Dec19/Jan20 IVF Graduates - Thread 2

[Chooklass]

New thread for us all to keep in touch. Think we're all nearing the end of the first trimester or dipping our toes into the second ... how far we've come since the days of agonising over stims!

Link to old thread:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/birth_clubs/3812203-Dec19-Jan20-IVF-Graduates

Great news @justkeeprunning5 !!

@Wimbledon1 - I'm totally the same, was straight onto people's whatsapp pics being nosey 😂. My first impression was that everyone is posher than me (based on very little!) and most seem to be on 2nd or 3rd babies. There hasn't been much chat yet on mine, just introductions.

@Chooklass @Wimbledon1 thank you! Yes still team yellow over here 💛. Your NCT are on the ball already, ours isn’t until October. I would be exactly the same with the pictures. We live on the edge of a few different boroughs and our group is in a ‘posher‘ area than ours - interested to see what people are like in the group, hopefully they will be friendly.

Heya, yes I'm 26w4d my NCT is early August, I'll make sure to update my WhatsApp pic for something more posh haha 😂

I haven't heard anything from NCT yet. Although mine isn't until late August. I am not sure I even have a photo on WhatsApp!

Work has been so crazy, I worked a 12 hour day today sitting at a desk for most of it and now my legs are in agony and just looked at my ankles and they have disappeared! They are so swollen! 😩 Has anyone else had this joy yet?
Had a mini meltdown earlier as I am going to have lots of work up until due date and all the exercise, reading and preparing I had planned isn't really happening. I am self employed so it is really hard to say no to work.

Thanks all for your input on what you’re all doing re cv, so hard to know what is right especially when DS just can’t keep a distance!

We’ve had a very dramatic afternoon/ evening, I was riding an industrial quad bike and my ds decided to see what would happen if he pushed my thumb on the accelerator, managed to flip it sideways and trap me underneath, he was absolutely fine but it took 2 men to pull the quad off my leg and long and short story baby is fine but I have chipped the bone in my ankle. So yes I do have a swollen ankle @FlapJackered but just the one! Anyway, all very dramatic as I say but could have been so much worse. Not sure how I’m going to sleep, I was already struggling! And navigating life on crutches with a bump in a 4 story house... Anyway, I’m going to stick to the sofa for a few days, seems like the safest place for me!

@DobbieFreeElf oh god! Thank goodness you're ok, that is very dramatic! What a shock, I hope you're ok?
Yes definitely take it easy now! No more Quad bike escapades! 😬

I’m fine thanks @FlapJackered, little bean has been kicking away all morning so that’s reassuring! My mum’s coming to pick up DS to take him for the night because I’m pretty immobile! Worst problem is that there’s 2 flights of stairs between the living room and the nearest toilet 🤣

@DobbieFreeElf That must have been terrifying! So glad all is ok! (I'm going to stop complaining about my single flight of stairs now...!)

@DobbieFreeElf that must have been so scary! Hope you manage to get lots of rest and fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.

Thanks guys, I was actually exceptionally calm, I realised as we were falling that DS was going to be clear of the quad and he got straight up. It took a couple of minutes for the farm workers to hear me but as soon as they had it off me I just had a feeling it was only my leg that was busy up, I was pretty certain baby was fine and was more worried about reassuring DS that it was ok (even though I was pretty pissed off with him having already been told not to touch the accelerator) oh well, he’s gone to nanny’s and I’m binge watching Netflix for the foreseeable! DH is obviously not concerned, he’s asked if he can still play golf tomorrow 🤣

@DobbieFreeElf gosh what a scary story! Glad to hear you and the baby are alright and hope the anckle heals quickly.

@FlapJackered I swap between a kneeling chair, regular office chair with feet on a footstool and sofa for video calls when I work long hours. Have a look at compression stockings, I heard they help.

I was looking through my family budgeting reports and edited the tag that used to be called IVF then was renamed to IVF/Pregnancy and has now been updated to "IVF/Pregnancy/Baby" as I now started purchasing things for him. Felt really satisfying to see a goal being achieved. I know babies are not there yet and there is so much more happy moments to look forward to but isn't it amazing what we all have achieved so far.

It really is @Viletta ! I love how we are mostly talking plans on this thread now rather than just freaking out! Though I'm sure there's plenty of that still going on too.

At my pregnancy yoga class last night we were talking about birth plans and everyone had to say what their basic plan was. I'm one of the furthest along in class but had least idea of plan 🙈. I wondered if this was residual IVF angst, being scared to think ahead? There were girls there just into second trimester who have everything planned out! So I feel a bit like you @FlapJackered - behind in reading etc!

Blimey @DobbieFreeElf - this was quite a story to read, yikes!! Glad to hear you are (mostly) ok and most importantly that bump is. 🙂 And now the grandparents are on DS duty you can chill a bit perhaps? (My mum would've hit the roof about this. She told me off last weekend for standing on a log to let a family past in a socially distanced way "what are you doing up there, you could fall" 🙄)

@FlapJackered - yes! Last week when it was hot I had awful elephant feet. Couldnt wear my sandals even. They've gone back down now but have been a bit on/off and expect that to continue to be honest.

@Viletta, thank you, I think it is good to sometimes reflect on just how far we've come since the TWW in Jan when we were chatting. I'm 26 weeks today. Half a year!

Agree it's now moving fast, I have also not read as much as I'd hoped and no @Chooklass haven't even vaguely started thinking about a birth plan. Maybe this weekend?! It probably is time to start taking this seriously! As you say, nerves I think have held me back although this week I ordered the bedside crib. Oh, and lashed out a five figure sum on a family car. It's been a pricey week!!

@Wimbledon1 that's good to know I am not alone with the giant feet!
What car did you go for if you don't mind me asking? I think we may need to do the same at some point, although I think we will probably survive for a while. It's going to be a squish...and the dog will probably get the raw deal!! 😂

@Chooklass I haven't even looked at the birth plan either! 🙈 although I did think that the midwives bring it up at the 28 week appointment so I thought I would wait until then anyway as they might have some good advice? 🤷‍♀️

@Viletta it does make me feel so lucky to be at this point looking back at the last few years. I still sometimes look at my bump and it feels like some crazy dream as I never thought it was going to happen!
It is lovely to have everyone here in a similar position and knowing how much it means to us all. And that we are all so close now!!

@DobbieFreeElf 2 flights of stairs! 😬 it's going to take up your whole day just getting up and down them 😂 - you could demand to be carried up by your DH?

What car did you go for @Wimbledon1?

When I told my family in the group WhatsApp they were just like “you tit”! I didn’t really tell DHs family what happened because they’re very risk adverse and don’t really get the outdoors/ farm/ horse life they think I take my life into my own hands everyday 🤷🏻‍♀️ With DS I was still riding everyday, competing and jumping 1m20/30 on a horse up til I was about 6 months and only stopped when the horse picked up an injury (I still suspect my husband did this to stop me riding so much 😉)

Definitely going to take the opportunity to rest this morning before the hurricane returns demanding snacks!

I wouldn’t worry too much about reading ahead, I knew absolutely nothing before I went to the NCT course with DS which was at about 34 weeks I think, that gave me plenty of information! To be fair, with him I didn’t even own a baby grow at that stage! Obviously I didn’t even consider he could be early 🤣!

@DobbieFreeElf so glad you're okay!

Interesting on the birth plan thing. I have no plan and I'm not sure I intend to make one tbh. Think it is definitely a hangover from IVF. I trust my consultant and I will do what they say - that's my plan!

I was reading something the other day about labour room sprays (so you associate a nice smell with your baby) and people talking about playlists etc and it made me feel a bit weird. I dunno why. I'm very much planning to go in, get it done and come home. No dimmed lights and whale music for me. But then that made me a bit sad that maybe that's part of the experience I'm going to miss out on... again... having missed out on making a baby the normal way and then having a normal excited pregnancy.

Maybe easier for me as it will be a c section 99% likely. I thought I'd be sad to miss out on pushing but I really don't. Maybe I'm just past the excitement of hoping my body will do what it is meant to do naturally.

Oh in positive news we’re going to meet our puppy this weekend! How drugging adorable are these guys!

Glad to hear you are ok @DobbieFreeElf, that does sound crazy, my DH would definitely not allow me to do any sort of riding, I am banned from my bike as well.

I am the same @October2020 have no birth plan and not really thinking about scents, dimmed lights and music as all I care about is to give birth to a healthy baby then come home, let the professionals do their job in order to keep us both safe, everything else is not a priority. I know it will be painful, not having any doubts about that and don't think making the room smell like lavender will make any difference. :D

We were planning to visit a couple of shops this weekend (I haven't been inside of one for 4months now!) as numbers are really down in Scotland so I feel comfortable doing it now. It's a shame Mothercare went bankrupt in November, we had one nearby and I was always looking forward to having a reason to go in. Any good ones you could recommend? We are thinking about M&S, but their baby section is rather small so that only leaves Mamas and Papas, maybe John Lewis.?

My birth plan is to try natural with no pain killers, I read in hippy birthing that this is the least traumatic and your body will get in sync and do what it's supposed to do. Sprays etc are needed to reduce stress if this is something that works for you. They said make sure you are not stressed. I though after spending so much money on IVF I want to have 100% experience with the birth 🙈😂

Also hoping to have home birth as well

We had lots of fun in mamas and papas the other day, they were totally fab. Check your john lewis has a nursery section open cos ours definitely doesn't.

I thought after IVF I'd want a full birth experience but honestly I couldn't care how she gets here so long as she does. I definitely can't see myself making an operating room playlist etc, when the consultant suggested it I must have looked at her like she was mad lol. It's funny how the experience has shaped us in different ways!

I totally believe you can do it @Viletta ! You're so positive! My brain gets in the way too much but I'm working on it. We had an interesting talk at yoga about the importance of oxytocin and how a lot of the 'woo' has science behind it, eg having relaxing smells and sounds all helps to increase oxytocin which progresses labour. It was really fascinating!

think I'm going to subscribe to the Positive Birth Company stuff. Still not convinced I'll make a 'plan' though - as long as it gets out safe I'm happy, but I'm keen to learn more about it all so I understand what's going on.

@Viletta I forgot to say I went back on a different thread I was a member of and wanted to catch up with the girls there, read a good few pages then decided not to post anything as sadly they were not as fortunate as us and with COVID they are still waiting for treatments to re-start. It made me sad and so grateful at the same time as you are right, we can't forget how far we have come and now so close or most of us even crossed viability it is definitely something we have to stop for a minute and let sink in. :)

@DobbieFreeElf Those puppies! 😍😍😍