TTC/ pregnancy on Prednisolone or similar part 2

[Arianrhod]

Starting up part 2 of this thread since the old one closed at 1000 posts!

iggi lots of luck for today, hope it's nothing - I know it doesn't help but I know lots of women have spotting and/or bleeding in pregnancy and it still goes ok. Definitely call the EPU, get scanned - it's worth it, honestly, at least you will know one way or another. Virtual hugs coming your way.

free I also started AF properly this morning, so looks like we may be both importuning a friendly witch for a good fertility spell on Hallowe'en? I know exactly what you mean about the scary stuff ... a small part of me was actually sort of relieved when I didn't get a BFP purely because it means I don't have to go through the whole worrying about miscarrying all over again. Bizarre, but there it is.

hey.. just had a look and it seems like Letrozole she was on. I have asked her how many cycles on letrozole it took her to get her BFP ?
This is my 3rd cycle with Dr S, but my first on Letrozole.
I have a scan tomorrow afternoon to see if I have "dominant follicles" ready for the ovritelle trigger shot.. superovulation.

I didn't actually think I had ANY side effects from this, but my lower back aches and I feel quite nauseous today. (If I wasn't CD11 and before Ov I'd be convinced I was PG). It might be remenants of a hangover, but it does feel different to the hangovers I am used to.

Hope all is well in cocoon land. Will let you know what JD says as the letrozole might be intersting for euro or kittens esp.
[smile face]

Hi everyone!
I've finally read through both threads and feel its time to announce myself!
Potted history
Oct 2007 m/c @ 6 weeks
Dec 2007 fell preg with my DD, now 3yrs old.
Started trying for No2 at Christmas.
Feb chemical pregnancy, failed @ 4+1
April another chem, bleed bang on time but extremely heavy so took test to confirm.
Aug m/c @ 4+5
Sept m/c @ 5+4
Oct m/c @ 5+6
Tons of blood tests and scans with local hospital, all clear, told to keep trying.
So, after 5th emotionally and physically knackered we decided to arange to see Dr S privately. Will be going back on wed to hear results on NK test and 2 others plus 2 different thyroid tests that NHS didnt do. Saying that not actually sure if it was th NK test??!! My reciept says Factor V Leiden -TDL blood test, Factor II Prothrombin Gene- TDL and HS10 - CD69-16-56,Antinuclear abs, Thyroid Abs, Gliadin Abs. Is one of those NK?!

Anyways, its been so useful and helpful to find this thread and find other ladies going through the same. I wish everyone all the luck in the world with it all!
Kisses

Hi Hopefulfor2nd, welcome to the thread - I think the CD69-16-56 is the NK Cells, but don't quote me on that. They just sound familiar from my NK results form.
Sorry to hear of so much heartache, Mr S's treatment plan has worked wonders for those who the NHS have been unable to find any reasons for rmc. Good luck with your appointment on Wednesday, let us know the results.

duggs am excited for your cycle monitoring scan tomorrow! Do let us know how it all goes.

snoopy are you still testing tomorrow? Will be lurking early for news! Don't forget, you could still get a false negative at 10dpo as bean might be implanting later on in the day.

stogan little round of applause for reaching the magic 24 weeks, less than three weeks to go till 3rd trimester...

euro good luck with your Mr S appointment too. Do you have the results of all tests you've had done so far? It'll save on him repeating them if you do.

free less that 2 weeks till first scan. That doesn't sound far away at all.

God, I have been an eating machine today. But little and often as filling up rather quickly already. DS's room is looking slightly less mouldy now DH has painted under the window and I tidied up the one kitchen drawer I'd put on my to do list today. Have blown up the gymball so I can do more core exercises as my entire pelvic/hip area seems to be falling apart. We also posted DS's letter to Santa which he dictated to me: A Rio DVD, with cover (the one we rented on holiday didn't have a cover so he's insistent the one from Santa comes with a cover); a Treat; a Toy, maybe another Thomas. Am coming over all PFB but isn't that cutest thing ever? He's only 3 and all he wants is his favourite film, something sweet to nibble on and a random toy. Expecting next year's list to be a lot more specific. So all-in-all a good Sunday. Not particularly looking forward to going back to work tomorrow, but hey I'll be 19 weeks so tomorrow's not that bad.

Todays list:

Sunday 20th November

TTC
Waiting to test
Snoopygirl - V High NKC TTC, will be Ist try with Pred, Intralipids on bfp Testing 21st Nov
Havingkittens - Upgraded from High to V High NKC TTC #1 after 2 month break/testing 29 Nov -2 Dec depending on my resolve.
Waiting to ovulate
coleyoz - V High NKC. TTC #2 - ov 3 Dec (Pred and Intralipids at BFP)
duggs1976 - High/V High NKC - TTC #1
batteryhen - High activation NKC, factor v leiden. TTC#1
Suemays - V High NKC TTC/ov 30th Oct. TTC#2.
Cherrycheeks - V high NKC, TTC#2/ 3rd cycle of pred
pureequeen - High NKC TTC #2 again from November (BFP cycle one but mc)
eurochick - TTC#1 awaiting first appointment (in Nov)/ov expected 28-30 Nov.

BFP
2nd Trimester
Stogan - V high NKC - BFP 9/7/11 cycle#2- 24+1 Due 10/03/12 next scan 30/12
Digitalgirl - High NKC - BFP cycle#2 -18+6 Due 16/04/12 anomaly scan 23/11
Coconutfeet - V High NKC, Factor II gene mutation, underactive thyroid - BFP pre-pred, started at 6 weeks - 15+5 next scan ?
Comedy - V High NKC - BFP cycle#2 - 13+1 due 26/5/12 next scan 12/12
Iggi - High NKC & Hypothyroidism - BFP cycle#2 - 12+4 anomaly scan Jan
1st Trimester
BrownieGecko - High NKC, Hypothyroidism, & Glucose Intolerant. BFP on cycle 3 of Clomid - 11+2 next scan 28/11
Scooterchaser - V High NKC - BFP cycle1 - 7+6. Due 01/07/12. Scan 25/11
Freelance - V High NKC TTC#1 Hydroxchloroquine, Pred, Intralipids. Thyroid/hashimotos. MC 1st cycle. LMP18/10 - 4+4 - Scan 3/12
Arianhod - V High NKC, MTHFR homo, hypothyroid, TTC#2 BFP 2nd pred cycle LMP19/10. 4+3 Scan 7/12
Cheerfulcharlie - V High NKC, MTHFR/TTC 1/ (metformin, intralipids, no pred). LMP17/10(Ov'd 3rd Nov) 4+3. Scan 6/12.
ChoccyPud - V High NKC / TTC #1 BFP 4th Pred cycle LMP20/10 4+2. Scan 3/12.

Thanks for the welcome! 19 weeks?! Do you feel yourself relaxing in to it now? I was at the stage where I couldnt imagine ever having a bump again and thinking we may have to think about having a conversation about stopping ttc. But after Mr s appt I turned around 100% and was hopeful and now the rose tinted glasses are coming off, he may not be the answer, I may not be one of the lucky ones but thats just being realistic I think!
Either way, having Nov and Dec off and starting again with whatever Mr S suggests come Jan.
Apologies for the indulgent post, I'm looking foward to getting to know you all xx

Hopeful! Great to have you on board. The more the merrier. If you can have a merry band of potentially-deadly-womb-recurrent-miscarriers then that is us Add yourself to the list - just copy and paste and add where you should be.

CD69 is the NK cells, although other people like Beer's lot test another lot of CD somethings. Sorry for your losses, it looks sad when you write them all down like that doesn't it. Makes me feel bad for you, but I guess it is what we have all been through too.

Glad there is a now a load of info for people on here to go through too, we are getting quite a bit of knowledge together. Quacktastic - as my DH said to me when I told him I was wired up to a drip the other morning in a random fertility clinic in Southern California :) (Note for hopeful, am on holiday rather than living here).

Loving the non-demanding DS Digi. As a non-parent, I am assuming a Rio DVD is not a) a travel guide to Brazil or b) the rather fetching Duran Duran video from the 80s. Ahh, although you never know the last allure of John Taylor.

Duggs good luck with the follicle scan, Stogan congrats indeed on reaching 24 weeks, it's fab. Snoopy good luck for testing!

Hello to everyone else! Just arrived in Vegas and off to roam the stip for a while, see a show and then get up tomorrow and after a big unhealthy breakfast head to the airport, arriving back in London on Tuesday pm. Have a good couple of days everyone! xx

Welcome hopeful hope we can be of some assistance and comfort to you x

free and digi thanks for the well wishes, really feel like I've achieved something now and am actually starting to prepare myself for my little karate kid !!! 24 weeks was the milestone I have been aiming for, now the goal is to keep the little sucker in there until 40 weeks !!! Still can't actually believe it, mr s is my lifetime hero closely followed by each and everyone of u ladies ( getting emotional now, dam hormones)

Hope everyone has a lovely week full of SWI, BFPs and positive scans xxx

Morning ladies, I'm up early and watching Peppa pig!
Welcome hopeful.. sorry that you find yourself here. I hope Dr S can help you, look forward to getting to know you!
congratulations on reaching 24 weeks stogan
good luck with testing today snoopy fingers and toes crossed for you in the next few days
Hope all goes well with the scan duggs, I think I'm going to talk to Mr S about super ovulation if i get a BFN this month so I'm interested to see how it all works.

Big Waves to everyone else, safe trip home free

Todays list with my update
Monday 21st November

TTC
Waiting to test
Snoopygirl - V High NKC TTC, will be Ist try with Pred, Intralipids on bfp Testing 21st Nov
Havingkittens - Upgraded from High to V High NKC TTC #1 after 2 month break/testing 29 Nov -2 Dec depending on my resolve.
Waiting to ovulate
coleyoz - V High NKC. TTC #2 - ov 3 Dec (Pred and Intralipids at BFP)
duggs1976 - High/V High NKC - TTC #1
batteryhen - High activation NKC, factor v leiden. TTC#1
Suemays - V High NKC TTC/ov 30th Oct. TTC#2.
Cherrycheeks - V high NKC, TTC#2/ ov 25th-26th Nov/ 4th cycle of pred
pureequeen - High NKC TTC #2 again from November (BFP cycle one but mc)
eurochick - TTC#1 awaiting first appointment (in Nov)/ov expected 28-30 Nov.

BFP
2nd Trimester
Stogan - V high NKC - BFP 9/7/11 cycle#2- 24+1 Due 10/03/12 next scan 30/12
Digitalgirl - High NKC - BFP cycle#2 -18+6 Due 16/04/12 anomaly scan 23/11
Coconutfeet - V High NKC, Factor II gene mutation, underactive thyroid - BFP pre-pred, started at 6 weeks - 15+5 next scan ?
Comedy - V High NKC - BFP cycle#2 - 13+1 due 26/5/12 next scan 12/12
Iggi - High NKC & Hypothyroidism - BFP cycle#2 - 12+4 anomaly scan Jan
1st Trimester
BrownieGecko - High NKC, Hypothyroidism, & Glucose Intolerant. BFP on cycle 3 of Clomid - 11+2 next scan 28/11
Scooterchaser - V High NKC - BFP cycle1 - 7+6. Due 01/07/12. Scan 25/11
Freelance - V High NKC TTC#1 Hydroxchloroquine, Pred, Intralipids. Thyroid/hashimotos. MC 1st cycle. LMP18/10 - 4+4 - Scan 3/12
Arianhod - V High NKC, MTHFR homo, hypothyroid, TTC#2 BFP 2nd pred cycle LMP19/10. 4+3 Scan 7/12
Cheerfulcharlie - V High NKC, MTHFR/TTC 1/ (metformin, intralipids, no pred). LMP17/10(Ov'd 3rd Nov) 4+3. Scan 6/12.
ChoccyPud - V High NKC / TTC #1 BFP 4th Pred cycle LMP20/10 4+2. Scan 3/12.

Welcome hopeful . . Feel free to add yourself to our "spreadsheet" , can't add link as in bed on iPhone, but it is in thread. Am sure you've seen it. You seem to get pg pretty quickly so you'll probably be in the green, then pink section fairly easily which is what everyone is aiming for.

Other ladies - I did hear a story about a friend of a friend who is due in 2 weeks. She had been ttc for over 4 yr. What finally gave her the bfp was one of those animal syringes- you know or baby medicine syringes. Can u believe there r websites out there and lots of stories of success. If super ov fails this cycle - animal syringe it is. Can't wait to see DH face if whip one of those out whilst in bed. . I love an experiment. Anyone with other stories do share. Drinking grapefruit juice too. . Think that is pretty standard.

Safe trip free and hope this week is a good, positive week for any scans. Are there only 2 testers? X

Just a quick good morning from me, welcome hopeful, sorry you find yourself here but let's hope this is a lucky thread for you!

Sitting in the community hospital at the mo waiting for blood to be taken for second hCG. Kept right on testing over the weekend (well you expected it, right?), FRER did get stronger Saturday but not as strong as I would like. Did a CB Digi this morning praying to see those magic words "2-3 weeks" but no, just 1-2. So inconclusive there, still playing the waiting game. I know you may all think me crazy but at 14dpo last pregnancy it said 2-3 weeks. Today I'm 17dpo and it's still only showing the starter figures. I still can't shake this feeling all is not right, so just waiting now.

Hope you're all doing great, safe journey home free.

Morning. thanks for your messages re my testing day. No news really yet - all blanks so far but it's still early days I spose and as I got smiley OV face week ago sat that really means that this is 9dpo, so do another test tommorow.
I like to think of myself as a reasonably intelligent woman...SO WHY AM I BEING AN IDIOT AND PEEING ON A ZILLION STICKS TOO EARLY!!....sorry. What is it? It must be a comfort thing to keep you busy in the 2ww but it's ridiculous and just setting yourself up for disappointment hoping their may be something faint. i think I have looked at the stick in every available light possible!
Saying all this I had at 5dpo and 6dpo tummy ache and stabbing pains briefly and have also been feeling very slightly nauseous on and off but that could be pred I spose.

ari thinking of you and you blood tests, I so hope it's all ok for you. x

Welcome hopeful sorry you are here but it's a comfort to chat to others going through same thing. Apologies for the ranting but I think we are all the same with the poas thing. I have had 5m/c's like you too and felt really buoyed up by Dr S and his positivity.

duggs good luck for your scan today let us know how it goes.

stogan massive congrats on a big fat 24 weeks...how exciting!

cherry was right there with you this morning except it was blinkin Timmy Time squaking in my ear whilst trying desparatley to keep my eyes shut!

Hi all!

Hopeful welcome I'm delighted you found us!

Snoopy I only got a bfp on 14dpo so you've plenty of time for this month. Fingers crossed for you :)

Ari I'm glad you've gone for hcg tests it'll tell you what you need to know and no amount of poas-ing can give you a definite answer. I have been told that CBD can give different results from the same sample and isn't infallible. At least once you get the hcg numbers you will know where you are and can deal with it accordingly. Including calming down a bit if it's good numbers!!!!

I've got everything crossed for you. Hugs.

Sorry for lack of proper hellos to everyone else. I'm trying to stay away from the thread a bit this week. Not sleeping well, brain whirring and panicking about not feeling pg... Got a v busy week ahead, could do with blanking out the fact I'm 4+4 and waiting for scan, to free up some brain to concentrate on other things. Like work! I figure that I'm pg until someone tells me I'm not, there's f all I can do about it on top of what I'm already doing, so I need to try and stay calm about it and get on with life.

I'm all very rational now - Let's see how long before I'm panicking again...! :)

choccy I like your attitude :) My rational brain has completely deserted me. I just rang the surgery for results of my hCG test on Friday, to be told they don't have them. sigh More waiting. Sounds like I'm unlikely to know if my levels have risen between Friday and today until probably at least Thursday afternoon. I can't believe how long this is taking.

snoopy I think intelligence really and truly doesn't count for anything - we want POAS to have all our answers and unfortunately they really don't. And remember that 10dpo is still really very early itself, so even then a BFN may mean nothing at all. I repeat: we need that little window inside ourselves so we can find out just exactly what the bl**dy hell is going on!!

Thanks so much everyone for the warm welcome, its been so good to find this thread - knowledge is power I believe. We're holding off ttc til New Year as I/we feel my body needs a rest, just got first period after last m/c and its so weird knowing its just a period. No, arse it came or bugger it looks like another chem.
So, I'll hold of joining the list til then if its ok, I'm just going to stalk as learn all that there is. Mr S said regardless of results he will put me on something as "5 in a year is not mother nature acting" Its 1 in 10,000 that I've had it happen to me - same for you I guess snoopy!
Good luck with it all Ari - positive vibes your way
Waves to all!
P.s LOVE the SWI - makes me smile, so much better than BD

Right!
'Action keep busy' commences....... to help take our mind off things girls, has anyone got any ideas for dinner party main and pud? Having a dinner party for our neighbours to say thanks for loan of something on Dec 2nd. I need help, I don't know his wife that well just to wave and have quick chat and got a feeling their foodies/wineys.
Any ideas for something easy but impressive looking. Pud to be made in advance would ease the pressure. I thought about baked American cheesecake with a kind of raspberry reduction on the top (Pizza Express style). Main don't know yet but got to start practicing particularly pud so could distract me (a bit) from sticks in next few days.
Who did the Thai dinner a few weeks ago? That sounded good. Is Thai difficult to pull off?
Any sugestions welcome x

snoopy I don't even know what a 'raspberry reduction' is!! I think you'd better wait for input from that culinary masterchef, digi.

A bunch of flowers and a box of chocs/bottle of wine is my usual way to say thank you .. :)

Although I did just think, I think the most impressive dessert I ever made was a Black Forest Gateaux ... but it wasn't for anything as important as a dinner party, so ignore me! :)

Well, my surgery and the lab have actually come up trumps, the receptionist at my surgery just called me back and said the lab not only gave her the level from Friday's test over the phone, but this morning's too. Unfortunately for my peace of mind it's not looking good.

Friday's level was 64, today's was 112.

In themselves, the levels would be ok-ish, as levels should be:

At 14 DPO, the average HCG level is 48 mIU/ml, with a typical range of 17-119 mIU/ml.
At 15 DPO, the average HCG level is 59 mIU/ml, with a typical range of 17-147 mIU/ml.
At 16 DPO, the average HCG level is 95 mIU/ml, with a typical range of 33-223 mIU/ml.
At 17 DPO, the average HCG level is 132 mIU/ml, with a typical range of 17-429 mIU/ml.

And I'm 17 DPO today. However, given that levels are supposed to double approx every 48 hours, this means my levels are not going up anywhere near quick enough - 76 hours have elapsed between my first test on Fri and my test this morning. As I feared, this doesn't bode well. I now have a telephone consultation with my GP after surgery ends this evening. I'll see what she says then.

Snoopy, what about a banoffee pie or a pain au chocolat bread and butter pudding? You basically tear up a load of pains aux chocolats then chuck a load of custard over it and bake. Could add a cheeky bit of baileys or something too. Mains are more difficult to decide on I think.

Perhaps in our cocoon beach house thing we could do a Come Dine with Me evening? As someone mentioned before, we certainly do need to build that outhouse for the lab to process all our results in double quick time.

Ari - that's good news your line is getting a bit darker. The suspense from the HCG blood test is rubbish. I hope they bloody get on with it and give it to you.

Hopeful - welcome! Sorry to hear of all your losses but this group is very useful and comforting i think you will find.

I'm still having not really any other symptoms than sore boobs and maybe being slightly snappier than normal but only with particularly useless people who deserved it such as certain Starbucks employees and our IT department .I'm sure last time by now I was getting exhausted, feeling nauseaous and weeing all the time. I'm trying to tell myself that the acupuncture has balanced me out and that is why no symptoms this time. No idea if this is what happens but I like developing my own random theories to make myself feel better, stops me going too mad.

Ari that still doesn't seem bad does it? I don't know to be honest. Let us know how your conversation goes with the GP later. Glad the test lines were getting stronger anyway. 17DPO is still very very early you know.

Similar sort of words for you CHoccy, I do know exactly what you mean. It's the non symptom thing that is getting me too.

Yesterday I had some weird limb aches again, I feel sure these are not good you know. I also had quite sharp pain in the left side occasionally - my sensible brain is thinking corpeus luteum, my other side is thinking ectopic and it will probably burst on the plane, I will lose a tube and need to be landed somewhere then get faced with a bill of hundreds of thousands plus be one tube down.

One symptom I am definitely having is vivid dreams. I actually dreamt of POAS last night with a CB Digital and being really confused with the number of weeks on there. FIrst it said 10 and I was so excited to learn I was further than thought then the rational side of me realised that was wrong/impossible and I started to panic.

I mentioned to my mum that I have had the odd light cramping and back ache and she said 'oh that doesn't sound good', which doesn't help as she has had two children. But I do know from those of you who have had successful pregnancies that light cramps can be very normal. Sigh. It's so hard having no successful experience with this to compare to you know. The idea of growing a whole baby enough to give birth to it seems so far fetched and way out there.

Just too as I settled on a scan date at 6.4 on the 3rd Dec Louise emailed me back after the weekend and said maybe I should wait until 7 weeks to be sure (after I had sent a panicked email worrying about scanning too early). Not sure what to do now! Need to speak to DH re dates.

SOrry - that turned out to be a bit me, me, me. Am off to explore Vegas more before 12 hours on a plane xx

Sorry - I meant to address that symptom thing to you too Cheerful.

Oh, I can't join in the dessert ideas as I am the Domestic Antichrist. Snoopy I think it was Digi who did the Thai dinner. And she also did a trifle the other day which sounded like quite a nice dinner party dessert, retro vibe, looks fun, tastes good... Oh am starving!!

Hi Ari, sorry you are still in limbo. My epu always says they look for a min of a 60% increase (ie it's not necessary to exactly double.)
I can remember getting a level of 70 once at 4 weeks exactly, pretty much the same as you. I hope your gp can at least shed some light on it for you.
Free that is a pretty dramatic mid-air scenario you have painted! I hope you journey is much more boring than that.

Welcome, hopeful
Ds is watching soo much tv today, as I just want to lie on couch

Free I have had aches (high up ones, low down ones), stretchy feelings, stitch-like feelings, stabby feelings and omg-what-was-that feelings in this pg.

Ari fingers crossed all will be OK. We will all be thinking of you xxx.

Snoopy I made lemon posset with home made shortbread and then bought some raspberries and put them on top of the posset sprinkled with icing sugar. Its really easy to make and can be done the evening before but looks impressive!
www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/lemonpossetwithshort_84239

Free you have such an imagination! Sounds like it could be made into a film - they did 'Snakes on a Plane' which was just as dramatic!

Hopeful welcome to our lovely cocoon place. It really does help to chat to others on here.

Euro I felt exactly the same as you when I go my BFN last month. I also normally conceive on the 1st month of trying so spent a few days panicking that my time was up etc etc. It was probably the come down from the preds as I know they can make you irrational etc. I did wonder if the preds can make it harder to conceive but Louise at NLC told me that was not the case. Duggs whats the super ovulation programme? How long do you need to be trying for before you go onto it? I am so impatient that I feel like going on it already!

Stogan well done on the magical 24 weeks, you can relax now and start worrying about the pain of labour!

ari those numbers ARE going in the right direction. Have you thought about emailing Louise/Mr S with your worries and maybe they can talk you down?

cheerful distraction is a wonderful thing. I was in complete denial with my bfp. Didn't really talk about it with DH for the first few weeks either. It coincided with a massive social whirl where I ended up being fully booked every weekend for a couple of months, so that was really handy. I even threw DS a massive birthday party which involved making a 3D thomas cake (and doing a trial cake a week before). Was exhausting, but at least I wasn't sitting around twiddling my thumbs.

free wow, you've put into words thoughts I had early on but did my best not to entertain! From what I remember about another MN'er, ectopics don't pose a 'rupture' problem until about 7 weeks so you'll be alright on the plane. It's another reason to have your scan early if you just want to make sure it's in the right place. But yes, light cramping and backache are also PG symptoms - so unless it gets worse you have to distract yourself with Vegas Showgirls and awful plane movies to try and forget it. I found keeping moving helped minimise cramping...short walks etc.

iggi I've been training DS to watch films lately - hoping that by the time April rolls round he'll be able to sit there and watch a whole film for 90 minutes while I sleep/feed/collapse on the sofa.

snoopy sorry for the bfns, but 9dpo? Really? Way too early to call. As for dinner - oh my favourite topic!
I did do a trifle at the weekend which was very tasty and so easy to do and must be made in advance. You can buy those sponge fingers that normally go in tiramisu, break those up and layer the bottom of a glass bowl/dish. Then I tipped a load of strawberries and raspberries on top, made a pint of packet strawberry jelly and poured that over the lot. Put in the fridge to set. Then I cheated and bought ready made custard and poured that over the set jelly. Whipped some cream and spooned that over the custard. The only problem was the custard was too runny, it still tasted good but would have prefer it more set...so I would probably make it from scratch/powder next time so you can make it really thick. You can add sherry to the cream to make it boozy. I also toasted some flaked almonds and scattered those on top.

My thai dinner was quite complicated, but there were a couple of dishes that can be made in advance so you're not fannying about too much when guests arrive. I did a beef massaman curry but omitted the fish sauce as it was too salty otherwise. I also made a fish curry and used pumpkin instead of potato, cooked everything in advance and added the fish when the guests arrived. The pad thai had to be cooked in front of everyone but I had all the ingredients chopped and ready to throw in the pan, plus had measured out all the marinade ingredients so literally poured that in.

I'd done so many dishes that night that I just served ice-cream and fruit for dessert - and bought an M&S apple strudel as it looked so good on the ads!

If you want something more convenient - then slow-cooked spicy lamb shoulder/lamb shanks served with mash/couscous and green beans is always a winner. Goes well with a crumble for pudding, which again, can be assembled in advance and shoved in the oven while you're having your main course.

Right, I think I've gone off-topic enough! Will update list with the bfp'ers progress.