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

www.scotland.org/about-scotland/scotlands-stories/baby-box

@Chooklass you are very lucky with passed on items, I think it's so lovely to have baby things to go around family and friends. My SIL said she'll give me some baby clothes that she got for her now 2 y.o. But they are still using pram and car seat, so will have to get bigger items ourselves. Family should help with buying some of the bits for us too.

Love the Scottish gift box! What a lovely gesture.

Here is the video for the cardigan. I ended up getting 50gr yarn and knitted in two threads, so would be 100gr instead of 80gr from the video but it worked well in terms of size!

@Lily999 we've got plenty of time to get the things we will need in October. I just started looking into this mainly out of boredom.

@DobbieFreeElf I wake up at least 3 times a night. 16w2d today. I find I drink more in the second half of the day and especially thirsty before going to bed. Should probably try to drink more in the morning. I find having full bladder pushes onto my uterus.

Oh @Chooklass thank you that's so sweet, hope it is for everyone as so far anything I looked up sounded great and I got excited then turned out we don't qualify because we are not receiving benefits.

Ordered a blood pressure monitor that will arrive today, I wanted to start recording it as my blood pressure is in general low, just to keep an eye on it.

Thanks for the video @Viletta, I am the same as you as we also have a few items, such as clothes and one particular baby toy that my sister kept and passed on to us saying all 3kids in the family loved it and they would like our kids to have it one day, so we kept it, but no large items.

@Lily999 I've got a blood pressure monitor from boots. Mine is quite low normally and when I feel dizzy it gets even lower. Having regular exercise helps me.

@Lily999 - it's definitely for everyone! I love the philosophy behind it - that every child should have the same start in life❤️. Technically we're paying for it through our taxes I guess! We might not take one, depends if we still need stuff by then or not.

All our stuff is up in the loft! Looking forward to getting it all down 😊 we didn’t buy anything (I mean pram or anything) until I was 39 weeks with DS when I dragged my heavily pregnant self around the baby show at Olympia to get everything! My essential shopping list would include:

• next2me crib
• sleepyhead (honestly everyone told us to get one and I thought it was a bit of a gimmick but after weeks of no sleep I caved and the next night was the first time DS slept for a few hours!)
• baby monitor with breathing pad (although you forget to turn off the pad in the night and wake up the whole street when you pick up baby and the thing goes off!)
• nipple shields (just incase you’re so sore that you feel you can’t go on and send your DH on a wild goose chase at midnight like I did. HV’s aren’t keen on the but I transitioned off and back to boob when my poor cracked bleeding nipples had had a few weeks to recover)
• mamaRoo (£££ not essential but it was pretty great!)
• an amazon prime account! You won’t believe what you decide you “need” at 3am and prime means it’s with you before you know it!

Our pram is a cosatto firstly because I loved the prints and colours but mostly because they have an amazing 5 year warranty and will replace or fix any parts, quibble free. I have the ooba which is quite bulky but we do lots of outside walking and with a newborn in November last time it was what we needed!

and a gin subscription...

Thanks @Viletta, I am starting yoga next Wednesday, looking forward to it. One of the girls said make sure you let the nurses know you have normally a low blood pressure as apparently during her C--section they freaked out and thought her heart was about to stop.

@Chooklass that sounds good then, still feels ages away, but I do enjoy thinking / dreaming about the time our babies will arrive :)

My maternity jeans arrived today and they look great on me however when I sit down the button is pressing my uterus and I don't feel safe wearing them so need to send them back (not free shipping) and request one size up. It is soooo difficult to shop these days! But these will be the stories we tell them one day. Just hope it can be sorted before the 6th of May as I don't have anything to wear on my next midwife appointment.... :)

Thanks for the list @DobbieFreeElf, out of 6 I had no idea what 3of them were :D OMG I have so much to learn!

Thanks for checking in @Wimbledon1. I’ve been feeling a bit off these past week or so (few dizzy / sick feeling spells) so trying to avoid screens where I can outside of working from home. I’m not usually much of a morning eater but think my blood sugar level must drop too much overnight resulting in this so am going to try some toast before bed to see if that helps.

Welcome @October2020! Glad you found us over here.

Great news that so many of you have had your scans now, is there anyone else still waiting on theirs aside from me? Mine is next week.

Despite not having morning sickness I’ve lost 4lb in the past month And I’m not that big to start with... I’m assuming it’s because I’m not usually eating my ‘healthy’ pret salads for lunch with all the oil in the dressing. It has done wonders for my bank balance! Anyone else had this? I’m super bloated despite this.

I really need to get a more comfortable bra... so hard without being measured. Any Recommendations?

@Viletta That baby cardigan is the cutest!

My Nan tried to teach me so many times but I was just dreadful at it, maybe it’s time to give it another go (although maybe a blanket rather than something so detailed as a cardigan!) X

Good morning! @justkeeprunning5 it's so good to hear from you! I also wake up absolutely starving every morning so there must be something about the blood sugar dropping overnight, toast could be a good idea, although I am a huge fan of breakfast. :)

Your question gave me an idea and I read back a few pages on this thread trying to figure out where are we now in our "weeks" and this is what I came up with, please amend it fi I am wrong, it is just a rough idea obviously there can be a few days here and there, but as of today/tomorrow:

17weeks:
@Littlelot

16weeks:
@Viletta
@FlapJackered
@Wimbledon1

15weeks:
@Chooklass

14weeks:
@rainbow178
@Lily999
@October2020

13weeks:
@DobbieFreeElf

12weeks:
@justkeeprunning5

As for bras, I stopped wearing them as I spend most of my time in the house working from home, then if I go for a walk the only thing I can cope with is a sports bra that used to be loose and now fits, but if I had to go to the office I would have to buy brand new ones for sure.

Great work on the summary @Lily999!

I need to video call all day for work so no bra isn’t a great option for me , I may order various sizes online and hope for the best.

@DobbieFreeElf thank you the list! I read lots of great comments on sleepyhead but safe sleep association doesn't recommend them for safe sleeping as they are padded. Do you do supervised sleep with this one? My SIL loved it. She also has a cossato pram. Are you happy with yours in terms of how it pushes?

@Viletta I used my sleepyhead with the Angel monitor breathing pad underneath. To be honest, 3 years ago there wasn’t anything from the safe sleep association on it (or not that I and my many friends who used it heard) and I will use it again this time in the next2me crib. DS was in it from a few weeks until he outgrew it which would have been well before he was moving around too much or rolling on his own.

The Ooba handles really well but it is very bulky, much more of an SUV so where you live and what size car you have would need to be taken into consideration! The smaller models all look great too but I haven’t test driven those! I found that price wise The travel system was cheaper than I expected, we chose it at the babyshow after looking at and comparing it to loads of different makes!

Hope that helps!

It's helping to start to make a baby shopping list, thanks guys!

I've had my appointment letter for my consultant appointment at 16 weeks and the perinatal mental health team so a busy letter day! Glad to know I'm 'in the system' and not lost. I still haven't got my 20 week scan letter... but we have booked a private scan for 16 weeks.

@october2020 it is possible they will let you know on your 16 weeks appt as they told me the date of my 20 weeks scan when I was in for the 12weeks and at that point my 16 weeks appointment was cancelled due to the virus (since then they re-instated it) so the 20weeks would have been the next one. Sorry if it doesn't make sense what I meant is maybe they always let you know about the next one on the day of your appointment?

Ooh great initiative on the summary, thanks @Lily999 that's really helpful. I'm not actually 16 weeks until Friday but yes very close!

The shopping lists are really helpful too, thank you for this ladies. Although I feel slightly overwhelmed and the most recent back and forward between @Viletta and @DobbieFreeElfI largely don't know what's going on. More reading up to do I think!!

With the bras @justkeeprunning5, this is the one thing I'm proud of myself for that the weekend before lockdown I thought 'god I better buy some bras if I'm going to be in the house for two months'. Went into M&S and they wouldn't fit me in the circumstances, but the helpful lady explained that really you shouldn't need to go up much in back size because there are always different settings you can loosen as you go, but that I should go up two cup sizes if it's going to double as a nursing bra (which mine do.) They're pretty comfy and weren't overly expensive.

On the bladders thing, I'm jealous of those who feel theirs are better. Mine is terrible! If I don't go within a few minutes of noticing the need it really flipping hurts in there, even if when I do go it's hardly a waterfall, if you get me! Slightly worried that things are already so squashed in there with six months to go.....

Lots going on here and much to think about. @Lily999 I’m only just 16weeks today - wish it was 17 to be closer to the next scan!

Shopping lists look good. I’m going to have to send dh into the loft to find the stuff we packed up 7 years ago before we knew that secondary infertility was even a thing. We’ve still got our mountain buggy up there and a cot and lots of clothes, blankets. I loved grobags back when ds was a baby for sleeping. We have stuff for reusable nappies as well so will need to see if they are still okay. Think I need to get muslins, some washable breast pads (I found the disposable ones made my skin sore) and some lanolin cream. But I don’t think we need any major purchases 🤞 - probably just lots of washing to make sure everything is fresh.

In terms of bras, I need to wear my sports bra for exercise but I find I get tension headache and neck pain if I wear it for long. I ordered a flexiwire bra by Freya on Figleaves last week which took 2 days to arrive. I was a 32F before pregnancy and if I wear a non-wired bra then I end up with a really bad back. I’ve been wearing this Freya one for a few days now and it’s so comfy - I may have to order more!

Wishing I had a 16week appointment this week even if it was over the phone - I think just for the reassurance. Not sure why really as have no reason to worry. Ah well 4 weeks til the scan.

Thanks @Lily999 that's really good to see where everyone is.

@Wimbledon1 I am with you on all the shopping talk! Definitely need to do some research! 🙈

@Viletta @DobbieFreeElf I have a couple of friends who use the sleepyhead at night and say it is a godsend. When I asked about safety my friend said there has never been any case of a baby dying with one, they just can't be seen to support it. I think some risks you have to weigh up.
@Viletta that cardi is amazing! I am currently knitting a blanket (I.e a square of wool!) which is the extent of my skills but maybe I will progress at some point!

When is the time to start buying prams etc? I think we will want to leave it as late as possible as we dont really have the space to store it easily, also I quite want to go into a store and test some!
At some point we are going to need to do some serious culling of possessions as there is no room for any baby stuff at the moment. 😬 I had better get the Mari Kondo book out! 😂

@FlapJackered that’s right, I did google yesterday to see if any deaths had been directly attributed to the sleepyhead and didn’t see any but I didn’t want to start talking about SIDS etc! Too many other things to worry about at the moment! Plus there are so many other factors. Like the bumbo, they had a massive backlash about safety because a lady left her baby in it, in a running shower, unattended...

I didn’t receive my travel system (pram/ car seat etc) until the day before my due date last time! To be fair I only started Mat Leave on my Due Date! But I think I was the exception! He was still 2 weeks late though!

I’ll be buying new mattresses for the next2me and cot (when it gets there) because that is strongly advised and won’t cost much.

Bra wise, I’ve just dug out my feeding bras, rather than buy something you will just wear for pregnancy you can buy ones that will work whilst you’re feeding too. I’m currently wearing the Emma-Jane which is from JoJoMaManBeBe but my favourite (and it’s looking very threadbare is my Mumbabra (which is a clever feeding bra as it lets you mark which boob you fed from last as well as other features!) which will be replaced very soon! The great thing about these bras is they are soft, comfy and come in s/m/l sizes so you don’t need to worry about getting your sizing right, they’ll grow with you quite a bit 😊 although I do know that I’ve seen loads of new styles of mat bra since DS was born so there might be new technology/ upgrades in the last 3.5 years!

Thanks for the list @Lily999 !

We are having to do a big clear out too @FlapJackered ! Lockdown is a good time to work through stuff, but it all just has to pile up in the hallway until charity shops etc are open again! We figured we wouldn't want to spend weekends tidying out once lockdown is over so trying to get it done just now anyway.

My boobs were so sore in the night I've ordered a soft sleeping bra, also ordered two other maternity ones as I'm down to one which fits! All the ones I've ordered will work for feeding too, and two come with reusable breast pads which slot into pockets. I ordered one from JoJo a couple of weeks ago but they are apparently having warehouse and delivery probs (understandably), so I got these on Amazon Prime for now! I can't wait any longer with no boob support!

@DobbieFreeElf I think it's a very good idea to use monitor that tracks breathing. I heard the sleepy head doesn't allow babies to cool down as it's padded, but I guess that won't be a big issue for us in October. Thanks for sharing the baby chair shower story! I was thinking of using something like it when I take a shower. I think it's best to do a proper research on a particular item before purchasing keeping in mind what it's planned to be used for. My step brother's son had SIDS, it was a terrible tragedy. They adopted after.

Oh ok @Littlelot I just knew you were the first one, the leader of our group, might be that your 12weeks scan was earlier than the others' being at or almost 16weeks now.

Any of you further ahead can feel anything that might be the movements of the baby? So excited about that. :) Also do you have bumps at 16weeks?

@FlapJackered we were going to start buying (picking/discussing) items after the 20weeks scan as that seems to be a rather important one where they thoroughly check the organs and body parts. But really I would say it should only be after the 24th week as that's the viability milestone...?

@Chooklass sorry to hear you are suffering from sore boobs, those bras sound comfy, I have always been on the smaller side so not having that issue, but it might come later.
What I do have (sorry TMI) was a bit of a gelatine-like white/yellowish material that I spotted whilst in the shower and it was very weird, didn't really know what to think of it, just removed all and hoping it didn't mean anything wrong. Maybe sign of the lactation in the very early stages, but it was definitely not liquid.?.?