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!

I'm still being sick but I def think I deal with it better (still moan!) but I remind myself of where I was last year and it makes me feel grateful even when head is in the toilet! :)
Sup having mc and also having had ivf increases ur risk of this silly Placenta. as long as baby stays happy it's fine! Dh is now in a sex ban - lucky him! I didn't let him near me for first 14 weeks anyways and now hes back on it!

Hope ur scan goes ok, so great to hear about seekings :) and all the new ladies too xx

Hehe the best reason to be sick isn't it!

Haha yes understandably about the sex ban. I had a bleed at 28 weeks and rushed in to get monitored- turned out to have been because we'd DTD the night before. So it went off the menu then as well! Not worth the stress if there's a bleed.

Do you know the gender?

Aww thanks Hun. We'll see what happens but we will be holding our breath until then.

Really hope you can keep us updated :-)

No keeping gender surprise. Am excited to know but also can't wait to find out at birth

Keeping my fingers crossed for u lovely. It's so scary!

Ahhh it's going to be such a beautiful moment for you both! Mummy, daddy, and baby will be crying (happy tears) I'm sure :-)

Thank you! X

Just hope all goes well. Still a long way to go....but everything crossed tightly and praying hard!

Thanks ladies....one milestone done.... 9 weeks is only 2 weeks away. That's the next one for me. Lost mc #4 at 8+6 so once I'm past there I'll feel a little better.

Trying, so lovely to see you back here. You know just how happy I am that you finally have your little miracle on board, even now I well up and I've know a while!! You deserve it soooooo much! I admire the strength it took you to keep going, it's been a long and tough journey. I'm not sure many people could have kept at it they way you and DH did!

Tried booking my first midwife appointment yesterday - utterly useless!! I'm 7 weeks and they only have 3 appointments over the next two weeks!! Which with work and DrS appointments I can't make. When I question how ridiculous that was I was met with 'well most people would have booked it by now'!! Well the red mist descended!! Naturally a spouted off how having recurrent miscarriages doesn't really fill you with hope to book your appointment the moment you find out! Midwife is going to phone me today

trying huge congratulations! You're nearly there now and all will have been worth it!

seeking can't believe they didn't have more sensitivity about your booking. I despair sometimes.

I'm feeling awful as I had some brown spotting last night. At first just when I wiped, so I put a liner in and there were a couple more spots later on. I've had cramps as well. I know it's good that it's brown not red but I can't help but feel it's all over again before it's even begun. I did another test this morning at 14dpo and got a good strong line, and haven't had any more spotting, but I know that means nothing. My intralipids are tomorrow - should I postpone them and try to get my hcg done? Or should I go ahead?

Congrats to TryingNo1! It sounds like you've been through it, it's so lovely that you're almost there!
Do you have APS and Nk cells too? I'm on Fragmin, Aspirin, pred, Cyclogest for both of those conditions. I actually want to talk to obs about the possibility of a planned C- section as I feel it would cut out further risks but really need to research!
I think they just get you to stop Clexane 12h before surgery and then start again after? I bet you can't wait to meet your little miracle!

Thanks Sunny, I've remembered Mr S saying I have the Nucal in place of 12 week scan so it only costs me £50 more than my standard 12 week scan and consultation would be... ugh lol, I wish I could skip something to save money for a newer car but realistically, I'm just going to go for it 🙄

Seeking, the midwife thing is so stupid. I went to local gp at 7 weeks and they said they couldn't get me in until 11 weeks, I was like whaaaat?! I made my feelings clear and they told me to contact another local surgery they had connections with and I was in within days. They can make you feel so insignificant, until you give em the stink eye!

Harriet, I had spotting at around 6 weeks. TMI Warning! ⚠️ It was brown and quite solid/stringy and it was totally fine. Mr S looked for bleed site and there was nothing there. How strong is cramping? Period strength? I've had aches and pains and cramps all the way, everything is stretching. I was awake most of last night cramping due to constipation! 😵 All these things are going to freak us out. I think you should call clinic and ask about intralipids. Am sure they will tell you to go ahead and give some advice too 😊

Xx

Harriet- I had a big red bleed with DS right around when AF would have been due and was certain it was all over. Also had plenty more bleeds between 6 and 7.5 weeks which I would have thought it impossible to have a healthy baby afterward- but I did! I know it's very difficult, but remember that bleeding/spotting can be normal. Prolonged bleeding and cramping simultaneously (more like having AF) is what's more abnormal. Stay strong. If it's stopped then maybe carry on as planned? It can take a few days to see if hcg is doubling after all.

Oh and Harriet, clinic may tell you to double cyclogest so it's worth calling them 😊

Also I agree that mild cramping for several weeks is absolutely normal as things get set up for baby in there. It's hard to get accustomed to as we see cramping as the enemy.

Seeking- argh!!! This is why I have a negative view of a lot of the staff/midwives I've encountered. They can really make you feel as though your part of the masses and could care less about specialized care. I know this doesn't apply to everyone but I've come across too many of them since starting this journey! I'm sorry you have to deal with it during this time.

Harriet thinking of you hun, keep positive and download all your worries in here until you feel more secure... it's so common to have bleeding/spotting/pain - I did with my DS, so much pain I thought I had an ectopic! It's awful there arent any clear signs a pregnancy is going well or wrong... I understand your worry 😰💪💪💪💪

Seeking was a nightmare trying to move forward and feel like a normal pregnancy lady! But we are not all 'normal' and some of us do need extra understanding and care... I hope the midwife sorts ASAP

Thanks guys, I know it could go either way and just have to wait and see. The cramps are quite painful- probably as strong as AF ones but they feel different - a bit higher up. I've had cramping with all my pregnancies (inc the mmc where I never bled), but never had spotting before. My natural mcs were red blood from the start. I've taken the day off work and just going to try sleep as much as I can. Will ring the clinic when it opens.

I understand your thinking that it could go either way Harriett, it's one of those things that could be a sign but equally could be just normal random pregnancy symptoms.
Fingers crossed for the latter.
Good idea to stay at home and rest up, rub your belly and watch day time TV.
Thinking of you, I know how stressful it is xx

trying, its so lovely to see you back on here and now so close too. I know it probably still feels a long way off though. When pregnant the first time it literally felt like years rather than 40 weeks! I had an emergency c-section first time round (not a true emergency - my waters had been broken more than 24 hours and wasn't progressing so they thought it was best), this time I am electing to have another c-section. Its not an easy option, but I feel its the best and the safest for me.

Tryingno1, congratulations! How lovely and exciting. Can't believe you're managing to keep the suspense about the gender! You must have incredible, zen willpower!

Seeking that is totally stupid from the midwives. I've found they either go beyond expectations or dramatically fall short! Totally understand why you wanted to hold back.

Harriet, feeling for you, any kind of spotting is such a horrible after what we've been through. It's that thing where we know spotting is normal but fear what it might lead to. And if spotting is normal that means you're most likely to be fine. Brown is good cos it's old, which means it's unlikely to progress to anything else. Every time I've had bleeding that went wrong, it was pink then very quickly turned to red. I know none of this is getting to help calm you down but it's worth saying anyway. Lots of love and strong sticky vibes to you Hun.

Hope symptoms have settled and you're holding up ok Harriett xx

Arghhh the drama continues...
Just had my scan with MrS. He puts the pregnancy at 6+2!! He said the NHS must have measured wrong yesterday because at a push he could make it 6+3. There's no way that I can only be 6+3. By my dates I thought I should be 7+2. There's NO WAY I had a positive opk and then ovulated a WEEK later. We didn't have sex then any way.
So now I'm convinced that baby isn't growing properly and that it's going to end badly after all. I'm so pissed off

Sorry you're worry Harriet. Spotting can go either way but it doesn't necessarily mean bad news. So just take it one day at a time xx

Seeking could it have been late implantation? I know someone that happened to. She did Ivf so she was 100% certain of her dates and so was very worried. But it turned out it was just a bit of slower start to the pregnancy...

Also I've had major discrepancy in opinion between Dr S and other private scans when it came to the size of the SCH I had. They were convinced he was misunderstanding the scan he made and stood by their interpretation.

Oh shit seeking how annoying. Guess it's another watch and wait situation but I think you have every reason to be hopeful - you've seen a heartbeat! MC rates go way way down from here don't they? What's your next step from here - do you have another scan soon? Did Mr S offer any advice?

I had a teeny bit more spotting - almost like brown-tinged CM - and only when I wiped earlier. Cramping is ongoing. I've never had this before with any of my mcs and no idea what's happening. Clinic said it was probably fine and to come in tomorrow for my intralipids. Though they would say that as I'm about to give them £400 or whatever it is!

Seeking it really sounds like the two machines are giving different readings. I've had a gynae tell me this often happens, measurements can vary by 1mm or so even on the same machine, she said and more so if different machines are used. The fact that you progressed from one worrying scan to a heartbeat scan shows that the baby is still developing. I would put money on Dr S's scan machine being stricter.

Harriet, sounds like the spotting is already subsiding if it's only tinged. At least you know it's different to what happened previously. Glad the clinic said it's fine, I hope that reassured you!

JustLa, how are you doing, love?

Harriet everything crossed for you. Such a nerve wracking time, although brown spotting sounds like old blood, probably from implantation. Hope all goes well with infusion tomorrow.
Seeking urgh I'm sorry you weren't reassured. So there could be a 6 day discrepancy here... positive opk could easily be 2 days in advance of ovulation, then late implantation as Drttc suggested? FX for you... how does Dr S respond to these types of concerns? I've heard he can be very abrupt. So far I've found that he's not especially detailed and often in a rush. I was hoping that once pregnant they wrap you up in cotton wool a bit?!