Pregnant (IVF) Worriers/Warriors Part 4

[Buzzybee123]

Hi everyone,

This thread is for all you incessant worriers out there, not necessarily limited to IVF-ers, although I get the feeling the people who have had trouble TTC are more prone to worrying than others!

shazza wow, you're so close! Fingers crossed shazlett will appear on cue in the next week or so. Do you have a plan for going overdue?

gin when we had DS we were living in a ground floor flat of a tiny terraced house. Before he was born we took a bottle of wine to our upstairs neighbour to apologise in advance for the coming noise. He was really nice and never complained. We now live in a semi detached and the noise does go through the wall but so far Pangolina has been pretty quiet at night and our current neighbour is a horrible asshole of the highest degree so I don't care if he's disturbed. We have spent enough time listening to him shouting drunkenly at his wife. So I guess it depends a lot on the relationship you have or want to have with your neighbour - luckily too in winter you don't have windows open.

motor 21 weeks is def too early for consistent movement, she's too small. I think they don't recommend monitoring movement until you are closer to 30 wks. Where was the pg yoga class?

keep bit sceptical that bigger babies are actually easier to deliver but I have read that positioning is really the key rather than size, eg even a v large baby can cone out relatively easily if its head is positioned right on the cervix.

dildals yay to B gaining weight and the prescription formula. Must be a relief for you. Just keep her away from Russell Brand - for a whole host of reasons!

motor sounds normal to me...as they get bigger there is less room, and in some positions thay have less opportunity to move so you do get quieter days. ,ine tend to be quieter when I am tired too? That said, get checked out if you are worried at all.

shazza Any news any news?! It is lovely to have someone so close to popping again, although there are a few people just behind you so you could always get pipped to the post. Hope you get a chance to finish your blanket first though, everyone I know has unfinished baby craft projects. I am halfway through blanket one, need to get a wriggle on really.

dildals I am very glad that Bella is becoming a chunkster, well done you, and I hope the new milk continues the trend. I can't believe how quickly time flies, I remember waiting for onion to have ringlet!!

noksyour colleague sounds like a twunt. I hope you managed to make some vicious witty comeback, rather than smiling and thinking of a brilliant response hours later like I usually do. Stay in bed if you are ill though, lregnancy is far too knackering to work through when you are poorly and we are getting close now....

foody congrats on the scan, and my sympathy for the sickness, it is awful. Ginger does fuck all if you ask me but have you tried mints (somethings like smints that you don't actually ahve to eat) and fizzy drinks, they worked a bit for me.

gin i am just looking forward to the gas and air, brilliant stuff. Its like being very vry drunk. I asked DH for a big canister of gas and air for my birthday last year but he wasn't very forthcoming...

Urg I hated gas and air crisps, it made me feel sick and dizzy.

dildals massive hospitals are not the most inspiring of places are they? I used to hate wading through the pregnant smokers. Great stuff from Bella though. I want some magic formula too!

Regarding neighbours. Ours are a lovely quiet middle aged couple. I've just told them that there will be some controller crying happening soon so they mustn't worry Ringlet is being neglected. I've just put the side on the cot and will try to force her to nap in there this afternoon. This is me getting tough! Argh.

motor sorry you are worried about the movement, I only started to really feel the movement at 20 weeks, the days will vary with the movement, they say you should monitor around 10 movements at 28 weeks, to be honest I don't, minibee has no set routine, if i'm worried I lie on my stomach slightly or have a choccy bourbon :)

dildals Good news on Bella :)

well had my 28 week growth/reassurance scan, all fine, she weighs about 1.3 kilos already, they also said my placenta is low they will check it again at 34 weeks

NCT class was good last night too, we did bathing and nappy changing, Barry was right in there doing stuff, he looked so pleased, I can't wait for minibee to be here

madness any news on your scan :)

Hello Ladies

I've just woken up after an hour and a half post lunch nap! I feel so lazy but I didn't sleep well last night and felt abit funny this morning so I was just so tired. No real baby news but I've got a bit of diarrhoea today (sorry if tmi!), couldn't that be a sign that things are moving?

Dildals Hurrah for B's weight and growth. That is brilliant news. Hopefully the new formula will really help with a growth spurt. Good that you are continuing to bf as well so that she gets lots of nutrients and support from you. It's great that the hospital keep up with her progress. Not so good that you have to get through all the people in the waiting room though! Like you I had clicky hips as a baby and had a cast on my little legs to keep them in place. As a child and teenager my hips used to lock a lot and my mum had to work them loose, it was pretty painful if I remember rightly but I grew out of it and have no problems now.

We thought we would pop into the milk spot to 1) check out the location. It is held in one of the main children centres in the Hood and you can go there on Fridays to register Lambeth babies, saves going to the Registrar office and 2) they are trying to encourage expectant mums to go along as well to talk to local mums who are bfing, understand more about bfing before the baby comes, chat to the midwives to get support and advice and I think be generally be less worried about having a go. We are going to go to a cafe afterwards for lunch with some of our NCT ladies. I'll text you to see if you fancy it.

Motor I felt Shazlett at about 19-20 weeks and I don't remember it being very consistent at first. Even now s/he has quieter days. I don't think that there is anything to worry about yet but if you are unsure can you call your MW? Dancing was lovely last night but it is quite hard to get into ballroom hold when you are 9 months preggers. It's a good job DP is tall with quite long arms! Will you go back to the yoga class? I have done a little yoga or pilates every day for about 6 months and I think that it has really helped to keep me supple and helps me stretch out when I'm stiff from sleeping in funny positions.

Fairy no overdue plan. Well nothing except acupuncture and reflexology for the next couple of weeks to try to get things moving. The MW discussed sweeps and induction with me at the weekend. She said that for 1st babies sweeps work about 30% of the time so she didn't seem overly keen for me to have one although she said she is happy to come and do it if I would like to. I went to the health food shop in Streatham yesterday and there is a very nice, if a little pushy, assistant in there who basically said that I had to buy raspberry leaf tea. He wouldn't take no for an answer. So I have a box of that if I get desperate. I've got 3 weeks from today before I hit the magic 42 weeks so fingers crossed it won't come to induction. Cause then I won't be able to stay at home.

Crisps I doubt that I will finish the blanket sadly. It is a mammoth task and especially if I nap for 1.5 hours a day! I've got enough for a baby blanket so I could do another one of those. LIke Onion, I am abit worried that I won't like gas and air. I'm abit rubbish at inhaling something (I'm a crap smoker!) so it might not work for me. that said, I could end up loving it and high as a kite!

Onion good luck with the tough love. I'll be thinking of you.

Buzzy Great news about your growth scan. That is so sweet that Bazza could come to NCT and you are feeling excited about the arrival of minibee. The thought of DP holding our baby makes me cry every time.

Noks how are you feeling today?

Madness I hope your scan was ok.

Hello to everyone else. I hope you are all well and fighting fit.

I'd better get on with some jobs now to feel that at least I've done something productive today. It is going to be dark soon and I've done fuck all. We have the hypno teacher coming over this evening for a refresher session. She has thrown it in for free so that is nice of her.

xx

Afternoon ladies,

Quick phone post so again rubbish at name checking but will do so on the laptop tonight i promise.

Sonographer was lovely and there really is a baby in there :-) Measuring 12+6 when I know I am 12+2 but not really an exact science. Had to empty my bladder because it was too full and squashing the sprog. He/she was lying face down so great view of the spine and lots of prodding to get a better angle. So incredibly relieved!!!

Back later with a less selfish post :-)

madness great news :) really pleased for you

madness great news that all is well and the baby is really there, massive relief for you I am sure.

Shazza sounds like that could be a sign or just one of those things. I do hope things start moving naturally for you and Shazlette birth happens at home.

Buzzy glad Barry could make it to NCT and got well stuck in. It is very nice to see. DH did the nappy changing thing at our parenting class and also got to hold a real live baby, although he did look more comfortable with the doll than the real baby.

Onions good luck with the controlled crying, I can imagine you have some emotionally tough nights ahead of you.

Motor on the movement front I didn't feel much until 22 weeks. Even now some days are quieter than others and other days they seem very busy. If you are concerned ring the assessment centre for monitoring. I was also told boy twin shields girl twins kicks which is why I don't feel as much movement from her. I believe that means she is kicking him rather than me.

Growth scan went well on Monday boy twin now estimated weight of 4lb 7oz and girl twin 4lb 3oz. This means they have gained half a pound each week since our last scan 4 weeks ago. I am quite shocked I am carrying nearly 9lb of baby. Also the girl twin has turned around and is now breech, they weren't worried by that as boy twin is nearest the exit so clears the exit path apparently.

My last week of work too so I finish Friday and I cannot wait. I am so ready for it now. None of my shoes fit my very swollen feet and I cannot get comfy to sleep at night, but seem to be able to nap ok in the day!!

Thanks to you all for the reassurance on the perceived reduction in movement from minimotor. I phoned the midwife who said exactly as you all did that 21 weeks is too early to feel regular movement because there is so much space in there at this point. She said that I shouldn't start monitoring until 28 weeks. Anyway, I can feel him/her as I write, and it always makes me so happy.

keep I was a lucky IVF first timer. Why do you ask?

fairy great to hear you got out for a coffee with minipang, who is so beautiful. The yoga class is run by Birthlight and is on Histon Road, though they run them in various locations across town.

shaz I have never been a fan of yoga, but I have read how a dedicated pregnancy class can help with labour, so I thought it was worth a go. It was the first activity I have done with/for pregnant women, which stupidly bought back all fears that my daring to actually believe I am pregnant will somehow make it go wrong. Stupid I know.

Great news about your scan buzzy and the NCT class with Barry. It sounds like you are actually starting to enjoy the pregnancy which is fantastic.

shazza any developments? Diarrhoea can certainly be a precursor to labour, though I guess it could be just a bit of an upset tummy. Did your consultant not try to pressure you into induction before 42 weeks? Mine did, due to my age, and I know you are slightly older than me. She said they would induce at 40 weeks, or 41 at the latest if I insist on delaying. Looking forward to all updates from you!

Fantastic news on your scan madness!! Hooray for you! You can relax and enjoy your success.

sweetie fantastic scan report. They are both doing so well. Hopefully boy sweetie will continue to be protective of you when he is out of the womb! I have wondered about how you can differentiate between the twins and their movements and positions. I guess that is partly why they need to scan more frequently. Amazing and exciting too!

motor pleased to hear you are feeling reassured after speaking to the MW. The ginster has busy and then quiet days. I think it depends on her position and sometimes I think it's as she's tired herself out the previous day! I've been told I'd be induced at 41 weeks. Not sure why, could just be hospital policy.

sweetie wow the twins are a great size! Pleased to hear all is well. Am envious this is your last week at work, but then I don't have almost a stone of baby in me!

Yay mad! So pleased all is ok.

shazz it sounds to me like Shazlett is in an excellent position and won't be massively late. I am so impressed at you still dancing! I can barely be bothered to drag myself off the sofa now. I have to confess to having a nap over lunch time those days that I'm working from home...

buzz hurrah for a good 28 week scan. Did you take mil in the end? Aww at Barry getting in there in the nct class. We missed the bathing/changing one but have done it for friends' kids.

How did the controlled crying go onion?

crisps my friend loved the gas and air too and described it as the best kind of being drunk. Ha ha at asking for some as a b'day pressie.

fairy that's a lovely idea to take a bottle of vino round to the neighbours and pre-warn them of the crying. I may well do that with one side, but ignore the shouty, sweary ones.

keep we had several ivfs. 2 fresh cycles and the ginster is the result of a FET with the one remaining embie from the 2nd ivf. Was convinced the sperm was too shit for it ever to work after the 2 failed cycles and I still don't quite believe it...

dildals that's amazing re B creeping up the percentiles. You'll have a chubster on your hands before you know it. It's good they are keeping an eye on her, but I don't believe all that bullshit about children who were preemie babies being slower to catch up etc, as someone who was premature, born in late august and used to do well at school. Ta for the offer of the boy newborn stuff, but ginster may not be happy if I dressed her as a boy! We've been given some tiny newborn stuff, but may well need more depending on her size.

mrshy your first day of mat leave sounded v. productive! I plan to spend mine in bed/watching shite tv :)

Had the 34 week check up today at the drs. She said something about the top of my bump not having grown as much as it should but that all the growth could be in the pelvis, and put 33cm down as size, but I didn't see her get out a tape measure! When I measured at home, even a conservative reading missing out a lot of the bump puts it at 36cm. Plus I can feel that the ginster has grown a lot since the last appointment. Her feet seem unfeasibly large for a 34 week baby when she boots me.

The dr said she has until 36 weeks to get into position and engage. She thinks she's current lying diagonally across me, with her head in my lower right side. We have a growth scan a week today so will be able to find out more about position and size then. The dr also started going on about iron levels. She's not a MW or baby dr, so I'm mostly gonna try to ignore what she said. The baby gave her a big kick, go ginster!

Hello all!
Day three of mat leave down. Today I did some filing, slept, visited another nursery, had a latte out in a café, cleaned out a kitchen cupboard and prepared a 'birthing file' for my DH which pulls together everything I think he might need to know for my planned homebirth (mainly so he doesn't ask me irritating questions during the main event). It will probably get put to one side the minute I have my first 'surge' as we say in hypnobirthing, but hey, it made me feel better :)

Keep I'm sort of a multiple IVF-er - I had one full cycle which yielded 9 blastocysts but no fresh transfer due to OHSS - we then gradually worked through all our blasts by having three frozen transfer cycles - it was the third and last with our very last embryo that lead to this pregnancy.

Noks sorry to hear you've been ill my lovely. Boo shucks to your snot rag wielding tool of a colleague.

Dildals thanks for the offer but I'm a) harbouring a girl and b) she's already got a wardrobe to rival Carrie bloody Bradshaw's. I did a quick count last night and worked out she has 40 outfits to get her through from newborn to three months. Hangs head in shame a bit. Oops. LOL at your Kings description. I hardly ever have to go there as my midwife appts are at home, but when I have gone, I've hated it. Another reason why I don't want to have my baby there! I'd be worried she'd come out in a shellsuit with a Croydon facelift.

fairy I love your description of pangolina! She sounds totally adorable and very well behaved :)

shazz it sounds like things are starting to move! Fingers crossed. I shall be thinking of you and sending chilled out up and down breathing vibes :). I also napped today. Lovely :)

Buzzy and madness great news on your scans! Buzz I think the placenta can still move up quite happily after 28 weeks.

Sweetie those are great weights for your twins! And yes, when Friday comes around you will feel absolutely GIDDY with relief that work is over :). I'm with you on the shoe front - thank God for Uggs. I have proper cankles to rival Kim Kardashian's these days. DH calls them my 'club feet'. And they say romance is dead?

Hi to motorcycle and onions and anyone else I've missed xx

sweetie glad all was well with your scan! Not long until the chaos...

shazza that definitely sounds like pre-labour to me...will check back hourly for an update untilmyou answer whethee there is ANY NEWS!?!? (ps hope you are resting up and crocheting rather than getting annoyed by our my incessant prodding...)

onion my mw spent a while when I was in labour teaching me how to use the gas and air as it did make me feel sick at first. When I cracked it though it was amazing. I'm actually looking forward to labour just for the gas and air this time. gin I was serious about it as a birthday present! I don't drink, have never done any kind of drug and hate them and stopped smoking ages ago (that was the exception that proved my clean living rule) so authorised prescription meds are awesome...I've had a million ops and I actually quite enjoy a GA. when my endo was really bad I had to take lots of morphine for a couple of months...when I stopped I went to the docs as I thought I had flu, and I was actually going through withdrawal...yikes! Needless to say I did the cold turkey thing and am not an actual addict...except for the maize crack, that is.

Oh and mrsHY good skills with the mat leave so far, nice work!

keep we are kind of multiple ivf-ers....first cycle worked, I conceived twins but lost one daughter at 21 weeks, have dd1 from that cycle. Secnd cycle failed and third was abandoned at the end as I had pneumonia. This was our fourth cycle (and probably last) which was successful. Its odd that whenever it worked for me, I conceived twins, but then it failed twice too. Feel very lucky to be hopefully having three children after eight odd years of angst and operations...

gin & mrsHY I am SO SORRY for not remembering you are having girls!!! Oops!

keep first cycle of IVF worked.

The consultant joked about writing down in my notes 'addicted to pethidine'. :-)

mrsHY Your baby will need a Carrie Bradshaw like walk in wardrobe to match your fashionable stork sac changing bag! ;-)

Gah. Lost a big post last night. Too tired to remember what it was. I laughed at your club feet mrshy.

Some success with controlled crying but she's now come down with a stinking cold so all sleep training off temporarily.

crisps you've had such an ordeal. Nobody showed me how to use gas so perhaps that's why I hated it. I lurve morphine and tramadol though. Although wine will do.

An ancient relative in law died yesterday so I have to do Kids at Funeral next week. I have no idea how to dress them. Anyone done this?

Hello Ladies

I'm at the studio again with DP. I feel like I don't want to stray too far from him at the moment. I had reflexology this morning and she said that in her opinion it won't be long now. She said that my feet have lost their pregnancy spongyness and I'm ready to pop! I've just found out that the first of our NCT group gave birth last night. That makes things feel more real. We were due around the same time so I could very well be next!

Madness great news about the scan. Such a relief. You are well on your way now.

Sweetie good news about your growth scan also. Hurrah to finishing work tomorrow. I've become quite a fan of daytime naps .

Motor I'm glad the MW was reassuring. I also love to feel the movements. It is so cute and over the coming weeks they will change in nature for you which is also exciting. I know what you mean about doing something for 'pregnant women'. I felt abit overwhelmed when I first walked into a group of pregnant women. I didn't feel that I belonged until I remembered that I am also pregnant! I don't have a consultant. Well not one that I've actually met anyway. All my MW appointments have been at home. I've only had 1 scan at the hospital and 1 in a centre in Streatham. They can't force you into an induction. and certainly there is no reason for you to have an induction at 40 weeks. My MW said that the Trust advice is 41+5 as it could take a couple of days to get started and then you could be in labour by 42 weeks. But I certainly don't HAVE to do it. After 42 weeks I could go to the hospital for daily monitoring if I want to wait longer. I know that it will be hard not to do it if I do get that far. Anyway, it is a couple of weeks off yet so I'm not going to think about it just yet.

Gin Are you taking any iron supps? I'm taking Spatone its really easy to take and was recommended by the MW. The measuring sounds abit confusing. But as you say she wasn't a specialist Dr or MW so as long as you are getting positive information from your MW the Ginster will be fine. Good kicking skills!

MrsH I'm in awe of your productivity. Mind you I'm now in my 3rd week of mat leave (how time flies) so I've slowed right down. I also prepared a folder for DP with lists of things to remember along with the Hypno scripts and other info about birthing positions etc. I haven't counted Shazlett's wardrobe yet but I fear that we also have lots of things. People have been so kind in lending us stuff and I got some things on freecycle. Hee Hee about Missy HY coming out with a croydon facelift and your club feet

Crisps I'm not annoyed at prodding! I just wish that I had something to report. I had a very quiet day yesterday and today I'm out and about but only at the studio. Luckily he has a sofa here so if it all gets too much I can have a nap while he potters around me. I find it reassuring to listen to him working away behind me while I'm here on the computer. We work very well together, stopping for the occasional snack and cup of tea. I'll request a Gas and Air lesson when the MW arrives at the scene. She has already told me that she will mention to me that she has it when she arrives but then won't mention it again unless I ask for it. She doesn't want to push it unnecessarily. I hear that maize addiction is one of the hardest to overcome.

Dildals will you and MrsH sit at a cafe table with me if I don't have a storksac ?

Onion Poor Ringlett with a cold. I'm sorry to hear about your relative. I obviously don't have experience but I think that it is ok to dress the girls as normal. Maybe in a dress and tights so something? They are only little, personally I don't think that it is necessary for them to be sombre.

How is everyone else? Noks are you feeling better? Keep how is mat leave? Expat how is life with miniAl? Ceara how are you? Buzzy are you still off work? Foody and Beetle I hope that you are both keeping sane and not menkalling too much. Fairy I hope that Pangolina is settling in.

Well it is time for another cup of tea and an afternoon snack here!

xx

beetle I would try not to worry about the smaller twin. The measurements are so tiny to make a difference of a few days, and if he'd been worried then he would have had you back sooner I'm sure. I'm so pleased that all is going well. We had a long conversation a while back about our crisps addictions - many of us were of the monster much/frazzles variety. Though i have to say recently my sweet tooth has returned

Thanks to those who have replied about how long it took you. Just wondering for a friend, and good to hear (you know what I mean) that it took lots of people a few tries.

mrsHY you are so busy on your mat leave! I haven't been doing much other than potter round the house, cook, and nap so far...

gin i suppose if she's not cephalic lie then the growth could be more sidewards than upwards... I agree that she sounds like an idiot if she didn't even measure you, so I wouldn't worry too much. Have you tried frozen peas on the top of bump and hot water bottle at the bottom? It sounds like she's not too far off being head down, thought that's a bit of a funny position!! :)

really pleased to hear of the other good scans sweetie and buzzy

As for me, I am 37 weeks tomorrow, so I suppose we should be on Kip-watch as well as Shazlette-watch, though I do not expect anything to happen for a good long time as I feel totally normal (though rather ginormous). Super excited, but determined to enjoy these last few peaceful weeks. Actually I have noticed I am very tearful recently - bout most anything.

buzzy my cat is now obsessed with lying on my bump, but it's so uncomfy as both cat and baby are too heavy. So she gets really grumpy when i keep having to push her off. poor thing

gin yes we took MIL, she sent a very sweet email afterwards. It was a nice way to involve her :) I agree with shazz about the spatone, being low in iron is crap. I'm on 3 lots a day now

onion sorry about ringlet not being well, not really sure what to say to young children about death, tricky subject, perhaps that they have gone to a happy place

beetle I am lucky that my hospital are being so supportive with extra scans and appointments, I've had 3 appointments this week alone, nothing for next week though :) I always thought one win was slightly bigger than the other but there are enough twin mums on her to advise you

nok I hope you are feeling better in snotsville

mrsh I have been looking at snow suits, I shall check out John Lewis :)

shazz I've heard a few people say reflexology does the trick for them, I shall check in more often for news from you and keep I will be the last in my nct group to drop, some are due 6 weeks before me, think I might have signed up for the wrong class

went back to work part time today, didn't do much, just caught up on the gossip

i am also 6 weeks after the first in my NCT class buzz - and the last. They can give me tips. I am going round to see one of the new babies tomorrow - hope she doesn't scare me too much... Why do you have three appointments in one week?

beetle doctors are usually very straight with you so don't worry. Variation is normal.

shazza your days sound quite idyllic. It's amazing how unhospital based you've managed to stay throughout your pregnancy.

keep that tearfulness never leaves you. It's very embarrassing. I'm going to start popping in with a general 'ANY NEWS?!' once the baby glut starts.

buzzy take it easy at work. Will you stay pt until you go off on mat leave?

I'm going to go to somewhere cheap and buy dark funeral dresses and tights for them both. No doubt DD1 will accessorise with fairy wings or her cats tail or something. It's bad enough finding something for myself, I tried a load of my own dresses on today and looked extremely fat in all of them. I've found one grey dress which looked ok with tights reining my arse and gut in. I was then experimenting with heels, handbag, pashmina and my grandmas huge diamanté brooch when I remembered that none of these things are child friendly so swapped them for flat boots, my change bag and a duffle coat. Bah.

Ringlet is absolutely rotten, streaming nose, cough and she's lost her voice. She keeps trying to say 'a-dah' and can't. I've dosed her with Calpol, covered her in Vicks and she's managing to feed. It's a belter of a cold though - I'll get it next.

Me and DH have just had a bizarre spat about what should happen to our remains after we die.