IUI & IVF success! Graduates from "TTC through Donor IUI or Donor IVF or just undecided - all welcome!" thread #itcanwork #weareproof

[taydex]

Hi all,
Thought it was about time we had a thread for all those graduating from the IUI/IVF with pregnancies/babies.
Little introduction for those who don't know me:
Age: 37
Method: IUI due to being in same sex relationship
Clinic: Bourn Hall near Cambridge
Success: Baby girl born 20 October 2016 following 5 rounds of IUI (plus 2 more where I ovulated early so abandoned cycle). 4 medicated rounds then 1 unmedicated which is the one that worked.
TayDex x

[INeedNewShoes]

Hello

Thanks Taydex for organising this thread.

Me:
34
Single
Unmedicated IUI using donor sperm
Stork Klinik, Denmark
21 weeks pregnant following 4th IUI attempt (attempt 2 ended with a MMC).

[taydex]

Hi Shoes, good to see you over here x

[hopingandwaiting]

Hi guys. Thought I'd join you on this thread.

30; same-sex relationship and incredibly lucky to have got funding for IUI on the NHS.
Currently 37 weeks pregnant with a little boy, from our first attempt with donor sperm - like I said, incredibly lucky!

[INeedNewShoes]

Hoping - gosh I'd somehow missed that you are so far along! 37 weeks!

How are the preparations going?

You don't need to be quite so sheepish on this thread re getting your BFP on your 1st attempt Think of the money you have saved the NHS by only needing the one attempt

Out of interest do you know what the NHS' position is on subsequent treatment if you decide you want another child?

[hopingandwaiting]

I think we're pretty much there with the prep - am working my way through loads of tiny washing, the cot is built and the carseat is fitted. Got told off by my mum for not having my hospital bag packed yet, although I do have a pile of things ready to go in it. Getting very excited and a little impatient now!

Re subsequent children, all the rules for us are the same as heterosexual couples - we had to meet exactly the same criteria for funding which includes neither of us having children already, which means we would have to pay for treatment for any more. What we haven't looked into is the cost of reserving the same donor so that if we decide we want more, they will be full biological siblings. I know that we do need to inform the clinic if we want to reserve it, however we are undecided as yet and want to meet our little man before making any plans.

[INeedNewShoes]

I haven't given proper thought to reserving the same donor. At this stage I'm concerned about how I'm going to afford to bring up one child, let alone more! But I can imagine I might regret not having the option to use the same donor if I do manage to be in a position to afford another child.

Get your hospital bag packed! I'm with your mum on this one

[taydex]

One of the ladies on our NCT course had her baby 8 weeks early and none of us had packed our hospital bags so we all panicked and packed them!

We're just now thinking about reserving some magic potion from the same donor if we can. Is it bad that we were waiting to make sure we didn't get an ugly one before deciding if we wanted more from the same guy?! LOL

[hopingandwaiting]

8 weeks early?! Blimey! OK - today's job is definitely to get the bag ready. All his first outfits are washed now so I have no excuse!

Hahahaha taydex I think that's perfectly reasonable! I'm sure you also meant healthy and happy too

[INeedNewShoes]

I am quite nervous about meeting my baby in case he/she pops out and I discover that the donor must have had a humongous nose or sticky-out ears or something and think how terribly ugly the resulting baby is. My friends assure me that however ugly the baby is that I'll think its gorgeous... here's hoping

[taydex]

Ha ha, you guys make me laugh. Glad it's not just me!

[taydex]

Oops where are my manners?! Hi hoping, good to see you over here x

[hopingandwaiting]

Hi Taydex

Haha, shoes, I think all babies come out looking a bit like potatoes, but it'll be your potato and therefore the most affordable potato you've ever seen I'm sure

[hopingandwaiting]

Haha, adorable, not affordable!

[INeedNewShoes]

God if only it could be affordable and adorable!

I had a nerve-wracking 1hr30 stuck absolutely stationary on the A1M yesterday needing a wee. I was sat there willing the baby not to do that thing where it leans on my bladder. I was weighing up my options -

A) use the verge in full view of everyone
B) ask a lorry driver next to us whether he had a loo in his cab
C) walk to a caravan further back in the queue and ask to use their loo

Which option would you go for? I was leaning towards option C...

Luckily just as it was becoming critical the traffic moved!

[taydex]

I think I'd pick C. Whilst pushing out my bump and waddling to look a bit more pregnant 😂

[hopingandwaiting]

Hahah, oh dear! I think I too would go for C, whilst making the most of my pregnantness! Just wait till your baby's head is engaged - then it's ALWAYS pressing on your bladder. I've lost count of the teaspoon-amount wees I have had recently!

[taydex]

Oh the joys of being pregnant! You'll miss it when bubs is born. I miss the kicks.

[taydex]

Any news hoping? 😀

[HopingForALittleOne]

Do you mind if I join you on this thread? Feel a bit guilty writing anything on the other thread when it looks like I've conceived first month when others have tried longer and been disappointed.

I feel a bit lost though and scared. Although I've had ups and downs I guess it's seemed too easy so I'm worrying it can't be real.

[HopingForALittleOne]

Happy to be called hoping2 if easier

[INeedNewShoes]

Hoping - of course you're welcome

Well really we are imposters on the other thread now that we're not 'trying to conceive'. I try to keep chitchat about my pregnancy to a minimum there unless someone asks me about it as I'm so acutely aware of the sensitivities on the thread.

Its still early days for you but with every day that passes if your lines are getting stronger you should feel reasonably positive, though you'll be able to be a little more certain once you've had a scan. What's your clinic's timetable for scanning?

Don't feel guilty for conceiving first time. Feel lucky

[HopingForALittleOne]

Thanks shoes and thanks for being awake still and replying. I'm a proper night owl!

I'm not sure to be honest... I thought I would focus on the detail of that once I got to that point lol

Tomorrow I'm 14dpiui and I think my period should have been due either on Thursday or definitely by tomorrow. I said to my mum if Ive still got pregnant lines by Monday I'll start to believe it's real. My plan was to phone clinic and doctors on Monday if still positive

Did you get cramps when you first got pregnant? If so how long did they last? I've had them on and off all today.
Xxxx

[INeedNewShoes]

That's wise. I have to admit that even after getting a line on a test I didn't consider myself pregnant until I was a couple of days clear of when AF should have been due.

Cramps throughout pregnancy are pretty normal, for different reasons at different stages. Early on the cramping sensation can be caused by implantation (and in my case was accompanied by a tiny dot or two of pink tissuey stuff) which is a process which takes place over a number of days as the embryo nestles in.

I'm often awake at this time - its a bad habit of mine!

[taydex]

Welcome Hoping. And massive congratulations. I know exactly how you feel about being an imposter, I feel the same, and it's why I set up this thread. I felt insensitive writing on the other one.

Obviously it's good for people to see that it can and does work, but I didn't want to rub it in.

It also took me a few days/maybe even a week to believe it really was a positive and I really was pregnant. The more days that pass the more real it will feel. Actually, even now when my little one is 16 weeks I still have to occasionally pinch myself!

Feeling lost and scared is totally normal. I remember having an "Oh my God what have I done" moment not long after getting the positive test result. Silly because I knew it was something I'd wanted for ages, bit I think the reality hit and it was a no going back moment. I totally have no regrets though. I love being a mummy and I love my daughter to bits. Even on the tough days.

X

[HopingForALittleOne]

Thanks taydex and shoes yes that's the word I feel - insensitive if say too much - especially at the moment.

It is starting to sink in slowly that this could be real and each day there is no af helps.

I've bought some pregnancy books so going to have a look through the two this weekend.