The Long Trip Home

The wakeup call at 3:30am was a sure sign that this was going to be a long day. We were all packed, dressed and ready for our 4:15am ride to the airport to catch a 6:45am flight from Prague to Frankfurt. Due to heavy fog in both cites our flight was delayed about 30-minutes which was fine since we were scheduled for a two hour layover in Frankfurt. The flight from Frankfurt to Boston was 7-hour flying time putting us into Boston was after noon or nearly 15 hours since that wakeup call. Once we collected our bags it was out to the curb to await the bus to take us to Concord New Hampshire where we would pickup our car for the ride home to Gilford. When we walked in the door at home it was just after 4:30pm. That makes our door to door journey which makes it 19 hour travel time..a long trip home.

Back to Prague

We said our goodbyes and left the Penzion Uno at 10am. The car ride to Prague takes just over three hours. Once in Prague we checked into the hotel, put away our bags and went down to the restaurant for a nice lunch. Nick had his typical chicken nuggets with fries. Once our bellies were full we explored the hotel a bit. Nick was quite pleased to discover the indoor pool. So of course we went for a swim. Then it was back to the room where much to my dismay the wireless internet access was not available in our room. In order to check e-mail and send messages I have to go down to the hotel lobby, which wouldn’t be bad except for the public smoking. Once I did finally get reconnected with the world I received a message from Rupert and Jen that they had two fertilized eggs and the plan was to implant them tomorrow. This was the news we were hoping for. I can’t wait to hear the results.

Party Time

This is our last full day in Zlin with our new friends. Tomorrow we go to Prague in preparation for our departure early on Wednesday morning. We spent the day shopping for chocolate as well as little souvenirs. The evening was a great deal of fun, Hana and Cestmir who are the proprietors of the Penzion Uno invited all four couples plus Nick down to the bar for a private party with some of their friends. The photos are a good indication of the fun had by all. Afterwards we all headed into town for a wonder dinner at an Italian restaurant.

A day to explore

We played typical tourists today. We went off with Jennifer and Rupert (our IVF buddies from Washington State) and took a train from Zlin to the town of Olomouc. As expected Nick enjoyed the train ride a great deal. Once we got into town we took a tram through the city in order to orientate ourselves. It was Sunday so all of the shops were closed. However we ventured into a couple of churches as well as a wonderful museum.

Photos to share

Not much today say today so I thought I'd share some photos.

Today is the day!

So today is the day we have worked so hard for. We got the call this morning that we had four embryos that were grade 1 (the best) and the suggestion was that we freeze two and implant two today! So that’s what we did, we planted two baby seeds. We both are very excited and pleased with how well things have gone. Now we sit back, pray and let nature take its course. We won't know the results until mid March so all your positive thoughts and well wishes are welcome.

A quiet day

Today was a low key kind of day. The weather was overcast with a steady light rain. It was a perfect kind of day for visiting the local mall. We did a lot of window shopping, people watching, ice cream tasting and of course race car driving.

Baby business

Now down to the business of why we have traveled all this way. The egg retrieval and fertilization took place yesterday as planned. The results were 10 eggs retrieved, of which 9 resulted in good quality fertilized embryos. Now we will wait until Friday (day 3) to see how they develop. The results of which will determine the next step. Several options would include freezing some embryos, doing a transfer on Friday or allowing development to continue until day 5 (Sunday). Our hope is that on Friday we would have enough embryos of very good quality in order to freeze some for potential future use (though we should not need to since this is going to work the first time) and then allow 2-3 others to continue development to day 5 and then do the transfer. We shall see.

In order to pass the time we have been doing a great deal of walking. Today we took a trip to the Zlin Zoo and fun was had by all. However, even after all the walking, excitement and fun Nick still did not fall asleep till nearly 11pm,

Day 4 of the adventure

It is now Tuesday morning and I can confidently say we made the correct decision of moving to a hotel in Zlin. We now have four other couples who are here for the same purpose as us. It is comforting to be able to share your thoughts hopes and fears with someone else that can relate. It is also nice to have people to do things with. We are within walking distance of shops and restaurants (which we take advantage of) and we are only a five minute taxi ride to the fertility clinic. Nick seems to be enjoying himself, though a 4-year old with jet lag can be a challenge for us. We’ve been lucky to have him asleep by midnight. It is cute when he meets another child. Even though they cannot “speak” to one another they are able to get along and play well together.

Vítat až k Miramare

We spent a nice Saturday afternoon exploring a bit of Prague. On the tail end of our trip we plan to spend another night or two in the city. On Sunday we were up early and ready for a 3½ hour car ride to the town of Luhačovice where the spa Miramare is located. Upon check-in we found that no one spoke any English, not a good sign. Once we got up to our room we found a very nice 1½ bath suite with a nice balcony, from which we took the picture above. We met a couple (Heidi & Stewart) from the Kansas City area that was also here for IVF. It was nice to have someone we could converse with. After unpacking and settling in Stewart came by looking for the phone number of the group that organized this trip for us. It turns out that Stewart & Heidi were assured there would be internet access, which Heidi had to have for her business. For us the internet was a nice to have, for them it was a must have. So after speaking with the trip organizer, who was able to handle translation with the Spa staff, they decided to move Stewart & Heidi to a hotel in the city of Zlin where the clinic is located (about ½ hours from the spa) and where two other IVF couples from the US were staying. So now we had a choice. Stay in a very sleepy spa village where no one speaks English or pack up and move to the city and be with everyone else. Well let’s just say it looks like Zlin will be a nice place to stay.

Welcome to Prague

We arrived in Frankfurt at 5:30am and had a 2 ½ hour layover till it was time to board the next flight. We arrived in Prague today (Saturday) at 9:15am local time rather tired and weary. After passing through customs and gathering our luggage we made our way outside to get a taxi. As we were loading the luggage into the taxi we noticed that we forgot to claim the infamous, non-aircraft approved booster seat. Just as well, it hadn’t served us very well on our trip. After checking into our hotel we all took a well deserved nap. By 2pm we were refreshed and ready to take a walk around the area. It was a nice balmy 41 degrees, certainly beats the 8 degrees I see going on back home today.

The Adventure Has Begun

So its 2:00am (8:00pm EST on Friday night) and we’re making our way across the Atlantic on a family adventure. Nick just won’t give in to the sleep he needs so badly. It has been a busy day. We left Gilford just before noon and drove down to Concord NH to catch a Trailways bus into Logan Airport in Boston. They have certainly beefed up security since the last time we traveled. The bus stopped in Manchester NH to pickup other passengers and we were boarded by someone from Homeland Security. They were checking the paper work of any non US citizens on board. After a brief delay we headed towards Boston. Once at the airport we were met by a long line at check in. We planned on checking four bags and carrying on two bags plus Nick’s car seat. Well when they checked the car seat for the proper certification they determined that the seat was NOT approved for use on an aircraft. Guess we missed that one. So the seat became checked luggage as well, which Nick was not too happy about. The next hiccups were when we attempted to go through security. We removed our shoes, unpacked the laptop, the DVD player, and presented the toothpaste and other liquids in the proper quart sized plastic zip lock bag. Figured we were good to go. Not quite, the crack team from TSA noticed that Nick was attempting to pass through security with an unapproved chocolate chip cookie. He was promptly delayed and given the choice of disposing of the cookie, placing it in a plastic tray and passing it through the x-ray machine or finish eating the cookie. You can guess his choice.

We have a winner

Nick did the honors and the winner of the California Dreamin Getaway is Lee Ann Ellis.

Thanks to everyone that made this a success and a special thanks to my brother Paul for making it all possible.