Well, it's been a while since I posted. Things at work and in our personal lives have been a little hectic.
I consult for a company that is laying off the department in which I work. I have been consulting with them for about two and half years because it allowed me to take the time off that I needed for all of my IVF treatments. I was supposed to have a job through the end of June, but they decided to make final cuts the end of March instead. The beauty of it is that they are going to pay me through June. This allows me to take as much time as I need in India with no pressure to get back. Bob works from home for a UK company that has offices India, so he has a lot of flexability as well. He can work with a laptop or go into the office there if he needs to. It feels a bit like the stars are in alignment to make this trip totally stress free.
We completed all of our testing a week and a half ago. I have been instructed to begin birth control pills with the onset of my next period in order to coordinate my cycle with a surrogate. My next period should begin sometime around March 10th. I believe that we should recieve information of surrogates in the couple of weeks. If our cycles are able to be synched quickly, we may be able to do our cycle in April. If not, we are looking at May.
We are so excited! I guess I need to start working on making appointments for shots and travel visas...
Friday, February 22, 2008
Monday, February 4, 2008
Doctor, Meet Doctor
Well, I just sent an email to my doctor in India and my doctor in the U.S. so that they can coordinate all tests, results from tests and monitoring.
Bob and I sat down with Dr. Morgan, an RE with whom we had gone through two cycles of IVF. We had prepared ourselves for negative attitude when it came to our choice for surrogacy, but were pleasantly surprised at how supportive and open Dr. Morgan was to our decision. He was very up front about how the process would work. He explained that our doctors in Mumbai will be our 'primary' doctors and Dr. Morgan will act on their requests. This concerns us a bit because communication between us and India has not had a quick turn around. Ultimately, you have to remember that you are dealing with a country with poor infrastructure and communications can be delayed and have breakdowns at any point. The idea of relying on daily requests from India in order to conduct monitoring is concerning.
Then we met with Dr. Morgan's billing person. She explained that each monitoring session during the stimulation portion of our cycle would cost between roughly $540-$750, depending on how much blood work is requested.
When Bob and I did the math and added in the communication concerns, we realized quickly that it definitely made more sense to conduct the whole cycle in India.
So, we have decided that we will remain in the US until we begin the stimulation portion of the IVF cycle. We will do our preliminary testing with Dr. Morgan and have our baseline ultrasound here.
I have begun to look at travel arrangements. Delta now offers a flight from JFK in New York directly to Mumbai. The flight is fifteen hours. (When I think about possibly making that flight home with an infant, I get this feeling that's a mixture of hope and panic! It makes my heart got all fluttery!)
It's likely that we will stay at the Hilton because we have a ton of reward points with them. We are looking at a hotel called the Ascot as a second choice.
I think we will look at executive suites or short term apartment rentals while we are in India for the IVF cycle, so that if we come back for a baby, we will have options for a place to stay with a kitchen and a separate bedroom. We could end up being there for as long as a month with an infant, so every little bit of advance planning will help.
Bob and I sat down with Dr. Morgan, an RE with whom we had gone through two cycles of IVF. We had prepared ourselves for negative attitude when it came to our choice for surrogacy, but were pleasantly surprised at how supportive and open Dr. Morgan was to our decision. He was very up front about how the process would work. He explained that our doctors in Mumbai will be our 'primary' doctors and Dr. Morgan will act on their requests. This concerns us a bit because communication between us and India has not had a quick turn around. Ultimately, you have to remember that you are dealing with a country with poor infrastructure and communications can be delayed and have breakdowns at any point. The idea of relying on daily requests from India in order to conduct monitoring is concerning.
Then we met with Dr. Morgan's billing person. She explained that each monitoring session during the stimulation portion of our cycle would cost between roughly $540-$750, depending on how much blood work is requested.
When Bob and I did the math and added in the communication concerns, we realized quickly that it definitely made more sense to conduct the whole cycle in India.
So, we have decided that we will remain in the US until we begin the stimulation portion of the IVF cycle. We will do our preliminary testing with Dr. Morgan and have our baseline ultrasound here.
I have begun to look at travel arrangements. Delta now offers a flight from JFK in New York directly to Mumbai. The flight is fifteen hours. (When I think about possibly making that flight home with an infant, I get this feeling that's a mixture of hope and panic! It makes my heart got all fluttery!)
It's likely that we will stay at the Hilton because we have a ton of reward points with them. We are looking at a hotel called the Ascot as a second choice.
I think we will look at executive suites or short term apartment rentals while we are in India for the IVF cycle, so that if we come back for a baby, we will have options for a place to stay with a kitchen and a separate bedroom. We could end up being there for as long as a month with an infant, so every little bit of advance planning will help.
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