BFP after IVF - the journey continues (part 2)

[HopefulllHolly]

SENSITIVE CONTENT

Continuation of previous thread for anyone with a BFP following IVF to support with anxieties and other worries that come along with pregnancy after infertility.

@AnnieStar12
@DippyDuck19
@DogMummy87
@Edf
@Fluffyted
@Leaf86
@LouP87
@Natty2
@SETTC87
@ThePeachGoose
@jas1996
@lemonyfox
@oliviagrace2307
@summerchild92

Please tag anyone else I’ve missed accidentally!

Hi everyone, a quick update to say that our reassurance scan was very reassuring and the baby is doing fine, tumbling around and sucking their thumb. While the haematoma seems to be going away, it would be very small if it’s still there, but probably not as easy to see without a transvaginal scan, whereas today I had my first abdominal scan! They said that the placenta is low and covering the cervix so the fresh bleeding may have come from there, but it will migrate during the pregnancy so not a worry. I checked my report and it says I have an anterior low placenta too - does that mean that I won’t be feeling any kicks until around 22 weeks? Sorry, I hadn’t been paying a lot of attention to those messages as I wasn’t at that point yet.

@ThePeachGoose Call me naive but I have an annual travel insurance plan and I just kept that! Touch wood since transfer I have had a very “boring” pregnancy, in a good way! If anything was to happen now it would be a miscarriage and sadly a hospital can’t stop that happening so I just stayed with my normal policy - If I was travelling later in pregnancy I would definitely change it though. I flew when I was 10.5 weeks and fly home tomorrow at 11.5 weeks so early days 🙈

@jas1996 a boring pregnancy is good! I’ve had a more eventful pregnancy unfortunately that took me to the A&E as well, so I’ll probably insure myself up to the teeth when I’ll travel next. Though emergency care would be covered under any travel insurance policy I imagine. Further along, it will probably need to be something more tailored but I’m yet to do my research / contact the provider of my annual travel insurance, so was trying to see what everyone else is doing 😆

@ThePeachGoose Ah I’m so glad your scan was all fine and baby was moving around for you! A low anterior means it’s low and at the front so you might feel movement above the placenta but not low down. I think you should feeling moving around 20-24 weeks but maybe before as @DippyDuck19 has and she has an anterior too. I’ve still felt nothing. Hopefully it moves out the way for you - did they say how quickly they migrate? Would make sense if it covering your cervix was the reason you keep getting some bleeding.
On insurance - if you Google it compare the market has something about pregnancy insurance - basically you just need to check to make sure pregnancy is covered but I think generally most insurance cover for it anyway. Have a look though - I just scan read!

(And my thinking to go in maternity leave is because when baby is tiny she’ll basically sleep and eat so a long haul flight doesn’t feel as daunting as one with a baby that needs entertaining! And less stuff to take as I’ll hopefully be breast feeding! Plus the women in Indonesia love babies and are really helpful with them - I’m all for that ☺️

@ThePeachGoose im currently on my way home from the airport after a long weekend in Italy- it’s totally fine to fly when pregnant! For Travel insurance you don’t need anything special just make sure you do have cover! And with the anterior placenta, I had that with DD and only felt kicks around 24 weeks.
so pleased scan went well :)

catching up on all the messages!

@ThePeachGoose I have annual travel insurance from before I became pregnant, with AXA, and after checking with them they don’t consider pregnancy a health issue so everything is still covered under my regular policy. I think that’s quite common with most providers but they should have a policy online you could check! I’m off to Greece at the end of this month and plan a short trip to Spain mid October - no flights planned after that but not because of anyone telling me not to! I know airlines have policies about flying after certain amount of weeks (34?) and needing a fit to fly note after that so worth checking the specific airline’s policy.

I too have an anterior placenta, not low though so I’m hoping it will move again before my 20week scan. Haven’t felt any movement at all yet (18 +2).

I’ve just been to the walk in vaccination clinic at my hospital for the Whooping Cough vaccine, they also said I’d be offered the flu jab, covid booster and RSV later on. I don’t think I will take up the flu or covid jabs, but will go for the RSV one, with January baby it can only help?!

@ThePeachGoose I've been told 20-24 weeks to feel kicks from baby with an anterior placenta. I've felt very faint flutters from 16 weeks but barely noticeable and it's once every 3-4 days. I'm 18 weeks tomorrow and the last 2 days the flutters are definitely stronger and more frequent so don't think it will be too long before I feel kicks but all depends on where the anterior placenta is. I'm assuming mine is quite high up because the flutters are low down and feel more on the right than on the left.

@LouP87 is this at queen Elizabeth hospital? And can anyone walk in or do you need GP in the area? I have the flu vaccine through work and been told to go to my GP for the whooping cough but I like the sound of the RSV one as you say with a January baby! I work in the area so could have it when passing.

@DippyDuck19 Did you have a reassurance scan today?

@HopefulllHolly I didn't book a scan. As movements have been stronger that's giving me some reassurance. I have my consultant appointment on Thursday so am going to see if they listen to heartbeat or do anything at the appointment. If not I will book a scan for Friday or Sunday.

@DippyDuck19 yes Queen Elizabeth! They have a vaccination clinic on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 9am to 4pm. I just walked in, didn’t have my maternity notes or anything with me, just asked for my DOB and NHS no. which they wrote down but no questions on where I was registered etc.

@DippyDuck19 Aww that’s good you feel better now baby is moving a lot! So jealous! My consultant appointments have been pointless so far so interested to see how yours differs. Do you know if IVF pregnancies are meant to get any extra scans? Cruising towards the 20 week scan and feels insane that that’s it! I guess people won’t see the need after the anomaly scan really but I like to see the growth/ have something to focus on.

@HopefulllHolly I'm not sure about extra scans. Was saying to DP I don't know how I'm going to cope 😂 although we are definitely booking a 4d at 28 weeks.
On my 12 week scan report it says growth scan 3rd December (which I think will be 34 weeks) so I'm not sure if I'll get a scan then too.

@LouP87 thanks. That's good to know. Will look into it.

Congrats on all the lovely scans 😊
up here we get 32 and 36 week scan due to ivf (and I’m also getting 28 for some reason not that I’m complaining) can’t imagine not having another after the 20 weeks 🙈🙈

Morning! Just had my 16 week appointment with the community midwife who was lovely. She let me listen to the heartbeat and said if I’m ever anxious then to text her and she’ll let me listen again - I told her she’s signing a death wish by telling me that. Baby’s heart was chugging away nicely. For those with anterior placenta she said you might still feel the rolling/butterflies in tummy sensation earlier anyway and that I should definitely feel something by 20 weeks anyway. So we’ll see! Everything else seems all good so I’m relieved as I’ve been chugging sugary drinks like noones business to keep the nausea away. ☺️

@HopefulllHolly thank you for explaining the anterior placenta and offering more info from today’s midwife session. So lovely to hear the heartbeat too! And sorry to hear that you’re still nauseous; had it gone away at all?

but no, they didn’t give me any time frames for the placenta’s movement but I imagine that i’ll get a more detailed examination and Q&A on my week 12 scan rather than the EPU reassurance scan. Thanks for sharing @AnnieStar12 and @LouP87 and @DippyDuck19 (hope I haven’t missed anyone) as well! I wonder how I’ll find the flutters the first time I feel them and whether I’ll freak out like WTH is going on, call the hospital! until I realise it’s the baby lol

And thanks for the insurance info to @HopefulllHolly and @AnnieStar12 and @LouP87 as well as the travel advice. I’ll read the t&c’s on my insurance, and contact the company too to understand how they treat it but it sounds like that should probably be enough. My last trip is gonna be at week 27 and I’ll probably get a fit to fly note just to be on the safe side.

I didn’t know that RSV vaccines are being offered now too, I don’t remember the midwife mentioning it, just whooping cough, flu and covid. That’s good though!

@HopefulllHolly i was told i’ll get 2 extra scans due to having an IVF pregnancy too but no extra info on that. I can see from @Edf that they’re quite late in the pregnancy though, so probably they didn’t bother booking them just yet as they only booked the next 3 appointments

Just a quick update - 17+5 and a posterior placenta this time- I thought I had been feeling things over the last few days but I think I can now definitely say im
feeling little kicks- not super regular but at least once or twice a day for a few mins- feels like little taps quite low down just above pubic bone 💕

i know we are a (rightly so) anxious bunch- so now I can add waiting to see if the kicks are regular and no reduced movements to the list 😂 but at least that is a lot quicker to know about than the torturous wait between scans!

hope everyone is having a lovely day!

@Edf how exciting! What a lovely milestone to reach. Enjoy feeling your baby ❤️

@Edf Ah great news! So happy for you feeling the little babe moving! How are you feeling in yourself? Have you seen any mental health support now? Hope you’re feeling ok ☺️

Does anyone else feel it’s totally surreal we started this group to help with first scan anxiety and now it’s really happening?! It’s lovely!

Lots to catch up on!

@DippyDuck19 hope you had a lovely time away,
Nice to hear that you've been having strong movements 🥰

@ThePeachGoose I'm sorry to hear about the bleeding! Pleased to hear your reassurance scan went well. I text my midwife about booking a hol at 19/20 weeks. I feel like (in general) my midwife hasn't been very helpful with my questions. She just said travelling is fine unless you have a low lying placenta, which you won't know until 20 weeks- and now I'm stuck on what to do! But sounds like you might want to speak to them prior to booking the trip? Im going to see if I can speak to the midwife this week to find out more information

@oliviagrace2307 I've booked a private 16 week scan for that day too to find out the gender! Our anniversary is the weekend after though 😅

@jas1996 best of luck for your 12 week scan this week!

@HopefulllHolly glad to hear your 16 week appointment went well and so nice to be able to hear baby's heartbeat! Your Bali trip sounds amazing, I went a few years ago and would love to keep going back!

@edf lovely to hear your update, feel like the weeks are speeding through and you'll be half way before you know it!

@Natty2 I already can’t wait to go! If you do go back go to Nusa Lembongan - it’s like Bali before it got tourism - so pretty! And no mopeds or cars, everyone drives golf carts. How have you been? Hope everything is ticking away nicely for you!

Random question but me and my partner were having a chat about Christmas and I was winding him up but then I got to thinking and was like oh wait maybe I should be being serious about this. When is your partner going to stop drinking pre baby to be able to drive you to hospital if you need to go? I was saying he should be tee total from Christmas Day as a joke but that’s actually a month before I’m due so would kind of make sense (I’m not that harsh I wouldn’t get him to not drink on Christmas Day). He’s not a big drinker anyway but over Christmas and new year it’s always very social for us and always drinks and things. But I guess we should have a bit of a deadline of no/very low drinking for him. Is New Year’s Day cutting it too fine? 😅 I’m probably massively overthinking it but it would be very typical of us to be in the position to have me give birth in a taxi or a similar highly stressful situation that could have easily been avoided. 🤣🤣🤣

@HopefulllHolly ah we didn't get a chance to go there, but did go to Gili Air for one night, which was nice to be able to walk around the whole island in an hour!

That's a good question on the no drinking, I'm not sure when a good time is! I was thinking of chatting to friends who had their babies recently to see what they did.

I'm doing ok thanks, still been feeling nauseous on and off and was sick yesterday- heat probably didn't help!
16 week scan is booked for the 7th, so counting down the days until then!
I also had my last cyclogest on Sunday. When did you find your bloating went down and turned to bump? I'm still looking much further along than I am and don't know if that's just also down to my petite frame! 😅

@HopefulllHolly Good question about drinking. A month early would be unusually early to go in to labour. But you might need an emergency trip at any time in the latter stages of pregnancy. I know I made a few trips for various things, mainly concerns about baby movements or pains. So could you have a backup plan in case your DH has had a drink?
In all my pregnancies my mum has been on stand by for hospital trips. She keeps her phone on at night incase we need a ride to hospital. But we’re lucky as all my family are London based and we’re also able to rely on taxis which might not be as easy for you as I think I remember you saying the hospital is not that close by?

Also have a couple of questions for this group. Have you all signed up to NCT or equivalent antenatal groups?

And anyone signed up to any pregnancy yoga or other exercise / wellbeing courses?

Have started looking at both those and wondering what others are doing.

@AnnieStar12 Yeah my mum is based near the hospital so it would be silly her collecting us only to drive back that way. We could get a taxi it’s not that far. I’ll have a think!

Yeah I’ve got physio led Pilates every Thursday evening for 12 weeks and I think we’re going to do one private NCT class (think it’s called happy baby or something?) and then there’s an NHS one for first time mums that starts in November my midwife has sent me, so will do that. I’m clueless! What about you?

@Natty2 Ah sorry to hear about the sickness! I was really bad with it in the heat and it was horrible. Thankfully it’s kind of passed now and just nausea and really bad headaches but I think down to dehydration in the mornings - I’m drinking 3-4litres of water so it’s mad I’m so dehydrated in the morning! Not long until your next scan! My 20 weeks is on the 4th, I think I might get another scan privately before that though but atm I’m feeling ok and not anxious so I might skip it if I still feel calm in a few days lol!

@Edf how adorable that you’re feeling kicks already! You seem to have levelled up, experiencing new joys and stresses over there lol

@HopefulllHolly so surreal how far we’ve all come! I used to hang out on healthunlocked and I would only see the extreme stories and get all stressed about everything that could go wrong, thinking the good stuff could never happen to me. But this group has showed me that the stats are more likely to be on our side once you get your positive. The vast majority of women in this group have waltzed through their viability scan and every one after that, and that has brought me a lot of reassurance through this process. I feel very lucky to have found this group

@Natty2 omg thanks for sharing that about the low placenta! I had no clue. Yet another reason for me not to travel as I currently have a low placenta (they spotted it at week 11 but they said it will likely move up) and some bleeding because of it. My trips have been booked for a while but now I’ll be looking to get a note from the midwife so that I can hopefully use it to get a refund from the airline for the trip that would have been at my week 16 (mostly because they expect that the haematoma will heal around that time and I feel it’s cutting it a bit close). Good luck with your next appointment with the midwife and thanks for sharing. I’ll definitely ask more about that at my week 12 scan next week.

@AnnieStar12 I’m planning to sign up for NCT. Everyone who’s done it (but they’re all out of London) seem to have loved it and made friends for life. The course was useful too, mostly focused on labour I think and the first couple of days, but most people speak highly of the friends they made that were at the same stage as them. I would also love to sign up for pregnancy yoga as I’ve not been allowed exercise due to my haematoma and I feel like everything is creaking 😆 so planning to start next week. I might ease into things with some yoga with adrienne at home (if she has anything for pregnancy), and then I’m planning to do prenatal yoga at a studio in my neighbourhood.