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................

Boba I had quite a few scans before I managed to reach 12 weeks...each time I was so stressed! but thankfully so far so good...don't think I will ever get to the point of relaxing and enjoying the pregnancy! won't relax till he's born.

Hope all goes well on Monday! thinking of you and Storm XX

Hi Ladies,

Good luck for Monday Boba and Storm.

It's a boy for me too Anytime xxx

I have another scan a week Monday - my 17th scan!!!!!

Popping in to say good luck for today Storm and Boba. x

Hi girls, hope all bumps are growing nicely! I wondered if anyone could help? I went to the GP on Firday and I have a midwife appointment in 3 weeks' time but she was unable to offer any advice on whether I should continue B6 (she googled it!) or whether I should take pregnacare... The reason I hadnt started pregnacare is becuase of the high iron. I was told in October that I had high iron in my blood. Any ideas as to where I might turn for advice girls? I read so much as to how these weeks are important for development I really don't want to take/not take vitamins without advice.... Thanks x

Loup I have had zero advice from GP or midwife about vitamins or nutrition despite asking. All I've had comes from the NHS handbook I was given, and that is scant on information. Instead I went to see a fertility nutritionist (found through a local herbalist shop), and have been put on a vitamin regime quite different to anything I would have done on my own with Google. Someone like that might be able to put your mind at rest over how much iron is too much iron etc.

FYI: I take fish oil 3x a day; was advised to swap pregnacare for mum-2-be 3x a day; vitamin d; vitamin e oil; and a mineral complex because I was found lacking in key minerals. I'll see her again in my second trimester (if all goes well) to check everything is ok and make changes if needed. It costs me £40 a consult, and I have found it to be money well worth spending. I also spent £40 on a hair analysis test through them, which is how we found I was lacking in key minerals (and I think that covered iron too).

choccie thanks for that advice will see if I can find someone similar - £40 sounds well worth it!

Hi ladies

Scan went well, nuchal was 1mm, think that is quite low so just awaiting blood results.

It was amazing how much the bean has grown, it has very long legs and was kicking away. Quite surreal when you can't feel a thing!

How did yours go Storm

Glad it went well Boba. 1mm is a low nuchal result and I now what you mean about seeing the bean move but not being able to feel it (I'm sitting with the laptop resting on my belly and the baby's kicking so hard, the laptop is actually moving - I keep having to retype words )

Any news Storm?

Congrats Anytime - we have a 3D scan booked for the 12th of April, I should be around 27/28 weeks by then. So glad you scan went well.

And you Boba brilliant news on the Nuchal Fold measurement that is small. How do you feel now? Are you a little more comfortable with the whole thing?

Scan yesterday was very long and detailed. My consultant was fab, however, baby was face down most of the time and then when it finally moved it turned away from us and lay on its side Blurgh!! So the pics aren't great but hoping that the 3D scan makes up for that. All is well though, baby is normal size and all the measurements were pretty much perfect.

ITS A BOY!!! We caved in and found out. After everything we have been through we decided that finding out the sex might help us to relax with the pregnancy and bond with the baby. Haven;t stopped smiling since. We both new it would be a boy!

Will pop in again at lunch and catch up with everyone's news.

Hope you are all well.

XXXX

p.s. how do you feel about splitting the stats into Boys, Girls and Don't knows?

XX

Thanks Harry & Storm. I'm going to try and relax a bit now but it's easier said than done. Feels a lifetime away until the 20 week scan!

Storm glad all was well with scan and congratulations on your wee boy! We're having a real run of boys ATM aren't we?!

Harry That must be soooo weird, looking forward to having some proof that there's someone in there though

ah congrats storm a boy how sweet, I'm still so early and having awful pains today but hoping it's normal.... I've already started thinking about whether we should find out, DH really wants a boy....

Loup I've had really strong cramps on and off all the way through. Never had any bleeding though. I think it is just uterus stretching and the little one attatching itself. Think it is quite common. I've actually got some just now!

Thanks Boba that's comforting to hear, and congrats on the scan, all looking good!

I would love to have an early scan but am thinking I should just be patient and wait for the 12 week! Girls, do you start relaxing more after that scan?!

Storm good idea about splitting stats, I was going to have a go but couldnt see that everyone's due date was on the stats on page 1/2....

Not long for you now Harry how exciting!

loup I'm trying to relax now but going for private scan before 20 week one is very tempting . . . .

loup If you do plan to have an early scan, consider going for one at about 8.5 - 9 weeks. Weeks 6 - 8.5 are the most common for MC, so if you're past these, then the scan should be more reassuring. I saw a heartbeat at weeks 6, 8 and 9+4. It was only at the last scan that the sonographer said 'congratulations'. I have to say that I'm still feeling very wobbly despite that. I am probably more frightened for the 12 week scan than for any other (I'm nearly 40). I do think though that my confidence levels in both previous PGs were higher than now, so in my case, my wobbliness is probably down to my history of bad luck.

storm Great news about the scan ... and another boy on the thread.

boba Can you tell me what the nuchal scan covers in our part of the world? Do they just measure the fold or do they look at other soft markers too? Also, how long do you have to wait for bloods to be factored in? Despite trying to follow storms advice about having my bloods done early, I couldn't get an appointment with GP (its not an emergency ... ), and midwife is on holiday .

DH and I are totally freaking out about this next scan. I've been reading the anti-natal choices thread and its ramped up my anxiety big-time. We're so worried.

It was about 15 minutes long. She checked baby thoroughly first and took some measurements. Took quite a while to get a good position for nuchal measurement but fascinating to watch the little bean! She took three meaasurements of the fold and that was it, as far as I was aware anyway. I then had a blood test and the nurse said if results are low risk community midwife will write to me and if they're high the hospital will phone me. Think she said it'll take about 2 weeks. Just another thing to worry about isn't it?

When is your scan? Try and not worry too much. Not good for you or bean. Chances are in your favout for everything being ok after seeing hearbeat already. x

thanks boba and choccie as i'm only 5+6 I will try and wait to see what the next few weeks bring. We pre-booked a skiing holiday when I will be 9/10 weeks so am really going to have to go careful out there......

When is your 12 week choccie I hope everything goes well, I am sure it will, how lovely that you've seen the heartbeat already!

It's a run of boys!

I know it's easy to say not to worry choccie but I know how hard it is not to. I didn't properly relax until the 12 week scan (and that was my 10th scan!). When you've had bad luck in the past, it's difficult to be 100% positive until you have concrete proof. I'm honestly of the opinion that after the ectopic that I had last year, losing the fallopian tube and the subsequent worry combined with the skin cancer, adhesions and constant pain, I AM NEVER DOING THIS AGAIN! I'm so conscious of the fact that that sounds quite selfish though IYKWIM. I feel quite sad that I'll never do this again, but I don't think I could cope with it.

I did consider having my remaining tube tied when I'm having the c-section but having researched it, I don't want to have the side effects to deal with prematurely.

Rubbish news about the bloods boba.

Glad your scan went well Storm although I know how frustrating it is when the baby isn't co-operating!

2 weeks tomorrow for me . Still not that excited about it to be honest - it still seems ages away!

Hi ladies. I have three worries really, the heart beat, the nuchal results, and the time it takes to make critical decisions. If we get a poor nuchal scan and have to wait for two weeks to get bloods - that takes me to 14weeks. And if we then have to have a CVS and wait a further two weeks or so, I'm at 16 weeks or more. If we find that something is horribly wrong - like Edwards or such - and we need to terminate, I think our hospital will only offer surgical solutions before 16 weeks. After that its induction and having to go through labour and giving birth. I wouldn't be able to do that. I'd have no choice, but I think I'd give up on us having a child of our own again after something like that. My MCs were hard enough. We've made a provisional appointment at the Fertility Medical Centre in London just in case because they should be able to process all results within two weeks. My scan is tomorrow - we'll know then if we're having to rush to London for speedier results. The stress is unbearable, but I'd be silly at nearly 40 to not plan ahead for worst case scenarios.

Oh Choccie I can totally understand how stressed you are, and just wanted to say I to was so scared of the time scale that all the tests seem to take.
When I went for my NT scan I was 13 weeks, and stressed to midwife that waiting two weeks for bloods was too long, and if there was a problem...time was ticking on.
The midwife said they give "2weeks" as a guide, but is anything showed up in my bloods I would get a call within 3 working days, this still feels like an age, but much better than 2 weeks! thankfully no call came and a letter arrived within the week confirming low risk to downs.
Please, please try to stay positive, I know how daft that sounds, as I'm the worst for stressing! but it really does us and our beans no good.
Sadly when things have gone wrong in the past, we just think it's going to happen again! but as every day passes, we are all still here be kind to yourself and lets take one day at a time...thinking of you X

Hi Ladies,

I hope that the Stats I post below are correct. If not feel free to faff about with them

Graduates having Boys
Harry2007 DC#2, age 29 BFP (sometime in August!) - Planned c-section 24/3/11
StormBird DC#1, age 28, BFP 10/11/10 - EDD 14/7/11
AnytimeNow DC#3 age 39 BFP 20/11/10 - EDD 02/08/11

Graduates having Girls
MissLolita DC#1, age 32 BFP 30/10/10 - EDD 7/7/11

Graduates having a Surprise ( for now )
Ilovekittyelise DC#1 (kind of) age 34 BFP 30/12/10 - EDD 11/09/11
Chocciechip DC#1, age 39, BFP 11/01/11 - EDD
Loup23 DC#1, age 31 BFP 28/02/11 - EDD 08/11/11

Hope these are ok for everyone, wasn't sure what title to give the ladies that won't know what they're having yet, so thought it best to keep you in the Surprise category - hope thats ok?!?!?

Well its still sinking in that we're having a baby boy, I keep catching myself smiling as I daydream and then snap myself out of it thinking 'christ, what must you look like with that silly look on your face' LOL!

Choccie I'm so sorry your feeling this way but can totally understand why you feel the need to plan ahead just in case. I don't know about your hospital, I can only draw on my own experiences but we were 13 weeks when we went for the Nuchal Scan and our combined results showed us to be high risk of downs. Becuase I was 13 weeks they fast tracked us through, but only as long as we were comforable with the decisions we were making. I really hope you do not have to go through any of this. I have my fingers crossed that your scan goes smoothly. I completely agree with Anytime you have to try your best to stay positive, we are all rooting for you. xx

Loup Hi, about the cramps - I think its quite normal to experience period type cramps in the early stages. I remember that I did for about 2 weeks before I realised that AF was definately not coming and maybe I should test. And if I remember rightly, these cramps happened on and off up until I was about 9 weeks. Please try not to worry.

Harry I hope you are ok. Its such a shame that you feel the way you do about not doing it again but totally understandable, you've been through such a lot. It is amazing though that there is only 2 weeks left for you til baby is due to arrive, scary and exciting all at once.

Well must dash, will catch up again as soon as I can.

XX

Great post storm, boba your stats aren't on there...

Wishing you the very best for tomorrow choccie I have everything crossed.

I am 6 weeks tomorrow - so so early still. The pain in my left hip yesterday was awful but has now gone, doesn't bode well for labour though

x

Just want to wish you luck for tomorrow choccie. I totally understand how stressful this must be for you and timescales between each process are extremely tight so I don't blame you for wanting to do it privately. Even if it doesn't calm your fears results wise, it'll give you peace of mind timescale wise. I'll be thinking of you tomorrow xxx

Thanks for updating the stats Storm

Could it be round ligament pain loup?

Hope everything is ok choccie?