I have more pics to add to my prior post, but blogger isn't cooperating at the moment so I may have to wait until I get home. (EDIT: fixed! mostly food pictures, because I turn into a total foodie while I'm here...)
Anyway, I spent yesterday mostly sleeping. Got up around 7 first, skyped with Kaitlin for a while and ate breakfast, and started feeling really dizzy and sleepy. I guess the progesterone? Went back upstairs and fell asleep until almost 11AM. Got up again, too the metro back to Monastiraki and did some more shopping. Spent more than I should on a few cute new pieces of clothing - pink flowy skirt, cute black hi-low shirt that says "You fill me MUCH BE@UTY" (oh, how I love Engrish!), a white and navy striped top with this dramatic sheer train-like back that says "Can you feel my heart?" and this absolutely gorgeous short black wool double-breasted coat that was on sale since it's now spring. Hearts. This particular shop had so many clothes I wanted - the cutest retro dresses, and these slash-front punk-looking tights, and lace and crochet and OMGOMG. I wanted the whole store, so when you think about it, I did very well limiting myself to just a few pieces, yes?? :)
Only got approached once by one of the African scammer guys. I'd almost forgotten about them, but they're all over the square. Basically they approach women, especially foreigners, and start out with a loud, cheerful greeting and a lot of friendly flirting. They reach for your hand, and once they've got it, they tie an ugly friendship bracelet thing on, shower you with more compliments, offer prayers for you and your future boyfriend, and then ask for money in exchange for their blessing. Last time we were here we got caught by them once unawares and ended up giving them a couple of euros... When they tried it every single night afterward, it got old really fast. One of them got my wrist one night and would not let go, and Kaitlin actually had to shout at him to get him to back off. Anyway, one of them came up to me yesterday too, but I told him no very loudly and turned and walked away before he managed to get more than a couple of words in. I sat at a cafe for lunch/dinner and watched a group of them pulling their schtick on a few of the other diners nearby. Thankfully they left me alone this time. Ugh.
Anyway, after eating I came back to the hotel with the intention of resting a little, maybe showering and going out to get a dessert before bed, but no... I was so tired I pretty much passed out. Woke up for about an hour or so around 10:30PM, then went back to sleep.
And today... Well, I didn't sleep very well last night, mostly due to excitement. Woke up before my alarm, took a shower and skyped with Kaitlin for a little while. Went down to breakfast, then out to find an ATM. Unfortunately my bank limits how much I can withdraw per day - I need 408 Euros for my meds, but could only get 200. Sigh. Took the metro to Embio, got there early and hung out for a while in the waiting room.
The wait times were a LOT shorter this time. There was no pre-meeting with the doctor like last time. They took me upstairs, had me change into the little robe, and took me straight into the procedure room - no waiting. But then everything happened so fast... The doctor came in, said we had three embryos (two good, one average) and he was putting all three in. I asked him if we could limit it to two and he pretty much blew me off, said we'd probably only get one out of the three and this increased our chances. I think all three were already in the catheter and they couldn't have taken just one out at that point. So here I am sort of stunned that we're ending up with three, after all the times Kaitlin and I had debated and decided on only two. But, he's already prying me open and damn it is uncomfortable and I'm trying to stay relaxed and not think about it. There was less pressure and pinching than I remember, though, and it seems like it went a lot faster. He suddenly pronounced we were done, did a few more really uncomfortable things and removed the speculum. They wheeled me back into the waiting room, and this time they came to get me after about 30-45 minutes instead of letting me sit for over two hours. Also, no bitter Italian lady next to me, which was a plus. :P
I still haven't seen the egg donor's profile, and I think I am going to have to come back tomorrow in order to pick up my medicine. So now I am sitting back downstairs again, waiting (I assume) to meet with the nurse and maybe the doctor again before I go. I need to ask the nurse what time I can come back tomorrow, and also if she can email me the donor's profile. I also need instructions on what meds to take... I think I will have to start giving myself heparin shots now. *shudder* I'm hoping I'll get one meeting with the doctor before I go, so that I can ask him how many days along the embryos are. I'm guessing five, like last time, but it would be nice to know. I also need to know if it's ok for me to walk back to the metro, or if I need to take a taxi. If I need to take a taxi I need one of them to call one for me, because I don't have a working phone here.
So, I'll be hanging out pretty much exclusively at the hotel for the rest of my time here. Once I finish whatever we're doing next I'm going to go get some food... Hungry again! Another update in a little bit...
EDIT:
So, I met with the nurse and doctor. 5-day embryos, like last time. They upped my dose of estrogen, added the heparin, and I'm going back at 10AM tomorrow to pick up the meds. They didn't want me walking to the metro station, so I managed to flag down a taxi and was pleasantly impressed that because I'd chosen a better hotel location this time the taxi fare was under 6 Euros. At the last hotel it was close to 20! Got back to the room, dropped my things off, went and had a sandwich and fries at the hotel restaurant. Came back to the room with the intention of watching some Netflix and instead fell asleep for four hours. O.o I don't remember being this tired during my last IVF, but maybe it's because of jet lag and the fact that I'm traveling alone without any planned activities, so everything in general feels really relaxed?
Anyway, got up and walked just around the corner from the hotel to get a salad for dinner and another of those amazing desserts. Came back and gave myself the heparin shot, which was NOT fun... the needle is a lot harder to insert than the Lupron needles were, and it definitely hurt more. I have to do this like two or three more times before I get to have Kaitlin start doing it, too. Yuck. Now I'm hanging out in bed again, surfing the internet. I'll probably stay up for a bit tonight since I took such a long nap.
Oddly, I'm feeling kind of emotionally numb. I think maybe my brain doesn't want to really get excited until we know whether this is going to stick. It taunts me with the possibility of a flat out BFN, as if I was never even here. The odds actually are that I WILL get pregnant, but I think my heart is so tired of the roller coaster of TTC that it's hard to actually believe it's going to work.
Luckily, I don't think my personal beliefs have one whit of influence on whether I get pregnant or not. :) So, fingers crossed, everybody. Please please please universe, be kind to us at last, and let us take home a baby from this one.
Bring on the 2WW!
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