We spent three days in Prague before going to Brno. It is a gorgeous city that is very easy to navigate. English is spoken almost everywhere and the locals are very friendly. One of our favorite things was going to an organ recital at a centuries old church at the base of the St. Charles bridge. I know that sounds horribly boring but it was amazing. I'm sorry that I have forgotten the name of the church. We bought the tickets on expedia.com under Prague activities.
We also had a blast at U Flecku beer hall. It was very smoky but a lot of fun with everyone toasting each other and singing.
We also went to the ballet which was fantastic. I highly recommend experiencing their magnificent theaters.
A link to the beer hall:
http://www.pragueexperience.com/places.asp?PlaceID=368
A link to buy theater tickets. They delivered them to our hotel.
http://www.ticketsonline.cz/
This is the popular street on the far side of the St. Charles bridge with fun places to shop.
We went October/November of 2007. This is us at the Castle in Brno. The weather was brisk but wonderful; not too cold at all.
Rooftop view from the Castle.
Mag met us at the train station in Brno and took us to a local dinner. She was instantly warm and calming. She held our hands through this entire process. She is very organized and runs her business professionally with a great deal of personal attention to each client. I initially thought that we were her only current clients because she was so accessible and took a lot of time with us before our trip. Little did I know she runs a a busy practice! She has gone through some hard core infertility herself so she understands what infertile couples are going through.
This is the clinic from the street. Very European.
Greg and I outside the clinic.
The common area of the clinic. It is a great, old European building with dark wood paneling and huge, wide staircases. My photos don't do it justice.
Greg and I with Dr. Mac (Stephan Machac). We found him to be highly competent and thorough. His English is perfect although sometimes he talks really, really fast! I have a rare uterine abnormality called a unicornuate (or half) uterus. He was very well versed on it, more so than my first physician here in the States. We really appreciated him. Mag gave us a phone that was pre-programed with numbers to reach her and the doctors.
These are a few pictures of the clinic. They had all modern equipment and it was spotless. They had a great flat screen monitor showing us our little embryos before they transferred them. We went through three failed IVF's here in the States before going to Czech and I found the process to be exactly the same in both countries. The embryologist in Czech has decades of experience. Our greatest impression about the clinic and staff is that they are extremely competent and efficient. They do a shocking 100 plus cycles a month. You are good at what you do every day.
Our room at the Grand Brno Hotel. It was a great hotel with English speaking staff. Apparently, Mag also has apartments next to the clinic which are wonderful as well.
This is a street market in downtown Brno. There was also a spectacular crystal shop a few blocks from the Grand Brno Hotel. Take an extra bag to bring home some gorgeous loot. They had traditional cut crystal vases as well as hand blown modern pieces and wine glasses. We joked that it would not hurt us too much to go back for another cycle just to go shopping there again!
Fast forward nine months to the arrival of Kate and Emily! They are both healthy and beautiful. We were willing to try three donor cycles before moving on to adoption. I feel very lucky that we got pregnant on our first try. I believe that the clinic has a 55% live birth rate for donor egg cycles which is the same here in the States.
Another favorite picture of the girls.
We had such a positive experience with Mag that we want to share that with other couples going through the same struggles.
Our journey through infertility was long and painful but had a very happy ending. I hope your story has a happy ending as well!!! Families are built in so many different and beautiful ways.
