initial migration south a success

I'm happy to report that the visit to SG went very well. I think that all of the good thoughts you sent our way really helped. The weather was on our side, the travel was smooth, the connections in transit were achieved easily, and the hotels were welcoming. Oh, and the plane did not crash. Always a bonus. As a treat, we also got to hang out with Pumpkin and Mr. Pumpkin. It was so wonderful to see them.

In Logan airport, while changing planes, we met a loquacious man who started up conversation by telling us he was a war Vet on his way to visit his son and grandkids. When he found out we were Canadians, he said the plane couldn't crash because nice Canadians would not be killed in a plane crash. What a thing to say to a woman who is so afraid of flying. It did raise my anxiety, but luckily, he changed the topic. After I dispelled the myth that we all live in igloos and have pet elks tied to a post in the backyard, the man went on to ask about where were all of our children. I didn't say that we were on route to having them created, but instead that we didn't have any yet. He suggested that Thomas would be a good name for a son, in case we were seeking suggestions.

The meeting with the clinic staff was positive. We are different folks who speak English with different accents, but we are all focused on the same goal and that transpired clearly. They welcomed us warmly and made us feel like they were happy we were there. We started the day with the Dr., which brought on the lu.pron discussion nice and early. I won the argument again, despite his warnings that they have seen failed ovaries flare up in a DE cycle. That would be akin to walking on water, as far as I am concerned. I did need to have a saline u/s after the mock transfer, but found that it was much less uncomfortable that the one I had way back in Sept. 2010. There was a question in the morning regarding my arcuate uterus, but the Dr. didn't find it to be arcuate to the point of concern. 'Somewhat' is the descriptor he used to qualify the curve, and he didn't think it would be a problem for growing a fetus from a donated egg.  Looking at the data regarding my lining, he did suggest that we try deles.trogen injections instead of the combo of oral and vaginal estr.ace plus the oesc.lim patch. Deles.trogen is not sold in my Northern Nation, so we did need to purchase it there. Also, Mr. A had to practice giving me a shot in the behind with saline. He was super nervous, but managed beautifully once he gathered his courage and with the nurses's encouragements. The next day when we met up with the Pumpkins, he got some good pointers from Mr. Pumpkin, who is a world-renouned injection guru.

We have two more pieces of info to gather from our end to send to SG before we can proceed. And then we need to do a mock cycle using the estrogen injections, something that can start as soon as AF shows up on Jan 26 (the beauty of artificial cycles is that you can predict down to the hour when your next bleed will be). After that, we are good to go. We will need to select a donor, pay up, and get the cycles synchronized (which is not hard to do for me, again because of the artificial cycles). We are aiming to do share eggs to reduce the costs, so that might be another thing that takes a bit more time. They ballparked that we would be back there in 4 months and that is entirely acceptable to me. Of course, I want a baby now, or last December, but I am more interested in lining up all the ducks so that we can be successful. They didn't promise us the moon, but they were positive and told us there was cause for hope.

After 7 hours at SG, we took the metro into DC and walked around. Neither of us had ever been to the capital of the United States, and we were both wowed. The awe began at the train station and didn't let up until we left the next morning at 6am. We were kicking ourselves for not having scheduled a day to spend in DC and visit at least a museum and are hoping to schedule some time to do that next time.

On the way out of the hotel, the lady at the desk told us to bundle up because it was cold outside. Of course, for people who live in igloos, it wasn't cold at all. All is relative, I guess. Which goes for going to such great lengths to have a child. It seems like a lot of effort to travel 350 miles and pay all that money, but when it's what you really want and you can't make it happen otherwise, it doesn't seem like you are moving mountains. It's just what you do.