We're back and Pregnant again via Embryo Donation at Reprofit!

Hello Everyone,

It's been a while since my last post.  Back in February we were not sure if we were going to be able to go through with our transfer due to a family emergency.  However, with some finagling we were able to make it work.  I knew I wanted it to be a quick trip. So I literally flew in and flew back out and was back home within three days.  It was definitely what you would call a whirlwind trip.  My husband stayed home with our daughter, so I made the trip alone this time.  The clinic was okay with this as long as I had signed documents from my husband and a copy of our marriage certificate.  Once I got to the clinic there were no issues.  Everything went very smoothly.

My flights had me flying into NY then into Frankfurt, Germany.  From Frankfurt, I flew into Vienna, Austria and took a Student Agency bus directly into Brno.  I found this route to be the easiest and safest option since I was traveling alone.  You can find the Student Agency bus stop right outside the Vienna airport exit. It's so easy to find and if you time your flight just right you can be in Brno within the hour.  In the past I have flown into Prague and Slovakia with my husband. However, in both Prague and Slovakia you have to either take a cab or public transportation to get to the bus stop.  I prefer going through Vienna because its easier and frankly I think it's safer overall if you are traveling alone. There is also an NH Hotel directly across the parking lot once you exit the airport where you can stay if you need to stay over night and catch your bus the next morning.

Once I was in Brno, I stayed at the Grand Hotel.  I love the proximity of the hotel to the bus and train stations.  While it is more expensive than some other hotels in the area, you can't beat the convenience of it's location.  I've stayed at two other hotels in the area during our travels, Hotel Cyro and the Hotel Europa, and found them to be very nice.  However, the locations of both hotels were off the beaten path and required a lot of walking or taxi cabs to get around. The Grand is centrally located in the heart of Brno.  You can walk to everything and its in a safe location if you are traveling alone.

The next day I was off to the clinic for my embryo transfer.  We decided to have two embryos transferred rather than one primarily to increase our odds.  We had two transferred previous on two separate occasions. Our first transfer was unsuccessful and our second transfer resulted in the birth of our daughter.  Since we knew this might be our last trip for a while we wanted to maximize our chances of pregnancy.

It worked, I am now 30 weeks pregnant with boy/girl twins!  We are very excited and a little nervous at the same time;)  Just last week I had to go to the hospital because of early contractions and dilation of my cervix.  Luckily, the doctors were able to stop everything in its tracks.  I am back home and on bedrest.  From what I've been told the risk of preterm labor is much higher with multiples than with a singleton.  There is a good chance that these babes will be coming early.  I'm hoping I hold on to them as long as possible!!!!

Please reach out with any questions regarding Reprofit, or embryo donation! I will also do my best to keep posting on a regular basis.  

Cancelled due to family emergency!

Hello everyone, unfortunately we had to cancel our donor embryo transfer for a family emergency. At this time we are not sure when we will be able to reschedule the transfer.  All of the airline miles we saved up will now be used to visit our sick family member.  We may have to wait until later in the year, since airfare will be going up as we get closer to Spring.  Not sure we can afford the cost of the transfer in addition to travel costs.  We will see....we will try and keep you updated as we have more information.  Until next time......

Planning IVF Abroad for February

I finally made contact with our consultant from Reprofit in the Czech Repulic regarding our IVF procedure using donor embryos. She informed me that we will not lose the embryos we selected if we postpone because they are reserved through the end of February.  However, my monthly cycle started on the 30th of December, which would have me starting my cycle for February around the 28th of January.  If that should happen, my transfer would have to take place over the weekend of February 17th and 18th.  In the past, all of my past IVF procedures scheduled the frozen embryo transfers on the 19th day of my cycle.  I'm not sure if the 20th or the 21st days will work because I had to come in the day before the transfer for an ultrasound, then the next day the transfer. I will have to check with the clinic to determine if they can do the ultrasound on Friday the 16th or possibly Saturday the 17th.  Honestly, I'm not sure if I want to twist fate, since the 19th day was successful for our last transfer. Not that I'm superstitious or anything;) 

Now here I am again wondering if I will need to postpone our embryo transfer for another month.  There are things you can do to hold off your cycle.  However, I'm not sure I want to risk it or if I can now.  I used birth control for our last transfer to control when it started.  I also ended up using an herbal remedy to start my cycle on the exact day we needed it to start for scheduling.  We lucked out and everything worked out well.  I'm worried for this time around because we are using airline miles for this trip to the Czech Republic.  I'm not sure how easy it is to reschedule my ticket if the timing is off and we have to postpone. We would also like to save as many miles as possible in case we need to make the trip again. I may have to use more miles for the trip if I have to go in March. 

There are other medical options that can be used to hold off your cycle for an IVF procedure. Although, it is recommended that you plan ahead of time for this. Unfortunately, I missed the window of opportunity for this.  These options have also never worked out for me because I have not been able to find a doctor to prescribe the medications needed here in the US.  Since we are doing our IVF abroad, the prescriptions written by the foreign doctor have not been considered verifiable her in the US.  Albeit, I would have had to go through Reprofit's pharmacy and have them send me the medications.  Frankly, my husband the attorney has never been too keen on this idea so I have never done it.  Up til now I have been able to plan our transfers around my regular cycles.  However, I did have help from our consultant with Miracles Waiting, Paloma. Something to keep in mind if you are considering IVF abroad, going through the clinic vs. a private service such as Miracles Waiting or My IVF Alternative.

It's frustrating to think that I may have to postpone again.  If my cycle can hold off for one day everything will be fine!  Or if it wants to start a couple of days early, that would be great as well. So I will be crossing my fingers.  If we have to postpone, then there's also the fact that our donor embryo's are only reserved until the end of February.  While my husband and I understand that we may have to go with a different set of donor embryos, we feel connected to these  and would like to hold on to them. We will see what happens.

As for now, I will schedule my flights as if everything will go as planned.  Wishful thinking at this point is better than negative thinking, right?  I may hold off on the hotel reservations though, because its harder to cancel or reschedule the hotel arrangements.  There's always a big risk in losing your money. I can hold off and hopefully still find some good rates as we get closer to the date. 

Please feel free to email me with any questions you may have about IVF abroad, Reprofit or Embryo Donation or if you are looking for a cycle buddy. My email address is  WeTravelledforIVF@gmail.com. Until next time....