Today Bob took the bus to Pune. Ajit drove him to the bus station, and, because the access roads in Mumbai were flooded, it took two hours to get to the bus stop! Bob was so excited to take the bus and to see the rains. He took loads of pictures, which we will post when he returns.
When I first heard of monsoon season, I thought of packing rain gear and umbrellas and proper shoes. I thought how awful for the people with the flooding and inconveniences in such a crowded, hectic city. The opposite is actually true: Indian people love the rainy season. We see it referred to as the 'romantic rains' in the paper. I guess it's equivalent to our winters in the US. You love the snow and that beautiful white blanket that covers everything; you think of curling up by a roaring fire and drinking hot chocolate, but you still resent driving to work in it! Dr. Yashodhara described the oceanfront at Nariman point here and how the local people will go and sit and wait to be washed over by an ocean wave in the high tides. She said couples sit hand in hand, families gather and the vendors sell treats like corn on the cob. She said it is beautiful and I could see by the look on her face that she was feeling warm and fuzzy inside just describing it. She said that everyone goes out and dances and celebrates in the rain during the first downpour. Monsoon season is truly a special time in India.
I was not feeling so well today. I have had my share of egg retrievals over the years and I am feeling particularly bloated and just generally sore. The doctors have called me several times throughout the day to make sure that I am okay. When I voiced to Dr. Yash that I wasn't feeling great, she insisted on coming to the hotel to check on me. Both she and Dr. Sudhir came by and she quickly examined me. She explained that because my ovaries have produced so much this time, it is normal to be a little more sore than I have been in the past. She wants me to take it easy and rest with plenty of water. She and Dr. Sudhir stayed and talked with me for well over an hour. In fact, I lost track of time, I was enjoying myself so much as I sat on my bed with my new friends and felt guilty for keeping them from their families for so long when I realized how late it was. It was so nice to be so well cared for on a medical front and beyond that, to have company while Bob is gone.
I don't mean to sound like a commercial, but I just have to voice how warm, understanding and careful of my well being Dr. Sudhir and Dr. Yashodhora are. I am amazed and astounded at the friends I have found in them, let alone the feeling of safety in my care and the care of my surrogate.
Rhonda and Gerry, a couple who has used Surrogacy India, showered their praises on how wonderful these doctors are. I'll be honest and say that my inner demon had a bit of an inner monologue with me about trusting so much. "It's their first time doing IVF, let alone surrogacy, therefore any doctor will seem wonderful to them" my demon said, "maybe they are too trusting or a little naive in the belief that a doctor could be so caring; be careful, Lisa." Well, my inner demon passed away quietly tonight as I laughed and chatted. You were completely and totally right, Rhonda. I am sorry if I ever, even just a little bit, doubted you and Gerry!
Fingers crossed, everyone! Tomorrow morning is transfer... Since only one person can go in with the surrogate for transfer, we decided Bob should take his time coming back from Pune. I am so excited about this transfer, for the first time in a long time. My heart is definitely in this cycle, as hard as I tried to stay detached. You know what? Cross your legs, too!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Monday, June 30, 2008
The results are in...
Yesterday was a horribly long day. We had to be at the admissions desk at 6:00am in order to be assigned a room. We got through all the paperwork and were in our room by 7:30am. I had a bed and there was a "couch" that looked more like a holly hobby bed I'd seen in a little girls room. We both laid down and slept for a few minutes. My procedure was scheduled for noon, so we were both tired and cranky and stuck there for a while and that only got worse as the day went on.
We had our procedure at noon and we got 16 eggs, 15 mature! There were signs of hyper stimulation (fluid in the cavity), so I had to be on an IV for a LOT longer than expected. They wanted to treat the issue before it got any worse. So, we laid in that hospital room until 6:00 that night! I was so happy to go home!
I would like to mention that Lilavati hospital is a veg hospital. Everything they bring you is vegetarian. I was dying to get out and find some steak!
We are thrilled with our results, this number is much higher than any we've seen before. Dr. Yashodhara was there for the egg retrieval and had lunch with Bob in the hospital lounge afterwards. We also met our surrogate, Seena (sp?) and her caretaker very briefly. She was a lovely, smiley girl of good hight and size. That comforts me. I am 5'10 and solidly built; I have a mix of statures in my relatives, some quite large, but we all tend to have big babies, I believe that it is true on Bob's side as well. For me, to see a 5 foot surrogate with a fragile little build would be disconcerting...
Bob is taking the bus to Pune. For the record, I tried to convince him to fly, but he's having none of it. He wants to ride the bus. Lord love him.
He'll come back on Wednesday and I will go to the hospital for transfer. Then we are off to London on Thursday. This trip is going by so quickly!
We had our procedure at noon and we got 16 eggs, 15 mature! There were signs of hyper stimulation (fluid in the cavity), so I had to be on an IV for a LOT longer than expected. They wanted to treat the issue before it got any worse. So, we laid in that hospital room until 6:00 that night! I was so happy to go home!
I would like to mention that Lilavati hospital is a veg hospital. Everything they bring you is vegetarian. I was dying to get out and find some steak!
We are thrilled with our results, this number is much higher than any we've seen before. Dr. Yashodhara was there for the egg retrieval and had lunch with Bob in the hospital lounge afterwards. We also met our surrogate, Seena (sp?) and her caretaker very briefly. She was a lovely, smiley girl of good hight and size. That comforts me. I am 5'10 and solidly built; I have a mix of statures in my relatives, some quite large, but we all tend to have big babies, I believe that it is true on Bob's side as well. For me, to see a 5 foot surrogate with a fragile little build would be disconcerting...
Bob is taking the bus to Pune. For the record, I tried to convince him to fly, but he's having none of it. He wants to ride the bus. Lord love him.
He'll come back on Wednesday and I will go to the hospital for transfer. Then we are off to London on Thursday. This trip is going by so quickly!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Update...
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.
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.
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!
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