Day 204 - ANOTHER Long Day In The City

This morning was my big appointment at the Fertility Clinic. I was VERY impressed. Granted we're (Jaco) is paying them $$$$, so they should be awesome, but they certainly were! Dr. Foong is phenomenal. She's so personable & caring. She answered all of my questions & applied for Compassionate Care for our medications, so hopefully we'll have some of them covered. I also met with one of the Nurses, who answered all of my additional questions & listened to me ramble on & on... I don't ramble, do I? Nah, didn't think so! :o) I visited the Sperm Lab & then had some more blood work done. Yeesh. 


Here's the skinny. I am actually so fascinated by all of this... Basically we have to wait until my next cycle. On day 1, I call the Period Hotline. Yeah, I know. Forget Crimestoppers, this is WAY more exciting! On day 2, I have a baseline ultrasound & more blood work. Day 3, I start my meds. A week or so later the Egg Retrieval is done & then the embryos are made. 3-5 days later, we've got Mini-Wee's chillin' on ice! I think the affectionate term is 'Totsicles'. :o)


So what exactly do they do? Well, every month, lassie makes one egg follicle. That follicle breaks open & releases the egg to be fertilized by the lucky swimmer to cross the finish line first. When I take the meds (Luveris & Gonal-F), they are Follicle Stimulating Hormones (FSH) & they do just that. Instead of making one follicle, I'll make somewhere between 8 & 20. The Clinic will do several ultrasounds & more bloods to monitor the progress of the follicles & when they are mature, the Egg Retrieval is done. They use a hollow needle to extract the follicles via ultrasound, which I will get to watch on TV as they do it! 


The eggs will then be fertilized via ICSI. Basically instead of thawing the straws of sperm & letting them do their thing, the lab will manually fertilize each egg. The embryos will then be incubated for 3-5 days. On day 3 there will be 8 cells. If they are healthy looking embryos, they will be incubated for another 2 days to create what's called a blastocyst, which is anywhere from 80-200 cells. A blastocyst has a much better chance at successful implantation, however, you need a hot lookin' 3 day embryo to get a good blastocyst. If the 3 day embryo isn't REALLY good, there's not point to incubate it past that. It's best to freeze it & let it do it's thing once it's implanted. 


And once the embryos have been incubated sufficiently, they will be frozen at -196 until they are needed! And yes, when I'm 40 I will still have the embryos of a 31 year old! If only they could do that with my wrinkles! :o) So there's your Egg Retrieval lesson in a nutshell! 


Essentially I'll be ready for chemo the day after the Egg Retrieval. After anaesthesia you are legally intoxicated for 24 hours, so I guess I'll wait until the anaesthesia hangover is gone! :o)


Pray that all goes well with the procedure & there are no complications.


After I left the clinic I headed towards Costco. The phones we picked up lacked headsets jacks & belt clips. Yes, we use our phones that much. They didn't have much, but I picked up a different set. We'll see if they are any good! 


Next stop was Ikea. I was supposed to meet Dave & Collet there around 1230 - 1430. It was now 1400. I called & Collet didn't answer her phone. As I don't have a cell phone, I said I would call back in 20 minutes. When I called back, she answered & they were just pulling up. They had a busy day planned with plenty of stops, but when I saw her, they hadn't been anywhere yet! Oh boy! 


They were on the lookout for a wardrobe. What a process! It took 5 hours! I was wiped by the time we left! I needed a nap, but still had to get groceries & drive home! I have realized that I am just going to have to say I am tired & I have to go. I'm in need of a lot of rest & relaxation these days, and I'm not used to saying 'no' to anyone. 


I had a great time with them & Ezra has grown so much again! He's talking a lot & potty trained! What a good boy! I got a chuckle out of him, as we walked through the showroom, he had the urge to lick every mirror he came across... Too funny! Collet's got a cute little belly coming along & I'll be very excited to meet the newest Stephan! 


I made my way through Superstore like a zombie & then headed home. I went straight to bed! These 10+ hr days in the city are killing me! Perhaps literally!!! Here's to a good lie in tomorrow!


Maria & Valentina
xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Waiting in the lab

Waiting in the lab again!

Ezra - lickin', er, lookin' good!

3.5 Stephans in Ikea

Ezra enjoys the stickers from Aunty Jill

Ezra's sled dog training with a monkey on his back!