Pregnant at 42 - IVF - Two embryos transferred

[Penopoly35]

Hi all. my DH and I have just found out we are pregnant following a 5dt of two fresh embryos. I had some mild OHSS that had abated by transfer although there was still some fluid showing when they did our transfer but they did it anyway. I am 42, nearly 43, and this is our second round of IVF. We were lucky enough to have 5 blastocysts with two that were the highest grading you can get. Both were implanted because of my age. A week after transfer I was on my knees with OHSS. 10 days on and after daily blood thinning injections and other medication my OHSS is calming down. However, I am now panicking about pretty much everything: OHSS and the increased risk of pre-eclampsia; my age and the risk of chromosomal deformity; the increased risk of having twins; the risk of miscarriage; the impact of my BMI (it is high at the moment) absolutely everything. The clinic who undertook our IVF seem more concerned about the fact they did a fresh transfer, and of two embryos, when I was showing fluid from OHSS. I have my scan on 13 April. Today, my weight dropped by 2 kilos and my OHSS seems much better which is now making me worry about a missed miscarriage that is being concealed by the progesterone I am on. I am a very pragmatic person normally and it is not as if we didn’t go over all of these issues before we began IVF again and before transfer. I am worried I am going to spend this pregnancy terrified. Can anyone share their experiences of a multiple pregnancy at my age?

I can't share any advice about multiple pregnancies but I did have a panic filled IVF pregnancy with bleeds during the first trimester. It was an absolute anxietyfest for me. I do now have a healthy and very happy 1 year old.

I can't promise you everything will be ok but try to just take every day at a time and try not to second guess every little thing that happeneds, so much of this is outside of our control. Look after yourself, eat as well as you can and I have everything crossed for you.

I didn't have a multiple pregnancy, but I have just recently had my second baby via fertility treatment at age 41.

Can you make an appt to see your GP to discuss your anxiety levels? My first ivf pregnancy was an anxiety ridden nightmare. By the time I was pregnant again (FET), I was on sertraline and although I wouldn't say I enjoyed the pregnancy, it was much, much calmer than the first.

I'm 41, I had 2 embryos transferred, like you both top quality blasts, I was convinced I was having twins as my tests were very dark very early but only 1 stuck and I'm 20 weeks pregnant with one baby.

I had a missed miscarriage with my first transfer. A couple of days after I stopped the progesterone the bleeding started. I was getting really bad cramps before that.

As you can imagine I've been a complete nervous wreck this pregnancy. It didn't help that the day before my 20 week scan I got very similar cramps to when I miscarried. Everything is fine and I've finally started to relax.

The midwife did offer to refer me to the mental health team for my anxiety but the only thing that helps is seeing my baby and knowing he's ok! So if you can afford private scans doing one in between NHS scans could help.

@Pinktruffle thank you for the reassurance. It goes against everything you expect when pregnancy consists of constant anxiety as opposed to being permanently on top of the world.

@RefuseTheLies I have just had a call with my GP who was awesome. I know I have to take one day at a time - I guess the hormones are not helping either.

@Cakecakecheese - thanks for sharing your story. I am worried that the progesterone is masking a missed miscarriage. Did you notice anything other than the cramping? Did other indications such as painful boobs disappear? I have no indications of pregnancy other than OHSS and positive tests. I will take your advice about the scans.

I would be grateful for all your thoughts on chromosomal tests. I am aware of the options available but did you, like many women over 40, get told they were high risk but a NIPT gave a low risk assessment?

@Penopoly35 I had sore boobs and a bit of nausea so it didn't really occur to me that anything was wrong until the bleeding really. This time when I stopped the progesterone and there was no bleeding I was so relieved.

Hi op, I'm 42 and pregnant with twins conceived naturally so not had your IVF experience but have had previous losses and an extremely anxious pregnancy. I'm 25 weeks now. I'm also considered a very high risk pregnancy due to age, bmi and twins. It's been a real roller coaster for me. I've had HG since I was 5 weeks pregnant and still very sick and not eating much, which isn't helping.

I have to say the care I've had had been excellent, loads of input, consultant led care straight away. Scans every 2/3 weeks with consultant etc.

My initial blood tests came back high risk for downs for both twins, so I had the NIPT test which came back low risk for the pregnancy. Unfortunately there are some concerns over both my twins picked up at the last scan so I'm now being seen by fetal medicine, was referred straight away and they are keeping an eye on growth etc.

I ended up back on setraline after talking to the doctor and midwife as I was so anxious and decided it was overall better for me to take it to try to calm my anxiety as I was and still am struggling badly with the uncertainly of the pregnancy and my fears about what could happen.

I don't want to make your anxiety worse so just wanted to give you an outline Of my experiences so far as there are some similarities and it might help. I think take as much support and help as you can and don't be afraid to talk about your fears to the health professionals for their advice. Happy to chat further if you want.

Hi OP. My circumstances are very similar to yours. I am 43 and 20 weeks pregnant with a singleton. This was our 4th IVF fresh cycle and 8th transfer. I have a 4 year old from our 2nd cycle followed by 2 chemicals. We had this one last shot thinking it'll never work. Touch wood all has been going well so far apart from nausea but i'll take it as long as baby is growing healthy. I had on off spotting in 1st trimester so 7 week scan and 12 week scan were a bit stresful. I had NIPT test done on week 10. Once the results came back low risk i relieved a bit. Now that 20 week scan.passed and i can feel the baby i relieved a bit more. I still don't feel out of the woods yet though. It is a very stresful affair in our age and with our experience. With all milestones passed you will relax a bit though. I was very stressed out on my first pregnancy . It was following a miscarriage. Only near the end i started thinking we might actually bring home a baby . Hang in there. 1 day at a time. I hope everything goes well for you xx

Also we transferred 2 and only 1 took. If you didn't have hour 7 week scan yet i wouldn't worry about twins at this point x

@VWGolfmk2 Thanks for sharing your experience. It is helpful to hear your experience. Believe me, you have not added to my anxiety but actually helped it because it enables me to manage my expectations. My OHSS has calmed right down and I feel almost normal today. I am due to have my 7 week scan on 13 April. I know this sounds silly but I am still pregnancy testing weekly as other than the OHSS I am not experiencing any symptoms normally indicative of pregnancy save for sudden aversion to some foods and smells. Please let me know how your twins get on. I hope everything goes well for you.

@Lynsey5 Thank you too for sharing your journey. As I have said above to @VWGolfmk2 we have our scan in ten days so we will know if it is one or two. I am a bit less stressed about everything - I think a lot of that is to do with the OHSS calming down so I am not being triggered by feeling so ill and worrying that it will have a negative impact on the pregnancy. Thanks for the info about NIPT. I am keeping everything crossed we will be ok when we get to that stage.

@Lynsey5 hoping everything keeps going well for you x

Congratulations!! Sending you positive energy and keeping everything crossed for you