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!

@ThePeachGoose @HopefulllHolly yeah i did NCT in my last pregnancy and would strongly recommend doing one of those antenatal courses. Mainly for the social aspect. Tbh, the info you get is stuff you’ll mainly know already and could easily read about online. But what you’re really paying for is the group! My DD will be three this autumn and we see still see our NCT group most weeks and I spent all my maternity leave hanging out with them. I’m just so unsure whether to do it again or if it’d be weird to do it so soon after having my last baby. I think we probably will just as we had such a good experience the last time.

Ive been looking up yoga classes and found one near me that you can do from 12 weeks so might try that one out. I may also do some
pregnancy YouTube workouts as I’ve done no exercise since starting IVF at the start of the year and fear my fitness may be the worst it’s ever been!

Hi ladies!

Hope you are all good and sorry for my delayed response.

@ThePeachGoose Im so pleased your reassurance scan went well! What a relief! Ugh anterior placentas are annoying in that it can mask baby movements, my SIL is 20 weeks and she has an anterior placenta but she has just started to feel movements now (its her first baby). Annoyingly I dont know where mine is yet I asked about my placenta placement at my last NHS scan and she said it was too early to tell (tbf we had spent a lot time waiting for baby to settle down to do their NT measurement so she probably got sick of me being on the table lol!) Hoping they will tell me at 16 weeks. How are you feeling now? My sickness is still here but it's just a constant now that I live with so I'm so used to it.

@Natty2 Yay for gender scans on same day! Will be a double celebration! Do you have any guesses on what you are having? I have no clue whatsoever lol my husband is convinced we are having another boy yet lots of family and friends said they said girl as they think im carrying higher!

I've also just finished my cyclogest this week so am too wondering what is true bump versus bloat!

I am definitely going to get the whooping cough and RSV vaccines as well as flu - I'm asthmatic so have had the flu jabs for yonks plus had it in my last pregnancy. Not sure whether I'll do another covid booster tbh it brought me such anxiety having it whilst i was pregnant with my DS.

I did go to NCT with my DS but probably won't do for this baby. Whilst it was lovely to make friends, our instructor was a bit hit and miss so I think it was just bad luck for our group. I'm hoping to try and get out to baby groups when they are here. Definitely recommend Hartbeeps they seem to have classes nationwide, my DS loved it as a baby. I also recommend baby massage when they are small, was super relaxing for little ones!

@Edf congrats on feeling the baby movements! How lovely! What did it feel like? I'm so excited to get to that stage. I do have a home doppler from when I was pregnant with DS and I did manage to hear a little heartbeat a few days ago which was so lovely and reassuring. I try to use it very sparingly but got it during covid with my first as I was worried my DH wouldn't be able to attend appts if they were being strict on letting partners in.

@ThePeachGoose Oh god I’m creaking too. I’m like an old lady. Everything hurts! If i lie down too long my back aches and I seize up but it’s uncomfortable sitting too 😅 I’m looking forward to Pilates, though I really am questioning whether I’ll actually be able to do any of the movements 🤣🤣

@AnnieStar12 I hadn’t looked at NCT classes - now I’m torn between that and the happy parent happy baby ones. Hmm! I’m definitely really unfit. I am still out of breath all the time so I honestly get puffy just walking - I walk so slowly already 😅 bit scary how bad I really!!

I keep hoping to feel movement but all I’ve felt recently is like sharp pains/jabbing down there. I want to feel the rolling sensation and bubbles. I’m so excited for that. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d ever feel that! 🥹🥹 (I actually welled up writing that, the pregnancy hormones are ridiculous now. I cried on the train to Newcastle for work 3 times because I missed my partner and the dog and another time when I spilt water all over myself 🤣🤣🤣. My other half is treading on eggshells constantly because I’m absolutely batshit - either very grumpy or VERY tearful and emotional about happy and sad things!)

Hey everyone, I’ve been vvvv quiet as had loads going on and I feel like I have missed a TON of scans and updates ! So so glad everything seems to be going well for everyone so far. 💕

@ThePeachGoose I’m hoping to fly at 20/21 weeks so will also ask about placenta location at my scan next week. I also asked at my 14 week scan and I was also told technically too early to tell - I guess it moves when everything grows! Mine was half anterior / posterior at 14 weeks but apparently relatively meaningless info until later one. My SIL did about 4-5 long haul flights in her recent pregnancy and was fine so she made me feel a bit braver about booking something.

@HopefulllHolly we did HPHB with my DS’s pregnancy and would highly recommend. I made friends who I spent my mat leave with and am still in touch with now. I thought the quality of the experts they had to give the feeding workshop, baby first aid etc made a big difference too. I am sure NCT is just as good, but I had two friends have bad experiences in our area with a heavy emphasis on so-called “natural” birth, breastfeeding to the exclusion of information on alternatives, and generally quite heavy on gender stereotypes. We therefore decided to try HPHB. @AnnieStar12 in terms of doing a set of classes again, I totally get why you would ! I think the thought of not having a ready made group of people with babies the same age means that mat leave may be more lonely this time. I did find I made new friends at baby groups though, so I think I’m going to try that instead (although maybe I will change my mind as we get closer to the end!).

@Edf so sorry to hear you’ve been struggling, you’re definitely not alone - this is really hard. I have good and bad days with the anxiety and also feeling like a shit mum to my toddler (I haven’t been able to do as much because of the nausea) and the combination has made me feel very low at times. So glad you are starting to feel baby move! I have had flutters for a couple of weeks now, which are definitely getting stronger. Still days / moments of complete stillness though as I guess baby is still so little.

My next scan is next week and my midwife appointment the day before (I’ll be just over 17 weeks) so am counting down the days again!

Not going to lie, had to Google what NCT classes were 😂, super pricey?! My NHS trust does a free online course that we have signed up for but don’t think I’ll be parting with any cash for these.

@HopefulllHolly Oh I reckon they’re all pretty similar. I only mention NCT as that’s the one that’s closest to me. I would have been interested in HPHB or Bump&Baby but both those are a short bus ride away whereas NCT is a 5 min walk. So that’s why we picked NCT the last time and looking at it again, as it means the people we meet will all be super local. Agree with @Leaf86 that there can be a lot of romanticism around “natural” births with NCT, but the class I did previously we all ended up bonding by talking about how silly some of it was, haha!

I reckon whatever antenatal class you pick will be a bit hit and miss as depends on the instructor and who else signs up to the class.

Morning ladies

Sorry for TMI but I'm getting a bit worried. Since last night I've found I'm trying to wee but it's super slow and I don't feel like my bladder is fully empty 🙃 I've had UTIs before which normally I feel like burning pain but whilst I don't with this, my bladder feels really uncomfortable. I've managed to get a doctors appt this afternoon but I'm now worried they'll just tell me it's normal? Its not like I cant go for a wee at all. Has anyone else had this? I didn't have this in my last pregnancy and I don't know if it's just the position of the baby but I do have a retroverted uterus so I'm not sure if that's having an impact? Sorry for oversharing!

@oliviagrace2307 I had the exact same about 3 weeks ago. I went to GP but because my urine dip was clear and no other signs of infection they sent off a urine specimen which came back clear too.
It could be infection but hopefully they'll send a sample off.

I think baby is sitting low down as that's where all my movement is so he's probably on my bladder causing the symptoms!

Thanks @DippyDuck19 I get such bad health anxiety anyway and it's making me feel so uncomfortable that I'm freaking out 😔 did the GP recommend anything to help if it wasn't an infection?

@oliviagrace2307 I was worried too! It's not comfortable not being able to pee! GP only advised to make sure I'm drinking plenty of water!

12 week scan - all okay! WOW, ivf does work, can’t believe i made it 🙈
measuring 3 days ahead too, and apparently i’m at high risk of pre eclampsia as well as my antibodies. its a right learning journey isn’t it! 😂

@jas1996 aww congrats such a good milestone to go through and isn’t it mental seeing how much they have grown!! I’m also a pre eclampsia risk due to having it last time, just on aspirin

Just catching up with all the other messages.

@jas1996 congrats on reaching the 12 week milestone!!! Glad all is looking ok and measuring ahead!

@HopefulllHolly I was talking to DP last night about drinking over Christmas. I think he'll limit himself from Boxing Day 😂 as I refuse to get a taxi!

As for NCT classes there's none in my local area. My hospitals antenatal classes have all their PowerPoint presentations online. I don't particularly like some of the info they give so debating on whether or not to go. Have looked at bump&baby but hadn't heard of the HPHB one so will have a look at this.

Had my "16 week" consultant appointment today (although am 18+2). All bloods ok from booking. Found out I'm A+ blood type. Got to hear baby's heart beat again 🥰 which was nice! Will need to go back at 28 weeks to start fragmin injections because of DVT risk and they are going to offer me a scan at 34-36 weeks 🙌🏻 so if I book a private scan at 28 weeks to that breaks up the 20-40 week gap nicely.

Morning all! Just catching up - been away up north for work and I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck today 😵‍💫 thank god it’s Friday!
@oliviagrace2307 I had that feeling too - I think it’s basically your uterus growing and squashing your bladder. It didn’t last long for me, occasionally I still feel a little of it. Try not to worry!
@jas1996 Aww amazing! Congrats on making it to a big milestone. So amazing seeing them grow and be ok.
@DippyDuck19 Haha yeah I said maybe from New Years Day. He’s not a big drinker it’s just thinking about the festive period! I refuse to get a taxi too 😂
Yeah have a look at the HPHB ones - I think they do them all over the place. I think im leaning more towards that than the NCT one as it’s closer to home. Makes more sense to meet mums locally than further away. Thanks @Leaf86 (how are you hope you’re ok!) and @AnnieStar12 for the pointers!

Hows everyone today? I’m still weighing up whether to go for a scan next week or not. I feel quite relaxed now and think I’ll be able to manage to the 20 week one as it’ll only be a couple of weeks away come next week. I think maybe I should probably save my money and keep it for the long stretch after 20 weeks really if I’m coping alright. It’s just nice to see her as I don’t feel pregnant apart from my bump and aching pains really - still get tired quickly but the nausea has mostly gone now. I think I’d be silly to go just to see her though 😂

@HopefulllHolly had a look at the HPHB ones. The nearest for me is about 20-30 min drive away. So will have a chat to DP and see what he thinks. They are much better priced than the NCT ones too!!

Glad you are starting to feel better and less nauseous. I didn't book a scan for this week in the end. I feel like the £60 would be better spent on baby! Having heard the heartbeat yesterday has definitely helped and it's only 2 weeks til my 20 week scan. He's been super wriggly in the evenings which is nice and the flutters are definitely more noticeable now, as really had to concentrate to feel them before. Hoping you start to feel baby girl soon as that will hopefully reassure you too!

Anyone talking or singing nursery rhymes to their baby yet? My midwife said to start around now and get DP to as well. We both feel a bit silly 🤪 although yesterday I randomly started singing "baby shark" 🤣

Morning ladies Hope you are all ok. Thanks for your messages @HopefulllHolly @DippyDuck19

So my test at the doctors found lucozytes in my wee signalling that I have an infection so I'm on antibiotics and I'm hoping it will get better soon it got progressively worse throughout the day yesterday and makes weeing quite difficult so I'm glad I went in the end! My FIL is looking after my DS today so I can get some proper rest.

Glad you got to hear baby's heartbeat yesterday @DippyDuck19 must be so nice to hear! Hope you are doing ok?

Congrats on a great 12 week scan @jas1996 must be such a relief!! Hope you are doing well!

Aww @HopefulllHolly that sounds sensible to save the scan for a bit later on the next couple of weeks will fly by and you'll get to see baby girl really soon! Are you going to have a 4D scan at some point? I've never had one but debating whether to have it for this baby as they will probably be my last!

@DippyDuck19 Ah they are still quite far away aren’t they! That’s annoying. I want to mainly do them because of breast feeding and baby first aid - I really want to know my stuff about both. I hadn’t really thought of them being an opportunity to meet other parents to be - that will be nice but equally lots of my friends have babies so I’m not short of company really. Do what feels right to you - there’s lots of info in the free NHS ones too and will probably be closer to you.
So nice you’re feeling him move so much! I genuinely have felt nothing at all. I hope it’s soon, it would be really reassuring. My bump has got really big this week - someone on the train gave me their seat yesterday and another asked how far along I was. Very surreal but lovely! I guess I can take some reassurance from that that she’s growing nicely.
I’ve not started singing to bump yet but I do sing random songs to my dog a lot 🤣🤣 so she might hear those. Apparently they like humming too because of the vibrations. My partner talks to the bump at night but I dont think they can hear external noise until 22 weeks at least so I have a while yet. I’m very excited for the proper kicks so he can feel those, I think he forgets we’re having a baby fairly often 🤣! Easily done when it’s not you carrying it I think.

@oliviagrace2307 Oh no! Sorry you have an infection but glad you’ve got something to help it. Hope you’re not in pain - I think I’ve only had one UTI in my life and it was horrible so hoping it passes quickly for you.
Im not sure on the 4D scan - like a lot of people I find them a bit creepy but I am really really curious to see what she might look like so I reckon I probably will when I’m 28/30 weeks pregnant. I know if lots of you girls are then I won’t be able to resist. And like you say I think she will be my first and only baby so why not go the whole hog!

@HopefulllHolly I might stick with the local nhs ones. I am CPR etc trained for work and plan to formula feed which will hopefully be straight forward. I feel like I just need the basics on labour, pain relief and how to look after baby in the early days (I feel completely clueless 🤦🏻‍♀️).
Can't wait for DP to feel the kicks too so he can feel a bit more involved! At the minute he just sees it as me getting a big belly and taking up most of the bed 🤣

@oliviagrace2307 glad your urine dip showed leukocytes so that they can start you on antibiotics straight away rather than waiting! Hopefully you'll start to feel better over the next day or two. Get plenty of rest!

@HopefulllHolly Ive got a scan booked in next week at 16 weeks, but it’s only because the private scan place offered to give me one free one! I don’t think I’d have paid for one at this point as I’m not feeling so anxious. My 20 week scan is 4 weeks away but I have a couple of hospital appointments at the end of August and not sure if they’ll scan me or listen the heartbeat then too.

As for 4D ones, I’m not sure if I will do it as I’ve seen some quite scary looking images, haha!

@oliviagrace2307 I have the same feeling in the mornings or when I wake up in the middle of the night … it takes me ages to empty my bladder 😬 but I don’t think it’s an infection as it doesn’t hurt/sting when I pee. Maybe it’s just the uterus growth with me … will see on my next checkup, when they will analyse my urine as well.
Hope your medications help asap!

I have my nuchal translucency scan on Sept 2nd, and possibly NIPT (unless the results are great?). I kinda wanted to do nipt to also find out the gender 99% 👀 but if the results are all perfect, maybe I’ll just decide to save up some cash and spend it on the baby stuff instead lol

Did most of you here do NIPT?

Thanks @summerchild92 it's definitely getting better I still think im peeing slowly lol but I think I will chalk some of that up to expanding uterus and everything shifting! How are you feeling?

I didn't opt for NIPT as we didn't do it for our little boy who is 2.5 years and we had our NHS trisomy tests come back as low risk for this pregnancy. I think if something had been flagged as higher risk in the NHS tests then we would have paid to have private tests but I think it's personal preference and up to you on how you feel!

I also wanted to see baby for gender scan to break up the gap between 12 week and 20 week scans and it's a good excuse to do so! 😀

@oliviagrace2307 glad you are slowly feeling a little better.

@summerchild92 I didn't opt for the NIPT and waited for the usual nhs trisomy screening at 12 weeks. I did however go with the sneak peek gender test at 10 weeks with a scan as I wanted to know early what I was having which was significantly cheaper than the NIPT. Although I didn't fully believe the results until I had a private gender scan at 16 weeks.

Hi everyone, I've been a bit quiet as the day after my mum had left, all my back and neck muscles tensed up all the way to the scalp and I had a headache / migraine for about 2-3 days and was absolutely useless. And to top it all, when I called my physio that I see once a week these days, they told me that he left! So I had to put myself back together with stretches, heat, a physio ball, and I was also able to get a pregnancy massage... I get these headaches every now and again, and probably I did now because I haven't been able to work out and I'm so weak and pregnancy brings some changes, but boy, I don't think it's been this bad in a whileeee. It's gone now thankfully so I can catch up with you all! And I will see a new physio on Tue.

Another fun symptom has been that my bum hurts LOL It started with a tail bone ache when watching the Olympics on the sofa, and then it progressed to my glutes aching, so it's not very comfortable to sit down atm, but I also can't walk all day so that's been fun.

Luckily I'm 12 weeks now so I will ease into workouts with some yoga with Adrienne if she has anything for pregnancy, and some specific exercises for my glutes.

I’ve also done my NIPT on Thursday (results somewhere next week) which I had booked with a scan, because when I booked it we wouldn’t have had one in like 3 weeks and I wanted to check on the haematoma, the baby, but I clearly didn’t pay much attention as it was a nuchal scan plus a nuchal test, basically the same as the NHS trisomy. So it felt like we got our week 12 scan already and everything looked good with the baby thankfully. Also the nuchal scan and test unexpectedly put me at a risk of 1:3,596 which seems shockingly good. If we would have gone via the NHS, I wouldn’t have bothered with the NIPT if we got those results, but since I’ve already had such an eventful pregnancy with visits to the A&E and 3 scans at the EPU, I booked the NIPT beforehand as I didn't want to stress about another thing in case the trisomy didn't look great.

Now that I've reached my week 12, I have stopped my Lubion (did it for 70 days in a row!) and downgraded my Cyclogest to 2 a day until week 16. Hopefully the bloating will reduce a bit too.

Coming up this week for me - the NIPT results, the gender reveal, and the NHS week 12 scan on Thu where I'm keen to check on this haematoma and low placenta that have been causing me bleeding. Oh and we also booked ourselves into an NCT course as it's a 5 mins walk from us and the dates match my husband's days off perfectly! Also because our friends don't have kids so it would be nice to make some parent friends that are close to us.

@AnnieStar12 yeah, in the same boat about the workout and I'm definitely in the worst shape of my life right now lol need to get on it @HopefulllHolly I wonder the same thing, whether I’ll be able to do any yoga movements! I’ve been on a lot of progesterone and had quite some bloating, but at times it was quite difficult doing child’s pose and my stretches before bed lol I’m hoping that the pregnancy yoga will have some useful modifications. but I’ve had the same frustration with aches, just in different parts of the body. I can lie in bed and i’m fine, but can’t be on my phone as it hurts my back muscles, and if I sit, my bum hurts haha I feel like such an old lady too, hope to change that pronto!

@oliviagrace2307 ooooh so sorry to hear about that UTI but lucky that you were seen quickly and got treatment right away and hopefully you're way better now. Thanks for sharing your SIL’s experience with the anterior placenta. Funnily enough my placenta was classed as low anterior on Monday and low posterior on Thursday, so we’ll probably just have to see how it evolves and where it is on our week 12 & 20 scans. I just hope that it migrates up because being low caused a bleed already and there’a risk of it continuing. But it moves for 9 out of 10 women so I’m not going to stress too much about it. Oh dear about trying to get the baby to settle down for the measurements lol That’s my worry these days too when I go into a scan, that I’ll need to be there for a while if the baby doesn’t stop moving or it sleeps in the wrong position. Thanks for asking, I went from always being hungry and having glucose dips which required emergency pretzels and like 5 meals a day, to a headache (due to muscle knots in the shoulders I think) and then to not being very hungry at all. Around 12 weeks, it all changed over a few days. Nausea seems to be gone mostly, but I’ve struggled with my energy in the past few days instead. I'm sorry, I don't remember, but are you around 11 weeks now? I remember you were a tad behind me. Sorry to hear that the nausea has been constant! All my books say that as you get into the second trimester it should go away, so I really do hope it happens for you too. Then the aches seem to begin but hopefully you’re more active than I have been and it won't be as much of an issue for you.

@Leaf86 thanks for sharing about your SIL flying long haul, makes me braver too! Since your placenta was half anterior and half posterior, does that mean that it was low as well? As I’ve had a bleeding from that and it seems that it might pose an issue for flying. I’ll ask the obstetrician on Thu but hopefully it moves up by my next flight.

@jas1996 CONGRATULATIONS on your 12 week scan. Sorry to hear about the RH- stress and the pre-eclampsia risk. Hopefully you’ll sail right through it all with no issues.

@DippyDuck19 Happy to hear your 16-18 week check-in went well. Hopefully with the injections and the monitoriong you won’t have any issues with DVT