So, we met Dr. Sudir and Dr. Yashodhara. They came to our hotel and we had coffee, then the legal team showed up and we went to a conference room. The legal team reviewed the entire surrogate contract, item by item, to make sure that we were fully aware of the terms. The surrogate was unable to meet with us today because of the rains and because there is also a taxi strike in Mumbai. We are going to meet her on Wednesday prior to the embryo transfer.
Dr. Sudhir and Dr. Yashodhara took us to Lilivati hospital to see the IVF clinic and to have some blood drawn in preparation for retrieval tomorrow. Then they took us to lunch, which was very nice, and us back to the hotel where we sat down for a final question and answer period before making our final Stage I payment. There will be three payments due: Stage I, which we paid, and each subsequent stage at different markers throughout a pregnancy.
We feel extremely comfortable with our arrangements and safe in these doctors hands. We are going to have Agit pick us up tomorrow morning and take us to the hospital for retrieval at 6:00am. We were surprised at how early we needed to be there when my trigger calls for retrieval at noon, but apparently the beds fill up pretty early so you need to secure your spot. After retrieval, the want you to stay for observation for a couple of hours. We are very lucky to have Agit, because of the cab strike!
I am looking forward to retrieval because my abdomen is so full and uncomfortable!
Since I can't eat all day tomorrow, I thought long and hard about my final meal and went with a very wise choice: brownie ala mode. Ummmmmm.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Deja Vu
We are back in Mumbai! We finally made it into our hotel room last night around 2:00am, local time. We slept until 8:30am, arranged a meeting with our doctors for 11:30am and went off to breakfast.
I love the breakfast here; I always find myself eating the weirdest combinations of food while Bob shakes his head at me. Today I had two eggs, wheat flakes, and about a gallon of clear vegetable broth. I could have skipped everything else and just had the broth--it was amazing and I couldn't stop eating it! Bob offered to steal some for me for later. He's such a gentleman/cleptomaniac!
We ended up doing our trigger shot last night at midnight (a half hour early) in the galley of the airplane in front of all the people lined up for the bathroom. I didn't care, but I could tell Bob was upset by it. It ended up working out just fine, and that's all that matters.
I think we will meet our surrogate today. I think I should feel more anxious than I do. I don't know if I am jetlagged or what, but I feel mellow and relaxed. I remember the first time we went to an IVF clinic, I was so nervous about what to wear and putting on makeup and all that. I remember having this irrational belief that my doctor should find us deserving of a baby in order to help us; like we were being judged as to whether we were worthy or not as a couple to be parents. With this, I feel excited and intrigued to meet the doctors that we have been in contact with on a daily basis for the past few months and I am looking forward to meeting our surrogate.
I love the breakfast here; I always find myself eating the weirdest combinations of food while Bob shakes his head at me. Today I had two eggs, wheat flakes, and about a gallon of clear vegetable broth. I could have skipped everything else and just had the broth--it was amazing and I couldn't stop eating it! Bob offered to steal some for me for later. He's such a gentleman/cleptomaniac!
We ended up doing our trigger shot last night at midnight (a half hour early) in the galley of the airplane in front of all the people lined up for the bathroom. I didn't care, but I could tell Bob was upset by it. It ended up working out just fine, and that's all that matters.
I think we will meet our surrogate today. I think I should feel more anxious than I do. I don't know if I am jetlagged or what, but I feel mellow and relaxed. I remember the first time we went to an IVF clinic, I was so nervous about what to wear and putting on makeup and all that. I remember having this irrational belief that my doctor should find us deserving of a baby in order to help us; like we were being judged as to whether we were worthy or not as a couple to be parents. With this, I feel excited and intrigued to meet the doctors that we have been in contact with on a daily basis for the past few months and I am looking forward to meeting our surrogate.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Cold Feet
As it turns out, I have been stimming really well and boy, am I ball of emotional fun right now! Just ask Bob!
I have been scheduled to take an intramuscular trigger shot at 12:30am (plus or minus 10 minutes) on Sunday morning and we will have our egg retrieval Monday. For those of you unfamiliar to the IVF process, the HCG trigger shot is given exactly 36 hours before retrieval to give a final maturization to the eggs. If you get too far past that 36 hour window, you will ovulate on your own.
Our flight lands at 12:15am on Sunday morning; I am having a hard time with picturing how I am supposed to mix this drug up and get Bob to give me a big ole needle in the backside while we are in the process of landing on the plane. or taxi-ing to our gate. You know, while tray tables are up and seatbelts are on? Huh? Or maybe it'll be when everyone is standing in the isles waiting to disembark. Ugh. Hopefully we have a tailwind and arrive about 20 minutes early. Everybody pray for a tailwind now, okay?
We did most of our packing last night and are pretty much set to go. We are both feeling apprehensive and unsure of our decision at this point. It's hard to get on that plane with a huge amount of money and try yet another reproductive procedure, especially after so many failed efforts. You start to second guess yourself and think about what other choices you could have made. It's kind of like that feeling you get in the moments before you get married, before you see your loved ones face...all those demons come around to haunt you. Then you meet them at the alter and look into their eyes, and you know it's all going to be okay.
I have been scheduled to take an intramuscular trigger shot at 12:30am (plus or minus 10 minutes) on Sunday morning and we will have our egg retrieval Monday. For those of you unfamiliar to the IVF process, the HCG trigger shot is given exactly 36 hours before retrieval to give a final maturization to the eggs. If you get too far past that 36 hour window, you will ovulate on your own.
Our flight lands at 12:15am on Sunday morning; I am having a hard time with picturing how I am supposed to mix this drug up and get Bob to give me a big ole needle in the backside while we are in the process of landing on the plane. or taxi-ing to our gate. You know, while tray tables are up and seatbelts are on? Huh? Or maybe it'll be when everyone is standing in the isles waiting to disembark. Ugh. Hopefully we have a tailwind and arrive about 20 minutes early. Everybody pray for a tailwind now, okay?
We did most of our packing last night and are pretty much set to go. We are both feeling apprehensive and unsure of our decision at this point. It's hard to get on that plane with a huge amount of money and try yet another reproductive procedure, especially after so many failed efforts. You start to second guess yourself and think about what other choices you could have made. It's kind of like that feeling you get in the moments before you get married, before you see your loved ones face...all those demons come around to haunt you. Then you meet them at the alter and look into their eyes, and you know it's all going to be okay.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Ramblings from A Hormone-Crazed Jersey Girl
We leave in less than a week for Mumbai! It seems like it came up so quickly...
So, we started our stimming phase of the drug regimen, which comes with high emotions, severe bloating and some bruises. (I actually purchased a larger sized wedding ring a few cycles ago. My fingers bloat up and look like Vienna sausages. Sexy, I know.) Anyhoo, once a year one of Bob's old college pals comes up to the beach here in NJ and a bunch of people get together. So, I am seriously six pounds (SIX!) heavier this week, have thighs covered in bruises (note the picture) and I have to PUT ON A BATHING SUIT and hang out with a bunch of people I only see once a year. I really like this couple and their wonderful family and look forward to this visit all year... so I am going to try to ignore the state of my body and wear my best smile (and a really big cover-up). They are so much fun!
We had quite a scare with Maisy yesterday. I took her for her Bordetella vaccination yesterday around noon, and around 4:30pm she swelled up and started vomiting. She was having a severe allergic reaction to the vaccination and was covered in hives. Bob was so calm--I, on the other hand, started crying--and off we ran to the vet. Her poor little eyes had swelled almost shut. The doc gave her some steroids and Benadryl and, by this morning, she was right as rain. I commended Bob this morning on his levelheadedness during the episode. I think I will need to be slapped if something like this should ever happen to an actual child of ours. God help me.
By the way, Maisy loves a game of Hide and Go Seek.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0lDgqTjvuE
I have been shopping like crazy for gifts for all of the people in India. Well, not ALL of the people (there's like a billion)...but Bob's colleagues, our doctors and our surrogate and her children. The surrogate's children are a boy, age 3, and a girl, age 10. I have had so much fun thinking about what to bring them! If you have any suggestions of what children of that age should absolutely try from the US (including candy suggestions) please comment to this post!
The people in India are without a doubt the nicest people on the face of the earth. (Bostonians run a close second!) I cannot wait to be among them again!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Getting Ready!
Yesterday we started our Lupron shots and we are starting to get excited about another cycle! Dr. Yashodora has put on us a high dosage of Gonal F, so I called all my friends to beg drugs. Once again, we were very lucky to find enough to get us through another cycle! (Thanks, Karen!!)
Last trip, we spent so much time preparing for our adventure. This trip, it seems like it's not such a big deal; we know what to expect. Bob and I were laughing at ourselves because last trip we brought bag filled with Deet and all kinds of medicines. This trip, it'll be one bottle of Deet, some Imodium and Pepto Bismal. That's about it. We are looking forward to our trip this time; last time we were scared.
I want to post the following link to Brian and Lisa Switzer's blog; they welcomed beautiful twin girls, Kelsey and Riley, via surrogate in Mumbai on May 30th!
http://switzertwins.wordpress.com/
Everyone loves a happy ending!
Last trip, we spent so much time preparing for our adventure. This trip, it seems like it's not such a big deal; we know what to expect. Bob and I were laughing at ourselves because last trip we brought bag filled with Deet and all kinds of medicines. This trip, it'll be one bottle of Deet, some Imodium and Pepto Bismal. That's about it. We are looking forward to our trip this time; last time we were scared.
I want to post the following link to Brian and Lisa Switzer's blog; they welcomed beautiful twin girls, Kelsey and Riley, via surrogate in Mumbai on May 30th!
http://switzertwins.wordpress.com/
Everyone loves a happy ending!
Monday, May 26, 2008
Two For the Road
A lot has happened since my last post.
We decided to go with SurrogacyIndia and have sent our deposit and worked out our timeline with the doctors there. We booked our airfare last week and made hotel arrangements. We started communications with our reproductive endocrinologist here in NJ so that we can start the monitoring of our cycle here in the US and go to Mumbai for a shorter amount of time. We have opted out of staying for transfer and will be in Mumbai for six days. Six days! Last trip we were there for two and half weeks!
SurrogacyIndia has been extremely flexible, understanding and communicative. So far, we are impressed with the services. We will meet our surrogate this time; that's going to be really different!
We are due to leave for India on June 27th. It's the monsoon season in India now, so it should be a different city this time around!
It has been difficult for Bob and I to get excited about this trip...well, about this cycle. We are tired of the emotional roller coaster of all these infertility treatments. We find ourselves talking more and more about what life without children would be like. What would we do differently? Where and how would we choose to live?
I think this might be the end of the road for us. We've been very lucky to have the support of friends and family. We've been really blessed that we've had the opportunity to have closure with so many different assisted reproductive treatments. I consider myself so lucky that I will never have to say to myself, "I wish we'd tried this or that."
I hope and pray that we have the opportunity to have a family of three, but I think we are beginning to see that life wouldn't be so bad as a family of two...
We decided to go with SurrogacyIndia and have sent our deposit and worked out our timeline with the doctors there. We booked our airfare last week and made hotel arrangements. We started communications with our reproductive endocrinologist here in NJ so that we can start the monitoring of our cycle here in the US and go to Mumbai for a shorter amount of time. We have opted out of staying for transfer and will be in Mumbai for six days. Six days! Last trip we were there for two and half weeks!
SurrogacyIndia has been extremely flexible, understanding and communicative. So far, we are impressed with the services. We will meet our surrogate this time; that's going to be really different!
We are due to leave for India on June 27th. It's the monsoon season in India now, so it should be a different city this time around!
It has been difficult for Bob and I to get excited about this trip...well, about this cycle. We are tired of the emotional roller coaster of all these infertility treatments. We find ourselves talking more and more about what life without children would be like. What would we do differently? Where and how would we choose to live?
I think this might be the end of the road for us. We've been very lucky to have the support of friends and family. We've been really blessed that we've had the opportunity to have closure with so many different assisted reproductive treatments. I consider myself so lucky that I will never have to say to myself, "I wish we'd tried this or that."
I hope and pray that we have the opportunity to have a family of three, but I think we are beginning to see that life wouldn't be so bad as a family of two...
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Coming Back Up for Air
Okay, that negative was hard, as they always are.
We took it on the chin, though. We hugged, we cried, we talked...
We took a realistic look at this together; what did we learn?
Well, we learned that we didn't love Rotunda. Honestly, they were overwhelmed there. It felt as if they were unable to give us their full attention. After six rounds of IVF, we know the ropes. We know what the ultrasounds and numbers mean. We know what a good cycle and what a bad cycle looks like. We did not have a good cycle.
We also learned that the system works. Surrogacy in India works. Our doctors could have sent us that email with a positive pregnancy result; they could have collected our money and "miscarried" that pregnancy later. That didn't happen. The system is real and it does work.
So we are going to take our experience with the programs in India and seriously consider trying it one more time. We are looking into two different programs. One is Jaslok Hospital and the other is SurrogacyIndia. They both offer great labs and fabulous embryologists. Honestly, we are leaning towards SurrogacyIndia.
We learned that we should use our knowledge in India, just as we would here in the US. I took a very passive roll in this cycle and I will be more vocal in the next round. You see, with our very first round of IVF, we did not see great fertilization results and our embryos were not of a great quality. Every subsequent cycle was tweaked and improved our fertilization and embryo quality. Our last two rounds were with Cornell, one of the best clinics in the country. We feel that Rotunda did not look at those past cycles and try to mirror some of those improvements. Instead, they gave us a very standard dosage and therefore produced results like that of our very first round of IVF. We were disappointed and angry at ourselves for not saying something when we first saw the dosages they were prescribing.
Shoulda, woulda, coulda. I believe that you take what life hands you, learn from it, and try to do better. I think we learned that this could work, and could be done better. So, we may decide to do this again or we may decide to take another path. Right now we are considering getting back up on this horse.
We took it on the chin, though. We hugged, we cried, we talked...
We took a realistic look at this together; what did we learn?
Well, we learned that we didn't love Rotunda. Honestly, they were overwhelmed there. It felt as if they were unable to give us their full attention. After six rounds of IVF, we know the ropes. We know what the ultrasounds and numbers mean. We know what a good cycle and what a bad cycle looks like. We did not have a good cycle.
We also learned that the system works. Surrogacy in India works. Our doctors could have sent us that email with a positive pregnancy result; they could have collected our money and "miscarried" that pregnancy later. That didn't happen. The system is real and it does work.
So we are going to take our experience with the programs in India and seriously consider trying it one more time. We are looking into two different programs. One is Jaslok Hospital and the other is SurrogacyIndia. They both offer great labs and fabulous embryologists. Honestly, we are leaning towards SurrogacyIndia.
We learned that we should use our knowledge in India, just as we would here in the US. I took a very passive roll in this cycle and I will be more vocal in the next round. You see, with our very first round of IVF, we did not see great fertilization results and our embryos were not of a great quality. Every subsequent cycle was tweaked and improved our fertilization and embryo quality. Our last two rounds were with Cornell, one of the best clinics in the country. We feel that Rotunda did not look at those past cycles and try to mirror some of those improvements. Instead, they gave us a very standard dosage and therefore produced results like that of our very first round of IVF. We were disappointed and angry at ourselves for not saying something when we first saw the dosages they were prescribing.
Shoulda, woulda, coulda. I believe that you take what life hands you, learn from it, and try to do better. I think we learned that this could work, and could be done better. So, we may decide to do this again or we may decide to take another path. Right now we are considering getting back up on this horse.
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