IVFers Due Mar & Apr 2023

[EasterBunny7]

Hello! Welcome to all who got their BFP after going through fertility treatment. Join here for a shared understanding of the struggles faced by some women to get pregnant. Due date: March 2023!
[Title edited by MNHQ at poster's request]

Hi ladies thank you all for your well wishes for my 20 week scan 🤗 as predicted baby was not playing ball!! Little one even stuck it’s bottom towards the sonographer as if to say have some of that!! 😂😂 luckily they managed to get all measurements except 1 so will have to go back in a week or two to try again. Everything all looks normal except baby has an abdominal circumference over the 90th centile which apparently can indicate gestational diabetes so will need a test for that soon too. I am praying I just have a tubby baba as giving up sweet treats over Xmas will be a nightmare 😩 but of-course I will do whatever it takes to keep me and baby safe and healthy.

I also found the scan sooooo painful 🙈 I even have bruises on my side where they were digging the probe in to try get the right angles. The detail was incredible though it really is amazing what our bodies are doing!!

I know a few of you were asking about movements @NymphaeaX @ChristmasJumpers @KLC1 sorry if I have left anyone out! So I also have an anterior placenta and I first felt movements from week 17 but it was very sporadic and I wasn’t really sure what it was! Fast forward to 20 weeks and I was feeling baby move regularly especially when I was sat down relaxing or in bed. I’m now 21+5 and baby always appears active especially at night after dinner, so last night baby was moving/kicking from about 8pm to midnight as I couldn’t sleep due to the movement!! Sometimes it also makes me jump with the force of it!! DH felt baby from the outside twice last night too!! He first felt a kick when I was 20+5 but I’d say 90% of the movements are not that strong to be felt from the outside yet. I hope this helps others as I know I’m a few weeks ahead of most ppl but remember everyone is totally different and my midwife told me first movements can vary from 16-24 weeks!!

@NymphaeaX hope your scan also went well yesterday 🤞🏼

also thought I’d just pop a little pic from yesterday on too! I can’t believe how in love I am already with the little human and I know I am totally biased but how cute is babas little nose and lips 😍😍

@EmzieMurf1987 what an amazing scan! Cute little button nose 🥰 How long did the scan take? I found my 12 week one slightly painful, especially as I already have bruises from injections. Was it a full bladder scan again?
So even with an anterior placenta you felt movements from 17 weeks? That's great! And so nice that hubby can feel it too now! Thanks so much for the info...when you first felt movement what did it feel like to you? I literally can't wait to get to the point of feeling something! Have a private 16 week scan next Saturday and I'm desperate to get there to know things are okay!

@KLC1 some places do discounts for multiple bookings for your private scans...also I have noticed (and missed out on!) some offers of reduced prices for cancellation scan appointments available. May just be worth keeping you eye out, I see a few on social media so could be worth following a few scan places just in case.

@NymphaeaX hope your scan went well 🥰

@thatismahogany hope you found a dress to cover the bloat/bump! I find that by the evening I'm huge and it seems to come from nowhere! Have been mainly in floaty dresses!

@ChristmasJumpers did you have a lot of sickness? I hear a little old wives take about lack of sickness being a boy...I've had zero sickness and very little nausea if any! And bizarrely I think it's a boy but everyone else thinks it's a girl!

@Gracie2021 good luck for your 16 week scan! Is that a private one? So exciting you'll find out the gender! Do you have an inkling? We have ours booked next Saturday but hubby wants to wait until the birth to find out, so I have a long slog ahead of me! We have a consultant appointment the day before that at 16 weeks. Really hoping they'll say I can stop the fragmin injections as they are quite painful!

Hope everyone is having a restful weekend!

@Coops0406 I had a lot of nausea, all day every day from 6-16 weeks! Actual sickness only once every other day and having a girl

@ChristmasJumpers wow!! How are you feeling now? Indigestion replacing the nausea?

@Coops0406 aw thank you 😘 it took nearly an hour in total!! But I had to get up and go for a walk and empty bladder etc to try get baby in a good position. Also had my whooping cough vaccine which took another 15 mins. So expect to be there a while!! No need for a full bladder thank god!! I think I would have wet myself otherwise 😂😂

oh bless you and your poor tummy!! I hope yours isn’t as bad as mine was 🤞🏼Oh best of luck for next week!! I was so ready for a scan at 16 weeks you will be surprised how much growth there has been!!

movements wise I do feel very lucky to have had something so early on especially with the position of the placenta! At first it was like a tap or flick coming from the inside which has gradually gotten stronger and ALOT more frequent as the weeks have gone by. Can also feel rolling/turning movements which I can only describe as feeling like someone is pushing/rolling a tennis ball from the inside of my tummy, it’s a very strange and sometimes uncomfortable feeling - I’m like come on baby roll over 😂😂

@Coops0406 yep pretty much, although they dod overlap for a while so I'm much better now its just indigestion 😂 Gaviscon is my best friend

@EmzieMurf1987 so cute, gorgeous little button nose. Sounds like a painful process though!!

@coops0407 good luck at your 16 week scan, mine was so magical. They're lovely at private ones 🥰

@EmzieMurf1987 what cute scan photos. So glad it went well and fingers crossed you're just having a well rounded little bub and the GD test comes back ok. Think you said your partner wasn't able to be with you for it? Hope you got loads of photos. Love the head profile in the one you posted. If you feel like driving yourself demented guessing you could look up skull theory gender prediction 😂👍👍 Defo finding out gender at ours. Really hoping baby plays ball and the doctor can see it clearly enough. Dying to know. Zero chill!

@NymphaeaX really hoping all went well for you yesterday!! No movement at all here yet but not even 16 weeks so no surprise there. Think I'm one of the later ones in this group. The comfort with a soft bra to bed btw. Highly recommend. No fear of unwieldy boobs being trapped!

Great that ye could get the gender at the 16 week scan @thatismahogany. I'd love to keep it secret but don't think I'd be able to. Great at keeping friends secrets but crap at keeping my own so we'll see. Good luck hiding the bump and hope you found a nice outfit for the wedding. Antibiotics are always a good excuse for me for not drinking and if you really want to dress up the story you could blame the "bloat" on steroids for good measure 😂

@ChristmasJumpers @KLC1 I think I've seen people online with anterior placentas saying 20-24 weeks for movements at a tough estimate.

Great that you have a scan next week @Coops0406. So hard to wait to see them. We paid to go private here in Ireland so get a scan with our OB every month. So Tuesday's is our 16 week scan. Cannot wait as I've been on four flights, really active and am currently dosing myself up to get through the flu. Logically know everything will be fine and none of that should affect the baby but still can't wait to see him moving and get some reassurance. I'm like you and think it's a bit here, not that sick, very chilled and great skin which apparently all indicates that way. All going well will report back after Tuesday. You have a wait ahead of you to find out. Maybe your other half will get impatient and change their mind.

Thanks @EmzieMurf1987 @Gracie2021 and @Coops0406 for your well wishes! And anyone else I've forgotten 😊

Scan went well! And we found out it's a little boy! 💙 Although even though I'd prepared myself and DH for a lengthy examination, both of us were surprised by just how long it took. We had a trainee sonographer for most of the scan - he took the pictures and measurements while the senior guy looked on. Felt like about 15 minutes alone spent staring at the heart. I think I crushed poor DH's hand to dust with my anxiety. When the trainee said he was done, the senior guy said he wanted to have a look and check a couple of things himself. Cue me dying inside all over again. More time looking at the heart but no comments, and he eventually said baby wasn't in a good position to look at the skin covering the spine, so could I go and have a sit outside while he saw the next woman. This wasn't unexpected, but the stress levels were through the roof, even though he said everything was looking fine.

So out in the waiting room I employed my favourite tactic to get baby moving - sugar! A bottle of sprite later, I went back in and the sonographer seemed to have remembered some bedside manner and reassured me everything was looking good, and the spine was the only thing they wanted to double check. I allowed myself a little smugness to see baby had turned onto his side. Spine and skin all checked out, and we were free to go. The whole thing took 1hr 15 mins.

Many mixed emotions after the scan. Exhaustion after the anxiety, relief that everything is looking good. Small amount of gender disappointment because I genuinely hadn't thought about which I'd prefer, until I realised I know absolutely nothing about boys (hubby and I are both only children from small nuclear families), and had inevitably projected my own golden childhood. But then to top it off, I tested positive for Covid over the weekend - my first time! AND I have a backlog of work - self employed so there's no getting around the deadlines!

All in all I'm a snotty, coughy, emotional mess! Poor DH doesn't quite know what to do with me, though he's being very suportive with biscuits.

Morning all, sorry I’ve been rather quiet lately, I’ve been trying to follow along with all your journeys still.
@EmzieMurf1987 beautiful scan pic, such a cutie 💕
@NymphaeaX sorry you had such an anxious time at your scan. Sounds like they thoroughly checked you over though which is great to hear they didn’t just rush you through. And congrats on knowing you have a little boy 💙 had you guessed the sex before hand? How are you doing on the Covid front? I’ve got a cough & cold atm and I’m feeling pretty run down so you must be feeling rotten, hope you’re able to rest up and leave work for a couple of days (easier said than done I know).

hows everyone else getting on?
im currently 18-weeks and can’t feel anything and my bump doesn’t seem to be growing ☹️ It’s causing so much anxiety. Is anyone else struggling with this? I get myself so worked up thinking I’ve had a missed miscarriage almost on a weekly basis. We’ve had 3extra private scans already and thinking to book one for this week as well - any other suggestions? X

Hi all, I've also been super quiet here but I'm following all your news. Lovely to hear the good progress! 💜

@Agapanthus13 I just want to say.. I felt exactly the same as you around week 18! I felt super anxious as my bump didn't seem to be growing at all and I was wondering if my baby was still ok.. but fast forward I'm now 20+4 and the last few days I've definitely noticed growth! I've started to look visibly more pregnant so please try not to worry I'm sure you're ok and it will happen! I found myself googling pictures of bumps and obsessing over the size compared to mine but it's not healthy as everyone is different. ♥️

I had my 20 week scan today and baby boy is a week ahead in growth - wondering if he's going to be really big as me and my partner are quite tall! Time will tell. Had another blood test (which I absolutely hate!) and go back in 6 weeks for the diabetes test. I think I've felt a bit of movement now but can't really say if it's definitely that or not.. waiting for kicks to get stronger in the next weeks!🤞

Sending love to all xox

@flowersinmay congrats on your scan today, bet it was lovely to see your little boy again 💙 Gosh, amazing to be measuring a week ahead! Did they change your due date or keep it as is? Mines been changed based on my last scan but most hospitals don’t seem to do that.

thank you so much for your reassurance. I think it’s the fear of having now told everyone too. can’t wait to have a proper bump - mine still looks quite flat in the mornings, and to feel baby moving 💕 🙈 Have tried having sugary sweets too and shaking my belly to get poor bambino to move, … bet it’s wonderful to finally look in the mirror and feel pregnant xxx

@NymphaeaX so glad your scan went well and congrats on your little boy. Makes me wonder as the old wives tales had you having a girl and me a boy so I'll have to adjust expectations 😂 completely understand any gender disappointment. Tbh that's a large part of why I want to find out our gender to have time to digest it and get excited anticipating whichever it is. Would hate to be caught off guard in the hospital when the baby is there if I got it in my head that we were having one of the other. So sorry you caught Covid, hope you're not doing too badly. Have a rotten flu here and feel bad enough even without it being Covid so can't imagine how rotten that is.

Sorry to hear you're down with the flu @Agapanthus13. Same here and all vaccination apps had to be postponed. Makes it worse when we can't medicate properly doesn't it. I'm overdosing on a homemade lemon and honey drink here. Sorry your struggling with the bump. Hopefully you're not too far from feeling movement and that might help. A lot of days here none of it feels real so hoping movement is a nice reassured once it comes. Have seen people say that their bump/weight gain/changes stalled a bit up to the 20 week mark if that helps at all. Here for the vents any time you need it anyway.

Congrats on your overachiever @flowersinmay sounds like he's taking after his parents for sure. I'm a bit worried about size as I'm fairly standard but we have 6'5" people on both sides of the family. Delighted you're starting to feel movement too. So exciting.

Had our 16 week scan yesterday and all well thankfully. Got some nice creepy front-on baby alien Halloween pics too 😂😂 baby wouldn't cooperate so gender remains a mystery til our twenty week anatomy scan. Current choked up with a proper flu so having to postpone all my vaccine apps which i had lined up for the next couple weeks. Thankfully think I'm over the worst of it. Isolated for so long through Covid and then because of IVF treatments that I've only had one proper bug since Covid hit so this has been a nasty reminder of what a bad patient I am 😂🙈 hope everyone is doing well!

@Gracie2021 @Coops0406 not sure how well I covered up but nobody was tactless enough to point it out, or pass comment when I declined the free wine!

We had our 20 week scan and all is well with baby girl, so I wish we'd told them all now. Not sure when we'll all next be together. We just need a repeat scan around 30 weeks because my placenta is low, no extra scans for fibroid though as it's under 6cm.

@NymphaeaX I think they always take a while looking at the heart. The sonographer had been talking us through everything then suddenly fell silent looking at the heart, for the longest time 😬I really thought to myself she'd found a problem but all fine. Sorry to hear their bedside manner was a bit lacking though!

@Agapanthus13 my bump seems smaller but I know it's because I was SO bloated before. I have an anterior placenta so movements are quite faint and were mostly very low down on the left prior to the scan. Now, JUST as the sonographer said that's normal because of my placenta I think I feel movements only in the centre today! Which feel different and have made me worry I'm imagining them, and actually all "real" movements which were on the left have stopped, if that makes sense! I'm sure you'll feel movements soon

@flowersinmay our baby was measuring the high side of normal, so think she may be tall like us too! 😊

@Gracie2021 glad your scan went well!

Sorry to hear a few of you are feeling unwell and hope you feel better soon. I guess it's that season. I'm shocked I didn't catch a cold at least, at the wedding

How you doing @Gracie2021 have you managed to see your flu bug off yet? The bugs going around this year do seem particularly bad! Congrats on your 16week scan and sorry you didn’t get to find out the gender. What are you guys guessing?

@thatismahogany its such a mind field searching for movement feelings! Congrats on your 20weeks scan, what a wonderful milestone to meet. Is that when you found out you had a low placenta? I was told mine was low at 12weeks but that 9out of 10 move up by 20?! I read you ‘can’ still feel movement through the front but that it’s usually more subtle- perhaps baby girl is determined to prove them wrong ☺️

is anyone else finding their tummy hurts / aches when they walk or stand for longer periods of time? Im assuming it’s normal - There’s so much about pregnancy that I’d never heard of, I keep thinking how oblivious/ uneducated I was/am about what’s involved. Perhaps that sounds silly!

hows everyone else doing? it’s 3.30am and I can’t sleep 😵‍💫

@Agapanthus13 if I remember correctly the sonographer couldn't get a clear view of my placenta at the 12 week scan which freaked me out because I was stopping the support meds, and was worried it hadn't developed properly! Then at 16 week private the sonographer could see it and said it was anterior and may be a bit low, which was confirmed at the 20 week scan. I think a lot move up by week 32 scan, fingers crossed.

And my lower abdo was a bit sore the other day when we were walking around for ages so I think a bit of discomfort is normal, since everything is stretching out. Did you end up booking another private scan? And I hope you got to sleep in the end!

@Gracie2021 @NymphaeaX @flowersinmay @thatismahogany so glad to hear your scans went well.
Gutted you couldn't get the gender @Gracie2021 but hopefully next time. Oh my gosh, those 3D/4D scans are scary looking! Especially whilst they are trying to get focus!

@NymphaeaX thanks for letting us know about the 20 week scan...I'll definitely be prepared for it now. Also, just you need a full bladder for it??

@flowersinmay are they monitoring the growth from your 20 week scan? Do you have more booked in with the nhs?

@Agapanthus13 my due date changed after my 12 week scan, but from what I hear, most ivf due dates are fixed so I have no idea whether it's right that they change them or not.

@thatismahogany ahh, great your scan was good but I suppose also a wedding isn't where you'd want to announce it either. But a good excuse to get you all together again!

I hope everyone else is doing well!

We went for a 16 week consultant appointment on Thursday...not sure why as he only spent 2 mins with me, asked why I was on blood thinning injections (that they put me back on), asked what my ivf clinic said (that after 12 weeks it's all up to antenatal!) then asked the midwife to calculate my risk then said come off them! All a bit weird! But at least my tummy gets a break for the next 12 weeks as restart them again at 28 weeks.
Thankfully before that the midwife asked if I wanted her to try and find baby's heartbeat with with Doppler machine so I could hear it, she said she may not be able to find it but then she did...she even told me to get my phone out and record it! It was so amazing that I don't think I cared what the consultant said after that!

Then yesterday went for a private 3D/4D scan and that was great to see...only baby wasn't playing ball and had arm covering face the whole time no matter what we did! So after 15 mins the lady kindly offered for me to come back next Saturday for free and she'll try again! And she'll put the pics from both weeks on a USB stick rather than just next week's which is so nice. Told me to have a cold, fizzy drink before and/or some haribo to get baby into moving 🤣 so I've now got something to look forward to next week!

Hey everyone! I have been so rubbish about messaging on here and checking in the last few weeks! Tried to read and catch up as much as I could and so pleased to see that everyone is doing great! And some of you have found out the gender! 🥰

Im not finding out what we are having, my thoughts are a boy though! So we shall see come April 😂 Im now 18+2 and have been feeling baby move for a couple weeks now but Id say definitely in the last week but only every so often! But still so exciting!

I totally get the anxious feeling, at my 16 week appointment I cried because I felt I couldnt feel baby and scan was what felt like ages ago! Got to listen to the heart beat which was amazing and so reassuring! The movements give huge amounts of reassurance as well! So just want them to continue to get stronger and ill be all good!

Hi @JessLaw96 lovely to hear your updates. What’s making you think you’re having a boy? We had convinced ourself we were having a girl but then today had our 20weeks scan and both now think a boy 🤣 So weird that the midwife now knows the gender and we don’t, made us very tempted to ask! must be so wonderful to be able to feel baby move around! Can you feel from the outside yet? I’m pretty sure I have been able to feel movement the past day which I’m totally loving, just started all of a sudden.

@thatismahogany how are you getting on? Have you had another chance to tell everyone your news yet? I had my scan today and they confirmed my low placenta is still low, she said it’s covering my cervix so to be extremely careful with intercourse. I didn’t question it at the time but now wondering how you’re ‘careful’ 🙈 I think it’s been enough to put us both off. As you said, hopefully it will move up for us both by the next scan. Have you felt much movement the past few weeks?

hope everyone else is getting on ok? Xx

Also what was the outcome on the pillow situation? I’m finally giving in a buying one- any recommendations to buy / avoid? thanks 🙏

I'd be interested to hear people's opinions on pillows, I'm waking up with a really stiff back now so need to try something (normal pillow between my legs is not working out!)
I finally felt a couple of kicks over the weekend but nothing since. I have an anterior placenta so it's to be expected but now I've felt her I just want to keep feeling her little movements

@Agapanthus13 @ChristmasJumpers I don’t recommend the pharmadoc one deffo not worth the money! Another lady on here also did not like that pillow either so avoid if you can!

I have a regular 6ft pillow that I’m finding works quite well as it supports my bump and also goes through my legs so helps with hip/back pain.

lovely to see everyone getting on so well 🎉🎉 I had a few rough weeks with covid then being admitted with a suspected PE and also a stint on the maternity ward as my fibroid degenerated and needed morphine for the pain, hence the lack of posting!

Finally feeling a lot better and celebrating viability week!! 🎉🎉 24+3 today and with each passing day it’s becoming a more real possibility that I will have a baby in my arms at the end of all this! And The fact little one is constantly reminding me they r there with super strong movements/kicks that make my tummy move from the outside it’s just amazing to see and experience. I am completely in love 💕

@Agapanthus13 not too bad thank you, latest here is I was told I do actually need a 28W scan for my fibroid as it is only slightly under the threshold for a scan (as well as a 32W scan for low placenta). But, speaking to my midwife today apparently guidelines very recently changed to say it's actually now 32 weeks! 😂Anyway, it's great that you're starting to feel movement, it's weird but wonderful! I assumed I wouldn't because of the anterior placenta. But I average 10 kicks (or clusters of kicking) a day, she's ramped up now since the 20W scan. We haven't been given any guidance about being "careful" but I think mine is not covering the cervix. We're too scared anyway, so yes fingers crossed our placentas get a move on and get out of the way lol. And we have arranged meet ups with our friends to share the news 😊do you have people left to tell or is it all out in the open now?

@ChristmasJumpers Re pillows I tried to just use a V shaped pillow as it seems to be a similar shape to maternity pillows and my knees hurt (I'm cheap I know!) But I couldn't get on with turning side to side, so would like to know is there a trick to it?? Or are maternity pillows more flexible so you don't end up lifting the whole duvet up with each turn 😬I felt little random kicks for maybe... a couple of weeks before they became more regular? So I'm sure you'll be feeling more soon

@EmzieMurf1987 I'm so sorry to hear you've been unwell. Fibroid degeneration is PAINFUL, glad you're on the mend now though and happy viability week to you!

@PMAmostofthetime @lksf this is the other chat group, you might find there are others here you know from ivf chat.

@Agapanthus13 thank you 🥰