Gracias.

Buenos. Tracie here.

On the day before I get to "meet" my "children"... I'm excited. I'm nervous. I'm guarded to say the least. Remember, it's not the getting pregnant that's the problem, it's STAYING pregnant. Tomorrow we hear what we've made, and how they've done the past couple of days on their own. So far we're 10 for 10, I can't wait to hear where we're at, and what we'll end up transferring! (and dare I say putting on ice?!)

While I wait, I wanted to take a moment to thank a few people that helped us get here. Because regardless of how this ends up, and what the outcome is, I am most thankful for the following people that helped get me here:
--My "med angels." If it was not for the (3) gals that took the time, love, money and effort to ship me their leftovers, this trip would have been so much more expensive. One of the hard parts of infertility treatments is shooting $100 shots into your belly several times a day for weeks. You have to trust that something so outrageously expensive is going to WORK! I am forever in awe of your generosity, and thank you from the bottom of my heart.

--My OB/RE "Dr. Hee" and his adorable (former) nurse Lindsay. It's been a long road getting to this point, and you have both been very patient and kind.

--Dr. Google. What would I do without easy access to medical journals and other info taken with a grain of salt.

--"My girls" on the board. Point blank, I could not have survived this without the pom poms, love, support, slaps in the face, puppies, rainbows and countless "gives it to me straight" advice.
So say "THANK YOU" seems trite. But Thank You.

--Minnesota Community Acupuncture. (http://www.minnca.com/)  I am giving acupuncture a HUGE bit of the credit for getting me 10 eggs retrived. I'm old, I make bad eggs. I am a high-stress person filled with anxiety. Kerri helped me not only take that time each week to relax and unwind, but never made me feel dumb for being so anxious about the process. I want to acknowledge their unique business model of "community style" acupunture, and by sharing the space with a couple other people in the room, I was able to afford going there more often than I ever thought possible, financially, and I didn't feel bad about spending the money. Sure, we all had to listen to eachother snore here and there, but the ambiance and 1:1 attention was still there. lol. I am forever grateful for your services, and the affordability you provided. Thank you.


--Micah at Costa Rica Massage in the beach village of Jaco. I was able to contact her prior, and knew she could help me get "back in line" again prior to my travels to Panama for ER/ET. Although she's about 60-90 minutes from San Jose, we happen to be staying in this area, and I saw here for a blissful hour of relaxation. She's open to traveling to the San Jose area if you have a group of you requesting her services. AMAZING massage, very knowledgable acu techniques, and I felt amazing after we met. And she is one of the prettiest souls I've ever met. Just a beautiful person, and I am very thankful to have her on my list of people that helped make this IVF Vacation possible.  Her email is michalgm@yahoo.com  and her website is at http://www.costaricamassage.com/ . I cannot recommend her enough. She was wonderful.

--I'd also like to thank my friends and family for their amazing support, Mark Semple from Passport Medical for making this all come together, (Christa's) Adam's parents, for their kind and generous lodging donation, and Dr. Perez and his partner and staff. A huge thanks to Christa for her support and pompoms as we went thru this.... I can't wait to be pregnant together. ;-)


This process is hard enough to go through, and it was not easy doing it out of the country. It was stressful and there are many things I would have done differently.

But as we sat in the waiting room, a couple days back... just prior to our egg retrival... it was quiet. Just some (spanish) whispering going on... and the elevator. I had a moment of peace, and a sense of "everything is going to be ok."
Then that moment gone and went, and the panic returned.
As if on cue... someone walked by and whistled really loud, the 1st couple bars to "Don't Worry, be Happy" in perfect pitch. I later learned it was Dr. Perez's partner. He loves to whistle. He had no idea how much I needed that tune. Right then. Right now.
My eyes filled up with tears, and that susie sunshine chit I do so well, returned.
Don't worry. I'm happy.
I'm about to mother others. I just know it!