Retrieval and Retail Therapy...

I appreciate all the prayers and well-wishes that have been sent our way.  Both Harris and I remain cautiously optimistic that this will be our time for a pregnancy, and that next year we'll be back in India for baby-pick-up.  Fingers, toes, eyes, everything crossed!  Retrieval was yesterday, and it went pretty well.  The worst part for me is always the needle in the hand for the IV drip.  Are needles in India bigger than in the States or is it my imagination?  Dr. Gupta, the anesthesiologist, remembered me from last time - apparently I made an impression with the needle issue then too.  He saw me coming and we began looking at my hands, arms, elbows, wrists, etc. looking for a place to poke.  Once it was all done, he told me that he'd been out on medical leave until 2 days ago with an injury and had looked for a back-up to take this shift since he knew I was coming.  He was joking...I think...maybe not!  LOL!

Dr. Shivani was able to get 10 eggs from me, although she said there were again between 20-25 follicles that she drained.  My ovaries were approximately twice the size of my uterus, and I did have to stay a little longer to take meds so they'd shrink back up to normal size.  I do have some pain today, but it's managed with meds nicely.  Although I don't know yet how many have fertilized, I'm hoping to hear something from SCI this afternoon. 

I've even managed to drag myself around the mall and get a bit of retail therapy in!  At Bharison's bookstore in DLF Mall, I  got a book for my god-nephew called, Tales from Old Delhi, which has stories about all of the places I've been here.  The second book will be for my 3rd graders, Going to School in India, and has fantastic photographs of schools all over India - a great cultural comparison tool for my students!  The third thing I picked up a few days ago is a cute little notebook that goes with the first book.  The illustrations are similar and there's the India Gate and monument for unknown soldiers on the front cover.  I've made all my little notes in there while being here!  I totally forgot to bring along pens and paper this trip!  Duh!  From there, a friend from breakfast took me to a store in Select City Walk mall called, "Creations" where I picked up these sets of bangles.  There's easily between 120-150 bangles in the sets total, and I paid less than $20 US for all of them.  I'll split the sets up and they'll make great gifts!  The colors are much prettier in person than in the pictures (one silver/gold, one magenta/gold, and one aqua/silver/gold). 


Yesterday evening, I made the decision to go ahead and pay the change fee for my ticket.  Like Dorothy said, "There's no place like home!"  Now, I'm scheduled to leave Wednesday night, rather than Sunday!  I can't express how excited I am to get home again!  I look forward to seeing Harris & my mom, seeing my fur babies, doing my own laundry (yes, I mean that), and eating Mexican food again!!!  El Azteca has the best Mexican food around - everything homemade!  Guess what's for dinner Thursday night???


In retrospect, Delhi has been good this time around for me.  I've felt more comfortable knowing where I wanted to go and what I wanted to buy.  The first time thru, there was just so much of everything (people, traffic, noise, poverty, etc.) that it was totally overwhelming.  Other than the oppressive heat, I think I've done pretty okay this time on my own.