Chemical Pregnancy?

I have been testing since 6dp6dt and got some great pink lines on days 7 and 8dpt but then the lines started to get lighter. The one today, even though still there, is so faint that it is starting to look like an evaporated line. So I think unfortunately I’m probably having another chemical pregnancy…..

Here is a close-up of the two last ones:

November 17th, 2008 - Posted in All Things Fertility!, Czech Republic, FET | | 0 Comments

Our 6 day old Embryos!

I thought I should put a couple of pictures here of our embryos that we had transferred on November 6!

Aren’t they good looking?

November 13th, 2008 - Posted in All Things Fertility!, Czech Republic, FET | | 1 Comments

Back From the Czech Republic!

I’m back home after an almost 24 hour trip so I spent almost the whole Sunday (today) sleeping and now I’m feeling a little better!

November 9th, 2008 - Posted in All Things Fertility!, Czech Republic, FET | | Comments Off

Counting down…

It’s getting a bit real now!

October 3rd, 2008 - Posted in All Things Fertility!, Czech Republic, FET | | Comments Off

FET in November!

Well, it is official! I purchased the tickets yesterday for the trip to the Czech Republic so everything is set for the FET. I will be going along with my DD and we are leaving on October the 31st to Prague where we will spend two days. We’ll be going to Brno (where the clinic is located) on the 3rd of November and the transfer should be happening (crossing my fingers) on the 4th or 5th of November. We will be leaving Prague to go back home Saturday the 8th!
Hoping I will not have any problems since I will be there alone with my DD!

I talked with Dr. Stepan about adding steroids to my protocol and he agree with it but didn’t tell me which steroid he wants me to use but told me I will take it when I get to Brno. I am wondering if he will be giving me a shot of Medrol?!?!

October 1st, 2008 - Posted in All Things Fertility!, Czech Republic | | Comments Off

Muscadine/Scuppernong Grapes Picking!

What a great day we had here in Florida yesterday not too hot and there was a nice breeze! Now we are waiting for tropical storm Fay to arrive here in NW Florida where we live.

We went to pick grapes (Muscadines) in our backyard and we all had a good time. I really like Muscadines, we all do but we usually just wash and eat the fruit. About 7 years ago was the exception, however, because Jeff made some wine out of those grapes. It was actually a really good wine!

This year I really want to try to make some Muscadine jelly or jam and maybe even try to use them as a pie filling. I hear that “Muscadine Grape-Hull Pie” is very delicious, so I will try to find an easy to do recipe for that!

August 22nd, 2008 - Posted in Mommy Stuff! | | Comments Off

Treatment in the Czech Republic – Part I

I have lately received some emails requesting more information on the clinic we used in the Czech Republic for our latest fertility treatment and also about our experience and trip.

It will probably take me more than one entry on the subject. So if you want to learn more about fertility treatment in the Czech Republic just keep an eye out here.

I think that a good place to start is our reasoning for choosing treatment abroad!
And I have to tell you that “money” was the main reason and the lack of it our greatest motivation to try to find a way. After my last IVF cycle we learned that we would need egg donation if we were going to have a second child and we could not afford the high cost for an egg donor IVF cycle at a clinic in the US without getting in too much debt.
An egg donor cycle in the US can cost close to $25,000 so obviously it is not for everyone!

We were not new to the idea of treatment abroad since I have had three IVF’s already over-seas in Brazil for which the second try gave us our daughter. I would have done an egg donor cycle in Brazil but they just allow shared donation with patients who are going through IVF themselves, and I didn’t like that too much. I think anyone going trough IVF to try to conceive will probably need all the eggs they can get.

I found clinics all over the world where it might be a possibility for us to go for treatment and I contacted many of them. But not all of them replied back to my emails and some replied they required a first visit to go see them before treatment, and I didn’t want to do that. I want to be able to do any medical pre-tests locally and not have to travel overseas twice to be able to have a cycle. In the end we narrowed down our search to Argentina and the Czech Republic. With both clinics I experienced great communication directly with the Drs. but the Dr. from Argentina requested tons of tests/exams that in my opinion were unnecessary (I know I’m not a reproductive endocrinologist but after 15 years trying to conceive I have had too many tests before and I know the game - as soon as you want to move to another clinic/Dr, most of them want you to have all types of tests done all over again.

I researched the Dr. from the Czech Republic and found out that he has many publications out there and has presented his work at many conferences, and that for me was a good thing just to know that he was very active in his field of work.

I also found a great online-community from the UK and many of the women were going to the Czech Republic for treatment and they were all very helpful and knowledgeable and helped me a lot!

It took us about 6 months from the time I started looking for a fertility clinic overseas for us to commit to our treatment with the clinic in the Czech Republic and start organizing our trip for our first try at IVF with the help of a egg donor!

August 21st, 2008 - Posted in All Things Fertility!, Czech Republic | | Comments Off

A source adds: “They were too impatient.”

We saw on the news today that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s Twins pictures will soon be released to the media. Not that I care one way or another about celebrities babies pictures but this announcement was followed by a comment by my husband: “Do you know that they used IVF to conceive their twins?” “Why?” I asked and he didn’t know the answer so my curiosity got the best of me. I had to find out “why” and it turns out that Angelina chose to have IVF so “she wouldn’t have to deal with the stress of trying to get pregnant,”

“What?” I’m shocked… In vitro takes all the stress out of conceiving? Really? Maybe for celebrities like “Brangelina” who don’t really need it, and have the money to blow on treatment and who carry the infertility diagnostic of being too impatient to conceive naturally, “They both desperately wanted more babies soon,” a source within their camp told Us Magazine.

Don’t you love the way the media makes IVF sound so glamorous when it has to do with celebrities? When they report on real people’s infertility challenges they picture us as second-class human beings, perhaps “freaks” that would do anything and everything to have a baby….

I am speechless….

August 2nd, 2008 - Posted in All Things Fertility!, Uncategorized | | Comments Off

When The Road to Motherhood Is Anything But Smooth

August 1st, 2008 - Posted in All Things Fertility! | | Comments Off

Making a Baby

I had this forwarded to me and I almost missed it because I never read any forwarded emails (just don’t have the time) but due to the subject “title” it caught my attention and I ended up reading it!
Even though infertility is no laughing matter I was laughing while reading it and decided to share the story here. There is not one dirty word, and it is definitely funny.
Also the email does not give information on who wrote this, so if someone who read this has knowledge about where it came from or who wrote this please let me know!

“The Smiths were unable to conceive children and decided to use a surrogate father to start their family. On the day the proxy father was to arrive, Mr. Smith kissed his wife goodbye and said, ‘Well, I’m off now. The man should be here soon.’

Half an hour later, just by chance, a door-to-door baby photographer happened to ring the doorbell, hoping to make a sale. ‘Good morning,
Ma’am’, he said, ‘I’ve come to…’

‘Oh, no need to explain,’ Mrs. Smith cut in, embarrassed, ‘I’ve been expecting you.’

‘Have you really?’ said the photographer. ‘Well, that’s good.
Did you know babies are my specialty?’

‘Well that’s what my husband and I had hoped. Please come in and have a seat’.

After a moment she asked, blushing, ‘Well, where do we start?’
‘Leave everything to me. I usually try two in the bathtub, one on the couch, and perhaps a couple on the bed. And sometimes the living room floor is fun. You can really spread out there.’

‘Bathtub, living room floor? No wonder it didn’t work out for Harry and me!’

‘Well, Ma’am, none of us can guarantee a good one every time. But if we try several different positions and I shoot from six or seven angles,
I’m sure you’ll be pleased with the results.’

‘My, that’s a lot!’, gasped Mrs. Smith.

‘Ma’am, in my line of work a man has to take his time. I’d love to be in and out in five minutes, but I’m sure you’d be disappointed with that.’

‘Don’t I know it,’ said Mrs. Smith quietly.

The photographer opened his briefcase and pulled out a portfolio of his baby pictures. ‘This was done on the top of a bus,’ he said.

‘Oh, my God!’ Mrs. Smith exclaimed, grasping at her throat.

‘And these twins turned out exceptionally well - when you consider their mother was so difficult to work with.’

‘She was difficult?’ asked Mrs. Smith.

‘Yes, I’m afraid so. I finally had to take her to the park to get the job done right. People were crowding around four and five deep to get a good look’

‘Four and five deep?’ said Mrs. Smith, her eyes wide with amazement.

‘Yes’, the photographer replied. ‘And for more than three hours, too.
The mother was constantly squealing and yelling - I could hardly concentrate, and when darkness approached I had to rush my shots.
Finally, when the squirrels began nibbling on my equipment, I just had to pack it all in.’

Mrs. Smith leaned forward. ‘Do you mean they actually chewed on your, uh…equipment?’

‘It’s true, Ma’am, yes.. Well, if you’re ready, I’ll set-up my tripod and we can get to work right away.’

‘Tripod?’

‘Oh yes, Ma’am. I need to use a tripod to rest my Canon on. It’s much too big to be held in the hand very long.’

Mrs. Smith fainted.”

August 1st, 2008 - Posted in Fun Stuff | | Comments Off