And let me tell you, it was the longest day and a half of our lives! But once we got picked up at the Anand, Gujarti airport, we were in better spirits. Taking a shower ALWAYS helps! We then met up with the Doctors of the clinic, and began the treatment immediately. Things did not get off to a great start, I had a complication, and that slowed down our progress and in time, kept us in India three days longer then expected. So I was on more meds and told to lay low for three days. So my mom and I hid out in our Hotel room and watched OLD American movies all day long and slept.
The next time we saw the Doctor, my hormone levels were good, and we were able to begin the daily hormone injections. And man were those fun! It was then that we started meeting everyone else that was in India at the same time as us and for the same reason. We met a couple, Allan and Diane, that were in a similar circumstance as me, being delayed due to complications. So we "hit it off" with them straight away. We spent just about every day with them, going sightseeing, eating lunch and dinner, and just conversing. Anything to pass the time away. Time moved very slowly in India. Thankfully for us, there were about eight American couples total while we were there, and we were all just able to talk things over and hang out together. We had a "Rooftop dinner party" one night and a BBQ another night, and many hours spent together in Dr. Herish's office. :-)
Thankfully we did find an Internet Cafe a block from our hotel, and we found a Subway sandwhich, we found a Wal-Mart of sorts called Big Bazaar, we found a pizza parlor called US Pizza. So after the first few days, life got a little easier after we met friends and found places to eat. This part of India is very much a Vegetarian state, and you really don't know how much you will miss meat until you can't have it. So it was fresh fruit, Naan bread, Cokes, Pringles, and anything else American we could find. There were about 8 American couples total, all originating from California. So that was a trip. We all hung out together on a daily basis. You should have seen the looks and stares and catcalls we got every time we were together. You KNEW that you were the FOREIGNER. That was a different experience in itself.
In the end, after all the daily injections, we were not successful when it came time for the Egg Retrieval. My ovaries were resistant to the drugs (due to the complications and to my renal disease). I would say we were pretty disappointed and discouraged for our travels home. Once we got home, and we were back home with our loved ones and friends, we started to feel better. Infertility is such an unknown science still, and that is the toughest part of it all. Some people are successful on their first try with it, and for others it may take multiple tries. We have not given up hope yet. I am seeing an Infertility Specialist this month and seeing what their opinion is. And then we will go from there. If we do decide to do the Surrogacy still, we will definitely be going back to India. It is a great program that has had so much success. The only bad thing would be having to go back to India for any length of time! But oh well! You do what you gotta do.
Myself, my mom, and Mike all went to India to look into Surrogacy for Mike and I. I had seen a show on Oprah back in October of last year, regarding a Surrogacy program in India. I had been in contact with that Doctor since the night the Oprah show aired. The beginning of March, I got the email to get ready to go to India. So we all hustled to get our passports, Visas, plane tickets, and everything else in order so we could leave at the end of the month. It was going to be 36 hours of traveling all together. 36 hours! UGH!
