TTC/Pregnancy on Prednisolone or similar part 6

[Arianrhod]

A positive thread for all those diagnosed with High or Very High NK Cells and looking to start TTC or already pregnant on Prednisolone and/or Intralipid treatment.

Newcomers very much welcome!

Part 5 www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/1391787-TTC-Pregnancy-on-Prednisolone-or-similar-part-5

Part 4 www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/1366323-TTC-Pregnancy-on-Prednisolone-or-similar-part-4

Part 3 www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/1348773-TTC-pregnancy-on-Prednisolone-or-similar-part-3

Part 2 here www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/1323594-TTC-pregnancy-on-Prednisolone-or-similar-part-2

Part 1 here www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/1236324-TTC-pregnancy-on-Prednisolone-or-similar

Still here kittens so will def see u when u arrive. Bored. Wanted to ask u ladies mundane irrelevant question but how is your hair on all these steroids etc? Mine is almost thinner and more brittle I think. It looks dull and lifeless. (wish that was a real concern of ours on here) buy just asking as I am laying here.

Ah I remember the surreal tedium of being wired up to a drip in a random Surrey clinic well Duggs. Hair has been fully all year really with pregnancies, miscarriages and hard core drugs. Can't pinpoint what bit caused what. But thankfully I know the side effects of Pred DO go within a few weeks of stopping them. No consolation when you're on them though.

duggs I'm down there for acu in a little while, maybe see you if you're wandering around just before 11... If not, enjoy the chill out :)

Oh look for me I have door open so I can spy people arriving ! Your hair has been what free?

iggi pleased all was well, those restful days tend to worry me too but by the time I think I should start worrying the baby decides to wake up.

free I didn't have any scans post 20 weeks with ds. None were booked in for this pregnancy either but the consultant requested those recent growth scans based on my fundal measurement being a bit over and glucose trace in my urine (don't drink lemonade before an ante-natal appointment is my advise).
Not that there's much to see when they're bigger. Grumpy student sonographer didn't show me anything (the cow), but the lovely one the other day showed us the face, baby has a button nose just like it's big brother .

duggs yes, do stick around. Am fascinated by how quickly the whole ivf procedure seems to be (speaking as someone with long cycles who often had to wait 4 weeks for just one bloody egg).

Am attempting to take it easy this weekend as today's the day ds was born (36+5). Am feeling pleased to have made it through the night without anything happening, as I really want to get into the birthing centre. Am sure once I get to Monday I'll be doing anything and everything to kickstart labour.

Right, must get out of the bath before I turn into a prune.

Am here with choccy who is looking very fresh an spring like and seen kittens fly past looking v glam indeed

Have turned into a sleep monster (resorted to sleeping in the spare room to miss DS's 5am wake up) so have missed lots of news! Where to start...

duggs I am really excited about your IVF, fingers crossed you have a bumper egg harvest on Friday. Haven't really noticed my hair doing anything out of the ordinary on pred - but I did have to tell my hairdresser last year about all the mc because she kept on going on and on and on about the fine fluffy baby hair around my face "which you get in early pregnancy and you're not pregnant are you".

free i think a 20 week scan is it on the nhs unless of course there is something else that casues concern - fundal height being off, malpresentation (breech) etc. i know FMC like a 32 week scan as standard.

merc I went on holiday to the greek islands at 5.5 months with DS. I was just most concerned about food, like free said, worried about tummy bugs etc. I was a bit over the top and stuck to low risk foods as if I was in India, not Europe!

iggi I'm sorry you had a scare but really pleased you went in and were seen. I agree it's SO important to check out reduced fetal movement.

GO sorry about AF. Hope you are gearing up for the next cycle.

frozen I am reading with interest about your premature birth worries. Have you read Dr Beer's book which touches on early delivery for women with High NK cells? My DS arrived at 36 weeks (no particular reason why) so i really want to know if it will happen again and, more concerningly, could a subsequent baby arrive any earlier? The responses I get range from eye rolling (GP: "36 weeks isn't early") to be taken very seriously - EPAU dr offering to refer me to prem birth specalist in due course just to talk things through.

battery with DS i just had a car seat and cot bed when he was born. Wouldn't recommend that approach as he was wrapped in "property of st thomas' hospital" towels for the first 24 hours of life! I think there's a happy medium somewhere. As it is I walked through the John Lewis baby dept without breaking my stride yesterday as it's not real for me and won't be for many months, fingers crossed I get that far.

Am taking my impressive multivitamin fed/early pregnancy super nails for a manicure this afternoon as a distraction treat. My nails are the only part of me that are presentable - have taken to avoiding mirrors as I look like a pumpkin head. Oh well, start tapering the pred one way or another on Monday as I will be 9 weeks. Have a Mr S scan on Monday too which is great because the relief from Thursday's scan lasted 2 days, as predicted!

Also managed to get a last minute cancelled appt at the GPs yesterday and the Dr faxed off the form to my preferred hospital while I sat there. The problem is that the St Thomas', where I've been going for the rmc care and with the legendary EPAU doctor, will not take women from my post code for obstetric care as a matter of course and it is entirely at their discretion, depending on my medical needs. So I helped the GP with lots of compelling reasons why i had to go there

Oh I do get jealous that so many of you have met eachother!

I had a lot of hair loss in early pg, didn't occur to me might be steroid related but I suppose so. Just something else for the list, eh?
Digi that is so exciting!

Morning ladies :) Enjoying all the happy chat today, and fascinated by your IVF info duggs.
Olives what a fabulous consultant you have!

Feeling very :( here unfortunately as I discovered the reason for all my nausea/cramps over the past few days were nothing to do with hopeful BFP but a much less glamorous stomach bug :( And woken up this morning with some kind of throat virus, so still feeling bleugh with absolutely no good purpose attached to it. 10dpo today and just out of some fatalistic misery-wish I did an FRER .. as expected absolutely nothing, not even a hint of a hint of a line. Guess that's it for another cycle, so now to see what horrors the LH/FSH/E2 tests have in store for me.

Sorry for the whinge, will wander off to find a better frame of mind somewhere.

Ok, sat myself out in the sun for a while with a fresh cup of coffee and a buttered hot cross bun and had a good long talk with myself (I do this). So, superov it is for me, assuming my tests come back with anything near levels that satisfy Mr S, and have reminded myself that DHEA is supposed to take 3 months to become effective anyway, and I've only been on it 2 and a bit weeks so I need to give it a chance to do its supposedly miraculous stuff. And also reminded myself that it's the ones who don't give up that succeed, right, and try to ignore my age and tell myself there's no reason persistence won't pay off for me too. It's coming up for almost 2 years since we started trying, 4 MCs later, it's got to be my turn sometime.

Positive frame of mind resumed (well, almost), please forgive my me-post.

As you were, ladies .. :)

Oh sorry Duggs hair been funny, not fully. Thin, wiry, thicker, glossy... and everything in between. Seems ok now but needs a good inch chopped off.

Am loving the NLC Saturday meet up :) anyone else about to pop in?

PQ I had the same problem with St Thomas' being in the same borough as you. But I went for the Epsom option anyway and they accepted it. Still need to get an appt with mr s there and am hoping I am doing the right thing - baby due 3 days before the Olympics start, in an Olympic Borough, several roads closed before they start and also having to get all the way down to Surrey...

Ari bummer about the stomach bug and AF. Sorry, it must be so frustrating.

Digi my baby brain really had to work that one out when you said this is the day DS was born. I was thinking - I am sure I remember his birthday a couple of month ago...? But then I realised this is the gestation period in which he arrived! Yes, I would be on labour watch too if I were you!

ari if nothing else SO gives you a window into what is happening inside. It also gives mini milestones so day 2 to 6 take letrozole then between days 9 and 14 follicle scan and then trigger injection swi and then test and if bfn it is pretty quickly onto next letrozole cycle so kind of forces you to look forward and get over the bfn disappointment. Maybe an idea to ask yourself if u will go for 3 or 6 cycles on it. As long as u have a moving forward plan it seems to help.. I'm also 2.5 yrs ttc 3 mc later. New seasons intensify the fact time is passing by...

Exactly right duggs on so many points. The window of what's going on inside will be of huge interest to me, especially. First steps first though, to find out if my test results are good enough for Mr S to say I can do superov; if they are, then I will.

Afternoon,

ari - duggs is right it's lots of mini milesstones so thngs go fairly quickly. It's not over yet though is it at 10dpo? Well I hope not. I too found it was nice to see womb lining good etcl and no mysterious blobs or anything.

free I was considering it as I have had such horrendous sleep on pred last month (4 hrs a night for about 5 days is a killer. Got desperate and called Louise. I am sure she said there was a lady pregnant at 34 weeks on Hydroxy alone. Basically if things improve with pred this month then I will continue pred alongside Hydroxy. It was just a back up really. Dr S wrote me a pescription for it and L said start taking now. I know its more tabs but there seem to be limited side affects from what I can gather. The other thing is I've only got a couple of months left on pred anyway before an enforced break. So he basically said it's up to me if I want to take the risk on H alone as it's still in the experimental stage.

kittens how did follicle scan go?

duggs brilliant news on follicles it's very exciting and going so fast like the others said, keep us updated.

Don't know who was asking but I had emergency c section and it's was great! My scar is so low you can't see it, even when I wear bikini (rarely) . Its only about 4 inches long too or less. I recovered well and didn't want to drive before 6 weeks anyway just plodded around walking looking smug with pram . My only regret was not being very lucid after all the drugs at the birth but apart from that great.

Hey snoopy .. yes 10dpo is early but boobs have gradually all but stopped hurting and I started getting pre-AF type cramps this afternoon. Same usual non-pregnant monthly pattern, unfortunately. So sorry to hear you had such a bad time on Pred last month, I really sympathise, the sleep deprivation thing is the worst side effect of Pred in my opinion. Do you take it very first thing in the morning, just out of interest? Sure you do, just checking :)

Oh Ari you have every right to feel pissed off/negative/upset or whatever you want.

I sat on the recurrent buns thread watching people who'd miscarried at the same time as me get pg again quickly (and now have their babies) and I just thought it would never be me who got that far.
I need now to offer up a prayer to the god of jinxes to say I know I haven't been successful yet, just in case!! I have always had a (movable) timelimit for trying though, I think there has to be a life after all this stress, but you have by no means reached the end of the road in terms of things to try.

Oh no ari, that's rotten. No wonder you were feeling so sick. There does seem to be a rather nasty bug doing the rounds at the moment. I hope you feel better soon.

choccy and I were like ships passing in the night yesterday. Saw each other fleetingly as I arrived and was taken straight in and then she was being taken in to her appt as I was coming out. Shame we didn't have time to catch up! Nice to chat with duggs for a bit before she got taken off to be taken off the drip.

The upshot of my scan was that it was a tiny bit early to tell properly what was going to happen. Apparently I have 3 12mm follicles. Mr S is confident that at least one, if not 2 will develop but he said that 12mm it is tricky to tell as sometimes they stop at 12mm and then don't get any larger, so aren't viable. Once they get past 12 he has a pretty good idea they will go on to be released. Next month, if I'm not pregnant, I will go in for my tracking scan a bit later. Have been prescribed SWI on Thurs/Fri.

Oh, duggs, funny you should mention about the hair. My hair has been even more shit that usual for the last year. Partly because I had a Brazilian keratin treatment and the super hot straighteners mad it snap in a lot of places but that was last Feb, before I started the pred and it's still awful so I think the pred has a lot to do with it. It's got no shine, snapped off in loads of places and seems even finer than ever before .

ari just to echo iggi it's not over yet... I know you know how things feel but might it be implantation twinges? My boobs are up and down at different times of day and the Pred masks symptoms so maybe the boobs thing is not definitely AF?

Another and darker BFP on FRER for me today and a pale positive on one of digi's Boots cheapies. My back is a bit achy though I hope that's from standing a lot of yesterday afternoon. Still trying to not set too much stall by symptoms/lack of, other than results of poas-ing. And to take one day at a time. PUPO etc...

It was lovely to see duggs yesterday, and kittens albeit very briefly! we were wondering how the others are who we haven't heard from for a while, and hoping everyone is doing ok... :)

Morning all! Updating the list so we only have to add a couple of days to it (not too taxing, but still might get it wrong of course...). Lovely sunny day here up north. Feeling a bit pensive, reaching the milestone of Nan's birthday and also the clocks going forward felt like such a long leap away from me, an impossible gorge to cross, in those dark days of winter (moon-faced up, drugged up, aching limbs, sickness, cold and paranoid about every feeling/non feeling). But here I am! It's testament to the treatment working - so far at least.

This time last year I had planned to come to Nan's birthday to tell her about the pregnancy and to go shopping for some maternity clothes with my mum. But I miscarried the week before, at 12 weeks, and was still in total shock, physically and emotionally. Fast forward a year and so far so good.

So Nan, Mum and I are listening to the CD I made for guests at my wedding in June 2010 (Pebbles was my bridesmaid!) hoping to entertain the baby and also having a nice time reminiscing and looking forward to good times too. I have Elbow's One Day Like This, Adele's version of Make You Feel My Love and the Beatles In My Life on there so it's been a bit of a tear jerker.

Sorry for everyone who is still going through those dark times, I am just hopeful that the fact that I have reached almost 23 weeks and that those ahead of me and below me on the list too can inspire everyone to be confident that it will work out.

Enough emotional business! Lots of positive vibes to you all xx

List coming up:

Choccy can't believe you are still testing, you crazy woman but glad to hear it is still looking good and getting darker. You will be peeing on a stick as you're giving birth :)

Kittens glad to hear the follicles are looking like they're going in the right direction. How big should they actually be? I love Mr S' way of prescribing intercourse. We are all keeping our fingers crossed for you, you really deserve some good news.

Ari same for you. Hope you're not out for this month, but if you are hope it happens very, very soon. Iggi is right, you have by no means exhausted all the means of trying so I am sue there is going to be something that works for you.

PQ you are more or less at that magical week 9! It is really good going.

Digi am I right in thinking as DS was early this is the most pregnant you have ever been...? I hope the last few weeks, however many there might be, are not too uncomfortable for you! Second Pred Thread Baby Ahoy!

Actually I the tea lady helping out at Nan's bday yesterday had a 13 year old daughter with her and she had been due on my EDD 24th July. She was born at 26 weeks in early April!!! I forgot to talk to her further as I was too busy serving tea, cake and entertaining pensioners but apparently mum says she had thyroid problems and had 9 miscarriages before her little girl! Someone gave her steroids and her successful pregnancy is now doing her GCSEs and looking very much like jail bait in tight leggings with shirley temple hair!

Anyway, I digress...

Sunday 25th March
The babies are arriving!
Stogan - V high NKC - cycle#2, DC#1, Baby girl born Sunday 11/03/12 7lb13.5. Our First Pred Thread Baby!

BFP
3rd Trimester
Digitalgirl - High NKC - BFP cycle#2, DC#2 36+6 Due 16/04/12
Coconutfeet - V High NKC, Factor II gene mutation, underactive thyroid - BFP pre-pred, started at 6 weeks 33+6
Comedy - V High NKC - BFP cycle#2, DC#2 ? 33+0 C-section booked: 14/5/12
Iggi - High NKC & Hypothyroidism - BFP cycle#2, DC#2- 30+5 c-section booked for 21/5/12
BrownieGecko - High NKC, Hypothyroidism, & Glucose Intolerant. BFP Clomid cycle#3, DC#1 30+2

2nd Trimester
Freelance - V High NKC TTC#1 Hydroxychloroquine, Pred, Intralipids, 400 Cyclogest, Thyroid/hashimotos. MC 1st Pred cycle. DC#1 22+5 Next scan TBC.
Cheerfulcharlie - V High NKC, MTHFR, DC#2/ (metformin, intralipids, no pred). 22+4
batteryhen - High NKC, factor v leiden. DC#1 BFP cycle 3. 19+2
coleyoz - V High NKC. DC#2, BFP cycle2, 19+0
FrozenNorthPole - RMC, NKC status unknown, Cyclogest, aspirin, 14+3
Mercator - V High NKC, TTC#2. 14+2

1st Trimester
Hopefulfor2nd - High NKC - TTC#2. - 13+3
dunnit - V High NKC - TTC#1, on Pred, IVIG, prog and Clexane. 13+3
PQ77 - V High NKC TTC #2 (BFP cycle one but mc) 8+6
ChoccyPud - V High NKC - TTC#1 from March (Pred & Hydroxychloroquine) 4+3

TTC
Waiting to test
Arianrhod - V High NKC, MTHFR homo, hypothyroid, TTC#2 (Pred & Hydroxychloroquine)
Snoopygirl - V High NKC TTC, pred cycle 5, Super Ov Cycle 2

Waiting to ovulate
Cherrycheeks - V high NKC, TTC#2
Havingkittens - Upgraded from High to V High NKC TTC #1 1st cycle Super Ov
buster76 -V High NKC, Factor V Leiden.
Lemonsherbet - TTC#1 v high/high NK, Mthfr, thyroid issues, pred 1st trim & Intralipids 2nd on bfp
BellyD - V High NKC, MTHFR homo, TTC#1 cycle 2
eurochick - TTC#1 High NKC, pred cycle 4,
Willitbe - RMC, NKC not tested, TTC #4 cycle 2 (after m/c 12) Fertility consultant prescribed pred.
duggs1976 - High/V High NKC - TTC #1 - IVF cycle
Pebbles - TTC#1 High NKC, PCOS, super ov cycle 1 (post IVF - 1 chemical, 1 mc, combining IVF with Immunotherapy
GreenOlives - High NKC, TTC#2, Pred Cycle 2

WTTC
ScooterChaser - V High NKC - TTC#2 (Pred & Hydroxychloroquine)
Breezyweezy - V High NKC - TTC#1
AandRmum - High NKC
Cornflakes30 - V High NKC, underactive thyroid
picolina - V High NKC MC on treatment
Brownstag - V High NKC, 3 yo DS is a Pred Baby! TTC #2
Zoeella V.high NKC, Factor V Leiden. abandoned IVF, pos PCOS
Suemays - V High NKC, TTC #2. Superov. (Pred & Hydroxychloroquine)
Holldoll - High NKC - Pred, Cyclogest & aspirin

Yeah I know, but with unreliable symptoms, testing + weekly acupuncture are my mini milestones on the way to my scan in just under three weeks' time! Got several anniversaries coming up this week so feel I need to have some positive things to cling on to.

• if I make it through Weds without bleeding, that's the point I got to last Nov
• Friday will be a year since my 9wk scan at which 8.2mmc was found
• Sunday will be a year since ERPC

Do I seem less mad now?! :)

Nah, just as mad as the rest of us :) Here's me still marking off milestones now - holiday, the date of last year's first miscarriage, Nan's birthday, clocks changing... my next one is 24 weeks for viability. And all sorts of ones before that that I missed with failed pregnancies.

Oh, shoot me for reading the Mail (it's online I tell you! It means I can miss the bits about immigrants taking our jobs, raping and pillaging etc...) but I read this and thought you might all like it :)

www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2120001/Mad-Woman-New-mother-January-Jones-reveals-ate-placenta.html

ari hope you're feeling better and the bug is short-lived. There've been some awful gastric bugs doing the rounds this way too.

kittens good luck with the swi this week! Hope this follies get nice and fat.

free you are indeed correct - at 36+6 this is the most pregnant I have ever been. Apart from the usual occasional braxton hicks nothing has happened today to make me think anything is happening soon.

choccy I think your mini-milestones are a really good idea. It helps to have 'achievable' goals in the early days. For me they were getting past each mc point (8 being the furthest) then to each scan - which after 8 weeks turned out to be weekly till the nuchal.

Speaking of milestones - a couple of weeks ago I passed the anniversary of my last miscarriage. I tried to ignore it - but it was difficult not to remember that I'd baked a cake for my mum's birthday and had stayed up late to give it to her even though I'd had a cracking headache and lots of 'hot' period pains (like my womb was burning up), assumed they were pg symptoms. The next day I found some brown blood - rushed to the epau and the hb had stopped .

Anyway, no time to dwell on the past. Must keep looking forward. I had a little chat with the baby this morning, telling them how much we are all looking forward to meeting it .

Bag is v nearly packed - all we're missing are juice cartons. We've just had a lovely pub lunch with friends with 2dc. DH has washed and valeted the car, baby carseat is relatively cats-piss-smelling-free, few little jobs to do - but nothing that needs to be done before baby gets here. So, early night tonight I think

digi I was thinking of you today and wondering if you were taking raspberry leaf tea? Any day now... Sorry about your recent milestone - being pregnant doesn't take away the sadness for that baby that you lost does it.

ari how are you feeling this evening?

choccy only two more days until your Wednesday milestone. Have you got a busy week at work to keep your mind off things? Working like a charm for me...I usually have to deal with a few "dramas" on my days off and at the weekend which is a helpful distraction from my latest mentalling topic (refer chicken pox angst below).

Random question for kittens - did you not rate the keratin treatment? Someone at work had it and it looks amazing and it's on my list of "things to do when not pregnant to cheer me up". interesting to hear its not always a huge success.

DS been up at after-hours doc with small mystery blistery rash which has been lurking around for four days. Dh just called and said doc has no idea what it is. There's a 5% chance that his chicken pox vaccine didn't work and it's a small break through infection...i know that I've had chicken pox but of course I'm on 40mg prednisolone which means cp is very bad if you catch it (bmj had a helpful article about someone nearly dying...and there I was worrying about mc up until that point!)

My question, which I can't find the answer to, is whether the pred is more likely to make me susceptible to catching it a second time? I know immunosuppressed people can get it twice (my dad did when he was on chemo) - but if I am otherwise healthy does the high dose of pred put me in the second time camp? Questions...luckily I have a mr s appt tomorrow.

Thanks for doing the list and the positive vibes free (and dm article...much as i really dislike that paper; random that someone goes to the trouble of turning the placenta into pills - you would have thought all the benefits would be dehydrated out? Hey ho...)

Hi and a big wave to everyone else

Morning ladies hope u r well. A quick question I am happily taking my ivf injections etc they are fine. The things that are not do fine are the v high nk cells clexane injections. They really sting and leave a bruise. Is says on dr s v high plan clexane until 12 weeks if bfp. A long time. Did any of you guys have to take clexane ? A blood thinner like herapin but unsure why I need to take it? Horrid drug.