Days 16-18 in Greece - 2024

26 February 2024


It's another low-key day for us. At this point, we are pretty much relaxing until the embryo transfer on the 28th. We wake up, go to Krepa for breakfast and coffee, and buy pastries to have for lunch later. My breakfast was a very flaky pastry with ham and cheese, and Jeremy's pastry had cheese and hot dogs - like a giant pigs-in-a-blanket.


I return to the apartment, and Jeremy goes grocery shopping for a few things to tide us over for the last few days in Greece. Our lunch pastries are like huge hot pockets with turkey and cheese. Jeremy goes and gets coffee for us from Starbucks in the evening, taking our phones to play Pokémon Go while I continue working. Jeremy books our flights for home for the 28th. We bum the remainder of the day away, eventually falling asleep while watching television.

27 February 2024


We sleep in a bit before I start work. We use my lunch break to walk down to a pharmacy down near Aristotelous Square. I need to take a rapid COVID test to be cleared for the embryo transfer tomorrow. I take pictures while we wait for the pharmacist to be ready to administer the test. It goes quickly, rapidly one could say, and it's negative. I knew it would be.


We walk down to Starbucks for coffee, and then go back to the apartment so that I can finish my work day. Jeremy packs our things since we are leaving tomorrow after the embryo transfer. It's another slow evening.

Outdoor market stall with fresh oranges and colorful juice bottles, with a bustling café terrace in the background.
Aristotelous Square in Thessaloniki, Greece, featuring colorful flower gardens and neoclassical buildings lining a pedestrian boulevard.
Close-up of a pigeon perching on a branch, eating dark berries among green leaves in a natural setting.
A scenic arcade walkway with arched columns frames a stunning ocean view at dusk, with scooters parked along the corridor.

28 February 2024


It's embryo transfer day!


We wake up and finish packing what we couldn't pack last night - our toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc. We leave the apartment for the last time around 10:15.


We start walking down to Starbucks where the taxi will pick us up to take us to New Life Clinic for the embryo transfer, but we end up in the middle of a protest. We soon learn it's a union protest fighting for better wages and a safer rail system after 57 people died in a train crash the year prior. I snap some pictures, but soon get uncomfortable in the huge crowd.


We get to the Starbucks and sit on a bench outside, away from the crowds, where we see people feeding pigeons, making balloon animals, and more. The taxi comes and picks us up for the embryo transfer, which goes quickly. We are so excited for another chance at being parents. Not only do we have this embryo transfer happening, but we are also looking to adopt our biological niece when she is born in August of this year. It feels guaranteed that parenthood is happening for us this year, and we are feeling extremely blessed.


The day feels extremely rushed, but we honestly can't wait to get home. We leave New Life Clinic and go directly to the airport to catch our flight from Thessaloniki to Istanbul, Istanbul to Miami, and Miami to home.

Riot police officers stand near a red Mercedes fire truck on a city street during an emergency response operation.
A woman and child stand in a large European city square with outdoor cafes and neoclassical buildings in the background.
Adult and child feeding pigeons in a busy European town square plaza surrounded by historic architecture.
Adult and child feeding pigeons in a historic European town square surrounded by classical architecture.
Protesters march in Thessaloniki city square holding a red banner during a Greek farmers demonstration.

After


To our great disappointment, the embryo transfer did not stick, and we did not have a positive pregnancy test. That was our last embryo in Greece, and a failed round of IVF.


To our greatest joy, we did adopt our biological niece. She was born in August of 2024, and her adoption was finalized on 14 November 2024. A HUGE thank you to Stephanie at Adoption and Surrogacy Choices of Colorado for helping our family get through a unique time in an extremely short timeline with the court system. Of course, the biggest of thank-yous, a depth of gratitude we can never quite express, to our daughter's biologicals. We are so extremely thankful and blessed to be able to experience parenthood.