I am 7 weeks 2 days and have my early scan tomorrow (got pregnant through first time ICSI) I am so worried!

[anroga]

I am 7 weeks 2 days pregnant and have my first early scan tomorrow for a heartbeat (or beats they put two back!).

I have generally been feeling pregnant, cramps, very tired, boobs have got bigger and hurt plus a little bit of nausea when I wake and constant trips to the toilet but even with all these symptoms I am still worried about the scan tomorrow that there won't be anything there or no heartbeat.

Can anyone give me some guidance on what to expect at the scan tomorrow please (plus some sucess stories!) thanks x

[Verkey81]

How are you all getting along? Very quiet on here!

[Blackandwhitecat3]

Wow so many babies since I was last on!

Ruby so lovely to hear that your babies arrived safe and sound. Sounds like you had a rough time though, hope you are recovering. How are you managing with two?

gcerron congratulations! Hope everything is going well with you.

verkey thanks for sharing your story, really helpful and congratulations! Hope you are getting a little sleep.

whittle glad you are getting some sleep now. That period bleed sounds scary. Hope the next one is much lighter and that you are more comfortable soon.

Thinking of you all with your little bundles of joy and feeling a wee bit jealous! I'm 30 weeks on Monday (where has all that time gone?) and still well, though a bit low on iron and also starting to feel big and tired. Just really impatient now to meet my little one and hold him/her in my arms :)

toes how are you getting on? Time goes so slowly at the beginning, and I remember worrying about everything.

Also wondering how you are getting on, gillster? I think you are a couple of weeks ahead of me?

We cleared out the nursery yesterday and now the plasterers are here, we'll start decorating when that's done. Can't quite believe it's all starting to happen

[whittlefish]

Congratulations verkey I'm so happy for you x

[Verkey81]

So I wrote my last post and literally just afterwards thought that I was getting some sharp cervical pains, then he moved round for about an hour really strongly, then crampy period pains about 1.30am, followed by what I said were like waves of cramps and back pain, starting the contractions timing app about 3am on the off chance this was it (although I was officially overdue, this was his original ivf due date!). Bath at 5am due to pains, tens on by about 6am and midwife confirmed I wasn't making it up at my weekly appt at 9am, was 1.5cm dilated by then! (only giving details as I searched everywhere for hints at whether what I felt was labour!). Laboured at home all day until 9.50pm, when I just could not cope anymore, went in and was 6cm. Laboured in the pool for further 4 hours, made no progress so they broke my waters and boom, it all started moving. A few hours later I had my baby boy with me, 7lbs :) he'd been the right way round for weeks until I got to triage when he had turned back to back, so the labour I was feeling is probably quite different to other people's as it makes the pains different. I had crampy feeling and surges of pain in my back and bum, like I wanted to push. They kept saying about feeling the pains across the top of my tummy but I never got that feeling!

I'm up now as I'm doing night feeds and apparently on day 2 and 3 nights the baby's just want to feed all night... 'Apparently' is very true for my boy tonight!

I cannot believe after the stresses and worry of ivf and all the months on here that I finally have my real live baby boy lying on my chest. Trust me it has been worth every second of the heartache and pain. Dreams really can come true

How is everyone else doing?? Xxx

[whittlefish]

verkey am getting some sleep but feeding a few times a night, the first couple of weeks were really hard and when DH went back to work too as was doing all the night feeds but you do adjust to reduced sleep. Bleeding wise I had bleeding straight after birth for about 3/4 weeks but was very light for 3rd and 4th week. I didn't bleed as heavily as I thought I would I think because I lost quite a lot of blood during birth. Period wise I was much heavier the first couple of days was so heavy was having to change a pad (ultra ones) every hour and a half to two hours then lighten up and then had a resurgence again. But then got lighter like a normal period. Scary being that heavy tho and was bright red blood, spoke to the doctor I was so concerned but all perfectly normal so don't worry if you get the same . I'm still recovering from the stiches so as one came out before it was healed so is "healing naturally" which is taking forever and looks terrible not to mention sore.

[Verkey81]

Oh Ruby that's amazing! Well done :) such great sizes for twins and no special care, that's even more amazing, both amazingly strong boys already! Sorry to hear you had a bit of a traumatic time though, really hope you are feeling better and recovering well? So love hearing everyone at the end of the journeys, hope any newbies who have just had ivf are getting positive vibes from all the stories :)

And gc congratulations as well, another fab strong weight and another healthy baby boy! Is the 6 months your maternity leave?

How's the breastfeeding going for those doing it? I'm planning on trying but obviously will bottle if it doesn't work. Is it hard to learn? My mum tells me it's a skill that needs learning and not to be disappointed if it doesn't work straight away as it's not just easy to just do without guidance.

Whittle how are you getting on? Are you getting enough sleep?! I'm so worried about sleepless nights! How long did the bleed last if you don't mind me asking?

As for me, here I am 40+4 and still pregnant with no sign but I think our actual due date is tomorrow as that was the date the clinic gave us at 7 weeks and at our 11 week emergency scan but by the dating scan we moved forward a few days but I think maybe he'd just had a growth spurt. Been told I'll have a sweep on day 12,induction on day 14 and if he's not out by 40+15 then it's a c section for me. I'm just so desperate to meet him, spending my time checking if he's moving and wondering what he'll be like is driving me nuts now! I'll hopefully update you all with some good news soon! Xx

[whittlefish]

Congrats gcerron and ruby so pleased to hear your little ones have arrived safely. I managed to loose this thread as want to see how everyone was doing. Just to give you all a heads up too, I got my first post birth period at about 5 1/2 weeks after and it was really really heavy and very red which is all really normal ( checked with the doctor as freaked out) so don't worry if this happens to you as well. I am bottle feeding tho so think it's meant to take longer if breast feeding x

[gcerron]

Hi girls!!
Finally I can get a minute to write here. Congratulations for your boys ruby I can't believe that they were both strong enough. How did you do so fantastic!! Plus the C section!! all the best xxxxx
My c section was on 10th with 7.7lb. I spent 2 extra nights due to the breastfeeding but now we are at home learning from each other. Now there are new question marks hahaha. Fortunately I have minimum 6 months with him!!
verkey how are you doing!???
How's everyone else????

[RubySlippers77]

The news from me is twin boys last Tuesday (6th), 6 lb 9oz and 7 lb 4oz both doing well, no need to stay in the special baby unit thank goodness.

However I was really poorly afterwards and had to stay in hospital for over a week, hence the delay in updating you ladies! After the c section I bled and was taken back into theatre for an op, which didn't work - I was rushed back in after losing over 5 litres of blood. I woke up in intensive care the next morning before being moved to the high dependency unit and finally the postnatal ward. We stayed there a couple of days and are now enjoying being home!

I'm not out of the woods yet, have tons of medication to take and appointments to attend including counselling if I need it, but the boys are good and that's all that matters. I've stopped taking the painkillers as they were too strong for me, but I've still had a bit of a comedown from the Tramadol and morphine, which hasn't helped either.

How is everyone else? I hope all you ladies with bumps/ babies are all well!

[Verkey81]

toes I remember that waiting at the beginning and the nervousness, I also remember finding chatting to you all on here so useful during that time as no one else seemed to understand why the waiting seemed so bad and why I was so nervous. I really hope you find a way to pass the time this next week or so! We had an 11 week emergency scan due to some spotting I had which I mentioned to my midwife so given the ivf and stress so far she booked us straight in to check all was OK but our official one after that was 13+ weeks! I'd have died waiting for that! I'm so glad your bleed was implantation, you totally deserve this and have been patient enough already, it's seems unfair to wait longer for the scan! I remember the dating scan being the best one as he wasn't in the right position for them to do the downs tests so we had to wait for him to wiggle so we got to watch him for about twenty minutes which was amazing, so to be honest it was worth the wait in the end. I empathise with how hard the waiting is but hang in there, maybe save that private scan for later... After twenty weeks you get no scans :( mind you, we had an extra one as a growth scan but that was just luck!

No labour news from my end, 39 weeks this week and although the midwife said on Thursday that my boy is fully engaged and she can't feel any head left at all, it's all in my pelvis, he has clearly decided he's far too cosy and isn't coming yet! Grrrr I just want to meet him now!! I guess the waiting gives me more time to practice my hypnobirthing techniques as I don't feel I know them well enough yet!

[Verkey81]

Oh gosh gc that was quick! Do come back and let us know how it all went! Congratulations!

[gcerron]

Hi girls!
I'm in the hospital now!! The C section was going to be today but it seems it will be tomorrow!! I will stay overnight anyway!!
It seems no news from ruby yet!! I hope she is doing well!!!
I will update you as soon as I can!! Fingers crossed everything will be fine.

[ToesAndFingersCrossed]

verkey I'm 11 weeks at the moment. I've had 2 scans one at 6w4d because I had a (pretty big and scary) bleed at 6w3d - turned out to be implantation bleed (apparently they can happen that late?! My womb was bruised on implantation and the bruise bled a few weeks later). I had the standard 7w scan a few days later and hey said all was good and discharged me which was surreal. Now waiting for 12w scan which is at 12w5d. Don't they realise how long I've waited already?! Loads of ladies on my antenatal thread had their scans at 11w. So annoying. Might cave and book a private one.

I really like the idea of doing photos like some of you ladies. I will add that to my to do list for when I am the size of a house! At the moment we are doing weekly bump photos, which is fun.

[gcerron]

Hi girls!! nothing from ruby probably she is busy now with her beautiful twins!! Lets wait patiently for her news!!

An update from me, the consultants agreed to do a C session for me, my baby is big for my size since I am quite shorty. So for safety reasons they decided to do the C session. My baby doesn't give any sign of labour, he seems quite happy in his private ensuite hahaha.

Tomorrow I will begin the week 39!! unfortunately due to this short notice plan, the hospital doesn't have an available place at the moment so they will try to find one for me, usually some mums begin natural labour before the schedule of the C session that is when I can have a place, otherwise in my week 40 they will do it as emergency case. So unfortunately this delivery wont be natural as I would like however I feel more confident with the C session since I am conscious of the size of my baby and I was quite worry about it to be honest and now more after listening the doctors' comments!!, so fingers crossed my little boy will continue hang it there until we can have a place in the hospital, I wont try any natural induction now.

Good luck with your photographic session verkey and I hope you go into labour soon!! at least you have some signs!! the baby will arrive when he is ready between 37-42 weeks!!, the doctors said that yesterday when one of them was checking my bump and I asked why my baby is not even engaged!! so just be patient, not far to go, just think that each day gets you closer to meet your beautiful boy!!l

[Verkey81]

I know toes it does seem quite surreal! Ooo I'm excited to hear from ruby as well.... Nothing from me yet, it's all phantom pains so far that have felt awful enough but no sign of him making an appearance! I can see why people get fed up at the end as you're in pain with nothing to show for it... Well I am anyway! Midwife again for my 39 week appt in the morning and I might just contact my photographer friend to sort out that shoot gc you're right, it's the last chance to do it really! What did the consultant say?

toes how far along are you now? How you scans etc booked?

What about everyone else who's not so far along? How are those pregnancies going? X

[ToesAndFingersCrossed]

Just popping in to wish Ruby lots of luck today, hope everything goes well. I can't believe all of you are waiting to have your babies now, it seems like only yesterday a bunch of us were stimming together! Of course it doesn't feel like that when you're waiting...!

Fx for everyone by our babies will come soon, and quickly!

[gcerron]

Hi girls!!
Ruby I hope everything is fine and you have your beautiful babies in your arms!! It seems that it is an indescribable sensation and feelings!! I hope you can at least pop in here for seconds to say a couple of words!! We are so exited for you!!
The photography session was better than I expected!! verkey don't worry about having many outfits!! she sent me a link of alternatives and I organised some options the day before but the same as you I didn't have many options to be honest at least nothing that you can say wow!! 3 dresses that I was using within the summer, 1 maternity leggings a couple of normal tops, so I showed them to the photographer and she chose a dress, that was for the outdoor, also she asked me to pick a white shirt of my OH and my leggings to do the indoor session. I hope I can get some good pictures, I haven't seen them yet!! But we don't need many pictures, do we? So a couple of good ones indoor and outdoor I think its good enough to be happy. I didn't think on this because my OH never answered optimistic when I asked him before so I didn't bother but he had the initiative to talk as usual at the last minute and I was thinking this will be my last chance, so I google somebody near!! Go ahead if you really want!!

I have a consultant appointment tomorrow, he will book the induction session!! I am trying some natural things but nothing is working, it seems that my baby is enjoying inside!! I hope he surprise me one of this nights!! at this stage I am not thinking in the pain anymore, I just want to have him in my arms!!
verkey at least you have some pains cramps!! fingers crossed and one of this days you will give us a surprise, please let us know!!

How is everybody doing!! I hope everybody is doing well

[Verkey81]

Hope the pre-op has gone well or goes well Ruby, not sure if you will have been by now!? How exciting that you get to meet your little ones tomorrow! Please do come back and pop on at least just to let us know how it went!?

gc how did the photography session go? My friend is a photographer and offered me a session but I just thought I don't have enough different outfits to do it! I might just go for it though anyway?! Did you enjoy it?

Still no sign from me, though I have had sooo many points since Thursday I thought this was it, it was starting, then it stops again, spent the week with backache, being sick and lots of tightening's, some with lots of pain, some with none! I had such bad cramps the other night, I definitely thought it was starting but then nothing again. Midwife said he's 3/5ths engaged last week so surely he wants to come out soon!?

Its such a waiting game, this whole fertility process, you spend all your time waiting for appts, waiting for ivf to start, the 2 week wait, the wait for your scans etc etc etc etc, now at the end, its wait, wait wait! I had a surprise baby shower the other day and my cousin who has been through ivf as well wrote a quote in a card that made me cry... "our willingness to wait reveals the value we place on the object we are waiting for" This quote is getting me through these last weeks!!

[RubySlippers77]

Verkey, I have no idea about the tightenings either! They've happened twice to me whilst I was being monitored (so presumably more often overall, I just didn't notice!) but I thought it was one of the babies stuck in an awkward position…..

gcerron - your bump photography session sounds lovely! If I could fit in anything that wasn't stretchy & enormous then I'd have thought about that too, but now I'm on OH's clothes I don't think I'd look particularly fetching :-(

Back to hospital for me tomorrow for the pre-op and then back Tuesday for the op!! Trying to stay calm & enjoy my last child-free weekend (eek!) - I think at least I find the idea of a c section slightly less terrifying than a natural birth, not that I have much of an option with both twins being breech! From what I've heard all inductions are evaluated individually, if that's any help; I've been in hospital a few times over the last couple of weeks and all the ladies I've spoken to who were being induced were in for different reasons, not necessarily because they were 40+ weeks.

OH has been great actually, cooking, cleaning & tidying - hopefully his new found housework skills are here to stay!! Unlike the builders, who have let us down yet again!

Not sure when I'll be back on MN to provide you all with an update, so just wanted to say a big 'good luck' to all, wherever you are on your pregnancy journey

[gcerron]

Hi girls!!
whittle thank you for sharing your induction experience, it seems that I will have it. On Wednesday I will have a consultant appointment and he is going to book the induction session and maybe do another membrane sweep. I've just came back from my first membrane sweep and the mw found that my cervix is still closed. I begin my 38 weeks today!! So no signal of labour!!

Rubygood luck on the 8th!! so exciting!! please keep posting, it seems that you will be the second of our group after whittle that will encourage us with 2 new beautiful babies xxxxx!!

I will enjoy my maternity leave this weekend, we will have bump photography session!!, I was doing some cleaning at home and some bits a pieces that I had still to organise in general. I was also taking warm baths just to relax.

verkey I will have induction at 40 weeks. It seems that when you are not young the placenta tends to "fail" in its functions if you are overdue. But it seems as well that this is a new practice so I guess they want to be more conservative, but I imagine they also evaluate the whole pregnancy before they take each decision. Other reason is when your baby is big so they tend to induce you earlier than the due date, but this time nothing to do with the placenta.

Good luck to everybody!! keep updating us

[Verkey81]

Ruby it can't be long now until you meet your little one?! Couple of days? Any news from you gc? Can I ask, is there a reason you were mentioning induction at 37 weeks? I'm 38 this weekend but no mention of induction etc until nearly 2 weeks overdue I think! Cat make sure you take it easy, I spent my pregnancy exhausted and I think I should have taken it easy from a bit earlier on, it might have helped me enjoy it more!

Whittle thanks for sharing your experiences of induction, it definitely helps take some of the fear away having an understanding of how it works!

I'm not sure if I'm nearing labour or not, I had my 38 week midwife appt yesterday and was having horrendous back pains in the waiting room. The midwife came to get me and then said she thought it was the start of something but the pains went away throughout the day. I was definitely having tightenings, the midwife confirmed that's what they were though I thought it was just the little fella wriggling! I never knew that's what it was, but she said it's either braxton or contractions, only time will tell! I did time the tightenings as my midwife told me to and they were 5 mins apart but as they're not coming with loads of pains I'm assuming they're braxton?! This is soooo confusing!

[Blackandwhitecat3]

Hello everyone and sorry for my silence - I've been back at work and as I now have three roles on top of each other, I've been very busy! Am being careful not to work too hard though, as I'm pregnant....

Bump is really growing at the moment, I feel "properly" pregnant. I'm a bit tired, but otherwise feel really really well. I'm 25 weeks today. I am now under a mix of consultant and midwife care as I used to suffer from epilepsy so they want to keep an eye on me.

Ruby I hope you are surviving in hospital. Glad to hear that things are getting sorted at home, but as usual, surprised to see your lodger is still there!

Whittle thanks for all the tips, and I know a lot of my friends found breastfeeding really difficult.

GCerron I hope you are enjoying your maternity leave and managing to have a bit of a rest. You sound very organised and calm :)

Big wave to everyone

[RubySlippers77]

Any news from you gcerron or are you just enjoying some peaceful time before baby arrives?!

I'm back in hospital and you're so right about induction whittle - most of the ladies on the ward are here to be induced and it's not quick, they're here for a day or so waiting for things to get moving!!

My blood pressure is high again so the doctors decided to re-admit me - c section is a week tomorrow, not long to go but I think they want to limp me on to 37 weeks - the water retention is very painful though, I can only just shuffle around

Any news from anyone else?

[whittlefish]

Hi ladies sorry been absent a bit but the baby has kept me very busy! gcerron I was induced on the Thursday and gave birth early sat morning. I had pessary first then was put on the drip later on. The only thing I will say about induction is be prepared for it to potentially take a while. I thought in 24 hours we would be done and dusted but it can take up to 72(worse case scenario) having said that it can also be really quick just depends on the person. Try not to worry about it too much if you are induced and just go with the flow just make sure you take snacks and things to occupy you and your partner in case it is a bit slower. I am bottle feeding, I tried breastfeeding but I really struggle and she wasn't getting enough milk so changed. I felt really guilty but the thing to remember is you have to do what's right for you and going to be the best for your sanity and well as the baby.
I'm glad to hear everyone else is progressing nicely and not long to go for many of you, so fab we have all come this far with the finish line in sight. I promise it is all worth it once they arrive x

[gcerron]

Hi everybody!! I am finally on maternity leave from today!!!
ruby wow by the beginning of October you will have your beautiful babies in your arms!!! So excited moments ahead of us now!!! I hope things are sorted with the lodger!! Everything else looks really sorted on your side. All the symptoms are just part of the final stage of the pregnancy!!! and the most important is that your doctor has an eye close to you!! and everything will end up with a happy and exciting result!!

Thank you verkey for mentioning the hypnobirthing!! I am in the final stage however I have my affirmations on hand and begin to practice breathing techniques, relaxation and try to be calmed. I was so nervous before but I am preparing myself.

An update from me I begin my 37 weeks today, I had scan on Tuesday and my baby has big abdomen therefore extra weight, the sonographer said not to worry at this stage the scans are not 100% accurate, My midwife said the same but I prefer to have a gestational diabetes test again to have a reassurance, I think according the result they can suggest the options for the due date!! Originally the scan was just to know if the position of the baby was correct so the midwife can do the sweep membrane trying to induce the labour before any kind of proper induction. The position is perfect but with the result of the abdomen I am little bit concerned, despite they said the opposite. Anyway I just have to wait. Today I will finish everything regarding hospital bags and stuff. I think we are quite sorted in our logistic!!
Girls keep updating us!! I know it is difficult sometimes because we are busy or tired but I hope everybody else is doing great!!! looking forward to hearing from you!!