IVF Czech

  April 18-19th

  We had our second appointment today at the IVF clinic in Zlin.  The first thing that I did was have my blood drawn to check my hormone levels.  John also had to have his blood drawn because they do another STD panel on everyone even though you had it done in your own country.  Again we had to wait an hour so we ran to the grocery store and got a few things and then went back in for our appointment with the doctor.  My hormone levels were all good so we went in to do an ultrasound.  The doctor found at least seven eggs all of normal size around 8mm.  He said that he would like a few more so he bumped up my Puregon (FSH) dosage.  Overall though he said everything was looking good.   He again wrote out my protocol and added another medication called Orgulatron.  Orgulatron is used to help the eggs from prematurely bursting. 

  I went in with the nurse Eva and she went over all the meds again and had me do my shots for the day.  We had a little scare when she asked me for my extra vial of Puregon.  I was supposed to bring my meds in, which I thought that I did, but when she asked for that I got concerned.  I was told my first day when I received my meds that the nurse would change my Puregon Pen when I got there for my second appointment.  Puregon must be refrigerated and I didn’t realize I had a second vial in one of the boxes that contains the needles.  I thought that I would get it on my second appointment when the nurse changed the pen.  I then realized I had left that box on the desk in our apartment!  This is the most expensive medication that we have to purchase so we were a little freaked out.  Well all turned out OK, Eva went and asked the head nurse and apparently it can be left out for up to 30 days.  Whew!!

   

At this point I have felt pretty good.  I am starting to bruise from all of the injections and the Orgulatron, which I started Sunday, hurts a little when given in the leg.  So for now I will continue the Puregon and Orgulatron and hope for the best at my next appointment on Wednesday.  

Zlin  Daily Market

Zlin Daily Market

 After our appointment we went to the local street market to get some vegetables and were excited to find that in the square down the street was an Easter market/festival with crafts, food, and even a carousel for the kids. 

Carousel Zlin Easter Fair 2014

Wooden Carousel Zlin Easter Fair

 I believe the kids are off of school starting Thursday through the national holiday of Easter Monday so there were a lot of children at the market festival. The Easter holiday seems more significant to the start of spring than Christianity. From what I understand this is because during the Communist regime religion was suppressed so many Czechs are not religious but still enjoy the traditions.   One of the traditions is hand painted eggs.   The eggs are real, hollowed out, chicken eggs, and they come in many beautiful colors.  The eggs are given by the girls to the boys and then in return on Easter Monday the boys whip the girls with braided pussywillow twigs to get candy.  The painted eggs originally were not hollowed out because they represented fertility as did the blessing of the girls with the whippings. I believe the whippings aren’t as common as they used to be and many girls dreaded them each year.  

 

Czech Hand-painted Easter Eggs

  We planned on eating an Easter dinner at home Sunday, but decided to leave and go to southern Poland instead.  We didn’t have to be back until Wednesday morning for the next appointment so we had a few days to explore.   John did a little research and came up with a rafting trip in Szczawnica, Krakow and a tour of the salt mine, and then to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp for a humbling experience.  

More to come... 

Kelly and John