All Systems are Go!

Today, hubby and I were up bright and early to pop downtown so I could submit my application for a new passport. Mine expired in April and given that I am flying to the USA in August, I'll need one, won't I?

After doing a bit of planting, weeding and trimming in the garden, he and I cleaned up a tad and headed off to Montreal for a few appointments at the clinic.


...

I'll not mention the fact that they were running an hour and a half late for ours... *eyeroll*




We had our first appointment with the RE to go over our test results; everything is normal. No more tests. I expected this news, but it was good to hear it from the horse's mouth. The second appointment was to sign consent forms... you know, à la "what do they do with the resulting embryos if we die" and "would you like to donate gametes for research purposes if they are inferior quality and cannot be used for IVF"... that sort of thing.

All relatively standard of course. But I did learn the following:

• because of my age (38) they will do assisted hatching
• because I have less than 20 antral follicles (usually 16-18), I am not eligible for IVM; we will use IVF
• they will proceed with ICSI where required, but they do recommend it for someone with our track record and in our situation
• because of my age, they recommend transferring 3-4 embryos back. I had expected and hoped for 2-3. But 3-4 is superb!

We go back on July 8 for a mandatory Info Session as well as a meeting with the nurses to establish our IVF Calendar. I expect September will be our first try as I'll need a month of suppression before doing IVF. And while July works for us, August doesn't because we have a vacation planned early that month. So likely I will do suppression in August and IVF in September. If all goes well.

As for last post's meme... the answers:

1. I used to swim competitively. -- True. I could swim before I could walk and when I was younger, I was on a swim team. We once did a swim-a-thon to raise money for charity; something like 200 laps of the pool without touching the bottom and just coming up for air at the ends. We all got through it, the whole team!
2. I can play the piano fairly well. -- Totally false. I've no musical talent at all, although I can sing and used to be in both school and church choirs.
3. I met Princess Diana and Prince Charles. -- True. They came to my hometown a year or so after they were married and when I was part of the Girl Guides of Canada (as a Pathfinder at the time), I was one of four selected from our Troop to go to the Governor General's garden party to meet them the day after they arrived. It was an honour. I remember Princess Di as being enthralled with the kids, and being talkative and sweet in general, while I recall Prince Charles as one of the stuffiest, most uninteresting individuals I had had the opportunity to meet.
4. I have lived in four different countries. -- Indeed I have. Canada, France, Japan and Belgium. Loved each of them too. There are pros and cons to every country and culture. I love learning languages and culture in general so I really enjoyed my time elsewhere.
5. I have been told that I could make very good money doing voiceovers. -- *blush* True again... or so I'm told. I don't believe a word of it of course. But apparently, I've stopped men in their tracks. Eeesh! *hides*

And BTW, my SIL is due on Dec. 26. I am happy for her.

But still so sad for me.

As Shlomit says... "Peace." See you all in a week or so.