Our AMAZING trip is coming to an end...for now!

Well, we leave tomorrow night, Sunday April 20th at 1220 am India time and arrive back in Arizona, Sunday April 20th at 1120 am (MST). We are very sad to leave as we have become really attached to our Docs and Henry (Mel's Dad) but we are excited and really looking forward to seeing our 4 legged baby, Frankie. It has definitely been both an emotional and cultural eye opening experience for the both of us. We truly cannot say a negative thing about our entire experience. Today we spent the afternoon visiting Henry's home and had lunch with the whole family and a few friends. Christine (their servant of 25 yrs) prepared an amazing spread of Indian food. I asked her if she wanted to come home with us. Henry and Lorna (Mel's Mom) presented me with a gorgeous gold bracelet as a memento of our visit. I was overwhelmingly touched with their sentiment and will hold this dear gift close to my heart. Melanie is a lucky girl to be surrounded by such a lovely family (as we do). Tonight we see our Docs again for a night out before preparing for our final day in Mumbai tomorrow.

We cannot begin to think of the words to describe how extremely blessed and special we both feel. The love and support we have received by everyone here in India and all of our friends and family back home praying for us and sending continuous emails and comments, is so very touching.

Don't worry we will continue to write after we arrive home until we receive the good news (positive thoughts!) We plan on including some pointers, tips and useful information for others who may want to embark on their own journey of surrogacy in India. We want to help others see that there is a ray of hope for them as well and that SurrogacyIndia and it's amazing doctors will be able to help. Just know that while struggling with infertility you are not alone.

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!!!!

A day off to enjoy.

We finally took a day to do some shopping and ventured out on our own. We took the auto rickshaw to Linking Road, Bandra, where there are miles of shoes, clothes and purses for the eyes to see. We took a short break for lunch at the local KFC and spent the rest of the time shaking our heads 'No thank you, just looking' and kept walking along the uneven and congested roads. Its a very unique shopping experience with shop keepers constantly coming out and wanting you to come into their huts as well as the child beggars tugging on your clothes and tapping you for any small bit of money. The heat and humidity are almost unbearable and Gerry carries around a hand towel everywhere we go, so the funniest site to see was the locals trying to sell us these tiny little handkerchiefs to wipe the sweat off. Its like sensory overload, but we managed to last 3 hours before heading back for a dip in the indoor hotel pool.

We are dying to find out what is happening on our favorite TV shows, Lost, Survivor and Big Brother as we pretty much just get Hindi channels in the evening. We dearly miss our girl Frankie but we were able to hear her howl to us on the speaker phone this weekend while my best friend Jackie was over at our house for a visit.

Thursday's embryo transfer can't come quick enough for us.

What a wonderful day for an Anniversary!

Today was the BIG day, not only did we do our egg retrieval at Lilavati Hospital, but we also are celebrating our 8th Wedding Anniversary. (I am sure one we will never forget) I felt like a hen ready to lay her eggs. Everything went great, we ended up with 10 follicles, and they were able to fertilize 8 of those. Dr.Yashodhara was by my side the entire time and said the eggs were very good quality and the fertilization went well. Now we wait... The entire IVF team and hospital staff were amazing. The 2 docs that own the IVF Center will both be there to transfer the embryos on Thursday and give the little guys (or girls) an extra day to do their thing. I will be able to go in and be with our surrogate during the transfer. How amazing that will be! Gerry is able to go in as well, but has decided not too as he wants to give us girls some time to bond. After the procedure it was back to the hotel for some much needed rest. Our Anniversary meal was a pizza from Pizza Hut (which we thought was better then we get back home). That evening we had a surprise visit from Dr.Sudhir who brought us a small cake complete with a candle to celebrate. I gave the guys some bonding time in the bar while I rested some more.

All in all it was a fabulous day!

City Life in Mumbai, India