Spilberk Castle

Brno from the top of the castle

Brno

Spilberk Castle

Inside the courtyard of the castle

us with the city as our background

Today we woke up to snow showers it was coming down pretty hard up until lunch time. John and I decide we would spend most of our day at the Spilberk Castle. Its huge and sits on top of a steep hill. The castle was built in the mid 13th century by King Premysl Otakar II.

It was good exercise for us to climb up the hill and it was not easy with 8 inches of snow. We walked around and saw the city from different views. The castle is closed during the winter time so we couldnt go in and see the museum. After taking in all of the beautiful views we played in the snow and had a snowball fight.

Afterwards we went and visited the chocolate shop again cause it so good and I love chocolate. For dinner we ate Chinese food. It was pretty good its not as greasy like back home. We ate gelati again its so good and low in fat so thats a plus.

That was pretty much our day filled with lots of walking and climbing, will see what tomorrow brings.

more pictures

I thought this was different 3 hens on top of the roof

view of the city

Capuchin Monastery

The top of the old town hall

shops in the downtown area

our afternoon

Inside of the cathedral

Petrov (Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul)

me at the little park by our apartment

Us at Starobrno trying to decide what to eat yesterday

We had a great afternoon. We went to the mall and while we were there we had some gelati its like ice cream but softer. Then we went and visited the Petrov its the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul. Dinner was good at the pizza place and afterwards we went to the grocery store to get fresh fruits and bread. It seems like the days just fly by so fast. It gets dark early (its 6pm) here so we are now back at the apartment relaxing after a of walking.

great news

We had our second ultrasound appointment this morning and I now have 7 follicles in my left ovary and 10 in my right ovary The follicle sizes range now from 15cm to 16cm and they need to be at 18cm, so I have to keep taking my shots. And the shots make me feel tired and crampy.
I m so excited. The doctor also told us that my egg retrieval date is this Sunday at 8:ooam(which is 2 am your time) and the embryo transfer will be on Friday Feb. 5th. We cant wait to get the process started.
Yesterday we went out to lunch with the couple from Denver and had some yummy food at Starobrno. I had chicken, spinach, and noodles covered in a cream sauce and John had fish and chips. It was very good so we will coming back to eat there. After lunch we went to a bakery and a chocolate shop it smelled so good in there. We bought a couple of yummy pastries and a variety of chocolates. Later on I got a two hour massage from Henry and it only cost $50 and he comes to your home and does the massage. He also did a hot stone massage which was my favorite part. It was just what I needed. I m so relaxed. Henry was very good I would definitely recommend him if you ever visit Brno.
Now we are going to visit the mall and do some more walking in downtown Brno. We are going to eat lunch here in the apartment and for dinner there is a pizza place in town that we want to try its Pizza Colosseum(sp?). More to come later

pictures

our bedroom

the kitchen

living room/dining room

our dinner which was Indian food

The local grocery store

visiting the city

We woke up to snow this morning and it actually was accumulating (not like back home where it melts as soon as it hits the ground). We went to downtown Brno and all of the building are so beautiful. We walked around and found a movie theatre, we might go see a movie tomorrow night, and a pizza place that I really want to go try. After walking around for a couple of hours we went to the salt cave to relax. It was so cool I wish I had a picture of it but the lady at desk said no pictures allowed. But its a man made cave that has salts from the dead sea and it is supposed to relax you and its also good for respiratory diseases.

Then for dinner we went out with our coordinator and another couple from Denver. They were really cool and we had alot in common. It was really nice to share our stories and hear how we both struggle with infertility. So tomorrow we are going out to lunch and then hopefully I can get a massage. We are going to exchange email addresses so we can keep in touch. Now we are back at the apartment its 9:15pm here so we might watch a movie. The pictures are of the salt cave building, churches, and the shopping area.

day 2

Yesterday afternoon we stayed in our hotel since we were so tired. We had dinner at 4pm which I guess was an early time here because we were the only ones in the restaurant the entire time. The restaurant was located inside our hotel and the food was very good. I ordered chicken with ham and cheese on top,veggies and salad. John had pork chops, potatoes,and veggies. After dinner we went back to our room to shower and we tried our hardest to stay up as long as we could so that we could try to adjust our bodies to the time here. John was on the computer and I read some of my book but we still didnt make it to 9pm. John fell asleep at 7 and I did too shortly after. Then we both woke up at midnight wide awake. I fell asleep again and John did around 3am after getting back on the computer again. We had to get up at 7ish to get ready for breakfast then to repack our things and meet our coordinator in the lobby so she could take us to our appointment.

We just got back from viewing Brno. Our coordinator was showing us around the city and telling us what train we will be using to go to the shopping mall and restaurants. She also took us to the grocery store which is a 5 minute walk from our apartment.

Today its 2o degrees with snow showers later on, its been cloudy all morning.

John and I also went to our first appointment at the clinic. The staff was very nice and everyone we met spoke good English. Our doctors name is Dr. Stepan, he explained our protocol to us and said we have an excellent chance of conceiving. He also did my ultrasound which showed 11 eggs and the sizes range from 10cm to 12cm. My eggs are at the right size and are developing great. He also told me to start my Cetrotide shot and this medication will make my eggs develop evenly. The eggs need to be at 18cm before they do the egg retrieval. Dr. Stepan also moved up my retrieval day to this Saturday the 30th. John did his semen analysis today too and they are going to freeze his sperm just in case he doesnt give a good sample on the embryo transfer date. And all of this is because of God and all the prayers we have been saying. God has truly blessed us with a great appointment and many more to come I am sure. With out him this would not have been possible.

The pictures above are of john waiting for our train yesterday, the views from our hotel room and the last two pictures are of the sign of our clinic Reprofit and the actual clinic.