#TTC1 - Second Wave grads thread the Second!

[kavanaughkj]

Hello all! Welcome to the second thread for the 'new wave' of grads from #TTC1 - the first wave ladies seem to have decamped en masse to Facebook now (I heard weaning mentioned last time I ventured onto it) so this is now officially the place to be!

We're pretty spread out over the pregnancy journey so far with some newbies and some about to pop I'll try to maintain a list so if anybody wants to leave details of due dates and whether you're Team Blue, Pink or Vanilla (I think we're pretty heavily skewed towards Pink at the moment) then leave your details and I'll amalgamate them!

As Moose mentioned in our last thread, please do feel free to join in if this is your first time walking this weird and wonderful path - there is no such thing as TMI and we're all learning off each other!

So sorry to hear this Star it must be a shock and difficult. Think the others on here have already given you great advice. Take time with your OH to process today's information then do some reading and research and have a good talk about it all. I hope you don't have too long to wait til your scan with the specialist? Thinking of you and congratulations on team blue, what a lovely scan pic!

Thanks ladies. Just got a call from the hospital, scan is Friday afternoon so at least it's not too long to wait & I'm glad it's before the weekend.

Beautiful scan picture Starmist. And yay to team blue!

That's good news star glad you're not waiting over the weekend.

I've just lost another big blob of mucus plug..!

Thinking of you star, glad you don't have to wait long for the next scan. Hope it goes well.

music yeah I think I will ask for the test, my friends in the profession have all had in when they have found at their pregnant and the gps haven't had any problems with them having it. If it wasn't positive I'd think I'd just have to spend even more time washing my hands than I already do....

Lovely pic star so sorry to hear you are in limbo. We had very similar at our 12 week scan. Much already measurement was high and my bloods were awful. We got taken into the bad news room and told there was 1/13 chance of downs and 1/14 for Edwards/ Patau. It was such an awful day and a horrible feeling. I really feel for you, I wouldn't wish that day on my worst enemy.

It's good you are having another scan, at this point if it is downs it is very likely they would see other markers. I ended up having a cvs same day as the 12 week scan as Xmas was coming up. I didn't care about knowing before Xmas but I knew that everything would slow down and if it had been Edwards/ Patau which are both fatal I'd have wanted a termination asap rather than having to wait all over Xmas and new year. It wasn't pleasant but it was ok and amino is even lower risk. I felt very rushed into it but I did a lot of research (googling) afterwards and you can look up the statistics for cvs / amino for your hospital before making a decision.

The NHS tests do throw up so many false positives and there is every chance that all will be fine, especially as they didn't see anything else to worry about on the scan today.

Let me know if you have any questions and feel free to pm me.

The waiting is the worst thing. Try to keep yourself distracted and don't google too much

Nuchal measurement -
Not much already

Forgot to say I found reading really helped to distract me. Something that really holds your attention but lightweight enough not too need too much concentration. I re read most of the Harry Potter books around that time. Also I found it helpful to talk to DH about the what ifs. We couldn't think about anything else anyway and it was good to know we were on the same page.

Like I said hopefully it will all be a fuss over nothing. I had extra heart scans because of the nuchal measurement, all is fine but they do like to be cautious which of course is the right way to be, it's just really scary sometimes.

Thanks Seahawk that's all so helpful, I really appreciate it. Being taken into the bad news room was horrible, I nearly burst into tears when she uttered the word 'termination' as an option to think about. She only mentioned it could mean baby has downs, she didn't mention Edwards/patau. You're spot on when you say they have to explain everything but it can be overwhelming & scary. Hopefully it will help seeing the consultant on Friday & we'll find out more then

I didn't mean to scare you about Edwards/Patau! I'm no doctor but I'm pretty sure that by 20 weeks there would be obvious signs of either on a scan. I guess they have to mention termination just so you know it is an option.

My other bit of advice is write down every question you think of - I use the notes function on my phone - when you go for the scan your mind will go blank.

I'll be thinking of you - only 2 days to go and I really hope it's all a scare over nothing xx

Oh and if you do have anyone you can tell irl that helped. I talked to my mum and sisters and best friends and their support was great. I had planned on telling my family that weekend in person but instead they all got tearful phone calls. It wasn't what I'd planned but made me realise how lucky I am to have them

Oh no you didn't scare me, I was relieved they hadn't mentioned them. We haven't told anyone irl, we think they will just worry & it will stress us more. I will confide in one of my closest friends when I see her tomorrow though. Yes I'll definitely make some notes thanks

Star sorry to hear about the worry over baby but a beautiful scan picture and so happy to see our 1st team blue! Glad you don't have long to wait for the 2nd scan, will be thinking if you both. x

Marmite very excited about mucus plug, didn't realise it could go in bits! Still feel like such a novice when it comes to all of this.

Ladies I'm not doing so good. Woke up in the night for the loo & burst into tears. When I got back into bed I felt the first proper kicks I've felt, it's just been fluerrings before but I felt proper little kicks last night. I tried to tell myself it's baby saying all is fine but I've been crying on the way into work & I'm sat in the car parked up crying now. What a mess

Oh Star so sorry you're feeling like this it's totally understandable. Have you got a good friend at work you can confide in?? Or could you maybe just call in sick/work from home today and tomorrow til you've had your scan on Friday? Sending virtual hugs. How lovely that you felt proper little kicks in the night though.

Fishy it'll be you before you know it..!

Nothing further happening here other than I appear to be coming down with DHs lurgy beginning to feel like I'm going to be pregnant forever and never actually go into labour... scheduled induction is a week today which I think is sort of hanging over me this morning...

Oh star I'm so sorry you're going through this. Can you take the rest of the week off? I just took time off sick while we waited for the cvs results as I couldn't face work. DH wanted to keep busy and went in so I guess it depends what works for you but don't feel bad if you don't feel up to it. Have you tried calling the hospital and asking if they can do the scan any earlier? Could be worth a try. My experience is that you have to push for everything.

Aww star So sorry. I think the not knowing is the worst, as you think all the worst possible scenarios and yet can't actually deal with anything as you don't know if it's happening or not.
I did a mixture, on a couple of days I went into work but I found it hard to deal with other people as I kept wanting to blurt out what was happening and shout at them and was better off at home even though it didn't keep my mind off it.
I agree with pushing to get everything as soon as you can. I practically turned up at the hospital and said I'd just wait until someone could take my bloods rather than wait for an appointment in a few days, just to get them sent off as soon as possible? Worth phoning and asking if there's any cancellations today and say how it's affecting you not knowing? We're all thinking of you xxx

marmite any more news on that plug?!

Ha moose no news on the plug... no more has come out and nothing else is happening one week to go til induction date and feeling a bit meh today!

Oh no Marmite I really hope you're not getting poorly. I know it must be frustrating that baby isn't making an appearance yet but try & get some rest. Get drinking respberry leaf tea, I'm sure that's supposed to help.

I ended up talking to my manager & I've taken the day as holiday as I just didn't feel up to going in & I didn't want to have a sick day. I've spoken to the hospital, they've moved things around to fit me in on Friday so can't go any sooner. It's not too long I guess. Have been discussing with DH, just not sure what to do next really. We've got a little a list of questions for the consultant though & I'm going to tell my mum this afternoon as she's always so positive & calm so I think it'll be good to hear her thoughts on it.

I know we couldn't have the NT measurement done as baby was bouncing around too much but I had the blood test & the risk was less than 1 in 98,000. We just can't get our heads round how we were such a low risk & now we're having to think about all this.

star telling your mum sounds like a good idea if she is level headed and positive. I think that's what you need to get you through these difficult days before you can find out more at the next scan.

I can completely see where you're coming from about the shock of going from such a low risk to a potentially high risk situation. I hope you can see that as a positive for now though - the other signs for DS don't seem to be there for your baby boy (blood tests, major heart anomalies etc).

Will you go into work tomorrow or can you work from home? Hope your manager was understanding about it.

I have had my first proper run in with pregnancy constipation today (have suffered pre pregnancy). Unfortunately it was while I was at work and it involved bleeding (so so sorry for the tmi!). Was quite shocked and horrified at the time but have done some googling and quite a few people seem to suffer during pregnancy. Think I might need to go and buy some prunes though!

Also haven't felt a peep out of baby all day which has made me distracted and unproductive. I assume she has gone into some dark recess of my uterus for a while. Going home now to lie down and focus on her for a while and see if I feel anything. Has anyone else experienced that? I'm 23 weeks now and movement is definitely stronger/weaker from day to day - it really seems to vary. Had some really strong kicks about a week ago but since then it has never been as strong.

Music I can't really work from home & I've got loads on so I'll have to go in tomorrow. When I finished talking to my manager this morning she said "see you tomorrow" so clearly she's expecting me back. DH has an incredibly understanding boss & he was ordered home today & told not to come back until after next scan.

Mum was great. Really glad we shared it with her. Bless her she said they'd pay for the private testing if we wanted it. She said to wait & see what consultant says on Friday though before making any decisions.

I've not suffered with constipation yet. If anything it's been the opposite! It doesn't sound much fun, definitely get stocked up on the prunes.

I'm only just at the start of feeling proper kicks but I've heard baby doesn't settle into a proper moving pattern until later than you are now. If you're worried though call the emergency midwife number, you can always get baby checked if needed. Sure she's just tucked up in a corner all cosy. Maybe try having a cold drink & lie on your left side, or try having a bath, bet that'll wake her up.

music I think from 28 weeks is when you should be concerned about a definite change in movements. Have you tried drinking a pint of ice cold water then laying in the dark and concentrating?
As for the constipation, I feel you!!! I've started drinking a glass of prune juice a day (it's grim but I force it down) and a week in Its made a huge difference!

So sorry to hear what you're going through star. Will be thinking of you on Friday. Be kind to yourself

Hope you're doing ok Star and glad the chat with your mum has helped. Be kind to yourself today, especially if you are at work.

Sorry to hear about the constipation Music . Something I have somehow managed to dodge in pregnancy! Hope the prunes bring relief for you!!

Also as moose said think it's from 28 weeks you should expect to be aware of a proper pattern of movements and watch out for any reduction or change. I find a bath really gets them moving, or reclining back against the sofa/lying on my back for a bit. Also you can try doing a couple of loud claps by your bump, that sometimes wakes them up! Some people say eating something sugary too. An excuse for chocolate if nothing else

Still pregnant. Beginning to think I will be pregnant forever. Maybe I've just made this whole baby thing up in my head!!?? Beginning to feel like a crazy woman...