10 weeks pregnant at 43 after 20 years infertility

[Tinkpod]

Hi everyone, this is my first post. I’m 43 years old and have just recently found out I’m pregnant, I’m now 10 weeks. I have struggled with infertility for over 20 years, before that I had a few miscarriages in my kate teens and early twenties, I was told that I had unexplained infertility and after such a long time would probably never conceive, I could try ivf but due to my autoimmune diseases it probably wouldn’t be successful. I’m now absolutely petrified I will lose this baby, I have no real symptoms other than I feel extremely rough and exhausted all the time and my boobs are a bit bigger and slightly more sensitive. Do any of you have a similar experience? I need all the positive hope I can get right now

Huge congratulations!! When I got pregnant after miscarriage I had awful, crippling anxiety. Sitting under the table crying anxiety. No significant symptoms like you, just tired and sore. I remember my husband finding me crying in the shower at at about 14/25 weeks- I had realised I wasn’t tired anymore and sure I had lost baby.
There are prenatal mental health teams. And counselling helped me a bit, but it was a hard time. I wish I had enjoyed the experience, but it terrified me. My beautiful 5yr old is the result- completely worth it.

Making time to look after yourself, and baby, is so important- be kind to yourself. It’s a massive head shift without your journey. Congratulations!!!

Hi!
Me too, years and years of long periods of nothing then multiple miscarriages then we gave up.
Then at 42 feeling very unwell turned out to be my little fella who I had at 43!

We had lost all hope and had accepted that it wasn’t going to happen…then by some miracle it did!

Hey OP, huge congratulations 🥳! Amazing how life can have such a positive twist.

I’m also 43, after nearly 4yrs of trying, multiple ivf and frozen embryo transfers I’m finally pregnant and nearly at 10wk mark. Taking it each day as it comes but trying to be positive. The symptoms oddly enough give me comfort, even if I do feel like a washing machine!

Wishing you a healthy pregnancy and baby 🤗

This is fantastic.

Out of interest why did they tell you your autoimmune diseases we're stopping pregnancy? I have mixed connective tissue disorder and we've been trying for three years, with one mc, but the consultant told me this likely had nothing to do with my disease. Dp has low sperm count so we were referred to icsi but still scared my silly immune system is buggering everything up.

ps. My mum had me at forty three and she is great.

Wow that's great, I'd be too impatient and go for a private scan. I think I paid £79 for mine

@theotherfossilsister when you have autoimmune you have lots of other underlying issues going on, autoimmune doesn't just happen for no reason, there is gut health and permeability, nutrient absorption issues, inflammation, cytokines and T cell responses etc... all going wrong. Your immune system will attack your egg and/or the sperm, your hormones might not be balanced correctly to allow for the right timing of various mechanisms, You will be lacking in important nutrients at some level. Gluten is one of the largest culprits unfortunately, followed by insulin resistance, I did the autoimmune protocol diet for a few years then took it a step further and did the keto autoimmune diet, hard to stick at but does kind of reset your body. This is what I really believe helped me conceive, I had been on the diet 4 months and was looking and feeling great, and boom! Preggers! I fully recommend reading the book 'is your body baby friendly' by dr alan beer... it goes into detail about autoimmune conditions and how they affect your fertility. If you are in the uk and are going through a private clinic, check out dr gorgy's clinic in london, he's a bit pricey but he does deal with autoimmune related infertility. You are welcome to get in touch with me If you want any more info x

Thank you so much @tinkpod. I would literally go on any diet to become pregnant and not feel like my joints are bring slowly nibbled away by viscious little fish.

How do you know if you have insulin resistance if you're not diabetic? Sorry I am a bit clueless. Would be great to talk more. I'd love to make this stupid disease go away.

So happy for you xx

@theotherfossilsister yr welcome, there is a lot to learn/Take in, but if you want I'm more than happy for you to message me, I was doing diet coaching for autoimmune, not charging for it, just helping point people in the right direction, I have several autoimmune issues, including arthritis, random inflammation in various joints and the beginning of AS in my back, I've managed to reverse it all over about 4 years or so. there is a whole load of info out there, websites, books, Facebook groups etc, drop me a message (is that possible on here? ) and I can go thru it all for you x

That would be amazing, thank you, will pm xx