Hammitt Family Adventures : The folli update, a heat wave, and the bone church.

We had an ultrasound at 3pm today to see how the little follicles are growing. The doctor was able to see 2 decent sized follicles as well as a third smaller one. Hopefully that means there will be a few more to extract on Saturday. From there, I think that we will go with the same plan as before - to do a fresh transfer of the fertilized embryo(s). There is a lot of research surrounding a fresh transfer versus a frozen transfer. For one, those that survive the freezing/thawing process are heartier embryos but also some research shows that it is best to perform the transfer the next cycle so that your body isn't inundated with hormones. My doctor has felt with my poor response to medications that the embryo has the best chance of surviving in my uterus. We will wait and see how many are extracted and of those how many fertilize and make a decision from there. Trying to remain hopeful and not stress out. Fingers crossed.

Several things seems to be causing me a bit of discomfort/anxiety/stress this cycle: 1. It is HOT 2. I have had a headache every single day (must be from the medications?) 3. I am exhausted (also from the medications?) 4. Did I mention the heat 5. Lack of exercise 6. I lost my remote, part-time job (STRESSFUL!!).

Our flat manages to not get too hot during the day - maybe up to 26C (79F) and the temp out side is about 35C (95F), add in a little humidity and I feel like my skin is melting off. The Czechs have a thing for zmrzlina (ice cream). It is sold everywhere and it is delicious! I swear I feel like rubbing it all over my face (I am so HOT!) We have been getting outside in the morning to beat the heat and running (Jason) and walking (Katherine). I can't run while on the medications due to possible ovarian torsion and I can't run after embryo transfer for a week. So that leaves me one week a month where I can run. I am not a natural runner so this is not really allowing for a great workout schedule for me. Jason, on the other hand, is running 5 days a week and plans to run a marathon while we are here. Go Jason! I had planned on finding a pool where I could swim laps for exercise but with the lack of income it seems like an unnecessary expense so for now I will just continue to walk. Today we took the metro out to a forested area of Prague for a hike in Kunraticky and Michelsky forests. The wooded area is 700 acres of protected land with numerous trails criss-crossing all over the place and almost completely shaded. We walked the perimeter loop - 9K (5.5 miles) - to get the lay of the land. There are a few marked trails but mostly they are not. We'll for sure head back there and explore the area more.

Earlier this week we took a train to a nearby city, Kunta Hora. The main attraction is the Sedlec Ossuary aka the Bone Church. It is decorated with the bones of over 40,000 people. Kinda creepy and kinda cool. We also visited 2 other gothic style churches - one being a cathedral type. I took my nice camera in an attempt to take some photographs and not just snapshots.