BFP through IVF. Thread to calm the nerves!

[BeHereNowx32]

Hi!
I very recently got my positive result after a FET. (This is my second child. First one conceived through a fresh cycle). Just wondered anyone in a similar position wanted to join, and help keep us calm until scan day!

I am only 4+2 weeks. Still so, so early. Can’t wait for my 7 week scan!

@ivfdreaming great news

We've not had a NIPT as its still only a screening test at the end of the day. If the combined test shows us at risk we would definitely want diagnostic testing so figured it would only add to our worries waiting for results. But I know a lot of people do have it. Not sure if the fact you are having twins will affect it?

@MorgenMuffel

They've said it's fine and still accurate to have with twins as long as they know in advance - apparently it's just not with triplets (or more!) that you can't have it

Everything I read suggested the accuracy was better than the NHS blood test - going to think about it over the weekend and then decide

@ivfdreaming great news.

@LemonRabbit I'm so sorry. x

I had a minor scare today. I had one FRER left, peed on it and it was fainter than Monday. Organised a beta and it's trebled since Monday, so must have been the beginning of the hook effect. Got a fright all the same. Think it's time to step away from the sticks! 6 week scan next week anyway.

@ValidUser

What is your Hcg level up to?? Are you thinking twins is possible - you transferred 2 didn't you?

@ivfdreaming it was 2967 on Monday and 8988 today. Doubling time 60 hours (apparently normal at this point).

Higher than the average for singletons, but lower than the median for twins. Honestly, a healthy baby would be a dream!

@ivfdreaming congratulations on your scan! I find it really hard to drink water so going to have to start doing it better.

I am going to have the NIPT - not sure what week though??

@ivfdreaming that’s excellent news! ☺️ Glad to hear all is developing well. I won’t bother with NIPT test. But if you have the money and are keen to get, I don’t see why not. I’ll prob use my money on extra scans! 🙈

@ValidUser good on you for requesting blood test, and great news that the hcg levels are rising well. How are you feeling about your scan on Wednesday? What time is it at? Mine’s is 10:35am.

@BabySweet85 I am so so bad at drinking water too 😔 and eating fruit or veg! I have a bottle with timings on it. I might try that today and force myself to stick to the times on it. Hope that makes sense lol

I am feeling so so nervous about my scan on Wednesday! Had a bad dream about it all.
I know I’m sooo lucky and sooo happy to have my DD. I am trying to focus on her, but the nerves are still there.
Still not feeling much in symptoms. I’m tired and drained and getting headaches.

Hope everyone else is ok! X

@BeHereNowx32 I had one of those timings bottles but lost it! I’m usually okay with veg but i feel a bit nauseous at the sight of anything other than carbs at the moment! I ate lots of blueberries yesterday so that’s good.

How far along are you - what type of scan on Weds?

@BabySweet85 feel like I’m too tired to eat fruit and veg. We keep getting takeaways. Doing food shop today, so will pick up nice things. Blueberries is defo a good choice
It’s my 7 week scan on Wednesday.
How far along are you again? X

@BabySweet85 actually I remember you just had 7 week scan x

@ivfdreaming great news about your scan!

@ValidUser good news about your HCG levels, that's a really good sign!

@BeHereNowx32 sorry you're feeling anxious about your scan, I am feeling the same to be honest - just feel very tearful most of the time, not sleeping etc etc. I haven't booked a private scan yet as too scared. I'm almost 9 weeks.

@LemonRabbit so sorry to hear your news, look after yourself.

For those considering the NIPT - I personally wouldn't do it. My understanding is that it's not diagnostic and simply another screening test but has high false positive rates (particularly for Edwards and Patau) - to me that seems like a lot of money to pay for potentially unnecessary heartache. A friend of mine had high risk combined test results earlier this year and she agonised over having the NIPT - she said she found a thread on here really helpful, I'll ask her which one and try and find it.

@BeHereNowx32 yes we are partial to too many takeaways also! Going to have a smoothie at some point today though.

Yeh 7 week scan measuring 6+6 so 1 day behind but I’m not too bothered about that. Heartbeat all fine. I phoned my gp and have a telephone booking appointment on 11th August.

Here is the thread my friend said she found helpful when deciding whether or not to go for NIPT after she had a high risk combined result as there are some useful points of view both for and against. www.mumsnet.com/Talk/antenatal_tests_choices/3818357-nipt

This quote stood out for me from one poster: Whilst a “low risk” result from NIPT does have good accuracy (unlike “high risk” NIPT results), it is a matter of whether you feel the reassurance a “low risk” result may provide you, is worth the emotional turmoil of a “high risk” result.

Food for thought anyway, hope it's useful if you are trying to decide whether or not to have the NIPT.

I should also point out that my friend did decide to go ahead with the NIPT and everything was fine but she was also prepared to go for CVS or amniocentesis if the results came back positive. She's in the third trimester now and everything is fine. (She has said it's ok for me to post this!)

Thanks @elleceedee

My midwife seemed really supportive of the NIPT in fact she was the one who brought it up - don't know if it's because of my age although I'm "only" 37?!

I think I'm 90% going to have it - it'll just be another number on my already creaking credit cards 🤣 - a friend of mine had to terminate for Edwards after transferring a "perfect" 4AA blastocyst last year and I think it has made me more anxious (to the point I asked not to transfer my 4aa blastocysts and chose lower grade ones)

Plus last year when I decided to PGS test a couple of blastocysts neither came back "normal" - both had chromosome issues - although none of the chromosomes mentioned were T13 / T18 or T21 - But I know no test is 100% accurate - so much to think about 😬

My DH and I definitely wouldn't continue a pregnancy if an issue was found and I guess with twins it's made me more conscious of knowing early as I read it's better if I had to lose one to do it sooner rather than later in a multiple pregnancy

@ivfdreaming that makes perfect sense, particularly with you having a twin pregnancy. I'm 40 so am expecting my combined test to be higher risk than it was with my DD but at least I can take that into consideration (especially knowing that these embryos were frozen several years ago - which, annoyingly, the combined test doesn't take into account as they still use age as a factor!). After reading that thread, I think if my combined test this time comes back particularly high risk I would consider NIPT as extra reassurance rather than just going for CVS or amniocentesis which obviously come with their own risks too but wouldn't go for NIPT unless I had results to worry about. It's a minefield really isn't it!

Really sorry to hear about your friend's pregnancy, what an awful thing to go through.

DH and I have previously spoken and I don't think we would terminate for Downs but would do for Edwards or Patau's. It's just an awful decision to have to make isn't it and one - hopefully - none of us will have to.

@MorganMuffel best of luck with your scan on Tuesday! And for your scan on Wednesday @BeHereNowx32.

@LemonRabbit I'm so sorry you've had bad news, it's so unfair. Be kind to yourself.

@ivfdreaming that's such good news from your scan!

@ValidUser great that your hcg looks so good! I'm scared to do another test in case the line is still faint and that just gives me something else to panic about ... I'm doing well enough finding those on my own!

Thanks very much for the IBS reassurance @MorgeMuffel. I've seen some improvement after cutting back a bit on fruit, veg and fibre and increasing refined carbs. So that's good but feels a bit wrong as I'm deliberately making my diet less healthy!

I still don't feel very pregnant, I'm nearly six weeks and my energy levels are fine, my boobs feel pretty normal, I had one very nauseous day last week and then was a bit nauseous yesterday, particularly when I drank cold water. It's strange to say but I'd feel so reassured if my nausea got worse soon, I've read it typically starts around week six.

I didn't know much about HIPT so that's useful information. I will have a think but my instinct is if be in such a panic of they said I was high risk that is probably better not ...

@elleceedee thanks for all the info regarding NIPT - i think i will do the 12 week scan first and then see what it says x

@RosettaR

I still feel Completely normal - no nausea no sore boobs nothing - other than looking 5 months pregnant already I wouldn't know I was pregnant with 1 let alone 2.
I know I panicked when I had DD about not feeling any usual pregnancy symptoms because my sister was sick as a dog but I felt totally normal with DD too - I think I only threw up twice when I was about 14 weeks (oddly always after shopping in marks and spencer food hall 🤣) and after that felt fine for the rest of the 9 months

@RosettaR I know it’s still too early to feel sickness but it still makes me worry 😅 we are still so early x

@elleceedee thanks. we will feel nervous before every scan! 🙈x

@BeHereNowx32 mine's at 10.40. Think you're a week ahead of me? I'm 6 weeks tomorrow.

I'm torn on NIPT. I'm just 30, but our embryos didn't look good on day 3. We did have 2 early blastocysts on day 5 and transferred them.

And I'd hate a false positive.

Would sort of love to know the sex early on. Not that it makes a difference, but I'm curious.

@ValidUser I’m not sure blastocyst grading reflects anything genetic? Do you know what the grade was in the end? I’m really not sure. A false positive seems to be the big concern with NIPT. But I am also 35 so also torn.

@BabySweet85 they had a cavity but weren't differentiated enough for further grading than 2.

We lost 8 to fragmentation and arrest (which can be caused by aneuploidy). But the ones we put back didn't look so bad. Sometimes fragmentation is just apoptosis. It's hard to know.

Grading often means nothing, but not always.

(I've the privilege and disadvantage of being a doctor, so I have gynae friends who have been a goldmine of info!)

@ValidUser

The new NIPT Panorama is able to tell the sex of each of my twins which i think is amazing which although isn't the main reason for doing the test would be curious to see!

I don't think blastocysts grading generally reflects good/bad genetics either - in some of the PGS groups I'm on all of people's really low day 6/7 C grades were normal and their day 5 aa grades weren't so I do think it's luck or the draw

@ivfdreaming apparently good grading correlates positively with euploidy. (But not always.) The only bit that I cant find info on is which aneuploidies cause what morphological concerns - they may be the ones that are incompatible with even implantation.)