Immune/NK issues - aka Pred Thread no.20!

[harrietm87]

Hi all, thought I'd get the ball rolling on the new thread.

Welcome all with immune/natural killer cell issues.

It's been a while since a new thread so thought it might be helpful if we all added our stats:

I'm harriet, age 30, TTC#1.
3 mcs (2 at 5 weeks, 1 mmc at 9 weeks).
Hypothyroid and high NK cells.
Cycle 2 on pred!

Thank you Seeking! I will look it similar stories x

poppy I've looked into this recently as DH is in South America right now - hence why we had this deadline to try to conceive before he went. I had decided that if we hadn't conceived first, we would get the tests done here and then just go for it, with the knowledge that termination may be necessary anyway (the tests have to be done at a certain time and I think don't give 100% guarantees).

I think in your position where it's a cat 2 I would definitely do this rather than wait. It's all about weighing up the risks and as you say, there are also (though I would say small) risks to waiting.

People in these countries are still having babies, as DH kept reminding me. I would go for it if I were you.

amy I'm glad you've decided to go for it. Good luck!

Thanks Harriet. Had a chat to my parents too and they held a similar view. I appreciate all your thoughts; I guess I just want to know I'm not being blatantly irresponsible. And yes, women are having babies all over the world anyway; we are so lucky in the west to even have the option. DP made me feel slightly foolish saying "there's been no cases for decades, why would it be us?!"

Also interesting to see that in South America the birth defect rate has dropped enormously since the scare began and Brazil and some other countries in the region have been downgraded to cat 2.

Hi all, just doing mass catch up ...

Amy, great news!!! Glad you're still checking in on the moon face wobblers "🌝"
Mr S's specialist area is Reproductive immunity medicine. (Or something to that effect) so I believe his medical diagnosis and prescriptions are solid. I'm like Harriet, never had a hb and I'm 13+5 and going strong!
I have sticky blood and high Nk, similar to you. Can't tell which caused issues for me but it's worked for me so far.
Mr S doesn't appear to be the most thorough scanner and doesn't have much time for me and his office tends to fck stuff up paperwork occasionally, but he's got me here and if it gets me my family I don't really care, lol.
Tapering off pred now, so will be free from it for rest of preg :)
It's totally your decision 😊
If you have a beautiful baby on pred, will you wish you'd tried to go without? If you MC'd again without pred, will you wish you had have tried? Which feeling would disturb you the most?
I freak if I smell cigs, car fumes, spend too long on mobile, smell chlorine in water, etc. So many unavoidable toxins are racing around us anyway (that's how I see it)
I messed up pred and took from ovulation, missed 5-6 days then took from 14dpo. I usually lose at 5-6 weeks so maybe 4 weeks on (enough time to get it working) suited me?
I lived in Sydney for 4 years btw Amy, plan on going back- love it!

Poppy!!! Lovely to hear from you, but sorry you've got some issues there.
Can DH get tested for carrying Zika easily? (Just quickly read on further, you may have covered this) It would be so unlikely for him to get it, esp with precautions. Wasn't Miami high risk? I haven't heard of an influx of Zika affected babies being born there so maybe it's really rare but just shocking enough to be plastered all over news? Don't give up lovely, we are warriors in here! Hear us roar! (Then get a little sick in our mouths with indigestion) I say- go for it x

Sophie, welcome!! Sorry for your crappy run of MC's.
Honestly, I'm sure some of Mr S's plan is a money spinner, his stats mean he's so in demand that it's probably sensible for him to charge through the roof :/ I'll be forking out in excess of 10k as I get sucked in by all the testing etc, but 3 rounds of IVF costs more, baby making is a big dollar business!! I can't put a figure on how much a family would mean to me - and that's how I justify it haha

Tee- glad you're feeling better lovely :)

Hope all that gumph made sense... it's too late to write sensibly

Xx

Didn't mean to sound so negative about the clinic there (blame pred withdrawals) ^ It's got me this far and Lorna is fab, Nadia is an absolute gem and Mr S knows his stuff!

Quick update if my happenings that could avoid future wobbles for us high alert preggies and soon to have Bfp's-
As we have to put pessaries in, we may notice the position of our cervix changing.
A couple of days ago I lost my cervix! I noticed because I wasn't shoving the Cyclogest up behind it anymore, I literally couldn't feel it anywhere. It must have scooched up about 2-3 inches!
Decided that it must have shortened and I had an incompetent cervix and was going into pre-term labour... obvs.
Googled like a maniac, and found nothing sensible. Went to hospital today for thorough check up and my cervix is still a good length, nicely closed and baby fine!
Moral of story, cervix's do what they want, don't let this freak you out of it happens but still have it checked.
Am sure I'll have plenty more 'what not to freak out about' stories for you all in time haha

Xxx

justla you've been putting the pessaries in the front (so to speak...)? I've been back door all the way, so haven't gone anywhere near my cervix. I've never been able to find it anyway so prob for the best! Glad you're reassured anyway!

I am so not looking forward to work today argh. Woke up at 6 needing to wee and couldn't get back to sleep, but now my bed is looking appealing again!

Sorry for the radio silence ladies!

I just feel so poorly lately. Feel nauseous all day everyday and dealing with major self pity. Also so tired. Went to bed at 5:15pm yesterday! Thank god it was Bank Hol and DH was there to take care of DS. In theory I should be 8 weeks today. Have booked a scan for 8+4 on Saturday to see if things are okay.

Luna so glad your cystisis is clearing up- sounded absolutely awful!

Seeking Justla and Harriet glad the little beans are doing well and that scans have been so positive!

Snoopy What a gorgeous name! Congratulations on little Ines and hope you're enjoying the newborn cuddles

Oh Drttc, I'm so sorry you're feeling so rough :( nausea is hideous and totally debilitating... but glad that babe is doing well and that you have a scan soon :)

Amazing you are doing this all drug free... just incredible ❤️

Amy - he didn't say much to me about taking it from bfp, ideally I guess it would have been from ovulation but I had ds1 ok, and im now 34 weeks with ds2. For me personally it was more important I had it in my system.

Drttc - sorry you are feeling so rubbish, this time around I have felt so much more tired but I wonder if it's because I just don't get time to stop in the day so when ds goes to bed I just feel like collapsing on the sofa! However the last few weeks I've also been getting a bit of insomnia, I feel tired go to bed but whatever I do I just can't sleep - last night I went to be at 9.30, got back up at 11 watched tv until 1 then went back to bed. Alarm went off at 5.30 for work - ugh! Luckily working at home today so after DH took ds to childcare. Got back in bed!

I find it funny how people get very different of Mr s and his clinic. I've always found him friendly but professional and very to the point - I can't imagine him ringing me up personally though like he did with you seeking. With ds 1 he was working our of a room in a private hospital in epsom rather than the clinic he has now so the experience was very different but very good. I do think the clinic has made things a lot more professional though and found the other staff who work there really lovely. Downside is previously though they couldn't do intralipids and scans all the time so sometimes you could get things done locally and then send results in etc, where as now you have to always go to the clinic. I was lucky that I got all my treatment in before the prices went up too! Although I would pay the money all over again if needed.

Harriet, yes! Seems easier to me and doesn't feel as uncomfortable lol.

Drttc, sorry you're feeling so bad. I'm thinking the bean just needs all of your energy to grow really strong :) Pred probably kept you perkier in last pregnancy. A good scan on Saturday would be great ⭐️ Will be thinking of you

Glad you've had such good experiences with Mr S, Sunny! I only had one not so great appointment, I think he was having a bad day and then his office sent me an incorrect email with details from a previous scan dating baby smaller, but with a recent date a references on it which freaked me out. I thought on further inspection they had found the baby was underdeveloped. No apology was made even when I told them I was very distressed by it.
Other than that, they've been pretty good, and as most of us agree- if we get our healthy children, not much else really matters 😊

And Harriet, My sleep has averaged at 5-6h per night on pred, but last night I got 7h50!!!!!!!! Could be the tapering off 😊😊😊🙌🏼

Omg 5-6 hours?!?! How have you been coping! I've been getting loads
of sleep but my problem is my body clock seems to be shifting forward - so I start getting unbearably tired at about 5/6pm, usually manage to stay awake until 9.30/10pm, but then am up at 6 - it's so weird! I've been trying to force myself to stay in bed once I've woken up but I keep needing to wee and once I've left the bedroom it alerts the cat to the prospect of breakfast and he then won't stop miaowing until I've fed him! Don't know how I'd cope pregnant with a child!

Hi All

Just checking in as I am really enjoying the threads and keeping up to date with you all, even if I am more of a silent member. Welcome to the newies!

In the next week I will be embarking on my second dose of pred and fingers crossed something will stick this time - you ladies give me hope!

Interesting reading about the different experiences of the clinic and Dr S. I keep emailing with questions and am sure they must think I am a total pain in the ar** but I have just needed clarification on some things.......maybe I should ask more questions on here!

Anyway hope everyone had good bank holiday weekends, I could have done with another week

Pretty tired but relaxing a lot Harriet :)
How are you coping with work?

Luna, where are you at with testing?? It's gotta be soon right?

Take4, good luck for this round! What technique are you going for? Random boinking and hoping for the best? Flashy face kits? Whatever it is I hope it works!

Xx

Sunny I feel your pain! I consider 5-6 hours of consecutive sleep a huge win. DS has only just started kind of sleeping through this last week, and that includes usually waking up at 5:30, but one day started at 4:45 and another at 4am. Like you I'm absolutely DEAD come early evening but it's hard to shut off when you know it's the only bit of down time you'll get before it all starts again.

Justla I'm not sure how the pred affected my energy last time as I have DS now. But I remember I had no trouble sleeping and was certainly very fatigued! Difference was I could sleep whenever I wanted haha. My morning sickness felt the same as well so I suspect I'm the rare few that didn't have my symptoms masked by pred. Though I certainly had the horrendous skin! My skin's always been kind of in the middle (not perfect but not really bad) but oh my goodness, for the first time I was actually embarrassed of it! It took a few weeks off pred for it to get better and then it was amazingly perfect right up until my cycles came back at 8 months pp. Haha!

@JustLa, thanks for your soothing comments! I've booked a consultation with a private doc who specialises in travel issues to discuss the testing. It might be too early to pick anything up from DP's most recent trip. The main issue is that even if he doesn't have it now he could in theory get it any time whilst TTC and even give it to me through sexual contact. The advice is to use condoms for the duration of pregnancy if male partner travels to a Zika zone. I think this is too cautious for "moderate" risk areas. Hopefully tomorrow will shed some light.

Your cervical adventures made me laugh! I've googled this recently too and so many women just don't know what the hell to look for! It's not like we can compare it to what it was like before TTC and pregnancy because we wouldn't have bothered checking. Fertility Friend (now deleted) ranks cervical position and texture as a secondary sign. They do seem to move around a lot. Hope you're managing to enjoy it a bit now you're officially out of the dreaded first trimester.

@harrietm87, loving the cat interventions. How sweet! Do you think it will get jealous when the baby arrives?

@JustLa I'm doing the flashy / static smiley face malarkey (it haunts my dreams!) as it give me the illusion of having some control over this baby making business!!

@harrietm87 the other static face I woke up to this morning was my cat sitting there quietly, staring, willing me to wake up. It was 5am. I lay very still pretending to be asleep but eventually had to get up and give him some food - I am a total pushover!!

8 DOP, 4 PTD (Potty Training Demon)... testing Friday I guess; which is day 11... but I'm so sceptical about showing that early, I've never seen a positive tha early in all my 4 pregnancies - so I guess I'll stop Pred if negative on Fri, keep testing until AF arrives or BFP - then get back on the Pred.

I can't remember, how many days were you guys DOP when you got a positive?

Flashy face all the way Take! Although this was only 2nd time I've used the little beauties, before just counted and aimlessly boinked 🤣

Good news re doc Poppy, throw money at the problem and let the specialist guide you through it all

And Harriet, my friend with Lupus and therefore on the same protocol practically, said that she found it much easier to shove the old pessary up the back passage, "less messy" as well, whatever the hell that means!! So, I'll prob be going straight for the rear 🤣

Just - loved your little late night wobble :). To be honest, they've all been really lovely at the clinic and on the phone. I even appreciate the directness from Mr S. I guess I've just been surprised at the mistakes, as I'm used to be quite precise at work.

We are all highly emotional creatures while we go through these distressing experiences. The smallest oversight can seem so huge to us. Hmm, but I wouldn't say freaking you out Just by writing-up accidental smaller bub measurements is a 'small' thing though! Gah! My follow up letter had an error in it too, tut tut.

Seeking - I'm at the clinic at 2 then I've booked in to get intralipids at 4, so I might see you and Just there! I have long brownish blondish hair. I'll be the one looking a bit terrified.

Golly gosh, Harriet and Just, I have to CHOOSE which passage for pessaries!? Crumbs! Is there no end to the confusion!?

Sunny - thanks, I just want it in my system now too! I'm so much more convinced than I was yesterday. And thanks everyone for helping me out on that decision. No-one else I know knows what's it's like to go through this. I very much appreciate it

Wow yes DrTtc, I have a sheet of rather impressive acne on my chest that's recently progressed to a catagory 3 break out, raising up on to my face! I look like Woogie from 'there's something about Mary'!!! 😂
It was the only thing I wasn't blaming on pred tbh lol. I'm comforted by the fact that yours went as although I can cover it now, it's pretty bad and looks like it will scar!
Hope you're feeling better soon, and hope you can enjoy resting even with your little one needing mummy 😊

Harriet- My orange craving is back with a vengeance! And I need to tell you about Tesco Finest Velencian Orange ice lollies.... closest I've come to a sexual experience since my bfp!!!! 😂

Poppy, I'm so glad you've got aspointments sorted. You're so Savvy, you've totally got this, you'll be on the pregnancy express before you know it and our babies will all be 2018 bubs I'm sure 😊
The doc at the hospital said my womb most likely moved and tilted and took my cervix with it, makes the perssaries easier anyway (tmi lol)

Take4, yes I loved using that! And you made me actually Lol with the static cat face comment 😂

Luna, so exciting! I tested 9dpo and didn't show. Tested again at 14 dpo and showed strong on several tests. Was a mistake to leave it that long as spent 5 days without pred which panicked me so much! They te you to start testing with First response tests on day 10... Harriet got her fainty line we were all squinting at on that day ❤️
With Cyclogest, I worry the back will make me wanna 'go' lol

Xxx

• Used to BEING precise at work

Grammatical karma.

Amy I'm so glad you're feeling better and the emotional side way surpasses any physical effect I've had from this pregnancy, thanks for your support with my wobble! Lol
I may get in earlier for intralipids as my consult is at 1, but I have same description as you! Just add -big belly and spots- to that haha.
Would be lovely to see you and seeking and say hi

Xx

Aha, so Harriet's fainty was day 10! Ok... good to know....

Girls,you've got to coordinate this better! Like a loaf of bread or a cluster of oranges sticking out your handbags as way of Prednet Princess identification 🤣 Or you'll end up freaking some poor brunette right out as you randomly ask her about her back passage, Zika, stalking cats etc.