4 Frozen!

We learned this morning that yesterday they froze 4 of our embryos - so we have a good number if this doesn't work and we have to come back in a few months for another transfer - or if this does work and we come back in a few years for more kids!

Of course I'm in the phase of analyzing every possible symptom, even though I know that I should really be experiencing anything yet. I did feel something like cramping yesterday, so maybe that was the little blastocysts burrowing into my uterus - or maybe it was my imagination.

Yesterday we slept late, I went for a short walk (after 24 hours in a stuff hotel room, I need a little fresh air) and then we went to Miran's cousin Jasmin's for dinner. It was a great meal and a nice visit. We got back to the hotel about 9:00 and I went straight to bed because I had a horrible migranie. Miran watched shows and movies for a few hours.

I'll post pictures from yesterday later tonight, but now we are headed out to walk around Brno for the afternoon with Milada and to meet EVERYONE for dinner at 5:00 at nice brewery restaurant we tried a few nights ago. It will be our farewell dinner as we head home tomrrow and will leave straight from the hotel in the morning!

Big Day!

Well today was the big day. We were early and were taken right in and everything went very smoothly. We learned that we had 6 blastocysts - 3 excellent, 1 very good, and 2 ok. We have three that haven't reached blastocyst stage yet. So they transferred two of the excellent ones.

Tomorrow they embryologist will evaluate and freeze all additional viable ones - so hopefully we'll have four to freeze. On Monday morning we will call to find out how many they froze.

Anyway, the whole procedure took about a minute, but they showed us an image of the blastocysts under the microscope before they started.

 And afterwards they did an ultrasound and gave us a picture. The oblong white spot in the middle towards the right are the two blastocysts together.

 

And here is our first family picture!

After that they put us in a room where I could rest for about half an hour. The acupuncturist came and did a follow up treatment. (If you look closely you can see needles in my ears). This lady is very rough and does things quite differently than my acupuncturist in Charlotte, so I wouldn't call her treatment today (or the longer one yesterday) very relaxing. But no matter, I figure it can't hurt.

And then we left. We were both really impressed and satisfied with Reprofit. Everything was so professional and the facilities were really nice and we really had a great experience. There is a pharmacy right in the building so I went ahead and bought the pills I'll need for the next few weeks because I'm sure they are more expensive at home. Here are some shots of us leaving the clinic.

So finally we made our way back to the hotel. Miran had preloaded some of my favorite funny movies on Bob (our tablet), so we watched Dodgeball and The Princess Bride so far. Miran is now napping, but I am kind of restless (its very hard to literally stay all day in bed when you don't feel sick). So I decided it was time for a post and look around on line.

I feel fine, but will do my best to take it easy for the rest of the day - and not to attempt too much tomorrow either! Thanks everyone for your good wishes - we are feeling very positive and confident. Of course now we have to wait a few weeks to confirm anything!

More Pictures!

Here are a couple of portraits we took of Milada and Miran in our last few hours walking around Prague Wednesday morning. As you can see it got in the upper 50s and we took our coats off at times. It was a little awkward because it was at that temperature where walking around in winter coats was too hot, but not wearing a coat was a little chilly. But we aren't complaining - the weather has been unbelievable - sunny and mild every day. A little cool in the evenings.

We've also done a bit of sight seeing in Brno as well as spending time with family. Here are a couple of shots from the museum in the Spilberk fortress where we went today with Milada and Aunt Snjezana, a.k.a. Suna. She is Milada's former-sister-in-law. The fortress was used by the Hapsburg as a prison for centuries, so the picture of me is in one of the cells. The first picture is from a series of rooms where you could see excavations of the medieval walls - as most of what is visible now is from the 18th century and later.

When we returned from Prague on Wednesday we had dinner at Miran's Aunts' apartment again and here is another group shot. I am sitting with Aunt Jasminka, a.k.a. Mimica - who is Suna's sister and who was Maid of Honor at Milada's wedding. They were all friends in college. On Mimicia's lap is Nikolas, a.k.a. Niki, son of Miran's cousin Suzana (in the arglie). No one will be surprised to learn that another nephew has learned the charms of Uncle Miran - except here he is called Daidza (pronounced something like Die-Ja) - which means uncle on the mother's side. I'm Daidzica (Die-Jee-Ca).

Tonight we had dinner at Suzana's. Her husband Zoran was there as well, but he hasn't made it into a picture yet. We also spent a few hours yesterday walking around with Suzana and Zoran yesterday. Here is photo and a video of Miran playing soccer and horsing around with Niki after dinner tonight. Eventually the ball knocked a glass off the table causing a big mess and the game ended. Suzana was very patient. I thought the kids might enjoy the video of Uncle Miran and their very distant cousin!

Still eight!

Quick note to say that all eight of our embryos are still growing strong. One has 10 cells, 6 have 8 cells and 1 has 6 cells. So at least seven are in good shape. Apparently there is a 9th that only has 2 cells, so I guess he's a dud. But they only said there were eight the first day so we aren't too worried about we didn't even know there was a 9th! They don't check their status on the 4th day, so we can't call tomorrow, but it looks like everyone is doing well and we'll definitely have two good ones to put in on Saturday and a few to freeze for later!

Long Day

This morning we checked out of the hotel, put our stuff in the car, and walked around Prague for a couple more hours. At about 2:00 we left Prague and we arrive in Brno a little before 4:00.

We went first to a shopping center to buy gifts for Miran's Aunt Mimica, who happens to have a birthday today. Then we went to check into our hotel and put our suitcases in the room. Then we walked over to Miran's aunts' apartment, which happens coincidentally to be just three blocks from our hotel. We sat there for a couple hours and talked and had a wonderful dinner.

Then we came back to our car, which was by our hotel, and drove Miran's cousin Suzana and her son Nikolas home. Suzana showed us where to partk for free about a ten minute walk from our hotel, which was good because we'd basically left our car in a reserved spot and would have gotten a ticket in the morning.

When we finally made it back to our hotel room about 10:30 I put away all our stuff in the dresser and wardrobes and we had a snack and are now ready for bed. I will post pictures from today and tell you about our hotel and Brno tomorrow.

I called the nurse line today as instructed between 1:00 and 2:00 and learned that 4 of our embryos have 4 cells, 3 have 3 cells, and 1 has 2 cells. So that apparently means that 7 are growing on schedule and looking good and just one is developing a little slowly. I'll call again tomorrow to see how they are maturing.