Graduates of the TTC After Pregnancy Loss thread. Aka: The Penguin Huddle

[MyHeartIsBrokeButIHaveSomeGlue]

This is a safe and supportive thread for ladies from the TTC after pregnancy loss thread who've had a BFP and are now negotiating the scary rollercoaster world of pregnancy after loss.

If you weren't on the original thread, have suffered a loss and are now pregnant please feel free to join the penguin huddle 🐧

Positive pants ON. Let’s get our rainbows ladies 🌈

Is anyone else finding their tastes change every single day? It's making food shopping a nightmare, at the moment I have moved on from BBQ supernoodles and chicken soup to mashed potato with onion gravy, ooh and hash browns. With my son I craved pickled onion space raiders and the mini McDonald's hamburgers (they used to do 2 for I think a £1 in the early 2000s. What have been your unusual food habits?

@Kayjay2018 I'm struggling with food as I seem to have lost my appetite. I just don't fancy anything. I'm trying to come off the anti-sickness medication so my nausea is more unpredictable which isn't helping. I could murder some McDonalds chips now after reading your post 😂
I seem to be getting pains at the sides of my lower tummy which I think is round ligament pain? Also some twinges across the middle which really panic me and earlier I had terrible pain in my bum (for want of a better/nicer way to describe it) when I first sat down. DH has been googling it all for me and apparently muscle spasms are common in that area - wonderful 😳

@rubyroot I'm worried because I've really struggled to take vitamins all the way through and I've pretty much given up all together since 12 weeks. I just find them so hard to swallow as I associate them with feeling sick. I did get the pregnacare ones with omega 3 so thinking I should make more of an effort, although worried it's too late already  I'm vegetarian so don't eat any fish but I'm ok with the capsules if it helps the baby. Bloody hell if someone said eat this whole cow to guarantee a healthy baby I'd do it and I'm the most squeamish veggie I know 😂

Good luck for your scans @sadtoday21 I'll be thinking of you. It definitely intensifies the anxiety the closer you get.

@Catconfusion thanks for the recommendation. I'll definitely try that as it's getting me down a bit. How are you feeling now?

I've been feeling a bit better with the nausea today but still a load of worrying pains. DH thinks I've done too much as we've moved into our spare room today so lots of bending, lifting and carrying. I think some of it may be down to wind too 😳
Really hoping it calms down as it's so scary when I associate pain with endometriosis, periods and miscarriage 😕

No problem @janey15 Sometimes the little things are lifesavers. Sounds like you may have some round ligament pain. I find the more I do the worse it is.

My sickness has improved a lot now thanks. DH brought home a stomach bug last week so I had a day of literally vomiting up everything I tried to eat or drink. Since then my tummy has been a bit sore but my eating has improved.

We had our last scan at EPAU on Saturday and they discharged me. I'm now 15 weeks. It was a lovely appointment. As they were quiet the sonographer showed us baby from all angles and took a lovely picture of baby's face. We felt quite emotional when we left as they have been amazing throughout our mmc and this pregnancy. Now I'm wondering if boy or girl. 5 weeks until the anomaly scan but we might cave and have a scan to find out before. Xx

Thanks @janey15, really appreciate it! I hope your sickness subsides quickly and the round ligament pain goes away - it can be so worrying! I'm also a vegetarian and I don't eat fish, so I find the gummy prenatals that have omega in them to be best (I love the smartypants ones, but they are a bit pricey over here!). Hope you feel better soon Xxx.

@Catconfusion I love this pic, congrats again! You should record the hb at your next midwife appt - it's really special to later on!

@janey15 the vitamins aren't compulsory are they?! If you have a healthy diet than all is good. I guess the only thing you don't get in the winter is vitamin d. But your baby will take all it needs and it will probably be you left with deficiencies .
I think I might just start having salad with anchovies in and smoked mackerel both once a week and then I'll be getting omega 3 from natural sources. I think as long as you have folic acid in the early days the rest doesn't matter massively. I haven't had my omega 3 today because I'm paranoid it's not really fish body oil even though I t says so on the packet! 🙄

All the best for your scan tomorrow @sadtoday21. I know its an anxious time. You'll be fine though and then hopefully you can relax a bit more.

I've started with the anxiety already and it's over a week before mine. Was there someone else going for their 20 week tomorrow?

@KnitKitty @ChikiTIKI @SunshineCrocodile pregnancy yoga was great, really relaxing. I felt quite nervous beforehand because it’s the first pregnancy related group I’ve gone to, so it feels like that was a really positive step for me. I will keep going I think to this class but its only monthly so I think I’ll have a look for something more regular as well.

@KnitKitty a crochet mobile, how cute! I would like to know how to crochet as well as knit. I am almost finished on my rainbow blanket which I’ve been working on for a while before I fell pregnant this time, its quite a monster size! Will post a pic when I’m done.

@ChikiTIKI ooh I reckon the aching might be a sign of imminent bump growth then – makes sense I guess! Your MIL sounds like she is trying to demonstrate interest but perhaps not in the most sensitive way…

@janey15 makes total sense. Glad you came to a decision you are at peace with but sorry to hear the nausea is still troublesome. I wouldn’t worry too much about the vitamins – its only folic acid and vitamin D which are recommended for the first trimester and then vitamin D after that.

@Beaglemum93 wow 31 weeks!! Not long now really!

@sadtoday21 will be thinking of you too! I didn’t sleep very well last night – had a weird nightmare that I had to travel to the other side of the country for my anomaly scan, which was fine, but the obstetrics team made me have a C-section then and there because they wanted baby to have a scan outside of the womb. I was freaking out that they needed to put baby back in my womb otherwise she wouldn’t survive….its crazy what anxiety can do to your dreams. Hoping sleep might be a bit better tonight although I won’t be surprised if more weird nightmares are in store… We are both actually very similar in our pregnancies – only days apart in gestation, both with anterior placentas and both unsure if we are feeling movements! I don’t think movements are getting any stronger just yet but its still early days for anterior placenta and first pregnancy reaching this far. Let us all know how the scan goes and I’ll do the same xx

@catconfusion wow didn’t realise you were 15 weeks already! Brilliant milestone being discharged from EPAU, and so lovely they spent some time showing you little one more closely.

Yeah @rubyroot I have my 20 week scan tomorrow too. Eeek!

Thanks @rubyroot, really appreciate it! Will be thinking of you next week as well!

Good luck @strawberrye and I hope you get some sleep tonight! We are really similar in terms of the stage of our pregnancies, which is great in terms of swapping advice. Sending you a virtual hug for tomorrow and hoping for good outcomes for both of us Xxx.

I knew there was someone. Good luck @strawberrye. Please be along to update us with a scan pic and your good news.

@strawberrye good luck tomorrow! I'll be thinking of both you and @sadtoday21
I'll probably have a sleepless night as well because that seems to be the norm for me now. I'm already getting nervous about my 16 week MW appointment the Wednesday after next 🙈

@Catconfusion how awful having a stomach bug after everything else! Glad you're feeling better now. What a lovely final scan at the epu! I'm already feeling the worry 2 weeks after my last scan. I'm going to try and take it easy tomorrow- I'm reading a massive book so going to take the excuse to put my feet up and see if the pains settle

@rubyroot I'll have a look at those vitamins - sounds like they might be better.

@rubyroot my diets not been great as I can't stand the sight of a vegetable! I love vegetables normally

@janey15 I can't say mines been brilliant either. I'm not very good at remembering to eat fruit and I always develop the biggest sweet tooth in pregnancy. I must cut down on the sugar.

Hi ladies. Sorry for the selfish post tonight. Saw midwife today for reassurance and hear HB on doppler. Thankfully heard a HB so Bubsy still alive in there. However, midwife thought bump was looking big so measured and was measuring what someone should be at 26 weeks! I'm only 22+5. Urine sample also had trace of sugar. Was told that if measuring big at 25w appointment I'll have to book GTT in earlier than planned. I'm so worried now.

@Indreamland the measurements the midwives take so not measure your baby, they measure your uterus and likely to be inaccurate. How were you measuring on your 20 week scan. Unlikely if you were measuring about right that it would have grown so much in last few weeks.

Also, I had sugar in my urine three times, your kidneys leak sugar when pregnant. I had eaten porridge with jam and that was the culprit. As I said I was paranoid I had diabetes, I even bought a blood sugar kut off amazon, the one that gets blood from your finger. I never used it. Ask your Dr's to do a blood sugar test if you are worried. I had one and it came back normal. Honestly, it's probably nothing. X

Do not

Like I said the seed was planted early by a nurse practitioner that I had gest diabetes as she found sugar in urine at 6 weeks. I believed I had diabetes through the rest of pregnancy. Midwives kept saying don't be silly, you're not at risk. They were right. I think that bloody silly midwife has worried you unnecessarily, the last thing you need is seeds planting! Measuring the uterus is so inaccurate, honestly. The second time I had sugar in urine the midwife said it was because I'd had sugar and Doctor also confirmed that kidneys do leak sugar in pregnancy.

Hi everyone, disappeared for a while as life got in the way and also just had our last baby-free holiday in Portugal for a few days. It was great and managed to be fairly active in spite of what is now nearly a 27 week bump! It's grown so much in the last month it is pretty unbelievable to think that just over a month ago a lot of people still weren't sure by looking at me...

@Catconfusion, glad you have had a positive 15 week scan!

Good luck today to @sadtoday21 and @strawberrye.

I thought I would be desperate for another scan by this point in time but the anxiety has really subsided the farther along I get and the more active he gets! I swear he's constantly doing gymnastics in there. I know there is more anxiety to come but I think that is going to be mostly focused on him arriving safely rather than something being wrong right now.

@rdm10 congratulations on your rainbow! I remember you from the TTC thread.

@SunshineCrocodile hope the anxiety lifts soon but I know it is hard to be positive after loss.

@strawberrye glad you had a good scan. That foot size is just adorable!

@sadtoday21 I wouldn't worry about the vitamins ...... as rubyroot said.

@ChikiTIKI your MIL needs to learn to mind her own business.

I'm 15 weeks today! I can't believe I'm able to say/write that! I never thought this would happen for us 💜

@Kayjay2018 I found my tastebuds and appetite almost returned to normal around week 15. Still a few things I'm off but I can live with those. Smells though, coffee not too awful as long as not too strong but smoke just turns my stomach still.

@Catconfusion lovely scan pic!

Good luck @sadtoday21 @strawberrye for your scans!

@coconutlatte44 good to hear your anxiety has subsided. Hopefully you're enjoying your pregnancy.

@rubyroot thank you. I think I will now worry until 25 weeks antenatal GP appointment and GTT results which I must do before 28 weeks anyway. I'm in the risk factor group anyway for GD which isn't helping my anxiety. I had eaten a sugary breakfast before the urine test yesterday (granola and yoghurt). Midwife did say she'd only be concerned if I have 2 or 3 positive tests in a row. She also pointed out that at 20 weeks scan baby was not measuring big. Hope your pre-20 weeks scan anxiety isn't too bad.

@janey15 yay for 15 weeks!!

@janey15 ah yay for 15 weeks - FX all continues lovely too

@coconutlatte44 hope you had a lovely time away

@sadtoday21 thinking of you today, good luck

@Catconfusion hoping everything continues smoothly for you, what a lovely scan pic

@Kayjay2018 haha yes, my tastebuds do that with every pregnancy - nightmare!

@InDreamland I am sorry you are worrying, I dont know if this will help reassure you but with my first son I was measuring ahead and my son was also measuring big, no GD. I think some of us just carry differently? But even if you do have GD, you'll be taken care of so well.

I am just desperate to get to my first scan now, just over 2 weeks to go. I just want to know if we will be having another MMC or not. Then I can face the prospect of another preemie after we get through the 1st trimester I think

Good luck @strawberrye and @sadtoday21.

@InDreamland bump measurements can be all over the place. I measured big on bump for DD1 and DD2 but they were both small. Do you have your appointment for GTT booked yet?

Thanks @strawberrye and good luck with your scan! Xx

Thanks @TwittleBee so far it's pretty good so may it continue! Xx

Thank you @InDreamland we were so pleased to have a slightly different picture. Xx

Argh - sorry I have been so rubish!

Good luck today @strawberrye and @sadtoday21! Sending positive scan vibes.

@InDreamland my bump is also measuring three weeks ahead! I have had the GTT and it was fine. Midwife did refer me for a growth scan next week but she was very clear that her measurements are of the bump, the flat, the fluid, etc. so not necessarily accurate. I asked what would happen if baby was big at the scan as he has always measured a few days ahead throughout. She said they may repeat GTT and just monitor the growth. She seemed to think GD was unlikely after the first test was OK and just that I am carrying big. But I am like you and I am now worried! As well as being pissed off at everyone commenting on how big I am!