Ivf pregnancy - first trimester

[gulph]

Hi lovely's

Starting a new thread for those that have gone through ivf and are in the early stages as appreciate we have different anxieties maybe to other groups.

I'm Gayle, I had a fresh transfer on Monday the 13th March and I am currently 5 weeks 4 days pregnant. First test showed 1-2 weeks, last weeks test showed 2-3 and next test due on Wednesday (clinic have recommended a test a week until early scan) early scan is on the 14th April.

My husband and I have been trying for a baby for nearly 10 years. We fell pregnant naturally 6 years ago, however after some bleeding at 8 weeks, i went for an early scan and was only dating between 5 and 6 weeks so had to go back in a further 2 weeks to check if any development and the night before, I had a miscarriage. We haven't fallen since and following some tests, it was put down to make factor infertility and ICSI and was recommended however we could not proceed (privately) with my bmi so I started the hard work to lose 5 stone in May last year and hit my target in January 2023 to start our treatment.

I feel like there have been lots of barriers in our way so far. Nhs said no, due to my weight it was a no, due to the financials it was a no so to have anything with a yes now without having a massive battle, feels strange and like it's not quite true!

Symptoms so far - sore boobs, cramping, so hungry, feeling little bits of nausea but not sure if it is my mind or it is real

Feel free to tell me about your battle and how you are feeling

@Banbi @greentreeseverywhere

@CR7 hun buy it now it will help you at night to support your back and under ur tummy and also in between your knees if you can. Apparently that aligns your ligaments up so it relieves pressure. Why wait longer might as well enjoy it from now! It's also good when nursing the baby when it comes so double use :)

Midwife says its all natural these pains so try not to worry although I get how it's stressful with such long gaps between scans.

@Vallef you're right. I am so scared to buy anything! I said I would wait til 28 weeks if I could.

What we are doing next week though, which is very exciting, is going to see a nursery school near us. It's really hard to get a place so they advise going early to see if you like it and then putting your child's name down. It's a forest school so very outdoorsy (which I'm very not!) so the baby will get the best of both worlds xx

@CR7 I totally get it am being totally stubborn I said am not buying a single thing til am 28 weeks. However the justification il make to help you is that the pillow is for you to sleep well.your full 8 hours which will make your little peanut happpppy so don't think of it as a baby gift but as a mummy much needed gift :) gosh that's exciting I didn't even think about nurseries!! So much to think about it but whilst am still in Greece it feels there's still time if that makes sense? Where as from home you have to consider everything!

We are visiting our nursery this week as well. They are currently full until September 2024 so we need to get our name down now to get in and get the free 15 hours. I hadn't even thought about it until a friend mentioned a 12 month waitlist for most nurseries 😱 we had to fill in a questionnaire like 'child's name' 'DOB' 'nutritional needs' etc and we were like urmmmm we don't even know if it's a girl or boy let alone whether they will be allergic to nuts 😂😂

Also, totally get why you ladies are waiting but I've got most things now and it's so nice to see everything come together. Picked up a nursing chair from marketplace this afternoon 🥰

@gulph

Yes!!!! They wanted to know how many days etc and from when. I have zero idea when I'll go back to work. I'm planning on taking the full year but I also have eleven weeks of holiday between this year and next year. My friend said nice to get the baby into nursery a little bit regardless of whether I'm working or not at the time so that I get some time to myself and the baby starts to get used to going to nursery

@Vallef totally understand it's very different when you're away. When are you planning on travelling home?

I'm sleeping fine aside from needing to go to the loo multiple times so I'm still holding off a little until I start to get uncomfortable x

@AlisonDanuta anuta I'm consultant led but not for IVF related reasons. Think every trust does it differently but in mine IVF isn't a factor on its own.

@Vallef ef DD is 2.5 and never stops, so relaxing is a rarity! I'm probably worrying about nothing, but the original appt was under a named specialist and specifically said it was a growth scan, whereas the new appt just says obstetric clinic. I guess I'll find out on Fri!

@gulph @CR7 we've signed baby up to the same nursery and days as DD which makes things a lot easier! When we registered DD we weren't quite sure of days etc, but they said Fri and Mon usually quieter, so to book in the busier days in the middle of the week as would be easier to swap to a less busy day when it came to it than vice versa. I have a Wed off which I find breaks up the week well for us both.

We are fortunate that we don't need to buy much of the big stuff as kept it all from DD. I do need to sort her clothes though, and again fortunate that we have some friends we are going to swap our girls stuff for their boys stuff (not that we went particularly pink and girly with DDs clothes, they just get so gendered so early on). We are also rearranging some rooms and storage, so sent DH up into the loft today...def more came down than went up, we are in that horrible stage of being surrounded by chaos before I can spent some time restoring order 🫣

@Stopthatnoisemummy I know we still have our spare room made up as a double room and have just shoved baby stuff all round and on top of the bed 😂 we need to put the bed on marketplace but that seems such a big step even after buying all the baby stuff, to have it actually made up as a nursery is a bit scary isn't it?!

@CR7 me 2!!! Its so annoying because I find it takes me ages before I can get back to sleep again and it feels by the time I do I wake up again to go again. Horrible hamster wheel and apparently it gets worse the more weeks pass so that's sumthing to look forward to! My oncologist is triying to get me referred to UCLH so I can be under her supervision as well if needed and aparently I can self refer until 32 weeks but if I do from now I just note the date am back so that's a relief. Planing on coming back on 30th September gona drive back so midwife said I can only spend maximum 4 hours in the car a day so will just take a week out and enjoy it and stay maybe in Italy and a few other countries on the way so should be back at very latest by 28 weeks! Won't give me alot of time to sort my self out as my darling sister has not kept any of her kids stuff she's a firm believer in as soon as something ain't in use get rid so we have to start from scratch! Am thinking because out spare room has a brand bed which we will need to sell, seeing as the babies will be in our room maybe there's no rush for a nursary that's my logical side talking but my sentimental side says that's part of the fun preping a nursery and we have had such few instances of joy between the stress so there's that. Starting to worry about nursaries so so share ur wisdom when you view the nursary @gulph and @Stopthatnoisemummy. Hope ur appetite. Goes well I have a scan as well on Friday so gd luck to us that all is great :)

@CR7 I am also finding at night time or morning I need help getting out of bed not sure why I feel extra pressure whereas during the day it feels OK. Do you experience that at all? X

@Vallef I don't but I haven't got two babies growing inside me 🤣🤣🤣

I wouldn't worry about the nursery too much, considering. You will need some sort of a station to change / a lovely chair to feed / somewhere to keep the clothes and nappies etc etc but I don't think you should worry too much about the nursery itself. The babies will sleep with you for about six months I reckon, from reading posts on here.

my scan is Thursday 24th. Seems ages away and I'll be past 20 weeks by then but my husband wants to be there understandably and it's his first day off that week.

Will let you know how I get on with the nursery xx

@BrownXeyes I didn't know either that placenta could move. I was gutted on my 17 week scan when they've said i won't feel baby much till later.
I was super glad to find out my placenta has moved to the back. Feel connected to my baby... but it's a weird feeling- every time I'm shocked I'm growing a baby 😅

@CR7 pain is like a stabbing shooting pain. Especially if I move fast! So i feel like a snail ! And yessss it's in my vigina too 🙈
Some days in on the side of my belly.
I was worried but my consultant doctor has said it's normal for my uterus to stretch as my bmi is normal.

@Vallef once they start to move - don't be surprised when they don't leave you alone lol. Wonder if one sleeps the other would keep on moving and other way around :)

@gulph you are so ready with your nursery!
We may go and see some prams next Saturday! Time is going so fast now!!!

@AlisonDanuta it's like a stabbing pain, I get it for about twenty seconds. Stab stab stab. Not continuous. BMI is also normal. Had it in three occasions now over last few days xx

@CR7 so been looking at buggies and I really like the cybex gazelle s so least that's 1 decision made! As they will be sleeping with us for first year gona just get a couple of chicco next to me cribs and then worry about the rest later on lol think I have enough space in my bathroom to put a piece of furniture to make it into a changing station as well and then the rest will work out!

Have you felt any movement yet? I've been feeling bubbles I think abit more often late in the afternoon and am not sure if it's them or my tummy. I've also felt for the second time a pebble like tiny lump on the side of my tummy but above belly button and again not sure babies are that high for it to be them but it disappears after a while so hopefully it is them and nothing sinister! Both times on the left so I'd be interested in which baby is triying to make a point baby A or baby B lol

@gulph @Stopthatnoisemummy @AlisonDanuta how are you ladies doing?

@BrownXeyes as well sorry I missed you out xx

Hey love! Yeah I'm doing good thanks,
Had my glucose test on Monday and should get results at my 25 week appointment tomorrow along with my MATB1 form 😆 it's all getting real ladies!

How are you @Vallef? Xx

@gulph all gd hun looking forward to my scan on Friday :) duno why I always get scared before a scan but excited at the same time such a weird feeling. Been wishing for week 20 for so long!! My tummy has really popped out like especially at night it's bloody scary! I find my backs curved quite abit so it's giving me back aches. 2ish I listened when I go told to start pirates lol that's like at week 18!

Must be so exciting to get to week 25 your so near so at max that's 15 weeks. Do you know if your going full term? How much does the baby weigh have they told you? In Greece I was told if the baby reaches an appropriate weight they say its safer to give birth earlier than the 40 weeks but not sure what nhs says about it xxx

Awwww look at your bump 😍 y this is really happening @Vallef!

I've got a midwife appointment today so I'm going to see what they say about term vs induction. So far, they haven't indicated that I won't be 'allowed' to go to term but would love to have my baby mid November instead of end of November but who knows! I think once you get to the point of a viable baby, the midwives take it all a bit more seriously and start actually tell you about what's going to happen 😂 according to apps, the baby is currently 13 inches long and about 1.5lbs xxxx

@Vallef we also love a cybex! We spent a day trying millions. I went for exactly the opposite of what I thought I would like 🤣🤣 it was a lovely but scary shopping trip!

Also loved the nursery this morning. They definitely didn't think we were going too early as they have no space til September and no full time spaces at all so we are lucky we only need two days.

Your bump is looking beautiful 🥰🥰

@CR7 what did you end up going for? The cybex? Xxxx

@gulph 99% decided on this one. It's the Cybex Mios Platinum. In black material (not grey like on the pictures) with either matte black or the rose gold frame (not sure if the rose gold is a bit much or not). They do a bundle but I don't think we would use everything. They also gave us a discount code for when we decide to buy x

@gulph thank youuuu :) how did your appointment go or is it later on? You settle for an egg right? The buggies for twins have less choices i think :( but we saw the cybex with twins in it so that always helps seeing it in live action.

@CR7 thank you :) hows your bump looking now? That buggy looks gorgeous! I think rose gold is nice when its a girl but maybe not so much if its a boy. Also if ur planing in having another baby maybe black is better to be on the safe side. Their bundle is abit weird i think they give the crib and the seat but i think the car chair with the chair would of been more handy as theres only so so long u can keep the baby in the crib bed. We said as well thats wasted money where as the car chair goes onto the buggy anyway so the other piece is kind of wasted.
Did you by any chance see the bugaboo as well? They seem to have bigger wheels both back and front and I wonder what the difference is in driving it! Glad you like the nursery and you got ur self on that list for your 2 days!!

@Vallef at 42 I don't think we will have another, even though we have one in the freezer. I'll be 43 when the baby comes, all being well, so don't think there will be another baby.

My second choice was the bugaboo dragonfly. It was super clever and super easy to put up and down but it was a lot heavier than the cybex. Because I'm only 5"3 at a stretch and quite petite, I'm not the strongest! My husband has suggested I buy some dumbbells to strengthen my arms 😂😂 and he wasn't joking! He's 6"3 and liked that the bugaboo had an extendable handle. The bugaboo is also better for longer / taller babies.

@Vallef ps in regards to the wheels-

First question she asked was where we live. As we are city folk and unlikely to be out much in the country she said we didn't need the big wheels. The small wheels are fine for pavements and the park x

@CR7 well this will be one precious spoiled baby then!!!! In that case get whatever you love bloody well and long deserved for sure.

That's really handy to know about the bugaboo I live in Herts so not exactly country country so sounds like cybex will be fine in that perspective. To be fair to your hubby he probably is righ in thr sense those car chairs when your holding them with baby in gets so so heavy I remember my sister with her last and I honestly don't know where she found the strength. Wish I listened and done some pirates to strengthen before this in general. I find my back is curving quite abit at night time when my belly gets bigger so I end up with back aches. But no one tells u all these minor details :)

Am so happy finally managed to find out what I need to do to get referred to the Cambridge hospital as its out of my catchment area and finished my self referral to my local hospital who will then refer me to the Rosie hospital so feels I accomplished alot even though I really havent 😂