3dp5dt Anyone else?

[SummerSolstice25]

Anyone else at or near this stage? I have no symptoms of any kind so already feeling like it hasn’t worked.

Ooh congratulations @ThisSunnyMember! how exciting :) I’m amazed you managed to wait till your official test day, there’s have been no chance of that for me.

@pastelheart thanks so much! How’s things going with you?

@Nosejug thank you! I surprised myself as well, but my partner was adamant we should wait and I did think about doing a test in private without him but didn’t think I’d live with the guilt of never telling him I’d done it! How are you feeling??

@ThisSunnyMember nervous is the overriding feeling at the moment, like so grateful for another chance but experience tells me to brace myself. I find myself imagining how I’ll react if I see a heartbeat… like it’s I might be receiving an Oscar and I’m rehearsing my reaction. I’m going alone as dp is finishing up his job so also wondering how I’ll drive myself home if it’s not good news, again.

symptoms wise? I wake up at 3 or 4 am everyday?! That’s a weird one. I’ve been having symptoms come and go but nothing dependable or encouraging… eeeeek. How about you??

@Nosejug when is your first scan booked for? You have to remain positive ❤️ I know it’s easier said than done though especially when you have bad memories too, but this will be your time. How long is the drive?

Waking up at 3/4am isn’t ideal, is it anxiety do you think? Or needing a wee or pain?

I’m feeling ok thanks, my boobs are sore, as the day goes on I get bloated and by the end of the day some days my lower back has a dull ache but all manageable. I’m also now worrying about whether it will continue to grow etc and my bloody insta algorithm has dramatically changed with videos of people in their first trimester 🙄😂

Hah @ThisSunnyMember im glad I swore off insta a year ago… I actually love looking at people’s photos (I paint and loved seeing other painters work) but everytime I was on it I’d end up being force fed videos of cute babies and cats by the algorithm. A shame as it was a good tool for keeping up with painting! I’ve been a little obsessively on here as it’s the only place I can indulge in thinking about what’s happening inside me, but I realised yesterday that I’m obvs reading a lot of sad stories, and maybe that’s not a good idea right now. Very nice engaging with folk in the same tentitive hopeful space though.

and this morning it was even worse, 2:30 am! (I guess the clocks went back and my body didn’t clock it). I think hormones influence my sleep a lot. My partner is away so I’ve just been making myself a tea and listening to my favourite music in bed, sewing or playing chess or word games hah. Or looking at Mumsnet 🫣

@Nosejug ahhh insta is relentless, after a few google searches my algorithm has gone wild!
I know what you mean about being on here and also reading sad stories, I’m trying so hard to try and enjoy being pregnant rather than constantly worrying if I’m not any more, I know it’s easier said than done and it’s always at the back of my mind but I’m trying to give it a good go!

Oh a 2.30am wake up is not ideal! Do you get back to sleep? When I wake I put a podcast on which helps me. I never sleep well when my partner is away though, not sure if that would have an impact? Hopefully he’s due back soon? ☺️

@ThisSunnyMember he is! he's been working away for several months so I ended up having out 3 cycle package where he worked, but back on friday night, finally! He's so excited to not be in shitty rented accommodation where there's mold on the wall and no sink in the bathroom yet its 1500 a month😵Luckily a lot of the time over this long period we stayed for free in a room at the bottom of someone's garden lol. There was no internet or phone signal but beggers can't be choosers.

and yes! let's enjoy what we have while we have it. I guess you're around 5 days behind me? what dpo/dpt are you?

A 3am wake up this morning so slightly better. I listened to riders on the storm while the wind and rain blew outside. it's not a bad way to start the day! I'm compensating by letting myself fall asleep after cyclogest so still getting enough!

@Nosejug ah I bet you and he can’t wait to get home now after so long! The accommodation sounds interesting!! 1500 a month for a mouldy place doesn’t sound fun!

I am 15dpt, how about you? Do you have a scan date yet?

3am still doesn’t sound appealing 😂 are you taking cyclogest twice a day and oestrogen too?

Just to update I am 5 weeks pregnant today. I was almost afraid to say the words on here as I am riddled with anxiety. I will be having a scan at 7 weeks and 2 days so I have 2 weeks and 2 days to wait. I don’t seem to have any symptoms, stomach twinges/cramps that I did have seem to have settled.

Ah @SummerSolstice25 thats so good to read! I was just starting to think maybe me and this sunny member should take our chat elsewhere, I’m so happy for you. I’m the same with symptoms, very subtle if they’re there, occasional cramp and early waking. My boobs have just started to get sore but really mild. I find it so interesting that early breast soreness for me is now a sure sign I haven’t implanted.

@ThisSunnyMember 5 weeks 3 days so 19dpt. I have a scan in two days to make sure the pregnancy is uterine (previous spontaneous ectopic) and annoyingly it’s right on a cusp where fetal pole and hb can be detected, but isn’t deterministic if they’re not. I’d almost wish I could postpone til the following week so I’m not stuck worrying, but obvs need to make sure it’s not ectopic.

and yes! 2 pessaries a day but nothing else. Are you on estrogen? I hadn’t heard of that being a thing. And haha I def feel like I’m trying to sell the early waking, maybe just to myself. It feels like secret time? I thought about driving to the beach and going for a spooky early morning walk but the weather was hacket. I’m less scared of “men” in morning darkness than night darkness.

@SummerSolstice25 amazing news, congratulations! I am 5 weeks tomorrow so super close to you ☺️ other than anxiety I am glad you are feeling well in yourself, fingers crossed it lasts!

@Nosejug we are all so close together! I didn’t realise they could do scans so early, I thought 6 weeks was very earliest they could do, will you get to go back around 7-8 weeks too? Are you private or via the NHS? (If you’re in the UK that is!)

Yeah I’m on estrogen (4 tablets a day) and then 3 pessaries a day too. The tablets are easy, the pessaries I find a bit of a faff.

An early morning walk sounds lovely and I hear you, morning darkness is far less scary, definitely a mind thing!!

Hehe happy 5 weeks @ThisSunnyMember And yeah it’s an EPU scan (epas up here) just to check it’s not ectopic as I’m more at risk. Then a viability scan a little later. I had 2 nhs rounds but they chucked me out when I made just one egg on round 2, so this round was private. I’ve had two spontaneous pregnancies, one a mmc and one ectopic so I’m under the care of EPU now given my history. Though I had two hcg bloods taken at 11 and 13 dpt and I had a very strong early hcg rise so it makes ectopic less likely. I am very aware that this is roughly when the fetal pole & hb are being formed so am fully focussed on that!

is it your clinics common practice to prescribe estrogen? I hadn’t heard of it being a thing. And yeah, faffy pessaries!! I find it’s more the constraint of them that’s tricky. Like I’ll be taking one in the hospital carpark lying hiding in my car tomorrow hah.

Haha thanks! Although yesterday I had some light spotting and I have been freaking out! TMI it wasn’t red more brown so from google that seems as though I shouldn’t worry but obviously I am now! Wondering what my options are, I know I can get bloods to check HCG or I can get an early scan but with bloods I think I need to have more than one over a few days to check it is rising? And with the scan I understand this early there is barely anything to be seen? Ahhhh any thoughts?!

Good luck for your scan today! I’m keeping everything crossed for you and am sure it will be fine ☺️ how are you feeling?
I think it is common for my clinic to give both estrogen and progesterone yes, if I’m honest I just did what I was told! This is my first transfer so all quite new to me!

Hah @ThisSunnyMember currently lying in the back seat of my car in the hospital car park (progesterone!) I found a secluded spot. Thanks for your thoughts, I’m nervous but ok.

bloods, yes, two days apart (48 hours) to see a rise, single test alone would I guess tell you how high but on its own not really saying anything.

ach I can understand your worry re: old blood. I take it you don’t have bad cramps or anything? It can be totally normal in early pregnancy, esp with the additional meds. I guess a scan wouldn’t be able to tell you much — you’d possibly see everything in place, but you’d be too early for a heartbeat or anything so there would be no way of knowing if all is well. It’s such a strange place to be in isn’t it, pregnant but just… holding our breath.

Just thinking it over, my logical brain has reasoned that the blood is more likely to be something mechanical and not something worrying. We are on such high amounts of progesterone that we’d be way less likely to have problems with the lining breaking up even if HCG was falling. not that I know anything but thought it might be a comforting thought… like just cervical irritation or something.

@ThisSunnyMember I have read that bleeding is common in ivf pregnancies that are being medicated with progesterone pessaries. I would just call the clinic and ask their advice this morning if I were you.

@Nosejug how did everything go?
No cramps or anything else, just this spotting so I’m being hopeful!
I have booked a private HCG test for tomorrow night so will see what the level is, and may go for another on Sunday for piece of mind! I hate not knowing and being in limbo!!

@SummerSolstice25 thanks, that’s what I’m hoping it is. Unfortunately my clinic is very hard to get hold of and I am abroad with work anyway so didn’t reach out to them. On the paperwork they gave me after the transfer it says spotting is normal and to carry on as normal if you get any so I am trying to stay hopeful!

Hey @ThisSunnyMember the scan was… a little confusing hah. In that I truly don’t know where to pin my hopes. The sonographer was so careful not to say what she was truly thinking, and admitted that she’d say the same thing whether what she saw was really behind (like no yolk sac or pole) or what she saw in me. It’s in utero, there’s a gestational sac and yolk sac, a fetal pole (never got to see one before in previous pregs) measuring 1.2mm and she said maybe she could see something catching her eye in terms of cardiac activity, but that she’s not committing to that. But the thing is she said she’d expect to see cardiac activity at 5 weeks 5 days. But then so many women online don’t, but then this is ivf so dates are known, but then implantation has about 3 days variance, and cardiac activity is usually seen by 2mm and it grows 1mm a day, so maybe I’m just one day behind? As you can see, I don’t know how to feel. They asked me how I felt and I just said better than bad (which made them laugh heh) and my partner on the phone later said he was relieved not to be crushed, so I guess we’re overall happy with how it went, but very wary. Another scan in a week.

Have you had any more spotting? In your situation, I’d also not be letting it affect my hope level, it’s just too common a thing, too many mitigating circumstances, and without any worrying symptoms alongside it. Why not call your epu/epas when you’re back? They’re really good for reassurance.

@Nosejug I am keeping my fingers so so so crossed!!!! I have heard of lots of people who said no heartbeat before 6 weeks so the fact that everything is there and in the right place is what I would focus on too. Thinking of all three of you! In the absence of any bad news you might as well enjoy it right? I went through a non-infertility related uncertain time recently (when it rains it pours) and we got what we thought was good news on the Friday, had a lovely long birthday weekend feeling reassured, then got bad news after the weekend. It's all sorted now thankfully. But I remember thinking thank God we had that fake reassurance because why waste a weekend feeling upset when we could have enjoyed ourselves, no matter what happens. There's enough time to be upset if the worst does happen (but I believe in your little one!!)

Aw thanks @Waitingforday6 :) I think they’re wise words and I promised myself I’d enjoy my pregnancy day by day from the start. I’m doing a lot of reading, academic studies and also anecdotal Mumsnet/reddit stories. Consistently it appears that I’m on track. I found a very respectable source’s 2019 paper on first trimester ultrasound that said “The timeline of visualization of the gestational sac, yolk sac, and embryo at 5, 5.5, and 6 weeks, respectively, are accurate and consistent” and that hb with 1-2mm fetal pole becomes visible at 6 weeks. So obvs there’s variance in medical opinion, and by some counts I’m on track, some ahead and some behind. In short: “patience nosejug! patience!”

@Nosejug my scan was booked at 7 weeks and the reason they gave me was that there was no point doing it prior to 6.5 weeks as not everything would be visible. I’d imagine you’re just too early. It’s surprising she said that, she’s obviously the expert but I believe my clinic are also experts!

Yeah @SummerSolstice25 I think the later scans are to prevent hand wringing with early variability, and it’s at such a date that it will be definitive either way if viable or not. Early scans are primarily to confirm in utero pregnancy. But then, depending on skill and equipment, there are ofc guidelines on what milestones are expected by certain gestational ages. Esp with ivf pregnancies. So 6 weeks should equal fetal pole and hb in transvaginal us (by a skilled worker on a good machine). At least I was two days before that! And obvs pleased it’s not another ectopic either which way!

@Nosejug yes that is a relief in itself. I feel like I’m wishing my life away but I just want it to be Christmas now with a few normal healthy scans behind us!

@SummerSolstice25 Hear hear!

Hey @Nosejug sorry for the delay in responding, I’m sorry to hear the scan didn’t go as you hoped but as others and you have said the scan did its job in identifying where the pregnancy was and it could just be too early for a heartbeat - keeping everything crossed that your one this week will be perfect!

No more spotting for me, I had bloods taking Friday evening so just waiting to hear on the results today/tomorrow 🤞🏻

@SummerSolstice25 I hear you about wishing time away to be near Xmas for a few good scans and also being 12 weeks when we all maybe able to relax a little bit, this early pregnancy anxiety is no joke!!!