| Our IVF Vacation trip 2007 Craig and I were looking for this trip all year long and it is finally here! We arrived to the Czech Republic after long flight and even longer layover in London on May 24th 2007 around 10 PM. We were happy to finally arrive in our final destination because British Airways “forgot” to put enough bassinets on their plane and we had to hold our 8 month old twins on our laps the whole 10 hours. On the positive note, they were really good and slept most of the flight. Next few days went fast because we slept most of the time – getting over jet leg. We went to the clinic on Monday and met with Dr. Anna again. One couple was in the middle of their IVF treatment and they had their appointment. We went with them and were happy to see that the clinic is still the same – there is different art on the walls but it was great to see that the pleasant nurses and wonderful doctor are all there and all of our three couples that were in Zlin for the treatment really liked the facility and the doctor and were enjoying the great weather to sightsee and hang out together. By the end of May we got all settled in. Grandparents were thrilled to finally see their granddaughters and we were happy to have baby sitters for the trips to the clinic with our clients. It was so wonderful to have the chance to meet everybody there and actually see the people behind all the emails and phone calls that are prior every IVFvacation trip. June 4th 2007 We got an email from one of the couples that just returned to the US that they got positive pregnancy test. That makes 12 pregnant out of 16 couples that went from the beginning of the year. I have to add three more that just went through the treatment and they don’t know the outcome yet. I was thanking the doctor, the nurses and the staff of the embryology for such a wonderful effort that they put in every time with every patient. Those 4 couples that were not successful the first time are returning back soon for second try. One of them already arrived to Zlin and had their appointment and ultrasound. The rest of them are arriving in June–July. June 5th 2007 I really like the peace and quiet time after the embryo transfer when I get to sit down with the couple and let them know what to do and what not to do after the transfer and give them all the little tips that worked for us when we were going through the waiting period after the embryo transfer and then the first trimester. One IVF couple was at the end of their journey and had their transfer today. We spent hours with them talking and laughing and telling stories. The husband was able to accompany his wife to the surgery where the embryo transfer took place. He held her hand and made her feel more comfortable and standing by her side really helped. I am always so happy when I can say to our couples that the clinic really wants you to feel comfortable every step of your way. June 10th 2007 We greeted our new IVF client that came with her cousin. She took the train from Venice and we met them and picked them up at the train station. Both ladies seemed very nice and we enjoyed the stories they shared with us about Italy and public transportation. The train connections can be trickier that one may think. We took them to Pension Uno and showed them around town. Their appointment was set for Monday. We had a great weekend. The weather was gorgeous. We went for bike rides, long walks and shopping trips. The Poppies are blooming everywhere. It is so beautiful. June 14th 2007 Craig went to Prague to pick up one couple - Craig chatted with them the entire drive to Zlin. Another couple took the train to get to Zlin - their names are Robert and Frances ( you can read their story on our testimonial page). It was great to see them again. We had a great time with them last summer and were so happy that it worked out so we could meet again.. Both couples had their appointment today and both of their donors had a great reaction and the doctor recommended cultivation until the blastocyst stage because there was a lot of good quality eggs. I was thrilled for them, it is great to have a day with all good news. I am sure the doctor feels the same way. Our IVF client started her stimulation on Monday June 11th. Her levels checked out great and we are scheduled to see the doctor tomorrow. She took the train to Prague to sightsee - her cousin stayed there because she is leaving on Saturday and wanted to enjoy extra day of sightseeing. June 15th 2007 Everything went well at the clinic today, our IVF patient had her ultrasound - she has her skirt this time so she felt much more comfortable since the clinic doesn't use the paper wraps. Last time she didn't have it and I think that most ladies would feel awkward walking the three steps in front of the nurse with their bare bottom. The staff is used to that but still. Robert and Frances got amazing news today - their donor had fantastic reaction and they got news from the embryology that HUGE amount of them fertilized. It was about twice the average. Frances was joking that she wants to have all the babies! The other couple got great news as well, all of their eggs retrieved were mature and all of them fertilized! Both couples were able to freeze embies and they were quite happy with their outcome. Both got the thumbs up from the embryology and moving on to 5 day blastocyst cultivation. Ever since the article on MSNBC.com published we have been slammed with e-mails. Thank you all for your kind words. This is really a blessing to be able to help couples achieve something they dreamed of for SO LONG! I would think that the day can't get any better when we got two e-mails. One saying that we have another baby! I will make announcement at the Birth announcements and one of our couples just got the great news , their Beta were up there - they are pregnant! What a day. June 16th 2007 We had great Saturday. The clinic organized a Children's day for all the couples that have gotten pregnant with them. It was little rainy so we went there little late but when we got there, there were a lot of people and a lot of babies! I have never seen so many twins at the same place in my life (well if you don't count TV and the twin reunions they show from time to time). We saw all the nurses in their regular clothes -they look like regular girls and Dr. Anna and his wife Renata (who was a nurse - now she is on a maternity leave) had their newborn baby girl Melanie and their 4 year old boy Attila. The head of the clinic, his wife and twins were there too. We had great time with them. It was nice to have a day of rest and just have fun. We stopped on the way back home to the Pension UNO and introduced the girls to our clients. It is great to have time to hang out. June 18th 2007 Busy day at the clinic. The two egg recipients who are getting ready for their transfers tomorrow got great news today that they have 4 or 5 grade 1 blastocysts. Now they face the tough decision on how many to transfer. This one is hard because - the doctor gives them his recommendation but they have the final say. Frances and Robert are ecstatic having that many embies but they are trying to figure out what is the right number to transfer. A new couple that Craig brought from Prague yesterday had their first appointment today. Their names are Corrie and Dean and their egg retrieval was postponed a day to give the donor an extra day for the follicles grow. They met Dr. Anna and really liked his approach. We gathered everyone together and went out to lunch.. Corrie had camera and the waitress took a picture of us. (Corrie and her husband Dean are the couple on the right on the first picture.) I was really impressed with a new couple that arrived today. They rented a car and drove to Penzion UNO from Prague by themselves(that is about 3,5 hours)...and let me tell you there are some curvy roads there. They made it little late but they made it. They came with their children and made it a family vacation with the possibility of leaving with more babies than they came with. This is ultimately the goal of everybody. June 19th 2007 Frances and Robert had their transfer, they decided to transfer two embryos and everything went great, the doctor put the embryos into the right place and France had her rest and then I drove them back to the hotel. They were leaving the next day bright early in the morning so this was my time to say goodbye. It was hard because they were so much fun and easy going. The other lady had her transfer too and she was facing the hard decision to transfer two or three embryos. Since she is over 40 the odds of carrying triplets is low and she said that if it came down to it, she'd love triplets. The doctor is always so cautious and personally I don't think he likes to transfer more than two just because of the risk. But the client has the final say. Luckily there wasn't anybody who wanted to transfer 10 yet. I had to say goodbye to them too today and it was sad - but hopefully they took "something" with them. I have an update on the four couples that I have mentioned in the begin. The one that I have mentioned on June 4th is expecting twins, another couple who used DE is pregnant too and the IVF couple just found out they are pregnant. This makes three out of four pregnant on this trip. Yeah! Craig brought new client for IVF. June 20th 2007 My husband went to pick up another couple Carly and Stan who came here for the donor cycle. Their plane was hour late and we got to Zlin about 11 PM. Two husbands had sperm deposits early today. There is always little giggling involved from the couple when it comes to the sperm. Everybody is always fine talking about eggs, Endometrium, vaginal ulrasounds, periods..but when it comes to sperm everybody has smile on their faces. There is little private room at the clinic and all the men have to go there to do the deposit and the nurses and the doctors take is a part of the process just like any ultrasound or blood test. That doesn't stop the funny looks on the guys faces when they come out. Once I had one husband who said after coming out of the sperm deposit room:"This was the most pleasant doctor's visit I've ever had!" We all just lost it there. The new IVF lady -let's call her Jane - she seems very sweet and I had great time talking to her today while I showed her the town and at the clinic. The doctor said after doing her ultrasound that he thinks that she should respond really well and that is always great news. I was leaving the town and one of the ladies had her backpack on and was ready to take the bus to the Tesco mall. I had to go there anyways so we asked everybody, I filled up the car with people and we went shopping to Tesco. June 22nd 2007 Jackie and Rich - the new ED couple had their appointment yesterday, the doctor explained them the treatment and they were just very happy to learn that their donor is doing great. Craig and I showed them Zlin, restaurants to go to, grocery stores, they bought three day pass for the city buses amazingly that costs only $3.25 per person and it is unlimited transportation in Zlin. They liked the convenience of the fresh produce market with organic vegetables and fruits and were amazed that the Czech language is SO different. Corrie and Dean and the couple who drove to Zlin got very good update on the numbers of the eggs retrieved, mature and fertilized. The IVF lady that came with her cousin in the earlier, reunited with her husband yesterday. We met him today and I took them for their last appointment before the egg retrieval. Everything went well, follicles are growing. Afterwards they went downtown and since she already knows the town she has been pointing out stuff and giving him the tour. I was there just to admire how good she got with orientation around the town. They have installed new big screen flat monitors at the clinic. They are pretty impressive. The couples went sightsee today. One couple left to Austria, one to Brno, and the rest of the group took the bus to see the castle in Kromeriz. I hope everybody had fun, it was beautiful warm -breezy day. When we got home we wrote a lot of emails and spent the rest of the day with the twins. Jenny said mama yesterday. I was so proud. They are both saying de de for months but mama was very special to me. June 24th 2007 Two couples had their embryo transfers today. One of them was Corrie and Dean - they decided to transfer three embryos. They were all grade one and if it all works out Corrie will be busy mommy. Dean was with his wife at the recovery room after the transfer, he was being very supportive. Corrie was making sure that she does everything right (they are both focused on the goal), she stayed in her bed after the transfer the whole day. The other couple transferred their embryos and I said my goodbyes to them, wished them luck . They were leaving in their car the next day early morning. June 25th 2007 Jane had her appointment this morning. Since her husband will joining her later she has been giving the shots to herself or the other IVF patient had the same drugs and she was helping Jane with the application. The doctor did an ultrasound and there were bunch of little follicles. She is doing great - she is young and great responder. My IVF couple had their egg retrieval today. It was scheduled first thing in the morning, we got to the clinic, the husband provided the sperm deposit and she was taken to surgery. It took just few minutes the nurses wheeled her back sleeping. When she woke up she felt good, there was no problem or ache - just hungry. Although there weren't many eggs the quantity isn't important as much as the quality. We will know more tomorrow. We all went for lunch at one hip down town restaurant - The Shot Goose. The food was excellent. I had my gynecologist visit and of course - forgot my skirt. I took Jane and we went to the Korean market to pick some skirt. She was my judge, I picked something out right away and she approved. I wished I had more time to spend just hanging our before my appointment. My gynecologist (I go tot he same doctor that was giving the birth to our babies) at the clinic said that everything looks good. I was little worried because when she checked me 6 months ago she did biopsy and wanted to follow up. What a relief to hear that I am OK. |
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Having lunch at the favourite Sunflower restaurant - part of the group.
We had great time hanging out. The food was great
and who was allowed enjoyed glass of Czech beer.
and who was allowed enjoyed glass of Czech beer.