TTC/ pregnancy on Prednisolone or similar part 2

Free- a friend of mine is going through her 3rd IVF cycle and has just got her BFP so I am hoping she will be successful this time. I am hoping your friend will go back and see the baby developing and that it is just a slow starter! At least you can give her some comfort if it does take a turn for the worst.
I also don't blame you for wanting to delay ttc but if your social life is anything like mine there will be other things after Xmas that you might want to keep delaying it. Maybe you are subconsciously putting up barriers to protect yourself from The Fear? Perfectly understandable as we all feel the same. I wish I could go back to how calm and relaxed I felt with my daughters pregnancy - blissfully unaware of miscarriages.

Welcome to Duggs - I cant believe there are so many of us on here when for the last 18 months I felt like I was facing this all alone! I am also hoping we are all having some kind of miracle treatment. I think the ladies who are passed or around 12 weeks give the rest of us hope (about time!)

I had a bit of a shock today as my CBFM went straight from low to peak. I have never had that before so did an OPK this afternoon and low and behold the smiley face appeared! I am only on day 12 so was not expecting it as ovd late last month at day 22. My question to you all is when do you all start the preds? I know ov happens 24-36 hours from the peak detection but should I start them asap or wait a couple of days? I dont want to delay ov by taking them too early or risk another m/c by starting too late!

Comedy and Snoopy - my 3 year old is desperate for a baby and keeps asking me every day if there is a baby in my tummy. Its only because so many of her friends have babies now so she wants to be the same.

Snoopy - I asked Dr S about drinking while pregnant and he said the odd glass of wine was fine. However if you did have some and then miscarried would you be thinking - did I do it with the wine??? I got absolutely hammered at a party then couldnt find my hotel room as didnt have the co-ordination to get out of the lift when 6 weeks pregnant with my daughter. I didnt know I was preggers though! I still think if you are going to MC you will anyway regardless of what you do (apart for Dr S's plans) - look at all the junkies etc that manage to have babies.

comedy that's funny my son also ,keeps going on about a rabbit but it's still a baby at top of list. If by some miracle we did manage to have another one I wouldn't see it for dust, he'd be off down the road with the pram like a shot showing everyone, bless him.

duggs not sure about stats on board as only been on here couple of weeks. I know what you mean about rose tinted view thou as I naively am thinking this treatment is some kind of miracle cure and am quiet excited about starting drugs next month, but keep trying to balance things in my head. Christ theres got to be something in all this NK Cell stuff as its been around for over ten years and if it was a load of tosh then surely there wouldn't be over three clinics in UK specialising in this and some NHS docs recommending it? We have to have some hope to cling onto. When I first started reading up a couple of months ago I was so buoyed by the sucess on BC boards and on here. On the clomid front I thought I would get offered some sort of egg boosting drug but Dr S didn't even mention it or my age which makes a change from NHS!

Scooter hope your having a better afternoon and doing stuff to try and take your mind off things. Sorry not very good at this agony aunt stuff and afraid I'm going to say the wrong thing to you when your in a fragile state. As I said I have read that the lipids coat the cells and protect them so go ahead with it. Hang in there..I know I be feeling a bundle of nerves in a couple of weeks, we are all in similar boat mentally. hugs x

Hi all - just had a read through and catch up. Scooter I do understand where you are at but do try to be positive, the important thing is that you were on steroids and you acted quickly and got the dose upped as soon as you could. I'm not really listening to my own advice as I'm not in a great state about scan next Wednesday - just can't believe that this little ones heart will still be beating. Most of my miscarriages have been missed miscarriages and so the fact that I'm not bleeding still doesn't help. Anyway, let's both keep fingers crossed and hope for the best.
Snoopygirl, my daughter (5) was also desperate for a sibling but when I broached a casual chat about babies yesterday she is now adamant that she would much prefer a rabbit! Getting a rabbit would certainly be a lot bloody easier!!
Hope all going ok for those TTC - I can empathise with a decision to delay Free - after the partial molar when I was told I absolutely mustn't get pregnant for six months, after the initial shock, it was almost a relief.
Take care all x

Free I don't know the answer, but I did decide to put it off during my school summer holidays, and it was actually lovely not to be temping, popping pills, not avoiding alcohol etc. Off course if you try now and are successful, then you wouldn't care about the Christmas abstinence!

Scooter you have to calm down or you are just going to feel crap (and hopefully unnecessarily). I asked my gp to run hcg tests as soon as I found I was pg this time, I hadn't been bleeding, I just said given my history I wanted it and also if it showed pg wasn't progressing then I could stop taking all the meds. You have been on pred right, just not the higher dose? Maybe this is sacrilege, but we don't absolutely know that high nkc lead to mc do we? And the stuff you're already on might be enough to make the difference. This pg needs to be given a chance to succeed.

Off to a kids' party now. Nine days till next scan. Dh will come to my dating scan, but he's never been to Shehata, can't afford it. I quite like the train journey now, actually, as long as I've had no news/good news - can't imagine it if I get a bad scan.

snoopygirl hearing you regarding the wine and the habitual nature of it. Seems quite obvious, but over the past couple of years being pregnant, thinking I might be pregnant, in the middle of miscarrying.. my mind always seemed to jump to whether I could drink or not and immediately if I am not, my friends assume I must be pg. I must admit as the mc's continued there are less comments made as people just don't really know what to say now, but DH loves wine even more than me, so not sure if that is worse or easier. I'm no doctor, but from what I have read the only thing that differentiates a 25 year old from a 45 yr old is the quality of their eggs. (pretty vital I know) but if you are getting pg then that has to be a good sign re the eggs. If we can get the NK cells to chill out a bit then you have a pretty good chance.

I saw Dr S Monday before last -(first check up post steriod cycle) and as it took me on average 6 mths to conceive each time then he did say if I wanted to "hurry things up" that I could try Letrozole next cycle.(too late for this one).

It is like clomoid but newer- a little more expensive but less side effects..etc. etc. I was quite suprised as I didn't really push the point I just asked average times it seems to take people (I did hear average 3 cycles and I though that sounded a bit too good to be true?)

Anyway, I don't have any issues ov as far as I know so I really didn't expect this. I have the perscription if I don't get a BFP this cycle. Bit unsure if I am jumping the gun a bit really. Again seems a bit too easy ???

I am a glass half full kindagirl.. but have been stung by that attitude with this whole experience so am trying to not be so easily swayed to the rose tinted view of things. It just makes the fall that much further.

Have any of you ladies been offered this by dr S ?

Apologies if a few are on it or chlomid "legitimately" because of ov issues. I can't remember if that is any of us on here?

snoopygirl just though it might be worth a mention, although it seems most of us still in TTC group (10 of us I think) are early stages, or have at least gotten PG since seeing Dr S - is that pretty accurate would you say ?

Apologies if I have missed a few key facts from people's histories.. I did read both threads but was a lot of info to remember on each person.

Free sorry misread you post thinking you were going to put things off for sometime not just Xmas, ignore me.

What is swi standing for please?! I can guess what it is but would like to know anyway.

Scooter Personally I would go for the Intralips, I read somewhere else that it helps to get those cells in good condition anyway.

free My son was born when I was 37 (he's 6 in jan). that was all fine but what I didn't think too much about for him was a sibling , life got in the way and I suddenly found myself project managing a bloody building site for last 3 yrs and thought shit I better get on with it at 42. My son is so desparate for a sibling he regularly cries and says when are we going to get one! Tells teacher and friends at school that I'm pregnant when I'm not and smothers all the other babies down there! I never gave it a thought that I might m/c so many times. So maybe if you want more than one.... On the wine front I am struggling to cut down. It's habit associations with me (bit like a ciggie, not that I partake in that anymore) when you settle down to watch say "Strictly"/X factor and out comes the wine. My DH can take it or leave it, he is so disciplined and I am so not (that inc food). If he is full he can push his plate away. Not me. So already trying to replace one of wines with softdrink...boring. Also everybody thinks something is up if I haven't got glass of vino in hand!

Had hcg at NLC Scooter, but only because of my bleeding/spotting meaning it was pretty damn likely I was miscarrying and a scan wouldn't show anything at 5 weeks. If you haven't any bad signs, eg spotting, they might say not to do it.

I know this is easy to say, and we're fighting The Fear here, but absent any reason to worry, try not to. Try to keep neutral, if not actually positive. You'll be able to talk to the staff on Monday when you have intralipids so can always ask about blood tests then if you want to.

Thanks choccy. I know that I have really tried to take the bull by the horns this time in trying to step up my treatment but I do regret not chasing my test results sooner because I should have known I had gone into the very high range before we ttc. I do feel let down that nobody checked this test and let me know but we can't expect everything from the NHS.

Who did you get the HCG tests done through? No one has suggested I have those taken, but it might give me an indication of which way its going. I don't know whether it would be easier just to totally give up on it.

free absolutely understand the dilemma of wanting a christmas and new year without the pressures of being newly pg. I miscarried last year on my birthday (a week before Christmas) and now risk the same again. It was such a 'safe' place to not be pregnant recently and Christmas is such an emotionally-charged and family-centred time of year, it is not an easy time to be back in the game. We have to spend Christmas with thirty-six family members including my very excitedly-pregnant cousin, so it will be a very brave face time for me!

Anyway, know that we will be here to support you through it if you do go for it and get a BFP straight away, and Mr S will probably race into action with your treatment plan to give you the best chance.

Just for info, our SWI success day was CD12, we stopped two days before I actually got my OPK smiley face when I got cold feet but the little guys showed some patience and stamina and waited it out up there. I'd like to think this one was really meant to be.....

Scooter just read your post... Sorry you're feeling like this, the wait can't be helping as you've got time to run it all round your head. I know it's hard not to fear the worst. I'd go for the intralipids as you will then know you've done all you can. If this pg doesn't succeed, you won't look back and say if only...

To use my own experience as an example, I had a huge downer after my chem in Sept. what happened was I thought I'd got AF, a few days early, but it turned out to be v short for me, then I started spotting a week or so later, and got a BFP. I spoke to Louise, started taking 40mg Pred, cyclogest, ome and had hcg blood tests to check which way my hcg was headed (downwards obv). I didn't hold much hope that it'd hold but thought it best to fling as much at it as we could until blood tests confirmed there was nothing doing.

What killed me afterwards was that I had consciously NOT poas as I'd come on as far as I was concerned... Didn't think about breakthrough bleeding, just felt so low that I hadn't conceived I was all "what's the bloody point". Hence last month I was testing testing testing, including even after AF had very much arrived.

So, go for intralipids and hit it with everything you've got. With the NKCs we need to get clinical I think with the ov testing, poas-ing and dosing up with all the drugs. For me, concentrating on the clinical helps me to detach from it a bit I think. Ask me again after a BFP though...!

Hugs

On the AF point, mines different every month in terms of how it starts. I kind of count days but mainly go by cm for ov time. I've started using ov sticks as of last month, more to tell me when to start on the Pred than when to swi.

Welcome to duggs - you are in good company here. I am on everyday as haven't told anybody in RL that I am newly pg and it is literally a lifeline for me.

Thanks digi for the supportive airdrop comment - its reassuring to be able to count on the pred thread pharmacy in emergencies, although urgent intralipid infusions might test us a bit!

snoopy sorry can't help with the AF question but I am sure someone will be along soon with some info about when to count CD1.

euro DH comes with me to all the specialist appointments (although he has missed some by being abroad) I find that because I tend to get emotional, he is much better at remembering our questions and listening to the answers! He has been there to hold my hand in the 'glove puppet' moments as well because he's good in those situations, I have always given him the choice and he has always opted to stay. Sometimes they need a bit of a window on our world I think!

Feeling very discouraged now, its going round and round in my head that Mr S says miscarriage starts at conception and I know that at conception my NK69 count was 2.0 and (despite 25mg pred) a week into my pregnancy it was very scary 2.69. I didn't get the high dose pred until 4+4 and no intralipids until Monday when I will already be 5 weeks.

I am so scared it is already too late for this one but I know that I will probably carry on with it until about 8 weeks because my miscarriages have been so predictable. I also had good scans with two of my failing pregnancies so the 6 week scan if it is hopeful, will not be able to reassure me. I feel very doomed and without any appointments or contact with Dr S I feel in total nomansland. Annabel was also on leave last week so I couldn't even make contact with his office. I wonder if he knew all of this, whether he would be telling me to bother with the intralipids at all or just wait this one out. Literally just praying for a miracle now, not much else I can do!

Sorry for the doom and gloom on this sunny Saturday. Hope everyone else having a better day.

Morning all... Ari please don't take offence when I say I was very much not thinking of you earlier this morning...

DH has come with me to all appointments except the 2nd of my hcg blood tests 48 hours apart to confirm my chem in Sept. There really was no point when he would've had to move a meeting. I don't plan on him coming along to intralipids though!

However, bear in mind that we live very close to NLC and can both get between work and NLC easily, so I just arrange appointments for one end of the day or the other and it's dead easy for both of us. I feel incredibly lucky in that regard - no days off work or spending 12 hours on a train or whatever nightmare journey iggi has from way up north.

Oh and on the subject of dh coming to appointments he only comes to important ones - the one I got my results in, my pregnancy scan (only had one with mr s and dh couldn't make the others at Epu due to work) and the one post mc. Same plan for future - he will come to any pregnancy scans and other important ones. He is a bit redundant at standard appointments I think and was def not needed at the first, the one the tests were carried out in.

I am the same Snoopy, being a bit of a novice. I think they say it should be your first day of proper bleeding, so that's what I counted this time.

It's funny seeing the pregnant ladies advance in weeks as it seems so fast! But I know to you it must be dragging.

Euro we are indeed cycle buddies! I am at the Wharf most days btw as live nearby and my gym is there! I probably walk past your OH all the time :)

Dh and I had a bit of a TTC wobble yesterday thinking that actually it would be nice to go into Xmas and new year holiday without the worry of being pregnant. Of course that's assuming I can get pregnant easily again which might definitely not be the case. Half of me is now thinking of waiting. Injust don't know. We did swi yesterday but it might be a bit early so we could feasibly stop now. But am 37 and half of me just wants to get on with it. There is never going to be the perfect time to have The Fear is there. I think if only I wasn't do fond of drinking and that wasn't a big part if my social circle I could get pregnant and not alter my lifestyle and therefore ignore it mote easily! Will chat later again with dh and see what we decide.

Morning all !

Hello duggs welcome and hope the sack action is not getting too tiresome! Sayin that I think lots of you are in the boat as it were - good luck everyone!!

Got my drugs from pharmacy in doctors today and was pleasantly surprised they charged me NHS prices, so the whole 4 months of kit was only £28. Bargain!

euro My hubby came with me for first two appointments with Dr S but nothing graphic for him to cope with. When I have blood taken he has to wait outside as he may faint. He is the first aider on a Construction site which is useless as on the site of blood he literally goes white! In your situation I would have definitely sent him out.

Can someone answer a question- sorry if this is tmi at breakfast but when I get my AF there is a couple of days of brownish discharge do I count this as day 1 of cycle or when I get proper blood? Sorry to be thick but never had to bother with all this before.

Free we are cycle buddies. It's CD12 for both of us today I think.

Thanks for letting me know that the Harley St clinic is not too busy. I could get to Epsom if I needed to, but I am going to be v busy with work next month and Harley St is just easier as I work in Central London and Mr euro is at the Wharf.

I've been meaning to ask, do you all take your husbands/partners with you to your appointments? He came to my gynae appointment with me although I wasn't told to bring him, and it was just as well as the gynae wanted to talk about his SA results as well as the results of my tests. (I sent him out when the gynae wanted to use me as a glove puppet though - he didn't need to see that!).

Coconut it's great that you are over 12 weeks but rubbish that they are not going to scan you again for another fortnight+!

Welcome Duggs and sorry to everyone I have missed. There were quite a lot of posts to catch up on!

iggi, maybe try ginger beer if you like it. It's quite settling for the stomach. This is what I used to drink in the pub during my various brief pregnancies - although you have to be careful now that they do stuff like Crabbies because some bar staff will assume you mean that, especially if it's a friend buying you a drink who doesn't know you're pregnant.

I suffer really badly from the heartburn thing, even when not on Pred. The Pred makes it insufferable and Gaviscon doesn't touch the sides so I ended up getting the Omeprazole from my GP. Although it seems to take a few days on the Pred before the heatburn kicks in so I was taking the Omeprazole on my 4th or 5th day of Pred so as not to be on it every day.

Hey Iggi funny ushould mention fizzy water I was like that but have now been trying all sorts of stuff I've never had, bitter lemon, Pago, j20 and can honestly say I'm
Not missing alcohol (or the hangovers) at all !
Think mr s will def want to see u again think it's usually between 14 & 16 weeks to sign u off, Oooo exciting !! Xx

Hey Digi, we are scan buddies in a week! Yikes. After 12 weeks (NHS) should I expect any more scans till 20, or is that them done? I imagine S might want to see me again, so that might tide me over!
I have had awful indigestion pains tonight, think I drank too much fizzy water (what is left for me to drink?) And got a bad sharp pain in middle of chest that had me rolling around while swigging gaviscon! Pah.
Good luck to all the SWIers.

Welcome duggs, am also very impressed that you've managed to read the previous thread and catch up on this one! The very best of luck with this cycle!

WRT to drinking on the treatment. I think I stayed my usual wussy not really drinking self. But when duty called - weddings, hen nights, work do's etc, I would have a few glasses - but never binged. In fact I was on a Sten (combined stag/hen) on 6dpo of this cycle - drank a few glasses of champers, then joined in a wine tasting, then a couple more glasses of champers. Felt a bit guilty about potentially pickling a bean, but figured it wouldn't have implanted by then so would still be floating around. But since the BFP I've been unable to touch a drop...probably an unnecessary measure.

coconutfeet well done on getting to 12 weeks! And great that you've managed to get a good night's sleep.

free sorry to hear about your friend's situation. It's bloody hard trying to offer support in these circumstances without either a)giving false hope or b)sounding like a doom-mongerer. All I can say is a hope she gets a definitive answer either way.

cheerful I must admit my acupuncturist has never told me to hold off from ttc - I've usually waited for the first AF post-mc. He may have suggested that getting pg in the cycle immediately after a mc wouldn't have been a great idea 'in hindsight' when looking over my temp chart for a WTF cycle. But then he's never said I've had a 'cold womb'. Do you chart your temperatures? Perhaps they mean that you have low-progesterone (progesterone is produced post-ov which raises your body temperature), which you may be able to back up with charting. However, Mr S prescribes progesterone supplements anyway which should cover any progesteron deficiency problems. A good acupuncturist would also be able to provide treatment throughout the first trimester which encourages good circulation (and thus ensure more blood/warmth to the womb).

iggi and comedy hoooray you're past 9 weeks!

scooter so pleased they've sorted you out with the stronger meds. You do know that if push came to shove the infamous Pred Thread Pharmacy would have clubbed together and air-dropped you a survival pack!

Right, well by the looks of the ov-dates on the list most of you are probably busy tonight 'bonking' (love that term, reminds me of 80s Sun headlines). Swim, fish, swim!

Just updating the bfp'ers progress for today.

TTC
duggs1976 - High boarderline V High NKC TTC/ Ov 28 Oct. Pred
batteryhen- High activation NKC, and factor v leiden. TTC/OV 29 Oct
Suemays - V High NKC TTC/ov 31st Oct.
Freelance - V High NKC TTC/ov 1st Nov. Hydroxchloroquine, Pred, Intralipids. Thyroid/hashimotos
Arianrhod - V High NKC, MTHFR homo, hypothyroid, TTC/ov 1st Nov
eurochick - awaiting first appointment (in Nov)/cd9/ov 31 Oct-2 Nov
ChoccyPud - V High NKC / cd7/ov 3rd Nov
Cheerfulcharlie V High NKC (intralipids on BFP, no Pred) TTC/ov 5th Nov.
Snoopygirl - V High NKC TTC/ov 16 Nov ish/will be Ist try with Pred Itralipids
Havingkittens - High NKC TTC again from November

BFP
Stogan - V high NKC - BFP ON 9/7/11 cycle#2 - 20+6 Due 10/03/12
Digitalgirl - High NKC - BFP cycle#2 - 15+4 Due 16/04/12 next scan 7/11
Coconutfeet - V High NKC, Factor II gene mutation, underactive thyroid - 12+3 next scan 15/11
Iggi - High NKC & Hypothyroidism - 9+3 next scan 7/11
Comedy 9+0 due 1/6/12 scan 2/11
Scooterchaser - V High NKC - BFP cycle1 - 4+5. Due 01/07/12. Scan 10/11

Hello everyone! And a special big welcome to Duggs. Well done for reading through all the threads! I would have done that too a few weeks ago but I have now had to put my Dr Google obsession on hold. a) because I was getting obsessed b) because I got bloody RSI from too much googling and c) because I now think I honestly know everything there is online out there! But I would have devoured this thread too.

Gosh it is moving fast now there are a lot of us. It is so great to have everyone in the same-ish boat to talk to though.

Loving your take on red wine, chocolate and cheese Duggs definitely my favourite things too. I too have started the bonking today (!) so it might get robotic come SWI day 7 or so... I am trying to make it fun at the moment as DH knows full well it is SWI time. But I did get a bit teary earlier as the whole prospect of getting back in the saddle as it were and risking another miscarriage is really scary. Got to be done though. And TBH I have really been enjoying the wine, cheese and going out aspect of not TTC since my last mc in august! Much fun and so much more relaxing than constant pant-checking.

I was thinking exactly the same thing about Wills and Kate too!

BTW so many of us are TTC around the same time CHoccy! CD11 for me today. Agggh! Let the SWi begin... I think I will start Pred on CD16 next week.

Got to run, there's a life to be had before things get serious again xxx

Welcome Doug (). You've read both threads? That must've taken HOURS! Shows true devotion to the cause though... [hgrin].

Thanks to whoever it was who put me onto the BC group, I've been allowed in. Some interesting discussions, and several of the same ladies too!

Anyway, it's almost funny how people assume babies are easily come by, isn't it. Equally that if there's no sign of a baby and the couple have eg been married for a few years, the assumption always seems that they're trying but not conceiving. How little people know eh? There's a bit more to it than "just" hitting the target. Sometimes I envy people their naïveté though.

CD10 tomorrow so better break out the ov sticks :)