IVF graduates due Summer 2021

[SpyroC]

A place for those of us finally moving on from the infertility boards to share feelings, questions, tmi and to generally support each other.

I need to catch up properly but I’m so tired and sicky! I just wanted to check you’re ok @ivfjourney5? Your clinic sound useless! X

I've had a chilled day and the reddish spotting has stayed away so far 🤞🏼 EPU have said they have pessaries so at least I can up my dose if I need to

@ivfjourney5 glad you're doing better today and getting support from the EPU 😊

I thought my morning sickness had mostly gone away and turned to reflux instead, but it's back with a vengeance today 😭

I'm glad it's settled and you have some pessaries @ivfjourney5. I bet you can't wait to unleash on your clinic! The things we have to do just to get what we need 😬 I had my booking in back in mid December this was just some bloods and stuff. I also got my flu jab whilst I was there. Work is intense, i cannot stand being sat on my own all day staring at a screen, it's not for me at all. But at least it's safe. What fb groups have you joined? I'm too scared to leave the anonymity of Mumsnet just yet. Though I have found a local pregnancy yoga group to join once I get to 14 weeks 🙌🏻. Thing is I can't see me having the energy for it as things are at the moment! 😴

@SamoyedFan123 my ms struck with a vengeance last night too! 🤢 It hadn't gone away but has been less aggressive recently. Can't wait for it to do one!

I hope everyone's having a good weekend xx

@SpyroC do you still have yoga classes running? I was all set to go back to mine next week now I'm 14 weeks, the same class I used to go to with my twins, and the same teacher we did baby yoga with after they were born, but everything has been closed down around here now - gutted 😭

It's all online unfortunately @SamoyedFan123 I think I'd be too scared to go in person anyway. I got in to You Tube yoga over lock down 1 but with my back playing up so much I think I need a live instructor. I'm also hoping it'll be a way to make real life baby friends, though I suspect that will be harder online.

@spyroC ah okay, it's such a shame 😭 i used to do a lot of YouTube fertility yoga but unfortunately it's not very practical these days with twin toddlers running around - as soon as I lie on the floor I'm fair game 😳
On the plus side, i took my last progesterone pessary this morning 😀🥳

@SamoyedFan123 thank you. Sorry to hear your sickness has come back 😔 Congrats on the last pessary!! I can't wait for the gunk to stop

@SpyroC I definitely can't wait to go all out in my complaint, in the back of my mind I'm worried about my frozen embryos but I know they can't do anything to detriment them! How are you feeling after the flu jab? The Fb group is called Pregnancy after IVF Support UK. I understand the worry of having your name out there, the first thing I did upon joining was look if I had any friends or friends of friends in the group, there was one friend who I was at school with but don't speak to, but I knew she had ivf so I was expecting her there to be honest. I found another woman at my clinic who's also been having problems with them so it made me feel better than I'm not over exaggerating with things. How did you find the local yoga group, was it something your midwife mentioned?

This just gave me a laugh so I thought I'd share the humour this morning

@SamoyedFan123 I can imagine, my cats bad enough 😂 congratulations on the last pessary! Do but miss them!

@SamoyedFan123 it's annoying fertility clinics have that hold over people. You could get it out on a HFEA complaint and then they wouldn't know who it was. Do groups still show up to others when you join? I'm quite open about my ivf with people I know but fb people might be a step too far. I can't remember how I came across the yoga group to be honest. I've seen a few classes but this one really appealed as it's led by a midwife who works at the hospital I have chosen and she starts the sessions with q&a. It also seems quite social and I see they've had maternity leave meet ups. I'm starting to think about building a local support network I guess. 😂 that tweet, I remember the pant hiding well! It felt weird at my 10w scan not having to undress!

@SamoyedFan123 that should say: I do not miss them.

My bloods came back today and my iron is low 🙁. No wander I'm so tired! My midwife thought I'd have enough reserves from my previous healthy diet but apparently my stores are already depleted. I now have to take iron tablets that have nausea as a side effect 🤦🏻‍♀️. I also have to repeat a urine test as apparently it's contaminated 🤔 my friend said this is common because of discharge getting in the sample. Lovely!

Anybody else?

@SpyroC my midwife gave me very specific instructions to follow when providing a urine sample, to avoid this very thing. She was very firm!

She said have a shower first and a good wash, then produce the sample straight after. This should minimise the amount of discharge that gets in it apparently. But I had to do it first thing in the morning and I was so desperate I nearly wet myself in the shower!

@SpyroC I suffer from low iron too I but don't take the tablets the NHS give you, they're awful things and cause constipation and nausea. I take Spatone liquid iron sachets - they have no side effects and you just pop one in a glass of orange juice and then you can't even taste it. Cheapest place to get them is Amazon - about £8 for a month box (although if your iron is very low you'll need to start with 2 a day so double that up). Also be careful not to take your iron with dairy or stodgy carby foods - they stop the iron being absorbed. My first midwife in my last pregnancy didn't tell me this so I was merrily taking it with my porridge every morning. Repeat bloods a month later were worse and it was only then they said I shouldn't take it with breakfast! It's fine with fruit though.

Gosh I've missed lots! Hope everyone is okay and congrats to those who have had great scans, and to those who are finally getting off the progesterone!

@SpyroC I had low iron stores in March last year so have taken iron since. See what they prescribe - you might need a fairly high dose for 8 weeks or so to bolster your numbers and then you should be able to reduce it. That's what I did from recollection. I've just taken an over the counter supplement daily since which seems to do the job now my levels have climbed back up again. Not sure what caused mine to plummet - never had an issue before. I've been told to continue them through pregnancy and they will let me know the results of my bloods today in case I need to increase the amount.

As @SamoyedFan123 says you should try and take them half an hour or so before meals, and with some orange juice as this improves absorption. There is no additional benefit to taking them twice a day over once a day I believe.

I had my booking in appt with the midwife today - just loads of questions really! And we have the 12 week scan booked for the 27th when I should be 12 weeks exactly! Looking forward to that. It feels a bit more real after today's appt. Just hope everything is okay inside! 😬

@MGee123 sorry I didn't explain that very well - the starting with two sachets a day thing was meant to read the same as the way you explained increasing the dose for the first few weeks - didn't come out right though 😂

I’ve got myself into a bit of an anxiety spiral and I feel like my sickness has lessened over the last couple of days... has anyone else found that? I’m 8 weeks tomorrow... wondering when I will ever relax!

Seem to think it’s your 12 week scan today @TheGlitterFairy... all the luck that it goes well!

Fingers crossed the iron supplements do the trick @SpyroC. I was also told to drink fruit juice when eating foods high in iron as it helps with absorption ...

Exciting about the booking in appt @MGee123. I’ve got mine on 21 Jan but just a phone call - did you have yours in person? It suggests online that the midwife would take blood so not sure how they’ll do that over the phone 😂

Hope everyone else is ok xx

Thanks for the tip @Mackie2020 I'll try that in the morning as I've got my repeat. I had to do mine at the appointment after id been at work all day.

Thanks @SamoyedFan123 I've screenshot that so if the nhs ones give me grief I'll order some. My DH paid for the prescription without I g thinking 🤦🏻‍♀️. My friend said it was just the dark 💩 for her so 🤞🏻. I did shudder when I read it can make nausea worse.

Thanks @MGee123 the rda is in my supplement too so I guess it's an absorption issue as I take that with my main meals. Plus my ms induced current awful diet. It's good to get the ball rolling with the booking in 🙌🏻.

Hopefully you are one of the lucky ones that have a placenta that gets going early. Try not to worry (impossible I know) mine stopped being constantly bad and now it seems to be ok most of the time but when it does come on (mostly triggered by smells and brushing my teeth) it's BAD. My booking in was over the phone and she said they do bloods at my scan however, when I called to chase my scan date the other midwife asked me to come in for bloods and I'm glad she did because I now know about the iron issue. Could've gone another 2 weeks doing nothing to fix this terrible exhaustion!

Thanks for all the tips. I've been given no advice at all just a message from the gp saying to pick up a prescription because my iron is slightly low. The stuff you guys and the internet say differs from the leaflet so I'm glad I checked. I had a melt down yesterday...hormones, iron tablets, pee test, cooking smells, morning sickness, brushing teeth, back ache, head ache, screen all day, not getting out, exhaustion, crap weather and a general sense of not being able to things "right" (stupid I know...hormones) it all just got a bit too much. I've had a better day today and despite another bad nights sleep I seem to have more energy. Unlikely to be the iron tablets just yet, perhaps I just needed a good cry!

Anyone been doing pelvic floor exercises? My midwife suggested this might help my back.

Sorry @BonTon this but was meant to have you tagged: Hopefully you are one of the lucky ones that have a placenta that gets going early. Try not to worry (impossible I know) mine stopped being constantly bad and now it seems to be ok most of the time but when it does come on (mostly triggered by smells and brushing my teeth) it's BAD. My booking in was over the phone and she said they do bloods at my scan however, when I called to chase my scan date the other midwife asked me to come in for bloods and I'm glad she did because I now know about the iron issue. Could've gone another 2 weeks doing nothing to fix this terrible exhaustion!

@SamoyedFan123 I also screenshot the iron recommendation as I've had low iron in the past, and the tablets they gave me completely messed up my body which I don't fancy right now 😂 although I'm taking pregnacare with iron in I'm fully expecting that I'll need more!

@SpyroC no fb groups don't show up and it's a private group so someone has to be part of the group to see other members. Argh annoying about the urine sample, I can imagine it happens a lot. I'm going to struggle to not have pessary gunk in mine 😬 I'm glad you've managed to have a better day today, don't kick yourself for yesterday, you're doing great 💪🏼

@MGee123 glad to hear the booking app went well, and fabulous that the scan is bang on 12 weeks!

@BonTon I've found sickness varies so don't worry too much, some days can be okay and then bam hits me straight in the head again 😂 My booking app was today on the phone, I've got another app next week for the blood and samples, but she only gave me the extra app today so I'm sure they will tell you during the call

So booking in app today, midwife casually mentioned there are no antenatal classes running at all! I was obviously not expecting anything in person but online at least?! I know it's still early yet but how am I meant to learn all the basics arghh one stress I didn't need

@ivfjourney5 Spatone is brilliant - it was recommended to me by my midwife in my last pregnancy as so many people have trouble with the tablets. I would stay away from the apple flavour ones and just stick to the plain ones and put them in a glass of orange juice, you can't taste it then. The apple ones taste horrible no matter what you put them in.
I think I saw somewhere that NCT are running online antenatal courses, but obviously these won't be free like the NHS ones. I did an NCT one last time but in all honesty I don't think it was worth it.

Thanks @SpyroC and @ivfjourney5, that makes me feel a bit better. It’s just so difficult to relax !

@SpyroC I wouldn’t beat yourself up.. tiredness is a killer anyway never mind whilst pregnant and with everything going on the world! Absolute mind fuck! Glad you’re feeling a bit better today.

@ivfjourney5... surely they’ll be up and running again by the summer?! I think you’re about a week behind me right so due in August? I have literally everything crossed that it’s back to normal by then! 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

I should amend that and say that it was worth it in terms if the group of friends I made and still have, but I'm guessing that you wouldn't get that same experience from an online course though. In terms of the info provided the only really useful stuff was the breastfeeding part. But the NHS ran (run?) courses on that separate to antenatal class.

Anyone else suddenly feel huge at around 14 weeks? I seem to have popped an enormous bump in the last 3 days - I'm much bigger now that I was at 14 weeks with my twins 😳 slightly scared at how much bigger it is going to get now!

Afternoon all, hope everyone is doing ok? Things here are similar to the last few weeks though I've now got a tension headache that I think is stress and lack of sleep related rather than anything more sinister. I did feel a bit of a sore throat yesterday (my weak point) but that seems to have gone now after an early night and a bit more rest which is good.

I had the booking appt last Friday which all went well - I don't know why I was so worried about it really! Fear of the unknown I think. My blood pressure was playing up - I tend to get white coat syndrome - so ended up having to have it done 3 times and it was fine on the 3rd go round which is a relief! I've not heard anything back from the blood tests so assume they're all ok otherwise I would have heard?!
@MGee123 pleased yours went well too!

@BonTon thanks - the 12 week scan in this coming Friday (eek!) and I've also got an appt with a doc in the team who are overseeing me before then and another set of bloods for the downs testing along with the scan. Really pleased that DH is able to come to the scan so think it'll make it all seem a bit more real than it does now with him there! Just hope all is ok in there!
@bonton maybe not a bad thing your sickness is subsiding as the placenta is growing and starts to take over?

@SpyroC hope you're feeling a bit better now and I think a meltdown from time to time is ok!! There's an awful lot going on at the moment in the world anyway let along with the anxiety of being pg and feeling ill too. Hopefully the iron will help to get your tiredness levels back on track too which will help the general outlook.

@SamoyedFan123 i'm a bit behind you at 12 +3 today but I do feel as though i've got more of a bump than I did even last week!!

I'm looking forward to getting back to yoga in the next couple of weeks as have been missing it!!

Was going to ask - when will you be letting work know about your pregnancy? I've been trying to work out when to tell mine though easy enough to hide at the moment with wfh. I know it's not a legal requirement til 25 weeks but that seems a bit short notice for me. I then thought perhaps 16 then wondered if it was better to wait to the 20 week scan? Argh - who knows?!