Stephanie Gustin

I think Stephanie was extremely relatable. I felt super comfortable asking any kind of question, no matter how “silly.” Before leaving every visit, she made sure we understood and would always say “please text me or call me” and we had her personal number. She always seemed have a very good rapport with the other clinical staff. Even though the IUI’s didn’t work for us, we 100% would have continued treatment with her had we not moved out of the area.

Don’t be afraid to ask a question, give your opinion or input. She will make your plan work with your schedule, and she will answer all of your questions with no judgment.

For the 2 cycles of IUI, I was put on Femara 5 mg, for 3 days. I don’t recall what day of my cycle I started them, however. My labs were all with normal range and my cycles are fairly regular, so she expected a good response from a low dose of femara. After I finished the femara, I was monitored pretty frequently to note follicle count with ultrasound. This was done by an RN. Once I had follicles at 16-18 mm, I was directed when to take the “trigger shot.” This was ovidrel, I do not recall the dosing on that; but it’s a quick subcutaneous injection to stimulate your follicle to release. About 36 hours later, my husband went to the clinic to leave his sperm. They spun that down to get only the sperm, and then prepare it to be transferred. An RN did the procedure, which I thought was odd. The second cycle was extremely similar, except I was monitored quite as much as we knew how I would respond. Dr. Gustin chose IUI for us as my husband sperm count and shapes are very low and abnormal. He had varioceles that could be repaired, but due to his work schedule, wasn’t able to take off time to recover from surgery. Dr Gustin suggested this as a way to continue to try for pregnancy before his surgery.

It’s a private clinic and I had health insurance through my hospital job; so it wasn’t “in-network.” I felt like most things were fair in cost; however, the actual “artificial imsemination” was charged as a surgical procedure, despite being performed solely by an RN, with no imaging, or any equipment other than a syringe and catheter.

Did not have serious conversations about IVF with Dr. Gustin before moving. She did bring up being more likely to do single embryo over multiple, but we did not get I depth with that conversation as that wasn’t what we working at.

Dr. Gustin is super sharp, trained at Stanford, and has a lot of knowledge. She is flexible, doesn't just color by the numbers, adapts treatment protocols to the needs of the patient, and was able to call out things that all 3 of the doctors I went to before have missed. She had a different protocol that helped me get pregnant.

Jo Jay, the billing coordinator at Heartland, is gold, and worked to assess insurance coverage, and to bill insurance for me. Heartland takes a variety of insurances, unlike some more "exclusive" fertility clinics, and a lot of my treatments were covered by insurance.

Dr. Gustin advised for single embryo transfer

As I said, my first impression was terrific. She treated me well and listened to my concerns and even agree with me about what I thought was going on with my body. After my surgery though, I just became a number to her. It was so frustrating and honestly I feel like I wasted so much time and money there.

at your first consult be sure to express that you’d like to stay in contact throughout this process. That you expect HER to do the procedures and listen to requests about dosing. Stand your ground. I wish I had.

At my consult Gustin decided that I had a 70% chance of having endometriosis. We decided on a laparoscopy followed by a couple months of Lupron. After that she put me on 7.5 mg of Femara and 200 IU of Follistim for my IUI. Due to last treatments I knew I responded very quickly to medications and I told her that before. I made a note that I was nervous the dosing was too high and that I was going to react too fast and not make quality eggs. Well, I had a 20 mm follicle on day 4 of injections. Way too soon. She still insisted I continue to take the dosing and by the time ordered me to trigger I had one overmature follicle (35 mm) and another barely mature (17 mm). I was livid. My lining looked good from the get go, so her plan of action was just negligent.

I can’t even recall the exact amount because I had to purchase extra medications multiple times. The IUI itself (not even performed by the doctor) was around $800.

This was not discussed.

Dr. Gustin is very honest and tells you how it is. I had surgery with her in December and prior she told me what risks I could be taking and what she might have to remove during surgery to prepare me. She told me it would be a 3 hour surgery and it actually turned out to be 5 hours. I appreciate that she took her time during surgery to remove my endometriosis and get me prepared for my IVF cycle. I am glad I found an aggressive doctor that knows whats best for me.

Don't be afraid to ask dumb questions. Dr. Gustin and her nurses are always willing to answer any questions.

I am not sure what protocol she used, but I'm starting my FET cycle and she started with Lupron.

Cost varied for us, as we have to do a frozen transfer.

Dr. Gustin was open to my opinion, however she suggested using one embryo at a time for how small I am. She wanted to wait on how many embryos we got and the quality and I respect that.

She was great. Kind, caring and thorough. Didn’t sugar coat anything but also delivered information in an appropriate manner. I felt safe and in good hands with her. I do feel the industry as whole follows a “protocol” and I need a different clinic with some more innovation approaches and thought processes

if you have the funds to see her, great! She will listen and do her very best for you. Be aware they don’t do much hormone testing outside of the basic IVF protocols.

It’s somwhat difficult to recall because as a patient, you are overwhelmed by all the information coming at you and also what your body is going through under treatment. I did not do any birth control priming since I have low AMH. Dr. Gustin wanted to get the best result she could from my follicles. I took Clomid, gonal F and Menopur during my stimming. Did the HCG tigger and egg retrieval procedure. 8 eggs were retrieved and only 4 were mature enough for Fertilization. ICSI was performed and 3 Fertalized. Were were planning a frozen transfer and PGS testing but only 2 embryos were progressing. So we didn’t do the PGS and did a fresh transfer on day 5. Both embryos weren’t making it to blastocyst stage but Dr. Gustin wanted to give them a chance and transferred both. I took progesterone in oil injections and estrogen during this time as well. It resuslted in a negative transfer

Approximately $25,000-30,000 We did not do the PGS testing which brought the loan down under $25,000. A couple grand for medications Also with our one iui treatment-$2,000

My only 2 embryos were transferred to give them the best chance and better odds. I felt so terrible from the stimming, I wish I would have done a frozen transfer. My body didn’t feel ready. But I don’t understand why we had to do it that way

Dr. Gustin is smart, caring, and trustworthy. We owe her our miracle baby, and hope to expand our family with the one frozen embryo we have. She made our dreams come true and continues to be our biggest supporter as we attempt to go through the process again. She has been more than a doctor to us. She has been a listening ear, a friend, and truly a part of our journey. We love Dr. Gustin! We could never thank her enough for who she is and what she has done for us!

Ask questions. Knowledge is power, especially in this process. She will sit and explain everything, you just have to ask!

I was on varying levels of menopur, and she changed my dosage to get better results. I wish I could remember specifics but it was 2 years ago. The team at Heartland staffed our case regularly when we weren’t having success and adjusted along the way.

Our IUI treatments were roughly $5000 each round with shots and ultra sounds included, our IVF rounds were $15,000 each round, with one additional transfer that was roughly $4000. In total with gas to and from Omaha, we spent roughly $50,000 before getting pregnant with our son.

Dr. Gustin pressed forward with the treatments without addressing the underlying cause of infertility & my overall physical and mental health. I can't tell you a whole lot about my own body, or diagnosis of PCOS, because it was communicated to me in any great detail. The focus at all appointments and meetings was to perform the procedures without explanation or consult with myself and my husband.

Schedule consults with all providers in the geographical area to make sure you have the best fit for your family.

8,000-12,000

Unfortunately my husband and I have experienced 5 miscarriages and 3 under the care of Dr. Gustin. Through all of this my husband and I have had numerous questions and every time, Dr. Gustin is the one that calls me to answer my questions. She also has offered to allow me to call whenever I feel the need. Dr. Gustin has exhibited extreme kindness and has been very sensitive to our situation. I have never felt like just a number or just another patient while under her care.

Dr. Gustin will take the time to answer any of your questions so don't hesitate to ask. Additionally, if you are advocating for more tests, answers, etc. she will be very supportive.

When I went to Dr. Gustin I was taking Metformin. We tried a couple of cycles on this and we stopped following some tests. We moved forward with Clomid and eventually IUI as the medications alone were not successful. We completed 3 IUIs with Clomid, Follistim, and Pregnyl. The dosages were closely monitored and changed as needed. Additionally, due to my history of miscarriage, I was put on progesterone suppositories and this was increased following my first miscarriage with Dr. Gustin from 1x/day to 2x/day. Following my ectopic pregnancy, I also required a HSG and this was very carefully explained before and during the procedure.

Our IUIs cost between $1900-2300 depending on medication dosages. Other tests such as the HSG was not covered once and cost around $700-800 and the second time was covered following my ectopic pregnancy. We have had a quote of IVF and depending on medications and tests, will cost between $15,000-18,000.

We are preparing for IVF soon and we have discussed some of these topics preliminarily and will have a more in depth conversation as this gets closer.

She was straight and to ththe point on what we needed to do and our results but at the same time provided great emotional support. Sat held my hand and comforted me when appropriate. When we did not get the number of embryos we had hoped for she comforted me and adjusted the plan and was straightforward on where we would go next

De Gustin and all the providers at Heartland and wonderful at what they do

The only protocol I remembered is a delayed ovarian stimulation to get the embryos we needed. 1st cycle we had to quit mid cycle and covert to IUI because we weren’t getting the numbers and quality embryos we wanted

Everything was out of pocket. Ultrasound and lab to monitor response to fertility drugs was around 300 each visit. Retrieval was about 7k Implantation 2-3k

1 embryo and 1 blast with the transfer because didn’t have the best grade on the transfers embryo

I loved seeing dr Gustin! She was so understanding, thoughtful, caring, and compassionate! After achieving pregnancy, there was some issues and she personally did my ultrasounds and spoke with me over the phone and via email! She was so Patient and made this journey as pleasant as it could be

Ask lots of questions!!!!!!

I used follistem and gonal f with menopur when needed. Frequent lab and ultrasound. 2 forms of progesterone and estrogen. Doses of meds varies based on results

Egg retriever was around 5600. IUI 500ish, embryo transfer $3000ish, egg storage $500 a year.... these did not include lab, meds or ultrasound

My doctor choose eSET as she advised that for my age and health, having a single healthy baby would be best vs have a complicated pregnancy with multiples

Good at explaining the process. there was a lot to go over the first time so it was overwhelming, but she repeating things during the first consultation. Other than the consultation and the actual insemination process we didn't talk–it was more talking with the nurses.

Ask questions and ask her to explain things if you don't understand.

First cycle involved chlomid, iui Second cycle involved letrozol, gonal-f –canceled iui due to not able to travel 5 hours to the appointment. Third cycle involved letrozol, gonal-f, iui

Ultrasounds 3-4 visits: $200 each, Lab work: $250-300, chlomid/letrozol: $20-40, gonal-f shots: $477-1000, IUI procedure/sperm washing: $450

Did not do any embryo transfer

Simply, she was nice. Explained our issues and finally gave us a why and what to do to move on. She took the time to go over all of our choices and told us what she felt was the best way to go but she would do what we wanted.

Do it

Still in the process

She is very personable and professional and if there was an issue with treatments, she would correct it early. For example, I had. HGS scheduled too early and she was sweet to not do it until we are ready and is patient with our decisions

Ask all of your questions. Write them down because there are always so many things to ask

After we had our workup and consult, she suggested we have my husband get his microtese (for male factor) and go from there. We are going slow with the process because of cost, but we will get there

The costs like any are expensive, which is why we are going slow to save up

You can ask her anything and she can explain it as many times as you need it to be explained. Very knowledgable. Doesn't sugar coat things. Don't see her at every visit, but the main ones including the game plan and the procedures.

Bring a notebook. Dealing with infertility is hard enough as it is. Have questions ready to ask. Explain your issues as best as you can so she can help figure out a the best treatment plan for you.

Everything is expensive. Insurance will help some..depending on your provider.

Dr gustin makes me feel like pregnancy is possible when I’ve all but given up hope. She communicates well and is understanding and helpful when I’m nervous or concerned. She listens when I have crazy questions and seems to truly care.

Trust her.

Hsg showed polyps so I had a hysterescopy the next cycle. After that we did femara for a first iui. My follicles were not maturing so a second round of femara was prescribed. Waiting to see if the iui is successful.

Everything was great she was very clear cut. We haven’t proceeded with ivf due to my weight. Once I lose the necessary weight we will hopefully move forward with treatment. She did explain that was my best plan of attack.

Just be open and honest

We haven’t gone any further then testing

Insurance covered what we had done this far other then the $1500 genetic testing and my husband was on his own insurance so his testing wasn’t covered.