TTC/ pregnancy on Prednisolone or similar part 2

PS Euro I was lurking because it was the top of the pile and I thought I would try to work out what the hell BESH stands for - saw you post there and wondering if you could fill me in!

Ooh Cheerful all that lovely sunshine. I haven't actually been to the middle east, which is a bit crap considering I travel for a living, must get around to it.

I am dreading getting pregnant again too, thinking of the worry, the weight gain, the avoiding certain lifestyle choices, avoiding certain people as it becomes obvious I am pregnant pretty quickly these days, the knicker checking, the constant Fear and of course a) the potentially scary thought of another miscarriage and b) (as I haven't had a successful pregnancy yet) the actually rather scary thought it is all GOING RIGHT!! How the f*ck will I cope with the bit that happens after that seemingly illusive 12 weeks!

But for me the second miscarriage this year (my first two I am not counting - years ago, didn't want a baby) was easier than the first. The first was 12 weeks and a shock, the second I had warning with that round of unsuccessful scans over 3 long weeks. I was worried that it was getting easier each time and I was actually getting immune (no pun intended) to it. I guess it depends on the circumstances of each one really. Getting further along, seeing a heart beat, seeing a foetus etc makes you more attached.

My bits are definitely still feeling weird BTW - still feels like pre-af ache rather than ovulation!

Ha ha - eggulating and chicken noises- love it!
Free- you're right I'm outside the Uk (middle east) so I'm 4 hours ahead of you lot.
Iggi- good luck with the scan tomorrow.
Kittens- yes any brown etc before af would be spotting. My gynae here is pretty keen for me to start progesterone at ov because of this to get as healthy an implantation as possible.I get a bit more spotting than a bit of watery brown though, sometimes quite red.
I have to admit I am dreading getting preggers again. I've only had 2 mcs but found the second one so much harder to deal with than the first which make me worry if they all get progressively more difficult (emotionally)?

Oh and Euro too. Busy thread today!

Sorry Kittens and Iggi, crossed posts. Iggi sorry thus us all so stressful, here for hand holding tomorrow.

Talking of egg laying yesterday evening I did feel some weird goings on. It wasn't as 'twingey' as I usually have but felt rather pre-af like abd also a but like someone was squeezing both Fallopian tubes. Don't ask me what the he'll that was. Hmm, wonder if I am 1dpo? I best carry on SWI just in case.

I make the egg laying comment too. And occasionally make chicken noises (well, you've got to laugh or cry and I prefer the former!).

Cherrycheeks is indeed a cute name, although it might be strangely prophetic if you get anything like the Moonface I had when I went up to 40mg of Pred :) anyone hasnt seen Moonface / post-Moonface video and wants a laugh do pm me for the link!

Yes Snoops, I have exchanged posts with the BC girl who has higher levels than myself and Cherry. It's certainly good to see her pregnancy going well. Someone here also said something mr s had said that I found very reassuring on here a few posts ago but will have to find it later as on the phone. I am truly living the freelance dream today, on my second coffee shop loitering of the day, sandwiching each side of a trip to the gym :) am putting off going home and writing an article.

I posted my friend the dr beer book earlier and am compiling master list of recommended tests for her. I've done it before but I will post it here later to see if you can all add anything I've missed. Flippin hell we are all such experts we should open our own clinic!

Cherry, loving the romance with the swi/egging (Shagging With Intent btw :) ) I was exhausted last night but went at it with such enthusiasm dh said 'wow you really want this baby dont you!' as I rolled over and tries to er, hold on to the merchandise.

Hello, haven't caught up with thread yet but welcome wave to newbies.
After a night of pain I got in touch with midwife, (who got to call triage, who put me back to EPU). Anyway they absolutely refused to scan me unless I was bleeding, they have a rosy view of all pain being a normal part of pg and my own experiences to the contrary are irrelevant. She thought waiting till my 12 week scan (2 weeks from now) would be fine. Psychologically, not fine for me! Anyway I have found somewhere locally where I can get a scan tomorrow. And tonight all the hope will start to seep back in I suppose... I am desperate to be proved wrong Ari, I do hope you are right!

Welcome cherry. SWI stands for shagging with intent by the way!

My OH refers to it as eggulating and I sometimes tell him "Come on love, I'm laying an egg".

hello Cherrycheeks! cute name.. yes it certainly is good to have this thread even if it's just to lurk sometimes. It's good for asking any questions that you may feel a bit of an idiot asking clinic about and just to know your not on your own.
I am in V High too at 3.16 although this is first month on Dr S's treatment so a bit nervous!
Good luck with you next round and nice to know your hubby is keeping you on track, it's tough for them the poor things!!

Oh free there is a lady on BC board who is 4.79 I think and fifteen weeks or so by now (on first pred cycle) which is great to see. x

Why, thank you ladies for the warm welcome :) I feel quite overcome to have found you. Yes, free it does feel like I have found some fellow survivors after a NK cells zombie attack!

I look forward to getting to know you all! Good luck with all the swi-ing, not sure what it stands for yet, but as there is a lot of it going on around egging time it can only mean one thing. DH woke me up from a semi-coma last night with a romantic shout in my ear "I thought you were egging".

Welcome cheery! That's exactly how I felt when I found this group. I sometimes think we should tell the staff at NLC to give out the link to new patients but they probably wouldn't want to be seen to have a connection to us. We shall just have to risk being thought mad by shouting out in the waiting room I guess! Or having some sort of code/funny handshake.

I know free will be delighted to have someone else at the heady heights of 3.79 too!

Re the cocoon house can I add foot rubs to the beautician's duties if they're allowed in early pg (ever optimistic!) Obv no proper massages but reflexology is supposed to be good for you I think? Relaxing- important in view of the months of panicking.

I'm down to taking multiple 5mg Pred pills now having used most of my 25s. Am saving some in case. Is it me or do the 5s have a really nasty aftertaste?!

Hope for good news from today's scans

Hi cherry welcome to our little world, all the girls here are fab and it's such a comfort to know ur not on your own. Good luck on ur journey hunni xxx

Cherry, are we twins?! My history is very similar to yours, apart from I had two mcs years ago too and no chemicals so far, but a 12 week mc in March which alerted me to the fact that something was wrong and an ERPC in august after no growth of sac at 8 weeks on my first treatment with Mr S. Thread friends will also be aware I am over the moon at finding someone who has exactly the same very, very high nkc as I do! 3.79-snap. Am so sorry for your losses but glad you have found us. I started this thread initially but I imagine if I had come across it after going through this on my own it would have been akin to finding some fellow survivors tucked into a safe house somewhere after the zombies have taken over :)

To cement our twin-ness I too am ovulating... As are several thread mates, so there's much swi going on. Loving the egging! I will use that later.

Am out and about at the mo on the phone so difficult to update list but please do copy, add yourself on and paste. We are pleased as always to add to our numbers. It's so good to be able to char freely about our ridiculous wombs, killer cells and medication. I learn something new all the time.

Hi ladies, do you have room for one more?

Wow! I was so glad to have found this thread.. although I haven't had time to read all the posts.. reading through has been quite emotional for me because you have seem to put down in words all the worries/questions/feelings/freak outs/ panics etc etc that I've had in the past few months.
After 3 miscarriages( Oct 2010 MMC at 12 week scan, May 2011 5 weeks, June 2011 Chemical Pregnancy) I referred myself to Mr Shehata.
My NK result was 3.79, so I am on the very high regime 25mg Pred etc.
I have started my 3rd round of Pred this morning as I think I might ovulate today.. My husband calls it 'egging'.. it certainly has taken the romance out of it all.

puree I am so sorry to hear your news. And that of your friend, free.

Comedy that sounds like quite some bug. I guess the UTI is probably a result of being dehydrated by the d&v! What a nightmare!

That's interesting about not drinking in the 48 hrs before ov. I have cut down considerably since ttc and now just have a couple of glasses a couple of times a week, but I generally feel less nervous about drinking pre-ov and more nervous in the 2ww.

The place I am at CRGH (Centre for Reproductive & Genetic Health) does IVF and NK treatments. www.crgh.co.uk/

Their plan for me was to try naturally on Clomid and do NK treatment on BFP. If that didn't work they recommended IVF so that they could do the screening plus check my ovarian reserve quality alongside NK cell treatment. I have to say they have been very good so far.

Puree, so sorry to hear your news. That's rotten. I hope you are ok, you sound very pragmatic. With regards to the trisomy pregnancies, I think they include genetic testing in the RMC tests don't they? In which case it would've come up if there was a specific problem with you or your OH/DH. I may be wrong, it may be that we were tested for this at our RMC because we have had two trisomy pregnancies which did not miscarry, we chose to end those pregnancies ourselves. I can't remember if the test was standard or just because of our history. If you have had two confirmed trisomy pregnancies that miscarried perhaps you can get them to refer you for genetic counseling or get the full karyotyping results which should show whether this was a case of random bad luck or not. This is a subject I am very concerned with because of my history too as I don't know if my 4 M/Cs were all down to NK Cells or further trisomies. I might look into PGD if my next pregnancy miscarries. Especially if I find out it's due to a trisomy. One thing to consider though, which I was told by the genetic counselor that we saw was that if it is just random bad luck/age related you are still more likely to have a successful pregnancy naturally than through PGD because when they take cells from the embryo before implanting it, it can make the embryo vulnerable and more likely to miscarry than a natural pregnancy.

Comedy what a rough time you've had. Poor you. You must've been feeling pretty miserable and scared. I hope you are feeling much better now and that your scan and appointment with Dr S goes well this afternoon.

Best of luck too, to brownie today.

free, sorry to hear about your friend. You're right, it must be a double blow when you've been through IVF so many times and finally thought it had worked. Hopefully she will benefit from all your research at least. Isn't there a place which does NK testing alongside IVF treatments? I can't remember where it is but I'm sure someone on Fertility Friends would know.

good luck comedy - what a terrible time you've been through! I am v impressed you managed to get a steriod drip, you must be very persuasive (just judging by the resistance I am getting from my GP, I can only imagine what it would be like discussing this treatment with a busy registrar in a hospital).

... also meant to say good luck brownie x

Morning all - feel like I have been away for ages but only absent since Sunday - have been in hospital. Unfortunately caught a sickness and diaorrea (cannot spell) bug and it got really severe so was admitted to the gynae ward - apart from not being able to stop being sick I got into a real panic that I couldn't swallow the steroids etc and what this could do to me and little one. Four drips later I'm well hydrated and managed to get discharged last night as seeing Mr S this afternoon. It took a bit of explaining at the hospital but they appreciated that a break in the steroids could be harmful and so i also had some steroid drips. Unfortunately they also diagnosed a urinary tract infection so am on antiobiotics - can we take any more drugs!!! Now in bed and worried that I haven't got my usual morning sickness - can't win! I'm really terrified about this afternoon just can't see how it will be ok. Oh well not too long to wait. thank you for all the good scan wishes - much appreciated.

I have read through the last few pages and so very sorry to read your horrible news puree - sending you a big hug. Also sorry free about your friend.

Iggi I know how you feel but hopefully our stomachs are just totally messed up by pharmaceuticals and beans are growing well - fingers crossed for us both.

The very best of luck to everyone TTC this month - more fingers crossed!

Duggs my 'listing' does lack a few details which are - I conceived on my second round of pred and im in the very high bracket as well (2.8) - sorry I'm on iPad and not good at copying and pasting on this.

Have a good day everyone and hopefully I'll check in later with some good news x

duggs - I went through the whole septate uterus thing with Guys - there was a bit of confusion whether it was septate or bicornuate and I had a zillion people scan me. the end result is that they think it is not septate. I would have preferred a camera. If it is it can have quite an impact and if Raj Rai wants to have a look at you then I would say go for it, that's great to rule that out or get it dealt with. I think the op would be v straightforward. I have also been wondering about scarring from my two ERPC...

Your comments about embyro screening are timely as I was looking at the prices yesterday! As I have had two confirmed trisomy pregnancies (had analysis after the ERPC) plus all the other mc I feel that this is a bit over the odds at my age (34) even with the NK cells. Was thinking about combining NK treatment with IVF as a next step next year - this is just me coming up with my own treatment plan!

Good luck for today Brownie

Haven't heard of septum uterus Duggs but just looked it up for more info. Am sure I have found the same info you've found. Does seem strange that no-one has mentioned it to you before. You might as well go for the scan though and see how it goes - does that mean you have to wait with TTC though? Obviously you might still be pregnant on this cycle!

Loving the fact that we need to abstain from alcohol for only 48 hours prior to ovulation Puree. I have done that by pure virtue of it being a weekday and having no social engagements on the cards.

Incredible that the Pred put your ovulation back 12 days Sue. Did you start the Pred particularly early?

I have just popped my first Pred (since tapering down after the ERPC at the end of August) this morning - CD16. Last night I had some very strange feelings down there, a bit pre-af-esque. I also feel quite bloated.

I think there were a few scans today so good luck to all being scanned. I am off down the post office to post Dr Beer to my friend.