Jan/Feb 2021 fertility treatment BFP ladies

[cher1981]

Just making a new thread so we can keep chatting :)

Oh man, so many sad news. I'm so sorry to hear you've lost your babies. Sending lots of strength

So sorry @somethingfunny, really hoped for better news for you.

I guess a few of us may be together on a May/June IVF thread with our next attempts?

I’m so sorry to hear all the sad news on this thread. My heart goes out to all of you and I wish you so much better luck in the future. Sending lots of love.

@somethingfunny I’m so sorry. I hope you have enough support and sending you lots of luck for the future ❤️

Big hugs to everyone.

How's everyone doing?

I paid for a private scan yesterday as I'm 12+5 now and couldn't wait for my NHS one. All is good with little one thankfully and it provided some much needed reassurance.

Lovely news @cher1981!

Great news @cher1981!

Good news @cher1981 - when is your NHS scan?

I had my NHS scan on Wednesday. Both babies doing well - one is slightly bigger than the other but they said that’s quite normal with non-identical twins. However they both measured ahead so rather than being 12+6 today I’m actually 13+5. Also met my consultant who is really nice and he said I’ll be delivering no later than 37 weeks so they basically took a month off my pregnancy! Still feeling rough with the nausea and heartburn but the consultant gave me a prescription request for my GP to fulfill for some meds to help.

@cher1981 lovely to hear your news.

I had my 8+5 week scan on Tuesday, it was all fine, so I'm 9+1 today, but with all the bad news I didn't want to post.
My sickness is getting worse, if I am slightly hungry and smell food i feel sure i am going to be sick and I have to get food in asap to stop it.
I had a call from the NHS midwife for my booking appointment, it feels real now, I even felt excited for 10 minutes, but now back to anxiety. I will be consultant lead, I have 3 risk factors apparently, age, thyroid and IVF baby.

Next decision is NIPT or not. Were I using my own 42 year old eggs I would test, but I'm using 27 year old eggs and the wait for 10 days for results will send me over the edge with anxiety. I have a call with my IVF consultant on Tuesday to discuss it, a bit of me thinks maybe waiting for the NHS scan before we spend £600 on the test. No doubt he will recommend it anyway.

I'm terrified things will go wrong and I'm having anxiety attacks about it. We told my MIL and now she keeps texting me with excited texts even though we told her we can't get excited yet and need to hold back until 12 weeks. Getting an excited text when you are in the middle of a meltdown isn't helpful. I'm hoping me ignoring her will stop the messages, I don't want to be mean but she's ignoring how we've told her we feel.

@calmcat please don’t think you can’t post your good news, I love seeing that other people are doing well as it gives me hope for the next attempt X

@MF1981 @calmcat congrats on the scan outcomes, that’s great!

I’m so the same with the empty stomach causing sickness. I vomited today in Tesco’s car park it was so embarrassing. I’m struggling with the symptoms to be honest but I know how lucky I am to be in this position too. Just impatiently waiting on NHS scan at 13 weeks and hoping everything will be ok.

I wouldn’t get the NIPT test yet calmcat, I’d wait for the outcome of the 12 week scan and blood tests, but it’s up to you how you feel. Sorry your MIL isn’t respecting your wishes, I had a similar issue with my mum early on but a firm chat and she’s been much better.

@MF1981 my NHS scan is next Tuesday morning. Admittedly I was impatient in getting a sneaky scan but it really was worth it to stop my anxiety. Wow your news is exciting and to be a week ahead of where you thought shows your little ones are thriving.

I feel quite lucky compared to you all suffering symptoms. TBH I’m not really having anything other than fatigue and a bit of bloat. I realise how lucky I am and hope you all begin to feel better soon.

@calmcat I second the idea of waiting until after your NHS scan and bloods for the NIPT but it really is a personal choice so follow your gut.

@cher1981 and @kikisparks I think i need to look into what the NHS check as I thought they just did nuchal translucency, but it sounds like they do blood tests too- do you know what for?

@calmcat I don’t really know, sorry, I just know it’s a combined test with both a blood test and a scan.

Hi All
I am getting myself all worked up about stopping my IVF meds, progesterone and estrogen taper off from this week until 14 weeks so i am fine with that, I'm having kittens about stopping the blood thinner though (Inhixa- which is the same as fragmin). I haven't been tested for a blood disorder the clinic just use blood thinners routinely I think to help implantation, so stopping at 10 weeks (later this week) is not an issue if I am normal. My panic is that we don't know if I'm normal. I couldn't bear it if it all went wrong when I could have had a jab a day instead. A close friend had multiple miscarriages before she was diagnosed with a blood disorder. I have only had 1 miscarriage but that's through lack of being able to get pregnant so I don't think the clinic thought it was relevant to test me for blood issues. Plus it looks like it costs a bomb and not sure if they can test you if you are on a blood thinner medication at the time of the test.
I have a call with my fertility consultant tomorrow to talk about pro's and cons of NIPT (even though I have now decided to go the NHS combined test route) and I will talk to him about this worry instead. If he says "it's rare don't worry" that's not going to help with my worry.
Does anyone else have any experience or thoughts or helpful advice?

@calmcat I can’t offer much help I’m afraid. I was tested for blood clotting issues/ sticky blood after my second miscarriage and I think it took 6 weeks, that was on the NHS though so I’m not sure if it can be fast tracked. The consultant did tell me it was very rare and I was unlikely to have it and sure enough I didn’t. He did say he would give me clexane anyway if I really wanted it but I was happy enough with the test result. Hope the fertility consultant can reassure you or offer you some options- maybe they’ll let you keep taking it anyway just for reassurance?

@kikisparks thanks, I think I am just more worried as I saw what my friend went through, in reality I am probably fine, its just yet another thing to worry about on this IVF rollercoaster.

Sorry @calmcat I don’t have any advice to offer.

Looking for some advice though please. We had the combined screening test done at the scan last week and this morning the screening midwife called to say one of the twins is showing as high risk for Downs. Nuchal measurement was 3 and obvs my score will be higher as I’m 40. We’ve got to go to the hospital tomorrow to discuss the report and decide on next steps. Basically we can pay for NIPT which is £400 or can have the invasive tests but the miscarriage risk doubles as they’re twins. I can’t go through IVF again so nothing will change for us in terms of pregnancy outcome, but is it best to know so we can be prepared?

@MF1981 It is really important to remember that this isn't a definite diagnosis of Downs its just a risk profile, they should have given you a probability like 1:100 or something. Given the risk of the invasive tests, if anything I would personally opt for the NIPT first and see what that comes back as it is more "accurate" that the combined test. But if the result won't affect your choices you could save yourself the £400 and do lots of research to be prepared. There will be charities and organisations that can provide loads of info now and then support later if you did need it.
I hope that's helpful, if only I could apply my scientist hat to my own situation.

@calmcat yeah sorry it’s 1 in 71 chanve

*chance

@MF1981 so the other way to look at it is there is a 70 in 71 chance that there is no Downs. Sleep on it and see how you feel in the morning and we are all here to support you and help if we can. It sounds like you know that invasive tests are a no, and more tests wont change your choices anyway, which is a positive way to feel. It just boils down to how to be best prepared.

It's a tricky one @MF1981. We've just declined ours. I suppose part of the question is, if you found out for certain, would that change what you do? If the answer is no, then the second question would be whether it would make you more or less anxious if you knew for the remainder of your pregnancy. Such a personal decision

Well i spoke to my fertility consultant today about the blood thinner meds, he has prescribed them to me up to 14 weeks which is the max he is allowed to with no diagnosed clotting disorder but i am having a blood test for the most common clotting disorder and that result will take 2 weeks.
They can test for general thrombophilia but being pregnant might give either a clear negative result or an inconclusive result, an inconclusive result would mean referral to see a consultant haematologist.
I think I have to take this test for the most common condition and trust the result and then stop this nonsense. The alternative is hundreds of pounds of tests which might not help and may cause more anxiety.
I will talk to the midwife at my booking appt, I don't want to turn into a crazy irrational person but I don't want to lose this pregnancy either. Its a minefield.

@MF1981 sorry you’ve had that news- as calmcat says though there’s still a far higher chance the baby won’t have downs syndrome. I think I’d go for the NIPT in your situation- i wouldn’t do the tests that carry the risk of miscarriage I don’t think. It’s definitely a really personal decision. What did you decide to do?

@calmcat I’m glad you’re getting the thinners for longer and the blood clot test, hope it will put your mind at ease.