Mother Hen lays her eggs!

It was a long day at Lilavati Hospital yesterday. Arrived at 6:00 am and returned back to the hotel around 6:30 pm. My egg pick up went well. We retrieved 5 follicles from my right side (the other 2 were my small cysts)and Dr. Shaunak went in and found 4 on the left. 1 big follicle and 3 smaller ones not advanced. So in total we ended up with 6 follicles. Gerry was anxiously awaiting the results and Dr. Shaunak came right out to tell him. Before we went in, we waited for a short time in the waiting area for patients, a girl came and asked Gerry to wait outside and he said, 'No, I am staying with my wife.' It was kind of funny as the girl didn't really know what to say, I giggled and felt good that I have such a caring, loving husband.

I am feeling more sore this time around as they had to poke around some on the left side to get to that one lone follicle. Dr. Yash explained that due to my '2 of everything' the left horn covers the ovary and it is hard to locate. Yeh, for me!!! We came directly back to the hotel and since it was so late in the day, Dr. Yash personally drove us back, she was so wonderful, taking care as to not go over all the bumps in the rode, while the cars behind us just honked away. I rested most of the evening and Gerry even treated me with Pizza Hut delivery for supper.

Today we met with the journalist and the photographer and are going to do some shopping. They want lots of photos of us just doing stuff! We will see how long I last today, as I am still pretty exhausted from everything yesterday. We are also scheduled to go to our surrogates home today. We are truly honored that she has invited us and we can't wait to be a part of this bonding experience.

Countdown to Egg Pick Up!

Tomorrow is the big day! We have to arrive at Lilavati Hospital at 6:00 am to register and get a bed for me. We will be admitted to a room and await our procedure at around 10:15 am. We will spend most of the day at the hospital and should be discharged around 4 pm. Our day 3 transfer of embryos to our surrogate will be Wednesday and then a sequential blastocyst transfer will be done on Friday pending the number of embryos we make. We will also be sharing the clinic with a couple from Nepal and another from Hong Kong who will be doing their transfers. Should meet up with the other girls from the support group who will be doing their ultrasounds to determine their egg pick up date. So its going to be a busy day at the IVF center!

We had a wonderful tour of Hiranandani (where the baby(s) will be born) with the other folks today. Dr. Anita Soni once again out did herself with a grand tour and really pumped us up with positive energy. She is so upbeat and informative it just makes the whole process come together. We even saw a little baby through the NICU window and it brought tears of joy to our eyes that in 9 short months we will all hopefully be back here for our own babies. We all went for lunch at the nearby Pizza Hut and of course I had to stop and pet the cows out front, everyone was staring at me like I was a crazy woman, but you know me and animals!?

We met with the journalist on a couple of occasions and she is busy piecing together the article for Chatelaine magazine. She had the opportunity to meet and interview our surrogate and we were graciously invited to visit her home. We are just waiting for the photographer to arrive from Delhi so we can get some wonderful photos. The article should run sometime hopefully in December of this year.

Still having lots of computer issues so we will definitely try to get you caught up with everything and keep trying to connect daily.

Off for a bite to eat by the pool as I have to fast tonight. Please say a little prayer for us for great results tomorrow with lots of healthy embryos.

PARTY IN MUMBAI!!!

We are all here and having a blast! CK (hubby MK will be arriving in a few days) RB and SB from Corpus Cristi, TX another couple from Hong Kong and one more from Nepal arriving shortly.

It has been a wonderful experience sharing, laughing and doing all of our ultrasounds, pre-op testing and traveling together. We have all decided we will meet back in Mumbai in 9 months time!

We have been having very long days with all this baby stuff going on and finding time to enjoy in between. Today is cycle day 11 ultrasound for us and we are hoping for lots of big juicy follicles. As well, we are all very excited as we are meeting up with our surrogates at the Lawyers office to sign our contracts, so it really is going to be a PARTY!

Wednesday we traveled to South Mumbai and met up with Dr. Shaunak again. It was great to see him and catch up. My left side was being a stinker once again (bowel was obstructing the view some)and so he had a little difficulty viewing specifics of the follicles on that side, BUT they are there! Right side had 6 wonderful little fellas and we even had to start on Anatagon injections so they don't burst! So...that means more shots for me on a daily basis. My poor belly is full of bruises and not a pretty sight, but, I am being a trooper and looking at the end prize so we both know its ALL worth it. I am still feeling great but really bloated, once again like a hen ready to lay her eggs. Also, having a little bit more 'crankiness' these last few days (that's a nice way to put it! Sorry Honey.)

Just so much to tell and it seems whenever I am able to get logged on to the site I am pressed for time. So, unfortunately this will be all for now on this post. We are off to try and make it through the maze of traffic as we are in the midst of the Ganesha festival and its Ganpati's, drums and dancing as far as the eyes can see.

Till next time...sending love to all.

We are on a roll...

Now you will never get rid of me!!!!

Just got wonderful news. One of the Docs UK clients just got a positive pregnancy result. Must be related to the start of the Ganesh festival. Hopefully this is a good omen for us and CK!

Get it while the gettin's good!

We are logged on...YEH! At the hotel computer for now, so hoping our laptop will work as well.

We got back late last night from Jaipur and hit the bed. But not before checking a few emails (thanks for making me cry with your sentimental email Mom...must be the hormones!) and making a few phone calls home to family and check on our baby furgirl Frankie. We were exhausted from all of the activity. Yesterday, we went on another elephant ride (had to get as many in as we could as this is probably the only time in our life we will do this). The driver let me get on up around the elephants neck with him so Gerry could take a photo. At one point we stood next to our elephant and his ears flapped and knocked us both over. AMAZING creatures.

Driving back to the airport after a fun filled day the driver didn't want us to be late for the plane, We zoomed in and out of traffic like a race car. We saw camel after camel sharing the road with us, wild pigs, goats, cows, and even wild monkeys. It was fascinating. So much stimulation all at once it is so hard to take it all in.

Early in the morning I went for a full body massage with sauna treatment. WOW it was incredible and SO relaxing. Later our driver took us to a textile mill where we saw them make and design the cloth and materials that are exported all over the world. We bought pillow cases and when we picked out material for curtains, they made them while we waited and had them delivered to our hotel room. Now that is service. We paid next to nothing for the beautiful material and we will be able to see it everyday. We then went to a gem store and saw where they cut and polished precious gem stones and we even got me a few little gifts to bring home. Gerry says I am spoiled! We will try and add some photos too...hopefully.

Today we are headed back to the clinic for our cycle day 9 ultrasound so we are hoping and praying for more numbers and bigger sizes of follicles. CK our fellow support group member arrived on Tuesday and so we will be going for our ultrasounds together. What fun to share in this wonderful experience. We hear the horns and the drums out on the streets as we type this as today is the start of the 11 day Ganesh festival. Rain or shine these people never stop to celebrate. Should make for some more exciting sights as we venture out into Mumbai (the city of dreams).

Thanks again to all of you who are following and so supportive in our journey.