The CBFM Graduates Vol 1

[StormBird]

We have got to know each other pretty well during our TTC journey's so have created this thread on Chocciechips advice (hope she doesn't mind!!) so we can all contintue to support one another through our pregnancies.

Welcome................

Feeding him just now so sadly it was a fluke!

boba one night is still good, means he CAN do it again

No scan for me, but because just 2 days short of 28 weeks they did a heart trace of the baby for 30 minutes which was lovely. 12 weeks to go here! And yes, heard good things about Bugaboos!!

The last 10 weeks really fly in keziah. I hate too sound cliched but put your feet up while you can! x

boba a nasty sinus infection for 3 weeks has helped enforce "feet up" time! Even had 1 week off work. Back next week, but soon holiday time.

Mum rang today and said she didn't know what to get my dh for Xmas, but had the baby sorted --- mm... had to tell her I don't intend having baby yet, even if it may want presents, it will have to wait till next Xmas, bless her

Sadly have had some bleeding. Scan shows almost certainly a mmc. Have to go back next week to confirm.

Oh I'm so sorry to hear that sprinkles x x x

Sprinkles I am so, so sorry to hear that. My thoughts are with you.

Bad news from me too. The Fertility Clinic confirmed my pregnancy on Thursday. My beta HCG was 72, which is good. Apparently they look for a level of 70 to 75 to confirm a pregnancy that's likely to be viable. I was told I had about a 70% chance of a live birth, so was thrilled.

Unfortunately, on Thursday evening I had some light bleeding. Phoned the FC on Friday morning and they advised a repeat HCG on Saturday, which I had. Initially they weren't concerned as the bleeding was light and appeared to be old blood, and my beta had been good. They suggested implantation bleeding or cervical ectropian. I woke up Saturday morning and it had got a lot worse; my beta results were about the same, not higher as they should have been. They confirmed I was likely to be having an early MC.

Miscarried over the weekend (our 2nd wedding anniversary ). Got to have a repeat beta HCG on Weds to check it's complete and not a possible ectopic.

Feeling a bit crap really.

So sorry to hear your news Sprinkles and KC.

Know you may not want to think about it, but there are often reasons for mmc's or mc's and they can be treated with different drug protocols. I really recommend doing the level 1 and/level 2 immune tests to find out miscarriage reasons (know NHS does miscarriage tests after 3 miscarriages but for us we didn't get that far but discovered after immune testing that we had issues implanting and maintaining pregnancies). Really recommend before using any Frosties etc. Your GP may kindly do most/all of level 1 tests for you - mine did and not an overly helpful Gp. But I went with a typed, detailed list which made his job easy. Just 2 the lab would not do without a consultant referral (from Heamatology) so we did those private. For us I found I had a variety of issues, which are sorted by levothyroxine (any level above 2 our consultant said can cause mc's, although NHS accepts 5 generally), aspirin/clexane, prednsilone and utrogestran pessaries. Plus 3 intralipids for level 2 issues. You can have treatment for immune issues alongside NHS treatment if NHS not accept the immune issues - although some are better than others.

Sorry - you may not want to read the above, but for me I always found having a plan and a way forward helped. Level 1 and 2 tests privately is about £2,000 - still cheaper than a private IVF cycle, but if you get level 1 on NHS then that really helps (as level 2 is about £900 for cheaper package, or £1200 for the complex genetic one).

Really sorry for you both xxx

sorry keziah. it's shit isn't it. Not that we're comparing, but I feel much worse for you than about mine, you've had such a long, hard road to end up where you are.

thanks for your thoughts everyone. No more bleeding since this morning, no pain. The sonographer said that there are a tiny proportion of cases that look like mine but turn out OK, but given my knowledge of my cycle, the date of my BFP and the timing of any shagging since, she really thought it did not look good. But that theoretically, if there were a chance I were only 5 weeks, not 12, then this would be a normal appearance. So I need a new scan in a week or so to confirm that this pregnancy is really not progressing. I've rationalised the whole thing, that it could be much worse. That I could have a 12 week foetus to pass, that it could be much later, that I could already have told more people, that whatever I conceived was wonky and could have resulted in either having to have a termination or a still birth or a disabled baby. All far harder to cope with. 2 of my friends have had still births. I'd rather this. The sonographer said that what she could see could be the result of several different scenarios, and there was no point speculating about what has happened. OTH, she took the opportunity to check the rest of my reproductive system, and said everything looked really healthy and there were no adhesions from my CS and I had about as minimal scaring as you can expect following a CS, so all looked well for TTC, and that we could TTC as soon as we felt ready.

TBH, assuming the worst is going to happen, I wish I had been offered medical management today, to get it all out asap. So I can move on. No point IMO for me to have ERPC, there's not much to pass and I don't need the risks of an unnecessary GA with a toddler to look after.

I'm still hopeful about a next time. We have conceived twice and had one wonderful live birth. I have a normal predisposition to bleeding (had a significant bleed during my CS, but nothing post operatively, no weird bruising etc). Having carried one baby to term, if there are immune issues they are new ones. For that I am grateful. The TTC was hard, but I know much more about my body now, and I believe that there is something special about the first month of normal hormone cycle, so won't be waiting to try again.

looong post! Thanks for reading.

KC I'm so so sorry I don't know what else to say. x x x

sprinkles seems like you have a really positive and pragmatic attitude to your horrible situation. x x

Ladies

I'm sorry I haven't been around in ages, I have lurked a little but been away. I was so sorry to read about this weeks news. In particular for KC who I know has been trying so long, but for you too sprinkles. really gutted for you both.

how is everyone else i remember reading that someone's mother was very sick i think it was boba i feel awful i havent read back before posting.

how are you getting on keziah i know theres been some issues but hopefully you are still getting on ok?

christmas shopping the week before christmas has been fun with a giant buggy....anyone else wish they didnt have a fancy buggy and had a cheap light small one?!

thinking of you all xxx

Hi kitty christmas shopping is always a nightmare baby or not. Did most of mine online this year & made all the difference.
Yes it's my mother who is ill. She's now in local hospice but hoping to get home for Christmas day for dinner etc. This is without doubt the worst time of my life but thank goodness for Zach as he's helping us all through it.
How's things with you?

Hi lovely ladies, glad to hear som many lovely stories here and so sorry to hear of the bad ones, lots of hugs going out to you sprinkles and kc, what rubbish timing.

As you CBFM ladies were all with me in March when I mc I wanted to share my news, after 9 months of trying again I finally got a BFP today (just when I'd given up hope!). Have done two tests and think I am 4 weeks tomorrow so very early days - hoping this one is sticky......

So a very merry christmas to the CBFM graduates and the wee ones that have come along already xx

Congratulations Loup. Really, really hope it's a sticky one for you. FX!

Thanks for well wishes, everyone. I'm feeling rather low at the moment, and after everything that happened (IVF, then DH getting ill and finally BFP followed by early MC) my boss forced me to take a few days compassionate leave, which I'm really grateful for.

Like sprinkles, I am trying to be really pragmatic about the situation. I don't think I have any immune problems as no other indications or symptoms. I think in my case nature was just doing what she should do. The way I look at it is that if you conceive naturally, only the very best sperm make it through the female reproductive tract, to the egg. Even so, I read somewhere that 50% of blasts arriving in the womb fail to implant. Obviously, I know that my blast did implant, but as we had IVF, it's likely that sperm that wouldn't normally make it are mixed with the eggs and could fertilize them. The embryologist said they mix 60,000 sperm with each egg. The high attrition rate (we were down to 4 day 5 embryos from 12 fertilised eggs) means that most stopped developing at some point. I guess the one they put back, finally stopped developing too, even though it did manage to successfully implant and my HCG levels were good. At the moment, I think something was very wrong genetically and the embryo simply not viable. My next round is with a frostie, and then if that fails we need a fresh cycle. If after that I get recurrent implantations, but failed development then perhaps we need some investigations but at the moment, I think we've just been unlucky and either the egg, the sperm or both were genetic duds. My blasts wasn't as good as it could be (4Bb), and there was some fragmentation, which suggests why they may not have progressed. The frostie is slightly better a 4Ba so fingers crossed for our next attempt.

Boba I really hope that your mum does make it home for Christmas day. Thinking of you at this time.

Loup congratulations on your bfp, thanks for letting us know here. And do let us know how it continues.

KC- being pragmatic sounds good. Just thought I would share about immune testing as I never knew I had thrombophilia issues until I had a stroke this year etc, and that is one of the immune tests that caused me to have bfn's etc. It is good that you have a lovely frostie for your next attempt. I think ttc, naturally or with fertility treatment, is very hard emotionally - you all supported me through some low times - so hope you can keep being kind to you. Do they have a counsellor at your clinic you could see, if that would help you? My clinic gave you a few free counselling sessions if needed.

Ilovekitty - baby has grown enough, so no need for specialist scans now!! Am 29 weeks and just got to the uncomfortable, running out of energy in supermarket, back aching phase. Have another growth scan in Jan for 32 weeks, due to the placenta not working fully - but I seem to have really grown in last week so think baby is growing very well right now!! He just doesn't move very much - 4 times a day on average.

Happy Christmas to you all

Thanks Keziah. Really appreciate your kind words. Yes, the clinic does have a counsellor who I might speak to if I don't feel a bit brighter after Christmas. I had a thrombophilia screen a few years ago, and it was normal, which is good. That's promising at least. Also have had thyroid function tested recently, and that was normal too, which is reassuring.

Merry Christmas to everybody too

Congratulations Loup hope it's a sticky one for you. x
keziah that's excellent news about keziahbean growing so well. What is your due date?
KC thanks she is getting home for day so will just have to make as special as possible remember you are grieving so natural to have down days. Good to know counsellor available though.
Happy Christmas one & all

KC - that sounds a good plan. Good you also know those tests clear also.

Boba - 10 and a half weeks to go officially edd 8th March. Hope your family has a lovely day together and is extra special.

Happy Christmas to all people on thread and those little babies!!

Well did everyone have a pleasant Christmas? Ours was bit weird but tried to stay happy for Zach.

A lovely, quiet and restful Christmas thanks boba - sorry yours was not what you hoped for. Glad you had Zach to help distract you, am sure he was totally spoilt!!

Am 30 weeks today, measuring 27 weeks which apparently is good so am happy! Baby still transverse but beginning to make me feel heavy. Having survived first trimester pretty ok now have awful sickness - so time to try the Gaviscon out.

Hope everyone had a lovely christmas, or as good as could be hoped for.

keziah if the gaviscon helps make sure you get it on prescription as you get much bigger bottle for much less. At about your stage I was drinking the stuff straight from the bottle so didn't last long! I'm told Z has lot's of hair so the old wive's tale must be true! x

Good tip there Boba managed to get prescription from triage dr and a hugh bottle today, thanks! After a few nights of horrific sickness it is the way to go . And a huge bottle on prescription, you are right!

Glad to be of service keziah

Happy New Year everyone

Just popping in to wish everyone the best for the New Year.

Keziah Glad to hear you had a quiet and restful Christmas. We had the same too. Both DH and I became hermits. After his appendicitis and our IVF failure we both felt a bit down, and so the time off was very welcome.

Keziah Glad to hear that your pregnancy is progressing well, and hopefully the Gaviscon in helping.

Boba Seconding Keziah here. Sorry to hear your Christmas wasn't what you'd hoped for. Thinking of you and your family at this very difficult time.

DH and I have an appointment at the FC on Thursday to find out when we might be able to have our frostie transferred. I'm really hoping that they can do it next cycle, so fingers crossed.

Happy new year to everyone

KC glad you have that appointment, hope they can give you a definite start date to next cycle for you with useful information to help you. Hoping you have a great start to 2012.

All seems to be going ok here... measured 27 weeks at 30 week appointment, so growth scan at 32 weeks to check placenta not causing any problems. I don't think so by the size of me - though Christmas not helped there, oops!!