Egg Retrieval process - Done!

The Painful process is over, but first let me tell you how my morning went.

I had the alarm set for 6:00 am, that way I can take a shower and relax before my 7:45 am appointment. We were provided with a cell phone and the phone started ringing. Trying to wake up to figure out what that noise was, I looked at the clock and noticed the time was 7:35 am.

Eva was calling to let me know she was down stairs waiting on us. Oh no!! I was still in my pj's and still half a sleep. I had to get Russ up, we got dressed, washed our face, I ran a razor over my legs and we grabbed our stuff and ran out the door. No time to think and no time to get nervous. We were laughing all the way to the car :) God sure has a sense of humor. He knows that I stress over the silliest things. Ha-Ha.

Anyway, back to the Egg Retrieval process. We arrived and Reprofit at 7:50 am (remember, we were supposed to be there at 7:45 am.. not too bad) They took us both to the recovery room and I changed into my gown and socks.

Me in my gown :)

The nurse took Russ back to get blood drawn and to get a sample of his army men :)

and I was taken to the surgery room. Anesthesia here I come. Dr Marek Koudelka was the one doing the procedure, I saw him giving me 2 thumbs up and I was out. The process took 15 minutes. I was taken back to the recovery room where I had some juice and a chocolate candy bar.

me out of it

Russ was in there waiting for me. Dr Marek came in there several times to check on me and make sure I was ok. He told me out of the 10 follicles, there were 5 eggs retrieved. The other 5 follicles were empty. He said that was very good, considering my history and that I was a PCOS patient. He said that sometimes PCOS patients will produce a small amount or a large amount and the eggs could be bad. He said they looked healthy. I will be given status on our little embryos daily. I have to keep telling myself that nothing is 100% and that God is in control. We are praying that all 5 embryos grow and remain healthy. We were told that some could die off, not fertilize or all could be just fine. * Fingers crossed *

We will be meeting with the PGD specialist soon to go over what we want tested and looked at.

Dr Marek said the Egg Transfer (if everything goes well) should be Wednesday, July 15.

I'm sore and very tired. I start my progesterone pills (2 pills - 3 times daily), Estrogen pills

(1 pill - 3 times daily), Fragmin (1 shot daily) today. I will keep taking the prednisone and my other medications. Very hard to remember. :)

Our day yesterday:

Salt Caves

We went to the Salt Caves. It's said that it is suppose to relax and heal your body (good for the auto immune diseases). It was an awesome experience. 45 minute session for only $10.00. Not too bad. We ate Czech style pizza, which was ok(Russ said it was good) and had Gelato ice cream.

Cookie flavored Gelato Ice cream

I'm going back to bed and try to get feeling better.

More to come...

Doctor Visit #2

Outside the Reprofit Fertility Clinic
The Waiting Room

Ultra Sound Room

Just got done with doctor visit #2. Ultra sound nurse said everything looks great. There are about 10 follicles on my right side that look good. Egg retrival is scheduled for 7:45 am (1:45 am your time) Saturday, July 11. Today, I will take 150 units of Gonal F and also cetrotide (to slow the ovulation down) and at 9:00 pm I will take the ovidrel (which makes your eggs ready for retrival) Tomorrow, July 10, I am medication FREE!! Woo hoo.. a day to relax and not have to worry about did I take that injection or did I take that pill :) I can not eat or drink anything after mid night before the egg retrival. We have to fill out forms for the anesthesia doctor. So not looking forward to the anesthesia, I get sick when I wake up. I'm hoping they will give me something to calm my stomach down. They gave me 2 prescriptions to fill here, it's so much cheaper here than in the states.

Pills/shots to take after egg retrival:
*Fragmin (same as Lovenox or Heparin:blood thinner injections) I will take 1 injection daily up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. In the states:$560.oo Czech: $150.00

*Progesterone - I will take 2 pills 3 times a day up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.

In the states: $250.00 Czech: $64.00

Thank you Lord, you are so good and I praise you! I was so happy to hear that I can get the medication cheaper here and can get it mailed to me monthly :)

On our way home last night: "Old Brno Monastery and Cathedral of the Assumption of our Lady" Very beautiful at night

Russ.. he is so handsome :)

The movie Theater

Me, Walking to the Movie Theater

Brno's Brewery (Starobrno beer) They say it's the best beer in Europe. But we wouldn't know that :) ha-ha

We are still getting us to the time difference. Yesterday was the hardest. We slept until 1:00pm. Relaxed around the apartment and then went to Mendel Square, about 10 minutes walking from our apartment. We ate at McDonald's. There were a lot of different items on the menu. Of course we ordered what we were use to. Big Mac and Qtr Pounder w/cheese. It was the best hamburger ever.. :) haa. You do a lot of walking, so you are so hungry. I think we will lose weight here. :) We went to a movie, saw The Hangover (In English w/ Czech sub titles)

Today, we plan on going to the Spilberk Castle. It's an amazing place and has a lot of history.
Royal castle built in the 13th century and was converted to a "jail of nations" and was the most feard prison in Habsburg monarchy.

http://www.spilberk.cz/ (click on the English Flag)

Going sight seeing..More to come...

Our Day In Brno

Brno is such an amazing town, it is old and un-touched. Castles, Cathedrals, Statues, etc.. you name it.

We met up with our coordinator, Eva. She showed us how to use the tram, bus and the train station. We went to St Peter & Paul Church and it was amazing! I wanted to take pictures in the church, but it said (NO CAMERA's) hmmm.. I think we might go back and "sneak" a few.

Here is our coordinator and her husband

(Eva & Palva)

Her husband, Palva (Paul in English) met up with us for dinner. They took us to an authentic restaurant. What to choose.. what to choose. Lamb, Duck, Duck liver, Pork, Chicken.. (ah Chicken) I chose the Chicken with cream sauce and walnuts, roasted potatos with sour cream, ham and chives, small salad and corn. Drank Coca-Cola and water (with out 'Gas' - meaning not bubbly) Russ chose the lamb, roasted potatos with sour cream, ham and chives, small salad and corn. Drank a Czech beer, which was pretty good. For dessert we shared a crepe. That was the best part of the meal. This is what we ate

(My meal: Chicken w/ Cream sauce)

(Russ' meal: Lamb w/ spicy red beans)

(Crepes.. mmmm)

After dinner Eva pointed us in the direction to our apartment (about a 5 min walk). We are listening to it rain and it is very peaceful.

Tomorrow I think we might try the Brno Zoo and walk around the gardens. The zoo cost $4.oo per adult.. cheap :)

Thursday, July 9 is my next ultra sound appointment. Our coordinator will pick us up at the apartment at 8:45 am for our 9:00 am appointment.

More to come....

First Ultrasound Done

We woke up this morning with day light coming through our window at... 4:00 in the morning.. Yes.. 4:00 am. I thought I missed my appointment and we slept through the alarm clock. Very strange to see the sunrise this early.

My first ultrasound was done at 9:00 am (3:00 am your time..why aren't you awake? ha-ha) 15 minutes in and out! The fertility clinics in the USA took for ever.. they like to keep you there making you anxious. The Ultrasound nurse said everything was looking good. My lining of my uterus looked very good and she said that I had 5 follicles on my left and 11 on my right!!! No wonder I've been crampy :) Thats a good thing. I take 150 units of Gonal F today and tomorrow and my next ultrasound appointment is Thursday, July 9 at 9:00 am. I wanted to take a picture of the clinic, but they are doing a lot of remodling. The buildings here are so old and beautiful. The details are amazing.

We are back in our apartment relaxing and will wait on our coordinator (Eva, who is also a nurse at the clinic) to pick us up around 4:00. She will take us around and take us to our first authentic Czech dinner.. wish us luck :)

Here is a picture of our apartment and the view from our back window.

Our Apartment

There is an Indian Restaurant = Indicke Restaurace (Czech) right down stairs, they speak great english, we might try the food

View from back window

We may walk to the Mendel Square, not too far from us, maybe 5 minutes and do a little sight seeing.
More to come...

We made it!!

We are finally here after a long night of flying

The flight was great, we flew First Class... and it was awesome. I felt like royalty :) We had a full coarse meal, watched as many movies as we wanted, and the seats lounged back in to a bed. We still couldn't sleep, but was able to get a little shut eye. We arrived in Prague at 9:20 am and we had a driver waiting for us (holding a sign up with our names) haaa.. I use to laugh at people when I saw that, but not anymore. It was helpful. He took us to the airport, quiet fast I might add. I was holding on for dear life. They do drive on the same side of the road as we do, but way faster :) Arrived at the train station just in time for the 11:15 train to Brno.
(Russ on the train)

We were not the only American's traveling, we met this nice older couple from California who helped us out a little. I knew they were a God send. The train was 2.5 hours long and arrived in Brno at 2:14. (remember, Czech is 6 hours ahead) Our coordinator picked us up at the train station and took us grocery shopping. I wish I had my camera, it was very strange. I did find some food that we knew, like Pringles, Coke, Mayo.. and by the way, Coke tastes the same as it does in the US. The water is a bit different, but we bought several big bottles and will do Crystal Light, hoping it will change the taste a little.

We will be un packing and settling in to our apartment. My first appointment is tomorrow @ 9:00 am (3:00 am your time) then our coordinator (Eva) will take us around the town showing us different places to go and eat and take us sight seeing to different castles. Will also show us how to use the trams and buses. It's a little strange to look up and see wires everywhere, just for the trams.

We've been up almost 24 hrs.. so trying to get some shut eye

More to come...

Count Down.. 1 More Day

Happy 4th of July everyone! :)

I think I'm about to pull my hair out. We've been at this packing/cleaning thing for 10 hrs!!
Packing.. Packing.. Packing!! Cleaning.. Cleaning.. Cleaning. Not sure why I bother to clean, its my family coming in. If you know me, I'm very OCD and I have to make sure things are just right. Oh well!

We are both taking 2 suitcases, not too bad. Not sure how to pack for 15 days, but we will figure that out. We will be up late tonight getting everything we can done. My sister arrives tomorrow morning, can't wait to see her. Our flight still looks great to fly stand-by.. Thank you Lord.

I still can't believe it's here, God has given us both peace about this trip.

More to come.... :) :)

2 Days.. Count Down

For some reason we aren't feeling like we are about to go over seas for 2 weeks. Feels like God has given us complete peace about this trip. My cycle started when it needed to, thank you Lord. I started my 150 units of Gonal F July 1 and my prednisone. The prednisone gives me headaches and makes me very anxious for about 4 hours and then I start getting tired and cranky. Hopefully my body will get use to it. I had to come up with a time that I can take the injections here and it will be the same time over there. 6 hour difference... 4:00 pm here means doing the injections around 10:00 pm.

Russ and I got our hair cut today and I also got my hair colored (thanks to Jennifer). We finished up all the extra odd's and end's today. Walmart trip took about an hour. Ohh.. we need this and I might need some extra of this. Not sure what we are thinking, but they have several grocery stores over there. I guess we feel like we are going to the "Land of the Lost" haa :)
We are cleaning and doing laundry. Will start packing tonight and making sure we have all we need. I hate this part, anyone interested in helping???

Annie Sue knows something is up, she follows us every where we go whining and stuck to us like glue. Very smart girl. But they both will be in great hands.
My sister comes in Sunday and my parents are coming in later next week. So I think they will be good :)

The flights still look great, banking on flying 1st class. Our flight leaves July 5 @ 5:50 pm and the flight is 9.5 hours long. Wish us luck, not sure we will be able to sleep.
Mag sent us the picture of our coordinator, the one who will pick us up and take us to all our appointments, etc...
Writing about it is making me excited. It's really here...!

I want to Thank all our family and friends for the support and prayer and for following our blog. We will be taking the computer and I will post pictures and what we do daily. (try)
More to come....