Due April/May after MC 🌈

[BellaBella38]

Hi everyone, I know this is might be a bit early to start a thread but after more than 2 1/2 years of trying the overwhelming excitement is real!

Me and my husband lost out first at 10 weeks back in December 2020 and to be honest had kind of given up. I only peed on a stick at 16DPO because a banana repulsed me to the point of spitting it out! Trying not to be too excited or paranoid, but we'll see how that goes. 🤣

I've ordered the Pregnancy after Loss book by Zoe Coates Clark in an attempt to keep my sanity, but the going to the loo fear of seeing blood is real. And I've booked an apt to talk to my GP on Thursday at 5+3 to talk about whether or not progesterone would be appropriate.

Thankfully my husband is level headed and reminds me not to get too ahead of myself yet, but it would be great to meet others in the same boat for a hand hold.

Mine is on Monday too. Early anomaly scan showed no abnormalities like what happened last time. I'm a bit closer to getting my wish of bringing my baby home now

Thinking of those who have scans today ❤️

I did something brave at the weekend and went baby shopping… I’m 23 weeks tomorrow and as exciting as shopping was I had moments of “what if?”. Will these feelings ever go? I’ve gone from worrying about miscarriage to wondering if I’ll have a stillbirth. My anxiety is a lot better I must admit as he kicks me a lot. I’ve told my Husband I do not want to get any bigger clothes than 0-3 months just in case

@Anoushka1986 @ArrrMeHearties good luck today! Mine is Thursday, midwife appt on wed.

@MRSDoos well done for shopping! I have a list longer than my arm for things to do and book and read post this scan, I hope I get to do them all.

Brave lady @MRSDoos . My little one has had a quiet day and I told lots of people at work today so feeling super anxious again. I don't know if these feelings ever go!

@MRSDoos I know what you mean, my brain has now switched to that too. I think I just won’t believe it until he’s safely here. I am improving and trying to be positive, being able to feel movements helps.

My scan went well today. Baby was wriggling like crazy and wouldn't sit at peace. Back in 8wks for the start of the growth scans. I now need to plan the wedding I was meant to be having in March this year that i postponed till next year but due to family circumstances needs to happen on the originally planned date. I have my dress and my partner has his kilt which is something

@ArrrMeHearties great news about your scan.

Do you automatically get later growth scans where you are? Good luck with the wedding planning.

Thank you ❤️ I'm getting growth scans as my now 7yo was 11lb when he was born. Ds2 had he made it would of been bigger so I'm estimating a big baby this time round. Dc3 was weighing 200g at 17+3 and today at 20+3 is 388g

Thanks @MO22 my scan went well too. Feeling very happy and relieved. I hope yours goes well too xx

Ugh. Some reassurance please, ladies?

So 20+2 today and I'm currently in Australia (where I'm from) for a few weeks. I have my 20 week scan booked as soon as I get back next week but will be slightly outside the optimal window as I'll be 21+2.

I've got a GP friend here who we met last night who was like, oh, do you want to get a scan while you're here? We can listen to the heartbeat and get you a referral for a scan this week so it's within the optimal window. (Normal process here in Aus instead of midwife organised.) Well, okay, sure, why not.

So we went to her clinic and she pulled out the doppler... And really struggled to find the heartbeat. She said the placenta was really noisy (could very clearly hear that!) and eventually after a nerve-wracking wait, did claim to find the heartbeat, but it was super low down and quite quiet.

Afterwards we went to go book a scan but it will still cost a little out of pocket and we decided since we get the free NHS one next week to just not bother and wait until I get back.

But in the meantime I've now been thoroughly un-reassured that everything is okay 😕. The heartbeat was super clear and distinctive at the 16 week appointment, which my midwife found almost immediately, wheras this time I am not entirely sure I heard what the GP was hearing so I have to take her word for it that it was sounding fine.

I haven't really felt much in the way of kicks or movement yet, in the last week I think I've been feeling something intermittently but it's hard to know whether it's just gut burbles/twitches (I'm still quite gassy) or baby. If I have an anterior placenta, which might make sense, would this not have been apparent at 12 or 16w? When are you normally told you have that?

Is it normal to still struggle to find the heartbeat at 20 weeks?

I'm just worried now that maybe all is not entirely well and I won't get answers from the scan for another week. Ugh.

@Sera123 poor thing, that sounds stressful. I think you should talk to your GP friend about getting some reassurance. I don't believe she would have lied about hearing the heart beat. Maybe try to have a listen another time on the Doppler?

@Sera123 I can understand why you are feeling anxious. I only found out I had an anterior placenta at 12 week scan because I asked them but the woman said they don’t usually mention anything until your 20 week scan. I have heard heartbeat on doppler at 16 weeks midwife appointment but she said at the time that before 24 weeks it can be hard to pick up so not to panic if she doesn’t get it first time or if she can’t hear it at all, especially as I mentioned my anterior placenta. I did feel kicks from 19 weeks but again midwife said don’t panic if you don’t feel much until 24 weeks.
I would speak to your GP if you are worried xx

@Sera123 that sounds do worrying and in all honesty, I'm not sure it was ethical for a GP to offer that, given they aren't professionals in that speciality? My midwives said they don't usually Doppler until 22wk. My placental position was only mentioned at 20wk scan and only cause I asked!

Quiet doesn't really matter - that's just how well or not well the sound is being muffled by your organs etc! And low down is also normal, uterus is still mostly in your pelvis ATM. Did the rate sound okay eg faster than an adults would be?

When I say sounds so worrying I mean that it would have really worried me in your position, not that I think it sounds like bad news.

I got told my placenta was fundal at my early anomaly scan at 17+3 but I'd been talking about placenta positioning so she showed me where mine was and explained fundal placenta as I didn't know what it meant. Turns out it's when the placenta is up at your fallopian tubes.

@Anoushka1986 I don't think she would have lied about it or anything, but it's just such a huge contrast to last time that it's freaked me out a bit! Maybe I just got really lucky with the baby's position last time and this is also normal/common.

@MRSDoos That's helpful to know it can be a lottery about hearing things before 24 weeks. I don't know if I have an anterior placenta - I didn't ask at 12w and they didn't say, and I doubt the GP today would be able to say for certain just from the Doppler even though she did describe it in a way that makes me think it may be - but if that is the case then maybe today makes a bit more sense.

@IWillBeWaxingAnOwl It is a bit different here, where your GP will normally be doing a bunch of the regular checkups etc during pregnancy, so I don't think it was unethical for her to offer. But I am trying to reassure myself by thinking she probably does the Doppler thing a lot less than a dedicated midwife does, so maybe not as proficient at quickly finding baby heartbeats.

It was just really hard to hear this time, so I (as a non-medically trained professional) struggled to pick out what she heard in amongst the normal internal bits! She did point out when she found it and said how it was much quicker than an adults/the "heartbeat" coming through the placenta, but yeah not something I could have confidently described myself.

@ArrrMeHearties Also useful to know you normally get placenta location info a bit later on, I haven't had a scan since 12w so haven't gone into it yet.

But thank you ladies for the support and reassurance, it has helped and I'm feeling a little calmer than before 💕

@Sera123 I think it would have just been due to the positioning. I remember in my first pregnancy the midwife taking a long time to find my sons heartbeat. I was really far along by this stage and baby was fine. I don't think it's a sign of it being weaker, probably more to do with where baby is lying.

Having a bit of mum guilt
Just eaten 2 decent size cupcakes full of icing and baby is kicking me like mad. Also drinking and orange juice
Feeling bad for eating this much sugar and hope he’ll be OK

@ArrrMeHearties oh wow, that makes sense. Hope the scans go well, at least they are keeping a closer eye on you and the baby.

@Sera123 they didn’t tell me anything at the 12 week scan about placenta location. I clearly heard the heartbeat at 16weeks by Doppler. Then at the 20week scan the sonographer explained it was anterior and covering the cervix. That’s the first time they mentioned the location to me.

Just checking in to see how everyone is doing?

Hello! Found out we are having a boy 💙 and everything ok with him on the scan! My placenta is partially covering birth canal so I've got have an extra scan at 32 weeks and hope that it's moved by then. Apparently it's common for it to move, Google is terrifying so I've just stepped away from it and trying assume everything will be ok.

We also booked bump & baby after the scan (was a better location for us than NCT) and will be telling work officially tomorrow. Feeling quite real!

The little lad has been quite active today which has been welcome.

How is everyone else? X

Hi @MRSDoos 👋 @MO22 glad to hear all well and that you are expecting a wee boy. Lots of people on the may 2023 Facebook group and also two I know irl will have a repeat scan to check placenta has moved.

I'm okay! Movements help a whole lot with anxiety I think. Have told work, bought a few bits and pieces - looking at prams today!

@MO22 Congratulations on finding out you are having a little boy 💙

@IWillBeWaxingAnOwl Yes movements do help a lot with anxiety, glad you have brought some bits

Can I ask when everyone is taking maternity leave? I’m thinking of 36 weeks and taking 2 weeks as annual leave (so technically starting mat leave at 38 weeks) This is my first child so feel a bit unsure as to when most people usually go off. Half tempted to go at 30 weeks to be honest 😂😂

@MRSDoos I am planning to be off from 38wks 🤗. Pram shopping is OVERWHELMING y'all. Too many options

Hey everyone, all fine here, feeling very anxious generally but not about Grogu who has been a real trooper with wriggling around whenever I get worried about them. 💓

Prams are a NIGHTMARE. We're in London so confining ourselves to the more compact pram options and still can't figure it out - whether we want a bassinet they can sleep in, whether we want a travel system (and if so the pram we like best won't take the car seat we like best 😭), whether we want parent or world facing options, how to future-proof for as long as possible without having to buy another pram, etc etc. We're also going to be taking Grogu to France in Sept and Australia in Oct so that adds another layer of complexity because we have to decide whether to plan for a pram we can take with us...

I'm probably going to go off from 37ish weeks, but with a week or two of A/L so starting mat leave a bit later, presuming Gorgu doesn't turn up early. But work has been so stressful I've been increasingly contemplating just going as early as I can and leaving someone else to sort it all out. 😂😭