Saturday April 28, 2012

Our 5th Wedding Anniversary

  Today is our 5th wedding anniversary.  We already feel like we are on our second honeymoon since we are half way around the world and this has been such a relaxing experience.  Even though we have an agenda while we are over here it really is like a vacation.  I can't imagine having to go back and forth every couple days, driving an hour each way just for an appointment at the reproductive endocrinologist.  Being able to eat a nice breakfast and then walk to the hospital two minutes out our back door has been great.  

  

  Things can change while you are here depending on what the ultrasounds and results of egg collection are.  In our case my follicles were growing but not as fast as they would like so my medicine dosage was increased Thursday and thus my retrieval pushed out a little further.  Mine were growing at 1mm per day and they want 1 1/2 mm per day.  At my ultrasound today they showed a greater jump so the increase in medicine is working, but now we are crossing our fingers that the retrieval is at the latest Wednesday, even thought the doctor I saw today said maybe Thursday.  Once the eggs are retrieved and the sperm is injected they wait 3-5 days before the transfer.  I had to buy a couple more injections of my morning medicine that prevents the eggs from bursting, so keep that in mind when you budget money.  I only needed two more injections so far so it was $150TL or approximately $83.  You will also need medications after the retrieval and I have been told that is roughly another 300 TL or $167.  Each person is different and they can not tell you beforehand about what "else" you might need.  It is case by case and day by day.

  

  You might occasionally see Dr. Arici's partner, Dr. Ozturk, especially if it is on a Saturday.  She is nice and spoke to me in English after she did all of her counts during the ultrasound.  I will be glad to see Dr. Arici on Monday however since he knows my case and will be making the final decisions and doing the retrieval and transfer.  He is very warm and everyone makes you feel comfortable.  Privacy is important here and I was curious and maybe a little nervous about that.  I have always felt comfortable and well respected.  

  After the appointment we hopped in taxi in front of the hospital and took a very expensive ride to the Pendik market which we went to last Saturday.  The guy obviously didn't understand where we wanted to go because it cost 50 TL and we ended up in town instead of the flea market.  We called Burcu who kindly spoke to him and got us at the right spot.  Considering it was only 25TL on the way home we definitely went out of our way.  If you have a phone call Burcu and ask her to tell the drivers where you want to go before you leave the hotel/hospital.  She gives you each a card when you first meet her so keep it safe.  I also recommended getting a taxi card from the Anadolu taxis so you can call from the Fatih train station. 

$14.00 for all this!

  Our goal at the market was to get some veggies and just relax for and hour or two.  I needed to stock up for dinners and also wanted some snacks like nuts and figs.  In the picture above we figured out we only spent 25 Tl or $14.00!  We got over 1 lb or walnuts, 1 lb of pistachios, 1 1/2 lbs of strawberries(we gave some to Jeff and Kim), and a kilo of mushrooms, which is 2.2 lbs.  We also got 1/2 kilo of figs(1.1lbs), six cucumbers, loads of tomatoes and six lemons.  I definitely recommend going to the markets that the locals go to, look around, check out prices and haggle if you need to.  The prices are much better at these type of markets than at the Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar.  I know that I could have never gone to my farmer's market and purchased all of this stuff for $14.00.  The pistachios alone would have been $14.00!   

  At the Spice Bazaar the other day they had figs stuffed with walnuts for sale.  Apparently they eat this a lot for breakfast.  I meant to take a picture at the bazaar because it was labeled as Turkish Viagra!  Since we bought both figs and walnuts I thought I would take one here.

Turkish Viagra!

You never know gentleman, it just might be the ticket!

More to come on our journey tomorrow...