The SEED(S) have been planted!

What a whirlwind of emotions! Today was the embryo transfer. We arrived at Lilavati Hospital and had a bit of a wait. Our surrogate arrived and we had some time to chat. They prepared her in the IVF suite before calling me in. Dr. Yashodhara, Dr. Pai and Dr. Palshetkar were all there for the procedure. Dr. Pai did laser assisted hatching before drawing up the embryos and Dr. Palshetkar did the actual transfer. I stood at Asha's (our surrogate) shoulder and watched on the ultrasound screen. I placed my hand on her shoulder to comfort her and when the procedure concluded I leaned over and placed my cheek next to hers and gave her a kiss and whispered 'Shukria' (thank you in Hindi) into her ear. Gerry and I are both overwhelmed with gratitude for this very special woman. She had to lay for a while before her caretaker Dr. Meenakshi took her back to the surrogate home where she will stay for the 15 days until we receive confirmation of pregnancy. She will be joined by 2 other surrogates next week after their transfers. Once a positive pregnancy test is confirmed she will then transfer to her own place with her family. Dr. Meenakshi will check on her frequently over the next couple of weeks and ensure she gets lots of rest while the maid attends to all of her needs. Directly after the procedure both Dr. Pai and Dr. Palshetkar walked out into the hall where Gerry was waiting patiently. He said, 'Boy that was quick!' Both Dr.'s replied very adamantly, 'Well, we are the BEST!' We met with Dr. Pai and he discussed everything with us: 5 embryos were transferred. 2 were grade 1 quality with 8 cell division, 1 was a grade 2 quality with 6 cell division and the remaining 2 were 2-3 grade quality with 6 cell division. Dr. Pai said he normally only transfers 3 embryo's into surrogates but decided on transferring all 5 embryos. He truly believes that the success rate is based on technique and said that all his surrogates last month had a positive pregnancy. Now we wait and pray for success.

Thinking happy and positive thoughts...Dr. Yashodhara's orders!!!!