1st Visit To The Egg Donation Clinic

I'm back from our very quick trip to the US to visit the clinic where we will be doing our egg donation. The weather was beautiful. The sun was shining and the skies were blue. The cherry blossom trees near the White House were blooming and looked absolutely beautiful. Everything looked like spring and new beginnings. Here's a photo I took of the cherry blossoms.

So beautiful

It was a very full day and we got lots of information and got to meet everyone. We started out with an ID check and they also took photos of us. Security and confidentiality are very important to this clinic and they want to make sure there are no mistakes along the way. Then we met with the doctor that we had previously talked to over the phone. He went back over all our medical history and talked in detail about the process. I feel very comfortable that we are in safe hands.

Then we met with our nurse coordinator. She will be with me every step of the way. Not only to guide me through the process of what to do when, but also to help coordinate everything with the clinic back here in London. She will send me reminders on when to take which medications, and when to book appointments here for scans and things like that. I have a feeling I will be getting to know her very well.

After that talk I had to go in to have my uterus mapped. I was worried that it would be painful, but it wasn't so bad. I had a bit of a moment when left alone in the exam room with the ultrasound machine on (trigger anyone?) but quickly recovered by reminding myself that there is no baby inside me right now so there's no chance that anyone will be walking in to tell me my baby has died. To map my uterus they had to insert a small tube (just like when you have an IUI) and then they push a bit of saline inside and see what that looks like on the ultrasound. It took less than 5 minutes and it was all done.

At the same time, the hubby was whisked away to provide his sample for freezing. After all the complaining he did about the last clinic's lack of and "reading" materials I was wondering how this one would go. Well lucky for him, this place has the Rolls Royce of collection rooms. *Warning,,,, TMI alert!!! Reclining leather chairs, adult TV channels, plus nice wide collection cups so not much aim is needed. I'm told that aim can be an issue at times. I kid you not! His only issue was that at first he couldn't figure out how to use the remote control. So he was quite pleased.

After that we met with the finance person who explained the various pricing plans. All of them expensive of course. But totally worth it if we end up with a baby we can take home this time.

Finally we met again with our nurse coordinator. She scared the crap out of me with all the needles and things. I know I will get used to injecting myself. I have to because hubby travels so much there's no way to depend on him to do it. So I got to practice injecting myself in the stomach and thigh. Not with real needles of course. I'm sure the first time I have to do it for real I will totally freak out.

I was then sent down to the pharmacy to buy my medications. Wow, so many!! I had to buy an extra carry on tote bag to bring them all home. Oh, and it turns out you can travel on a plane with syringes and needles. As long as you have a prescription from a doctor. Although it did seem funny that at the airport I got sent over to secondary security for a pat down because my underwire bra set off the metal detector, but no one checked my bag or asked me for my prescription.

I guess big boobs are much more dangerous than needles!

When do I get to start????? I have to have a test called an HSG to make sure my tubes are ok. In this test they inject dye into your tubes and watch on the monitor to make sure there are no leaks or blockages. I've had one before and it was VERY painful. I asked why I had to do it since we aren't using my eggs. The doctor says because I had a c-section he wants to make sure they didn't accidentally nick one of the tubes. He says if there's any damage it could cause an infection and jeopardize any pregnancy. I understand but am not looking forward to it. That has to be done after my next period but before ovulation.

Then I have to do a mock cycle to see how my body responds to the medications. They want to make sure they have all the dosages and meds right before we begin a cycle for real. So I get to jab myself in the stomach and leg, get scans to check my lining, and do some blood tests as well. All as a trial run for the real thing.

If all goes well then I will be able to start looking at their database to choose my donor. So we're still a few months away from the real thing. But this is huge. And it is progress. And progress is good!