Hello Everyone,
We are back from Reprofit in the Czech Republic. We had a great time! There were a few kinks along the way, but nothing we couldn't manage.
We flew into Dublin because it is cheaper then flying into London or directly to Brno. We stayed at our favorite airport hotel, Bewley's. Since we arrived early in the morning we had to wait around 30 minutes or so before they had our room ready. We did not mind because it gave us a chance to fuel up on breakfast at the hotel's restaurant. Once our room was ready we caught up on a few ZZZ's lost during the flight. When we woke up, around five hours later, we went downstairs and had a lovely dinner once again at the hotel's restaurant. We had a great first night. However, the second day of our trip did not start off as well as we would have hoped.
Our flight into Bratislava, Slovakia was on Ryanair. This is one of Europe's most popular low cost airline. We have learned during our travels that the flights are so cheap because of "bare bones" service. You are actually penalized if you do not print out your boarding passes before your flight. If you show up for check-in without a boarding pass you will be charged 60 euros per person to have one printed out for you at the gate. If you show up late for check-in like we did, you may not be able to check your bags like planned. Furthermore, make sure you opt to check in bags when making your reservations or you will be charged yet another 60 euros for each bag you want to check. Since we were not able to check our bags, we had to take them on board with us. So my advice if you choose to fly Ryanair or any of Europe's low cost airlines, make sure you read the fine print and look for any hidden fees before showing up at the gate for your flight! If you don't, you will pay more. It is best to plan ahead when choosing to travel on one of these airlines.
Our flight into Bratislava was a long two and half hours. The flight was full so we were not able to sit together, so we both got middle seats. The seats on these flight do not recline ("bare bones" remember...but the flights are cheap!) and do not have nice built in headrests so long flights can get a bit uncomfortable. Once we arrived in Bratislava the customs line went quickly and the girls at the counters both spoke very good English. Our only hitch was trying to figure out how to catch the bus into downtown Bratislava. We finally broke down and got a taxi. Thankfully the taxi driver only needed to hear the name of the hotel and off we went, straight to our hotel! Once we arrived at the hotel we only had to wait twenty minutes to check in. We slept a bit since we had an early morning flight, then went out and explored the city. The downtown was lovely and well worth the long flight.
After two days of exploring Bratislava, it was time to head to Brno. We took a taxi from our hotel to the bus station. It cost around 5 euros and was easier than trying to catch a train or bus at 5 in the morning. Once at the bus station it took us a few minutes to find Platform 16 to catch our Student Agency bus. The bus ride took around 1:45 minutes. The time flew by because they have entertainment systems built into the seat backs so I was able to watch a movie. They also have free wifi. So my husband went online and caught up on some work. Once we arrived at the bus station in Brno, we caught another taxi to the Hotel Europa (pronounced Hotel Evropa!). I got a great rate on the hotel, only $50 a night and very nice accommodations for the price! Because we did not have Czech Koruna, only euros, we ended up spending 20 euros for a $2.00 taxi ride. So make sure you have Czech Koruna before jumping into a taxi! We also arrived too early for check-in at our hotel and had to store our bags and go exploring for a while. Luckily, we had our consultation appointment at Reprofit so we had somewhere to be and did not mind the three hour wait for our room.
While at Reprofit, we met with the nurse practitioner. I had an ultrasound to make sure my endometiral lining looked good for our FET the next day. We discussed the procedure in more detail and then set the time for our procedure the next day. We were at the clinic for a couple of hours before we headed back to our hotel. The next day we arrived a little early and were soon ushered into the room where the procedure would take place. There were several other couples in the waiting room. However, we only waited a couple of minutes before a nurse directed to an office to wait for the doctor. A few minutes later, we met with Dr. Daniela Vitouskov who then explained what would happen during the procedure. She then took us into the procedure room and showed us our embryos on the screen (2 beautiful Grade A 5 day Blastocysts), then she performed the procedure. There was a slight pinch and a little discomfort then ten minutes rest and we were done. It all happened within less than an hour. After the procedure a representative from finance took us downstairs to pay and then were we on our way.
This time around we paid half of what we paid the first time due to a Shared Risk arrangement that Reprofit has with Miracles Waiting. Our total cost for the procedure cost us $1500.00 and I'm happy to say, four weeks later that our procedure was a success. We are pregnant with twins!!!
If you have any questions about Reprofit, embryo donation, traveling to Europe for IVF, or for any other reason, please feel free to comment. I would be more then happy to answer any questions you might have.
