 blastocyst ( high mosaic) 2nd IVF cycle: 225 follistom. max dose menopur and she added in Omnitrope (growth hormone). 8 eggs retrieved, 5 fertilized, 1 day 5 blastocyst, Abnormal. 3rd IVF cycle: same protocol as 2nd - could not add additional meds. 6 eggs retreived, 5 fertilized, 1 blastocyst, Abnormal 4th IVF cycle: same protocol as 2nd and 3rd, 6 eggs retrieved, 5 fertilized, 2 day five blastocysts, both abnormal Donor Embryo Transfer (Dr. Wells) : Estrogen (2mg) 3 orally, 2 vaginally daily for almost 30 days before transfer. Progesterone shots (1ml) intramuscularly 5 days before transfer. continued progesterone and esteogen until 10 week ultrasound and goodbye appt. currently 19 weeks pregnant

Medications were costly given dosage. with the addition of Omnitrope, it was roughly 5k. the retrieval clinic fees and anesthesia fees were about $2k, and an additional 2kish for the retrieval. about 4k for dr and nuraing fees during cycle

With the donor embryos, we ended up in a situation where the strongest embryo on paper was damaged at the originating clinic during freezing. Dr. Wells made the recommendation, based on the quality of that embryo and the on paper quality of the 2nd embryo to thaw and transfer both. she was very clear on the risks, amd only made the rec based on the quality and what she believed would give me the best chance at conception. it worked, and i am expecting one child.

Dr. Ulrich was great from day one of our consultation. She explained everything very well for my husband and I to understand. Any questions we had she was able to answer for us. Not only is she very professional, but she is personable. I feel like she is always making the plan geared toward me and adjusts the plan as needed for what my body needs.

Be open ask questions. She doesn't make you feel like you should know something and will explain everything.

Due to me having PCOS she did all medicated IUI's. After the first failed IUI, she did a saline ultrasound she saw something so then did a procedure to go in and clean it out and removed a polyp ( I can't remember the name of this). She also gave me progesterone for the 2nd and 3rd to start the day after the IUI to try and help. I am currently in the IVF cycle and started with birth control and now am doing gonal f, menopure, and certrozide.

The costs of each IUI round was around $1,500. I am currently in the IVF cycles and am totaling around $16,000.

I asked about multiple transfers and she said she only does single transfers.

Dr. Ulrich is knowledgeable, caring, thoughtful and straightforward with critical information. She takes time to check in on patient well being at each visit and makes a point to make a personal connection during each visit. She’s extremely knowledgeable about her profession and explains the fertility process in an easy to understand way. She answers all questions honestly and thoroughly.

I would suggest being honest and asking questions.

After routine blood work and screenings, Dr. Ulrich first suggested I attempt IUI. After the third unsuccessful IUI, my husband and I showed an interest in starting IVF. Dr. Ulrich met with us and explained next steps. It was overwhelming to hear everything in one sitting, but she was patient with my emotions and questions. I always felt validated when visiting Audubon. I began treatment/medications to prepare for my egg retrieval. From here, we met with Dr. Ulrich regarding our remaining embryos post PGT. I was very discouraged with our only embryo’s rating, but Dr. Ulrich shared her professional opinion regarding the chance we had with a successful pregnancy if we decided to transfer this one embryo. It’s important to note that although Dr. Ulrich was positive, she was always honest and never gave us false hope. During our transfer, Dr. Ulrich took her time and explained the process to use step-by-step. Once pregnant, I felt so comforted to remain at Audubon and very sad to tell them goodbye.

I’m not quite sure of specific costs. The cost of fertility treatments is unfortunately extremely high in our country. This is not to blame Audubon/Dr. Ulrich.

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Dr. Ulrich not only treated us with tip-top service during our 4 month journey with her (including phone calls from her with big news) but she watched my charts closely and pivoted strategy to create a successful outcome. My husband and I were told I'd likely never become pregnant with our own egg and sperm by another fertility clinic, so we went to Audubon to get a second opinion and didn't expect a different opinion going into that meeting. We're thankful Dr. Ulrich made her own professional opionion and that it differed from what we were told by the other clinic. Our lives have been changed forever because of it!

Every patient is different, so try not to copy what a friend is doing or assume you'll have the same experience. Gather as much research as you can. There's a government website that shows success rates between clinics, and I wish I'd seen that before I started with another clinic.

In my first ultrasound, which was performed by Dr. Wells because Dr. Ulrich was out of town, it was identified that my left fallopian tube appeared to be filled with fluid. She said we'd need to remove it if that was the case later on, and that's what we did in between the retreival and implant. She suspected that my appendectomy from years ago caused that, but the other fertility clinic that I worked with never identified that. She added an injection regiment to help prevent me from ovulating early before the retreival, which had happened previously with another clinic, but the other clinic didn't think the medicine would work in preventing it. She also watched my charts daily when it got down to the week of the retreival, and it was touch and go as far as what day I would have my retreival because she wanted to make sure I wasn't going to miss the opportunity due to premature ovulation. It worked! Leading up to the transfer, I had opted for a natural cycle, but she called me in the middle of the cycle and said my estrogen levels weren't acting as expected and we needed to do a controlled cycle with progesterone injections.

They're really similar to the competing clinic in town, but they line item more services so for example, if you're not able to have an embryo implantation done, you don't pay for it.

I have a bicornate uterus, so it was highly recommended to place 1 embryo instead of multiple.

Dr. Ulrich performed both of our Embryo transfers and made sure to keep us in the loop every step of the way. She communicated every change in protocol, and made sure we were always educated on our situation. She always met our concerns with compassion and understanding.

To make sure to always communicate their needs and concerns as they come up to avoid confusion or miscommunication. Audubon always responded to any questions we had in terms we understood and in a timely manner.

Our first embryo transfer was a single embryo transfer with Estrogen supplements and PIO shots (so a medicated cycle). After this transfer failed we made the decision to move to a "natural" transfer for the next cycle. We monitored my cycle and used trigger shots to time ovulation and decide when to transfer. We used progesterone suppositories to maintain a healthy progesterone level to sustain a pregnancy. We transferred two embryos the second time around and both stuck.

We had great insurance coverage (90% covered) so I feel like what we paid was fair.

We transferred a single embryo the first time, and did a double embryo transfer the second time. We were informed of all of the risks of transferring multiples and were helped to make an informed decision based on the information we had from our doctors.

Dr Ulrich had a plan for us at our consultation and by the time HSG testing occurred we knew that my husband was the problem and knew right away IVF was our best and most likely only option. She saved us so much wasted time, money and heartbreak.

Trust that she will do the best option for you

As I was not the problem, Dr Ulrich did not approach my egg retrieval too aggressively. I was never uncomfortable and was actually able to trigger early. We had 10 mature eggs of the 10 retrieved thanks to her protocol.

Most of my costs were covered by insurance