Good Morning Y'all!
I thought it was far overdue for an update so here we are! Last time I wrote, I mentioned having to wait 3 (LONG) months until I could move on to the next step of the process. Upon starting my third cycle (since the removal of my IUD), I was to contact my clinic coordinator to schedule my medical screening. Well, guess what? That day has come and passed and I was scheduled for my screening in Los Angeles this past Monday, September 10th. :) YAY!!!
The hubby and I flew out on Sunday afternoon and spent the evening exploring a little bit before my appointment the next morning. This was the first time we had left our girls overnight (except for when we were in the hospital giving birth to our second) so it was huge for us. We don't travel near as often as we would like and we have never traveled before without the kids so we were soaking up every second of adult only time and not having to stress about traveling with young ones. The time change threw me off a little bit, but we wanted to try and fit in as much as we could in a very short amount of time.
Sunday evening when we arrived we got our rental car and checked in to the hotel. We were set up in Hotel Angeleno which was very pretty and right off the expressway. I thought it would be loud considering the view from our balcony, but it was actually very quiet! We were glad we had the rental car because otherwise we would have been Ubering everywhere because there was next to nothing within walking distance. The staff were all wonderful and we really had no complaints.
We made our way to Hollywood and after figuring out parking we checked out the Hollywood Walk of Fame. We walked through crowds, saw Darth Vader, Spiderman and many musicians performing and/or passing out CDs on the sidewalks. One of our favorite shows to watch as a family is America's Got Talent and so I found it pretty cool that we walked past the Dolby Theater! :) I found the city super overwhelming and surprisingly dirty. Don't get me wrong it was a wonderful experience, but I was perfectly content walking around for an hour or so and then moving on to something else. We followed that up with a trip to MILK where we treated ourselves to Macaron Ice Cream sandwiches...so YUMMY!!! Must check it out if you ever go ;) After that we drove over to Griffith Observatory to check out the Hollywood sign and the breathtaking views of the city before heading back to the hotel and passing out.
Monday morning we woke up early and went down to the Santa Monica Pier and walked the beach a little. It was a beautiful beach and the views of the mountains near the coast were breathtaking. We grabbed breakfast at Dog Town and then made our way to Downtown LA for my appt.
The appt was relatively basic...bloodwork, urine sample and vaginal ultrasound to check lining. We met with the Dr. before the ultrasound and answered some questions one of which was what type of birth control I used. When I said that I had an IUD he seemed kind of against IUD and said "well, we will take a look and see how everything is, but IUD's can sometimes screw things up." Totally not what I wanted to hear and it instantly made me nervous for the rest of my appt. We got to the ultrasound portion and I just kept reminding myself that after my IUD removal the last time we instantly conceived our second and we were confirming pregnancy within the month. All I could do was hope and pray that the 2 years of this IUD did no harm. He looked and gave the all clear and said things look great and there was no damage done! Woo! What a relief :) My lining measured a 7.6, which from what I understand anything over a 6 is what they want to see. I left my urine sample, had my blood drawn and then we were out.
We then stopped at Tacos Tu Madre for lunch, which was pure HEAVEN in your mouth, before exploring Venice Beach until we needed to head to the airport. Seriously though, we had the most delicious burritos and Red Velvet Churros not to mention how cute the little hole in the wall resturant was. If you ever find yourself in LA you MUST eat there...thanks for the recommendation Diana ;)
So now is the hardest part of the trip, being back home getting readjusted to the time difference (although I think I am back to normal now) and waiting for the results of my labs to come in. We were told it could take up to 2 weeks to receive results and be medically cleared given that nothing arises from the results. We are not even a week in and I am dying. Once medically cleared we get to start meds at the start of my next cycle to prepare my body for a transfer. The thing is my next cycle is due to start exactly 2 weeks from the day of my appt so we are cutting things close and may need to wait until my October cycle if things don't go through quick enough. The guys are so incredible and are of course excited to start asap, but also told me not to stress about having everything done in the 2 weeks to start meds this month. They are so calm and ready to take each step as it comes and know that if not September then we will start in October. I on the other hand am anxious to get things moving for them because they have already waited a year to be matched and then had to wait the 3 months because of my IUD.
Here's to hoping we have good news sooner than later!!!
