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.

Thanks @TheGlitterFairy. I spoke too soon and the sickness is back! The horrible taste in my mouth is the worst... can only get rid of it by eating! At least it’s hopefully a good sign

How did your scan go? On work, I’m not sure, my policy requires me to tell them as soon as possible, but I wouldnt before the nhs scan I don’t think unless I start feeling. worse. I’ve just moved into a new role (albeit at the same company) so I’m not sure it’s going to go down that well.... I think people at my place tend to tell the boss around 12 weeks so I’ll probably do the same... xxxx

@BonTon sorry to hear your feeling so sick - as you say it is at least reassuring. My sickness seems to have finally passed other than the odd wave here and there - the worst of it feels like a bad dream now lol.

I've finally found a private scanning clinic that will allow my husband and our twins in, so he'll get to see at least one scan 😊 booked for the end of the month at 17 weeks so hopefully we'll find out the gender too 🤞🤞

Thanks @ivfjourney5 I actually had to bin my usual wee pot as I noticed it had a lovely coating of pessary gunk on it! (I do rinse it after I promise 😂) I think it's so early for them to be cancelling antenatal classes that do t need to take place until summer! I plan on signing up to nct, currently it's planned to be in person but of course that could change. My mates have found them great so I guess it depends who runs the courses. I'm keen to make local maternity friends too.

@SamoyedFan123 I'm almost 13w and I can barely even tell. I always notice how much bigger people are for their second though. It's crazy it's still the case vs a twin pregnancy too!

Thanks @TheGlitterFairy. My work new from bfp onwards as they new all about the ivf. They've been great. With my job in the current climate it would've been really hard not to say. How did your scan go? I have mine on Tuesday at 13w exactly. The scanxiety hasn't crept in just yet, I think the sickness is a good sign in that respect. I'm more nervous about the screening tests I think.

How are you feeling @BonTon? I thought my sickness was getting better too but nah 🤦🏻‍♀️. Im so fed up with it now...where is the 2nd trimester glow they speak of?? 🙈

It's been a very up and down week for me and I'm fed up with being sick, tired and not being able to eat properly. I can't tell if the iron tablets have made things worse or not. I'm going to talk to the midwife about anti-sickness meds at my scan I think. I dread to think how malnourished I must be. X

Pretty grim thanks @SpyroC 😂 but had our 9 week scan today and baby is measuring really well so all worth it hopefully! Sorry you’re feeling crap - when is your 12 week scan? Must be very soon xxx

Today I see 🤦🏼‍♀️ I’m blaming that on baby brain 😁

I'm glad your scan went well @BonTon mine did too and the nuchal fold (or whatever it's called) was nice and thin so just 🤞🏻 the bloods are low risk too. I never underestimate baby brain 🙈😂. Do you have your 12w booked in?

I felt awful again yesterday and my midwife has suggested reducing the iron to just one tablet until the sickness stops and taking it at night. She said if it doesn't improve I could try the spatone @SamoyedFan123 suggested. I'm gonna pick some up next time we do a shop. It's currently only £9 in Sainsbury's if anyone else is thinking of taking it.

I found out today that I need to see a consultant and apparently it's just because I'm ivf. Anybody else? 12w scan tip-know your egg collection date-they asked me today. Oh and also I didn't realise that it takes an hour for liquid to get to your bladder. Apparently my bladder was too empty so she had to prod around a lot. Weird because I felt like I needed a wee and I easily did a per sample afterwards 🤷🏻‍♀️

@SpyroC and @BonTon glad to hear the scans today went well! That's odd they wanted your egg collection date Spyro, in both my pregnancies the NHS were completely disinterested in that and were only interested in their own measurements to date the babies - they didn't even ask for the dates. I guess each Trust must be different. Sorry to hear the iron isn't agreeing with you - I would definitely try the Spatone, no nasty side effects at all from that. Cheapest place to get it is amazon.

That’s interesting @SpyroC - a friend said to me that you’re automatically categorised as high risk if you’ve had IVF but I’m not at all sure what the rationale behind that is. But I guess can’t be a bad thing if you’re getting more time with the consultant? I have my booking in appt on Thursday so I guess they will give me a 12 week scan date then?

Ps great news about the scan! Should have said that first 🤦🏼‍♀️😂

I was surprised too @SamoyedFan123 they weren't at all interested for dating purposes only the ladies doing the bloods it took me back that they knew about "egg harvest" and fresh/frozen! Incidentally the date is the same as the midwife calculated from my ivf dates anyway so I didn't make a fuss.

I had heard that too @BonTon but not seen anyone say about it on here so I think @SamoyedFan123 is probably right, it depends where you live 🙄. Yes I'm quite happy to get to chat to a consultant to be honest! Maybe they will decide if I'm classed as high risk or not. She said they'll decide if my midwife care is through the hospital or community midwives so I guess that'll be based on risk too. At my birthday booking in apt she asked me what hospital I wanted and then referred me for the scan. X

Hi all, can I join this thread? I didn’t post much on the fertility boards as new to this site. I had my second ivf cycle in Nov and am now 8+4 following a fresh transfer. It has been a tense few weeks as like some others on this thread I also had a heavy bleed in week 6 due to SCH. Only brown spotting now and scans at my clinic at 6+4 and 7+6 showed foetal heartbeat and right size. Just waiting for the 12 week scan appointment now, and crossing fingers very tightly until then. I’m on 4 cyclogest pessaries, one lubion and 6mg progynova all until 12 weeks. I will not miss the pessaries!

Hello all!! Great news on your scans @BonTon and @SpyroC**!!!! Fantastic news!!!
Mine also went well on Friday too and the measurement of the nuchal fold was also nice and thin - waiting on the bloods to confirm also so I’m 🤞 mode too!! Took about 45 mins as baby was moving all around and misbehaving 😂😂 - was sitting up initially and then wouldn’t turn round so there was lots of poking and prodding!! I was pleased we didn’t have to go back and try again and that she persevered!!!

Also needed the transfer date and they asked about the donors egg collection date too for the bloods. They seemed satisfied with the month rather than the actual date which I’m not aware of anyway!!!

@SpyroC I’ve also being looked after by a consultant team as well as separate midwife appts. They look after ladies who’ve had ivf and also those who have had lots of miscarriages too and are just a bit more clued up on things to do with ivf which is good, as the midwife I saw at my booking appt didn’t seem to be, as when I mentioned I wasn’t on any medication anymore she asked if I’d decided to stop myself or if someone had told me to 🙄 hmmmm!! Clearly the latter!! Consultant will see me again at 16 weeks and they’ll do another scan then too and then 20 weeks again. The due date the sonographer came up with from the measurements was a day earlier than the due date based on dates so that’s pretty accurate!! They’re still using the date based on dates 🙈 though so that’s fine. I’ve also spoken to both midwife and consultant about an elective c section and the consultant has said they’ll support whatever method of delivery I’d prefer so that’s a relief!!

They’ve started me on 150mg dispersible aspirin/ day and are monitoring my BP too as I tend to get white coat syndrome and it goes high whenever I’m in a medical setting!! Have got a machine now to do twice a week and was pleased to see that it was normal yesterday!!

@SpyroC sorry you’re still not feeling good - hopefully going down to one iron tablet a day will help. I have my fingers crossed for you 🤞

@BonTon good luck with your booking appt tomorrow - exciting to get the ball rolling!! Hope your scan appt comes through soon too!!

@SamoyedFan123 great you’ve found a private place to have a scan where your DH and twins can attend. I think we’ll be looking for the same as DH isn’t allowed to any other scans now 😬

@sazzt welcome to the group!! Congratulations on your pregnancy! Great news on your early scans too - sounds as though they’ve got you on lots of progesterone which is good!! Have you had your booking appt or waiting for that to come through too?

@TheGlitterFairy thank you, and yes I swear my body composition is 90% progesterone at the moment 😂. I had my booking appointment by phone earlier this week - it was mainly administrative but good to speak to the midwife and have a point of contact going forward!

Welcome and congratulations@sazzt I'm glad the bleeding has slowed down for you and it's good they've spotted the cause too.

I'm glad your scan also went well @TheGlitterFairy 😊. My 16w is just with the midwife and she will listen in but no scan. The consultant app is 12+6 too and that is over the phone. It sounds like it's to assess risk but who knows 🤷🏻‍♀️. My due date was 1 day earlier than the ivf calculator one too so pretty good, in my head I'm sticking with the ivf one as it can't possibly be wrong! Gosh I do t think I could stand 45 minutes of prodding 😂 I find it more uncomfortable than the tv ivf scans! I had to raise my hips and wiggle to get baby to move. Mine was also very active which she said is good. I asked if it was true sugar causes them to become more active and she said it is, I asked as I eat ginger biscuits in the car to alleviate the nausea so I bet that's why baby is always active on scans 😂.

I managed not to puke for the last 2 teeth brushings so hopefully the 1 iron before bed only has helped 🙌🏻

Hello 👋 @sazzt! You’re just a few days behind me... I’m 9 weeks today. How are you feeling? Sorry about that bleed which must have been stressful but glad it has all worked out ok.

Great news @TheGlitterFairy! Sounds like you have a cheeky baby there 😊 hope all the bloods come back fine too. xxx

Hi @BonTon ahh yes we are just 2 days apart, I will be 9 weeks on Friday! The bleed was really stressful, I think I will be on edge until the 12 week scan and really hoping that shows that the haematoma has gone. The combination of lockdown and minimal exercise/movement on doctors orders has left me a bit lost for how to occupy myself! This week is the first week for me that the nausea has kicked in - I guess I have been lucky so far but now I look green around the gills from the moment I get up until sometime mid afternoon when it seems to subside. I have gone off quite a few foods and coffee too; loving bland carbs though 😋😋😋. How are you finding things so far?

Similar really @sazzt. I’ve been feeling queasy since quite early on, maybe 5 weeks or so - tends to be bad for a few days then a bit better then bad again. Haven’t actually been sick though so that’s one good thing and still managing to work. I hear you on the carbs! I am eating an awful lot although strangely have gone off sweet things... I agree that it’s very hard to relax until the 12 week scan, even then I think I’ll find it difficult. Hopefully we will both get there without too much drama 🙏🤞🏻 xx

@SamoyedFan123 I've heard from others that NCT isn't worth the cost, so it's good to get that opinion and experience as well, I'll be on the lookout for others closer to the time! It's lovely to hear you've found somewhere where you can all go into the scan 🥰

@TheGlitterFairy I told work at the end of December because they knew I was having IVF, I'm glad I did because it's cut me a lot of slack when I haven't been feeling very well the last few weeks, and also meant I get all the time off for appointments without having to work it back! Great news on the scan and the low risk results, fingers crossed the bloods come back soon with the same outcome 🤞🏼 I start on aspirin at 12 weeks as well, mine is due to pre eclampsia being in my family. Bless you getting white coat syndrome, hopefully it stays settled down when you monitor it

@BonTon great to hear your scan went well! I hope the booking app goes well today

@SpyroC also lovely to hear your scan went well! It must be a relief when the tests come back as low risk. I'm also consultant led, which is purely because of ivf, some health boards put all ivf straight to consultant so it's nothing to worry about. I actually feel reassured that I'll have more checks and hopefully extra growth scans 🤞🏼 The midwife asked me for my harvest date which I gave my egg collection date which was back in July 😂 hopefully that's what she meant! I also had to give the transfer date. I feel congrats is needed on the teeth brushing 🎉

@sazzt welcome and congratulations!

I'm 10 weeks today and insomnia has well and truly hit! I've got a scan on Sunday, still feels a while away but hopefully it'll come around quickly, my last scan was 2 and a bit weeks ago but I'm struggling to make it to Sunday 😂 it just seems too long not to check what's going on in there! My 12 week scan is at exactly 12 weeks!! I was so shocked as I often hear it gets quite close to the cut off for doing the checks, hopefully all goes okay and the measurements can be done easily enough 🤞🏼

@ivfjourney5 I really enjoyed my 10w scan and thought it was well worth the money. I was the same, so anxious between 7-10w but not so for the 13w one I just had as I felt reassured by the low risk after the 10w one. I hope yours goes well too. I think "egg harvest" may be an American term?? So weird 😂. The woman asking me was a bit moody too! I had to faff about looking through my note book for the date-I felt pressured 😂. Urgh the insomnia combined with headaches and nausea is the worst! 🤯

So the hospital rang me today which nearly gave me a heart attack as they said they'd only call if the screening results weren't low risk! 😱 anyhow they have come back as low risk however a hormone called pap A has come back as ever so slightly low (o.o1 out of normal). Apparently it's associated with a slightly increased risk of slow growth and early birth 😬. So I will now definitely be consultant led and have growth scans throughout. She said she's posted me an information leaflet about it and not to Google it in the mean time. I'm going to take her advice! At the moment I feel ok about it as it's only a tiny bit low and I'm viewing the extra scans as a positive. The phone call shook me though as I thought it was the "high risk" call. I didn't actually know they screened other stuff to! (It probably says in the leaflet but my baby brain doesn't remember stuff very well.)

The roller coaster continues! 🙈x

Argh bet that gave you a shock @SpyroC... good advice not to google and as you say, that sounds very marginal. Hope you’re ok.

@ivfjourney5 good to hear from you! Is insomnia a symptom too then?! fatigue plus insomnia feels very unfair! I’m a big fan of a pukka night tea if you like camomile herbal teas? Might help a bit?

My scan is on 15 Feb at 12+5 which feels like a long way away but hopefully will come round quickly. I might have a cheeky scan in between as well 🙈... the booking in midwife was lovely but said she couldn’t give me any reassurance about miscarriage risk at this stage. I think she’s wrong though as everything I’ve read seems to say the risk drops pretty dramatically after a heartbeat at 8 weeks and we had one at 9. Appreciate she’s the expert though and google does not mean I’m a doctor 😂

One clear way to tell I'm over tired... tonight I neatly placed the packaging on my bedside table, and threw the pessary in the bin 😂🤦🏻‍♀️

Hi @SpyroC hope you’re doing ok after your call last week and they’ve sent the relevant info through to you? Am sure they’ll look after you well now and put extra checks and so on in place. Good to be consultant led and good they’re being proactive- and least you know they’ll be doing all they can.
Do you have an appt in place before your 20 week scan? Hopefully they’ll get you in sooner so you can see what’s what. 🤞

@ivfjourney5 definitely sounds as though you’re over tired with chucking it in the bin!! Ha! Hope you don’t have too many more of them!!! Thanks on the blood pressure - it’s been within the range it should be while I’ve been taking it at home which is a relief! Not sure if that’s the aspirin that’s working or if it’s just not having rushed to an appt, then hounded by the nurse for it!!! Possibly a combination of both! Hopefully they’ll be happy with it when I see them next!!

@BonTon did you book a scan before your appt next month? I wouldn’t be too sure on whether the nurse knew what she was on about!! In my experience, us IVF-ers could give some of them a run for their money with things like this!!! And everything I’ve read supports what you have too.

As for me - all ok here. The bloods came back ok last week. This weeks drama though is that I seem to have a bout of cystitis - ouch - luckily seem to have cottoned onto it early so symptoms weren’t horrendous and after speaking to a GP yesterday and much chasing up of a prescription for antibiotics, managed to get them last night and feeling much relieved (literally 😬😂) by my persistence yesterday. Thank god they’re working. GP was lovely about it all and it seems they take UTIs seriously if your pg, which is good. Also seems one is more susceptible to them between 10 and 24 week - who knew. Hoping it buggers off soon and then doesn’t come back!!

Hope everyone’s doing ok!

@BonTon you can be assured by the stuff online as the sources are good. Your midwife is probably just all to aware that although the risk is now small it's still there so she is likely just conscious of this. I personally feel a great deal of comfort in moving from the 25% to the 2-5% miscarriage risk category. Did you go for a midway reassurance scan in the end?

@ivfjourney5 I think that shows your true feelings towards the pessaries 😂
You will be proud of me-only had 1 day of tooth brushing puking since my last post 💪🏻😂

@TheGlitterFairy impressively the info came in the post the next day but it didn't really say anything she didn't say on the phone so I read through some other nhs trust leaflets online and they were actually a tad more scary so I did turn to old Mumsnet threads in the end, a risk I know, but fortunately they were actually very reassuring. I have the consultant appointment at 16w on the same week as the community midwife so only 1.5 weeks to wait. Urgh I hate UTIs, I'm prone to them anyway so have been surprised I've not had one yet. Sorry you've had the joy, the antibiotics bring relief really quickly. Good news on the low risk screenings too! When is your next appointment?

Not much to report here. I'm starting to feel a bit better and am hoping the ms will soon fade away 🤞🏻. I feel ok about last week's news and am glad I get to have 3 weekly scans from 28weeks. I think if it wasn't for the covid risk I'd be tempted to book an early gender scan at 16 weeks but for now I'll settle for hearing the heartbeat instead.

How is everyone else getting on? I'm hoping no news is good news xx

@ivfjourney5 I forgot to ask how Sunday's scan went? X

@TheGlitterFairy luckily only one pessary left, I've been slowly weaning off them and now on alternative days, no nothing today then last one tomorrow 🎉 Good to hear about your blood pressure being better at home, and good news about managing to get the prescription. I've heard UTIs can be quite common, so not too much to worry about, but as you say hopefully it goes any doesn't come back

@SpyroC I'm glad you're starting to feel better! Hopefully it continues to improve! Sunday's scan went well thank you, baby was very active and dancing away with arms and legs everywhere. I was 10+3 but measuring 11+1, the sonographer showed me how long baby should have been for 10+3 and wow it's much longer, so I'm not sure if the NHS will alter my due date after my scan next week

Hope everyone else is doing okay xx