3/3/2010 10:20PM CST:
Left Picture of Jessie taken in the waiting room of California IVF on 1/31/2010.
Robbie and I are starting to get organized in preparation for our trip to California for the heartbeat ultrasound. We will fly to California on 3/6 and have our appointment on 3/8. We are very excited about the ultrasound appointment, but sad that this is the last scheduled appointment we will have with California IVF.
We were extremely fortunate to have come across the California IVF office in Davis, California, and we actually did so by accident. Initially, we quickly agreed to move ahead with Jessie, but were all still discerning a great deal about the surrogacy process. I first contacted California IVF on a Saturday afternoon, and happened to reach a nurse that was available over the weekend. She was kind enough to answer my preliminary questions and phone me back that day with answers she was unable to provide at the time. I spoke with Su, the donor/third-party coordinator, and she was very kind and patient. She answered my silly questions, patiently walked me through cycles, procedures, and a world of things which were new to me. I learned for the first time that day that gestational surrogacy and egg donation were not an unapproachable process, and were quite accessible to all us. For the first time in this process, I felt as though we had a professional stepping in to guide us.
Both doctors, Dr. Zeringue and Dr. Lovely, spent a great deal of time with us during consultations and procedures. They have sent us emails of encouragement. They've made this process fun for us - we've laughed a lot with them. Tara and the nurse staff always seemed to be available to answer our questions. The embryology team at California was nothing less than impressive. Deborah, the senior embryologist, was kind enough to hold an egg class for me to walk me through the entire scientific process. From the date of the retrieval through the transfer and preservation of remaining embryos, Lisa and Deborah remained in constant contact. I received phone calls letting me know about the eggs, fertilization rates, number of cells formed, and ultimately the number of viable day 5 blastocysts. Overall, 20 eggs were retrieved, 17 fertilized, and at day 5: 2 transferred and 12 additional frozen. 14 blastocysts resulted from 20 eggs - extremely impressive!
California IVF was an office where the staff hugged us on the way in and out, and helped us laugh and have fun throughout this wonderful journey - we will miss having our appointments there.
So looking back on the day of the transfer, there were a few things we'd like to remember that we'd never written down:
- It was very foggy during the morning in Salida, California. When I picked up Jess, she was not wearing make-up.
- We stopped at the gas station. I had a Diet Rockstar (it was terrible and huge), and Jessie started a big bottle of Smart Water. She began putting on makeup during the drive.
- We listened to the Owl City CD in the car, both ways. There was no fog by the time we were in Sacramento.
- By the time we were in the California IVF office, I really had to pee, but Jessie had to hold it in.
- We took pictures beginning in the waiting room.
- We met Doctor Lovely for the first time. While we thought she looked extremely serious in her picture, we were surprised to find out how much fun she was to work with! We had a great time with her.
- We danced to the overhead music in the room of the transfer while we waited. It helped Jessie not think about peeing.
- When no one was watching, we went into the specimen collection room across the hall. Of course, I had seen it twice before - it was a first for Jessie.
- We signed a lot of things. We were so glad Deborah was there.
- The transfer was very fast.
- Tara gave me a princess wand before we left.
- We ate at Chevy's immediately afterward (it was Funday Sunday with guacamole made table-side for $3 - it was our third time eating Chevy's in a week).
- I drove us back to Salida, and Jessie napped a bit.
- It was still foggy when we arrived in Salida.
- We wandered through Babies R' Us.
- I learned to play Guitar Hero that afternoon, and we ate at Elephant Bar that night. There was a reunion of surrogates and intended parents taking place in the back room of the restaurant that night, but we didn't know it until afterwards.
I don't suppose this is the kind of stuff you put in a baby book, right?
3/30/2010 9:30PM CST: 
