25. That was a fun year.

After a quick whirl-wind trip to Delhi, I made it back home and jumped into the madness that is work. Really love my job. But need to fit in some sleep and down time at some point!

For the first time in a really long time, I returned from my travels with an upset stomach. Something got to me. I probably shouldn't have drank the water out of the tap in Agra. Not a smart move. About Agra... Seeing the Taj Mahal was incredible. I can truly understand why it is such a wonder. What is also a wonder is the amount of time it takes to drive there. Don't get me wrong, there is a bunch of stuff to see, culture to soak in and everything from cows crossing the road, to monkeys hopping from roof to roof, to chaos at every intersection. Getting there was interesting. Getting home was a true test of patience.

I'm thinking that when we go back in nine months (hopeful thinking!), if somebody wants to see the Taj, I'm going to recommend the train. Surely can't be that much worse than the drive back, especially if you get carsick.

Back to baby stuff now... Today was the egg retrieval day. All went well and they were able to harvest an incredible 25 eggs. Will know more about the quality and how many are viable after Sunday. But 25 is a great start. We couldn't have asked for better news!

Now the fun starts. Learn more about the status of the embryos on Sunday/Monday. Wait a few days for the transfer to take place. Wait two weeks for a blood test. Wait a few more days after that for another one, hopefully. Then wait two weeks for the first scan.

I feel like we've been through this before. Oh, wait....

From London to Delhi

We're both really excited to say that we are off and running... again.

Last night, I fell asleep just after taking off from London and woke up this morning as we were descending into New Delhi. Between our recent move and work being super busy, we haven't had the time to really think about whether this time was going to be our time or not. Stepping onto the plane last night though, I felt really positive.

Landing in India, reality set in and it took me back nearly two years when we started this whole process for the first time. I was really nervous then. Not sure what I was walking into. This time though, I felt at ease. The ride to my hotel was pensive. I dazed out the window at the passers by and random cows on the side of the road. I was soaking in the vast differences between India and London and for some reason, thinking about how calm Delhi feels to me in comparison to Mumbai or even Hyderabad. Yes, it's chaotic. Yes, it's even shocking what you see at times. But not to the extent that it was in Mumbai and Hyderabad.

So I spent the afternoon catching up on work and hanging out by the pool for an hour or so. I grabbed a snack and then headed to meet our new doctor. I waited in a waiting room with about six other people in it. There is no doubt that she is busy and has a successful practice. But once she came out to introduce herself, the six other people in the room seemed to disappear as she was fully interested in getting to know me, hearing about things at home and our experience thus far.

I was given a tour, shown the very detailed medical records that they keep, explained the process of finding and then qualifying a surrogate and donor and then introduced to the many people that she has working for her. We sat down, went through the various surrogates and picked the wonderful woman that will give it a try for us in just a matter of weeks.

We're really excited and hoping that by mid-April, we have good news to share...

More to come from Delhi.

We're back in action.

Updates coming soon...

Hey everyone. We know it's been a while since we've updated the blog. But we're back. We're working on the final details of our next plan of attack. Should be able to share an update very soon!

No Luck

So... contrary to our gut feeling that this time things were going to work, they didn't. Unfortunately, the surrogate's blood test came back negative. The weird part is that at this point, with so many negatives, we are purely annoyed. Why does this have to be so difficult?

We haven't gotten much response from the doc on what next steps are but we are in the process of reconsidering the best plan of attack. The road thus far has been far from easy and we're wondering if we should just start fresh, with a new clinic, a new doc and fresh embryos. It's a gamble but we don't want to give up yet.

No worries though about us. We're totally fine. A bit bummed and annoyed with the entire process, but determined to figure it out somehow. Anyone know magic?

More to come when we sort out next steps!

Quick Update

This time it's going to work.

I'm convinced if I keep saying that, it will somehow influence the likeliness that everything will work out for us this time. We'll see...

So the latest is that our surrogate's endometrium is at 8mm as of today. It has to be at 10mm for the transfer, which should only take a few days more.

This time though, we are going to have the embryos cultured until they reach the blastocyst stage (day 5). By doing this, the strongest, most kick-ass embryos will be those that survive and my understanding is that by transferring a few of those, there is a much higher chance of the embryos implanting and growing into our new, little baby. That means the transfer will happen on Wednesday of next week.

I'm loving this idea and hoping it works.

Like I said, this time, it's going to work!

Mid August

Hope everyone is having a good summer. I was reading through old blogs and reflecting a bit on the journey that we've had over the past year. It's been really great to know that there are other people out there going through the same thing. Same challenges, same emotional roller-coasters.

It looks like our next transfer will happen in mid August. Probably between the 15-20th. We're thinking good thoughts. Sixth try is a charm, right? I say "yes."

Just thought I'd give a quick update... even with little info to share.

Happy summer.

Quick Update

Sorry it's taken a few days to update everyone on things. Unfortunately, we got a note from the Kiran Clinic a few days ago that said they did the follow up blood test and our surrogate is not pregnant. With the initial blood test showing low beta hCG numbers, we thought this might be the case.

We know that it's just a matter of luck, but this is attempt number 5. And we'd think that we'd have at least a chance. It makes me wonder what could be happening that isn't. Is there something that they can do that we aren't thinking of? What would the difference be of doing it here in the U.S.? Would there be any difference in the luck that we are having?

Oh well for this time. Hoping Dr. Samit can pull it off for us next time! We now wait three or four weeks for our new surrogate to be ready.