Knock on Wood

Finally got a full night's sleep. God, did that feel good.

We started Day 3 with a quick b-fast and then headed out to Kiran Clinic. There was a bit of a hiccup in the timing. We were supposed to go at 10:30, car didn't show up until 11:15 as they thought we had a noon appointment. All got resolved, but a bit annoying.

We got to the doc and had our appointment. Donor just got her injection and I did my thing. All smooth sailing. The interesting question has come up though of whether or not we will use two surrogates vs. one. Here's the deal:

We have gone under contract with the ability to use two surrogates. 36 Hours after the retrieval of Donor's eggs, they will implant the embryos into two surrogates if we choose. The benefit is that the embryos are fresh, not frozen, and that the chance of pregnancy increases dramatically with two surrogates right out of the gate. The negative? Both could take and that would mean at least two babies and a significant increase in the cost as there would now be the need to pay a second surrogate. What to do...

We are happy having two if there are twins in one. That's a "natural" thing that we shouldn't mess with. But do we roll the dice and gamble with two surrogates? And what if they both have twins? That would mean four! No way. We have a day to decide.

Donor didn't get a scan, but she will tomorrow. Her follicles measured about 8-10 cm yesterday. Tomorrow they should be closer to 14. That would make the retrieval Tuesday or Wednesday. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

After our visit with Dr. Samit, we decided to take a few hours and head out and see Golkonda Fort. It was a 30 minute drive from the hotel, through the old town, past wandering goats and cows. It sits upon a hill with the inner walls at the base of the hill and then the old outer walls a bit further out. It's really a beautiful sight. The entire city used to be there and it's made out of stone and rock. You can see the different structures that used to be part of the town, the gates to the city, the ruler's quarters, and the village common areas.

Equally as interesting were the people. Locals were there with their families having picnics and enjoying the history of the Fort. They loved donor, tall blond, pretty. At least 15 different people/families came up to us to introduce themselves and take a picture with us. I suppose I could understand as we've only seen two other white-skinned people in the entire city -- and they both were in our hotel and are going through the surrogacy process as well. A nice husband and wife from Virginia. One of the families even invited us over to their picnic as a thank you for letting them take pictures with us. The mother cut a mango up for Donor and I. Really sweet (yes, the mango, but also the gesture).

After the fort, we hit the pool for a few hours, where I caught up on work and got a little bit of sun. Work has been frantic. And I hate my iPhone. It's terrible. Deletes emails automatically, then reloads the entire inbox (15 minutes later), freezes, battery dies in a half day. Terrible. I'm going back to BlackBerry.

Since it was my last night in India, we decided to do a nice dinner and went to Water Front. This restaurant sits right on the shore of the big lake in the center of town. It's really an Oasis from the madness of the streets of Hyderabad. The restaurant was amazing. I ordered a Lychee Martini (couldn't resist) and knew this was probably a huge mistake. If you haven't traveled outside the U.S. much, know that mixed drinks are usually a disaster, apart from margaritas in Mexico. To our surprise, they were perfect! The food was wonderful, live music, AC, it was great. Really nice last night. Bummer that work kept me on the phone for 25 minutes while Donor had to eat her dinner solo. But alas. Why should I be surprised?

We head back to the clinic tomorrow and then I'm off to the airport to begin the nearly 30 hour journey back home. I'm nervous and anxious. I really want this to work. But know that it's totally out of my hands. I've done my part and now it's up to the powers that be.

Do me a favor?

Knock on wood.