BFP after IVF - anyone want to join me in the wait for first scan?

[HopefulllHolly]

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Hi everyone,
I’ve just had our first cycle of IVF and although we had very slim odds of it working (low AMH, low AFC, male factor, which led to only 2 mature eggs which thankfully led to one perfect day 5 blast). We are absolutely amazed and over the moon that it worked despite everything, but I am really struggling with the wait for first scan. I almost feel with infertility (we TTC for 6/7 years) that it does make you anxious and I’m finding the wait to my first scan (6th June) unbearable. I don’t want to seem ungrateful but I really wish I could enjoy it or relax a little but instead I am worrying about miscarriage and things I can’t control. For me this has been the worst bit of IVF so far, and I’d love to just be able to be happy so I don’t look back (if it does work) and wish that I hadn’t been so anxious and scared.

Is anyone else in the same boat who wants to keep me company? 🥹 Or can provide some tips on how to distract myself and cope better? I know there’s nothing I can do to change the outcome and what will be will be, but I don’t think I’ve ever worried so much in my life.

Thank you 🙏

I have a question for the group on storing Lubion.

It says on the box that it should not be stored over 25C but my temperature sensors around the house are showing temperatures between 24 and 27.5. The box also says not to refrigerate. Luckily the temperature will be going down over the next few days, but I wonder how people tend to deal with storing Lubion over summer months, as I got another 40 days worth of progesterone delivered today.

@oliviagrace2307 im am
finding it soooo much more tiring with a toddler, she is amazing and I wouldn’t have it any other way but the girl does not sit still and has recently stopped napping when at home with me- at all- zilch 😂 but on the flip side she does cheer me up when I’m low and is very good for not letting me wallow in my own self pity for long when I’m feeling anxious! What about you? How you finding it?

@DippyDuck19 @HopefulllHolly sounds like a very boy orientated January coming up 😂 if all these non scientific predictions are correct! Can’t wait to find out!

Oooh lovely @oliviagrace2307 where are you off to on holiday? I would bloody love a vacation but my other half keeps going on that we need to save and sort some stuff we need doing in the house (just bought a new house and still half way through decorating and things) plus we have to buy a new car as ours is only 3 doors currently. But we’ll see if I can get us away for a week somewhere! Would love a last holiday just the two of us, though I’m planning a holiday when baby is small anyway as we’ve cancelled going to Asia and missing my brothers wedding - so I feel like we’re owed a proper holiday!

@DippyDuck19 Ah that’s fair! I did it this way around because my friends had the NHS test and had abnormal results and they had a total meltdown about it and they are MUCH more collected than us, so I just didn’t want to run the risk of that happening because I don’t think my anxiety levels could take anymore 😂 Plus my other half is desperate to know what we are having so it made sense. Expensive though! So exciting getting your gender results back so soon! I’m going to be so nervous to look at what it says. I cannot for the life of me imagine having a girl, it’s just never been something I can envision so I will be shook if it is!

@Edf That would be lovely for you to have one of each! Let’s see if our tea leaf predictions are right next week! TBH I don’t understand Ramzi theory because I’m sure your placenta moves about loads?

Had my bloods done for NIPT! Should find out in a weeks time or less. Apparently I have horizontal veins too, the guy taking my bloods looked utterly perplexed! Also have another midwife with the community midwife on Tuesday so it’s all go! I quite like all these appointments and things as it breaks the time right down to manageable chunks, rather than the 3 weeks in between everything you have at the start. My partner is away next week when I’ll get the results so I’m hoping the results are all normal. Then I can think of a nice way to surprise him with the gender when he’s back 🥹

@HopefulllHolly ooo can’t wait to hear everyone’s gender reveals 💙💕 yeah I thought it floated around too but think it must stay still at some point I think, I had an anterior with dd so couldn’t feel kicks till like 26 weeks which freaked me out till we understood why

@Edf Ah bless you, the no naps is hard!! My DS goes through phases where he still naps but on the days he doesn't it is tricky lol my son is the same very high energy, I work part time so on my days when I'm at home with him I am literally ready for bed at 7.30pm and that was before pregnancy haha!

I also just did the Chinese gender prediction based on dates and it said girl but I was convinced i was having a girl with my son lol! We saw four magpies the other day and my OH took that as a sign it's another boy so I may be outnumbered haha but wouldn't have it any other way.

@ThePeachGoose thank you so much for the tv series recommendations!! Girls5eva looks really funny and I love Tina Fey so I'll give that a go. I love all of the classics you mentioned. The only series we are watching atm with OH is new season The Boys for a bit of dark comedy but need something new to get into! I totally recommend The White Lotus series too, very interesting comedy/drama! Im also a big reader and I'm reading the new book by C J Skuse called Deadhead (part of the Sweet Pea series) if you like crime and dark comedy it is a must read!

@HopefulllHolly we are off to France on Saturday! We are driving and get the tunnel down, with my DS it's so much easier just to chuck everything in the car, we took him to New York last year which was amazing but omg the flight on the way back he just didn't sleep and it was a night flight 🙈 Oh wow congrats on the new house, how's it coming along? You def deserve a holiday, maybe go somewhere as a baby moon? 😃 Asia is def on my bucket list to go to. Oh I'm sorry you missed your brothers wedding, was that a destination wedding?

@Edf Oh bless you, that would really upset me not being able to feel the kicks, that’s one of the things I can’t wait for! Can’t even imagine what it feels like. My best friend had that too and said she hated it!

@oliviagrace2307 Ah nice! France is lovely in the summer! Haha I want to take my other half to NY next March for his 40th as last time we went it went in to lockdown on our 2nd day there and the day before his birthday - he was gutted! But I have some amazing photos of New York with no people so it wasn’t all bad! My brothers partner is from Singapore but much of her family live in Malaysia so they were getting married in Kuala Lumpur. Can’t go now because of Zika. We’d planned to go for 4 weeks and spend some time in Bali and Vietnam (two of my favourite places in the world) but we have the best reason to not be going! And I’m looking forward to going with a little one! My other half always wants to mess around in the sea and play bat and ball but I’m very much a book and sunbathe person so I’m excited for him to have a little playmate 🤣🤣🤣 keeps him entertained! Plus in Bali they absolutely love babies and help you with them so you can enjoy your meal and stuff, it’s so lovely. If I don’t get over there next year I’ll be livid 😊
I think we may end up going somewhere but really depends on the house. It’s all cosmetic stuff like panelling our bedroom, hanging tv on walls, put the Victorian features back in, plus nursery but I really can’t be assed doing it ourselves as our walls are wonky and it was stressful enough doing the living room 😅 I’m being a right princess about it! Plus buying baby stuff as it’s our first so we have nothing! Why does everything cost so much!

@oliviagrace2307 Thanks! I'll check it out, I need to keep myself occupied and I like a dark comedy. I'm totally a fan of White Lotus and can't wait for a new season, I wonder what they'll do with it. If you like dark comedies, Barry and The Last Man on Earth are also pretty good. I find that I'm struggling to focus on reading atm, thinking about too many things. Do you have that problem at all?

Also, I'm very jelly and at the same time happy for you that you're taking a break to France. We have nothing booked for the summer because of the usual IVF uncertainty, but we do feel like we need a break so I'm thinking about a London weekend staycation or maybe something out of London, but close.

@HopefulllHolly omg I know about the house reno costs! We moved a year and a half ago, we re-did the main bathroom and fixed a few things + repainted last summer, and from there all our time, and more recently money, has gone into IVF. So we're behind on so many projects, not to mention basic decorations like mirrors around the house, proper curtains / blinds not Ikea cheapies, rugs and artwork. But everything is so friggin expensive these days! We have guests coming over at the end of July so I'll need to at least do a few things, aiming for maximum impact for least amount of money lol

@ThePeachGoose Yeah it’s expensive making everything look pretty isn’t it! We’ve kind of not done loads after initially doing loads when we first moved in, now all our time and money was going on IVF related things. Regretting it now!

Random question - My other half has tested positive for covid and I’ve come down with a scratchy throat today, pretty sure I’ve got it too. Will the baby be ok? I guess there’s nothing I can do other than paracetamol and loads of water. Really peed off as it was our friend who knows we’re pregnant who went to the pub and turned up saying he had it. I’ve had to refrain from telling him off but I’d really like to! I’m having a right panic.

@HopefulllHolly exciting you've had the NIPT. Fingers crossed everything will come back ok.

I think I have a preference for a girl as me and DP agree on names. We completed disagree for boys! So bet it will be a boy knowing our luck! At least we have several months to find a name!

I'm debating on a gender reveal for family.

Haha @DippyDuck19 we are having the same issue. Have lots of girls names, but no boys we both agree on. Boys names are much harder and it will have the last name Peach which is bloody impossible to match with! 😂

My mum doesn’t want to know the gender so I don’t know how we’re going to hide it from her! I know she’ll cave and ask when she knows I know the result though because she has very little self restraint like moi. Plus my partners dad and partner are absolute blabber mouths 🤣

@DippyDuck19 @HopefulllHolly we are the exact same
ref names- luckily with daughter we both easily agreed (Daisy) but this time round we are poles apart with suggestions in boys- slightly closer together for girls

@Edf Daisy is so cute! 🥰 We both like Luca and I love Marlowe for a boy too - I had a dodgy ex called Luke when I was younger and Luca feels to close to it, but I don’t mind it. Also sounds a bit like “Look a Peach” and I’m sure will get bullied for that 🤣🤣

OH NO @HopefulllHolly have you been vaccinated? That should keep the symptoms to a minimum hopefully 🤞🏻 I looked it up on the NHS website and they say it’s worst in the 3rd trimester but it’s important to keep your fever down if you get any as it can lead to birth defects, so definitely stay on top of that! Otherwise you should contact your GP or midwife right away they also say.

Hopefully it’s nothing major. When my husband got covid he got a full-blown situation and I just had the sniffles and some brain fog.

Hang in there! I’m sure that the doctors know what to do by now as you wouldn’t be the first who got it in their pregnancy.

Oh poor you, you didn’t need this shit! I’d be telling off that bloke too! Arrrrgh

@HopefulllHolly You’ll be totally fine if you get covid while pregnant. Just make sure you keep your temperature in check so have lots of fluids and paracetamol. Most cases are fairly mild now anyways.
But you should tell you friend off for coming over with covid knowing you’re pregnant, I would be telling him off!

@ThePeachGoose Yeah it’s not ideal. I’ve had all the jabs and the booster so I’m hoping it’s more like a cold. Don’t seem to have a temperature just a really scratchy throat. Praying it doesn’t get any worse. I’ll mention to the midwife tomorrow but I’m sure she’ll say don’t worry and do what you’ve both said.

@AnnieStar12 Yeah I’ve given him a verbal slap this eve and he was a bit clueless. He hadn’t even thought about me being pregnant but he’s a bit like that anyway. Last time I had it it was just a scratchy throat, cough and no energy so hopefully I’ll just have that and be able to sleep it off this weekend.

Im more just peed off than anything! I’ve taken a double dose of vitamin c tonight and dosed up on paracetamol and 3 litres of water to be safe. This is the second time he’s given us Covid too, because he just continues to go out when he’s ill 😵‍💫

@HopefulllHolly oh my god, the second time? This guy needs to be banned from your friend group lol I can’t even!

I’m sure you’ll be fine especially as it sounds like you should have some immunity and you didn’t take it hard before.

I remember when we had Covid that we took extra vitamin D (do check max allowed in pregnancy), and my acupuncturist always says to take at least 500 mg of vit C and 25 mg of zinc for immunity (do check max allowed in pregnancy again). Most of it could be in your pregnancy vitamins already. We also had upset tummies after Covid especially my husband, it might mess up with the flora a bit, so I could recommend the probiotic YourGutPlus as well which was specifically tested by NHS for Covid. It helped us a lot get back quicker.

Let us know how it goes xx

@HopefulllHolly I caught it twice in my last pregnancy (later on too, where it’s more dangerous) but me and the baby were totally fine. You’ll be fine. I actually caught about 6 viruses in pregnancy and felt like I was constantly unwell - horrible! Fever in the first trimester is only dangerous when it’s really high for a fairly protracted period of time (my midwife told me this). I wouldn’t take paracetamol unless you really need it (ie temp is up), even though it’s recommended as safe for pregnancy and the NHS guidance hasn’t changed - it’s just there is emerging evidence that is does have some impact on fetal development and this is quite credible research (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41574-021-00553-7).

Thanks @ThePeachGoose and@Leaf86 I’ll just keep an eye on it then. I’m sure I can manage without paracetamol given I have had migraines all week and not taken anything for those which felt much worse! Thanks for the advice and hand hold. Will keep you posted ☺️

Oh no @HopefulllHolly that's terrible that your friend has passed on covid to you twice! You will be fine with covid and pregnancy my friend had it during the first trimester and she was OK just had unpleasant cold like symptoms.

Wow thats mad your NY trip was cut short because of lockdown but must have been amazing pictures, NY was heaving when we went in November. Ahh that sounds like a wonderful idea to go back to Asia next year, I would love to go to Bali and just chill on the beach! Because I'm a Monica lol I made a spreadsheet when expecting our DS and basically chipped away at the baby stuff month by month and it definitely helped, my OH had no idea how much prams cost or anything! Facebook marketplace for certain things is also a god send, I picked up a brand new Tommee Tippee Perfect Prep machine for £20 on there.

@ThePeachGoose Omg I cant wait for season 3 of the White Lotus, I think it's meant to be set in Thailand but won't be out till next year now (boo!). I've just started watching Girls5Eva as my OH is working late and DS is in bed and omg it's hilarious 😂 thanks so much for sharing! I do get what you mean about reading, it's taken me ages to get through my current book, I used to read and read book after book in quick succession but life gets in the way or I'm having to brain multi task and get distracted very easily. I also tried for ages to read Stephen King's Salem's Lot as I love horror but never in my adult life picked up a SK novel and jeez... you could murder someone with one of his books just from the sheer size of them! So it kinda of threw me off my steam. A mini break in London is a great idea, is there anything you'd like to do in London in particular? We last went to London on a rare date weekend me and my DH and went to Flesh and Buns in Covent Garden before we started IVF and it was immense it's like Japenese fusion so do sushi etc but do the most amazing chicken bao buns ever!

@Leaf86 thanks for sharing the article, I'm a bit worried now as I had to take paracetamol last week for cramps on advice from my clinic, I took two doses but haven't had any more since 🫤 I'm hoping it will be fine but it's a bit crazy that nhs guidance hasn't been updated

@oliviagrace2307 totally agree, the guidance should be updated (at least to show people it’s not totally risk free). I genuinely wouldn’t worry about a couple of doses, I would expect the research to have been done on women who had to take it more frequently or for longer periods. It would be very difficult to compare to a control group otherwise as most women have popped a few paracetamol in pregnancy.

@Leaf86 that article link isn’t working for me, could you try sharing again? I just get a note saying page not found.
I’m interested in reading it, have definitely taken paracetamol in pregnancy before!

My midwife told me I could take paracetamol so it is a bit worrying! 🙃 It’s a minefield working out what you should be doing!

I managed to find the article from googling it. Also looked up the NHS guidance which now says only take it if you must and for as short a time as possible. I've always been told it's safe in pregnancy, so must be updated advice.
Glad someone told me!