ERA/Alice/Emma infertility thread graduates/pregnancies

[seven201]

If you are a regular on the infertility board you may have seen the ERA/Alice/Emma threads for those going through those tests after lots of unsuccessful IVF or recurrent losses. This thread is for the ladies from there who are now pregnant. We can share our worries and joys.

I am useless at remembering who is pregnant from which thread so please do add yourself or tag others. @Janefx40 and @Faithhopelove83.

Also, if anyone who has fully graduated/had their baby, then please feel free to join if you wish. I don't want to tag individuals as I don't want people to feel obliged.

If you've also just had lots of failed ivf and/or recurrent miscarriages you are of course welcome too!

A little bit about me. I have a naturally conceived nearly 7 year old dc. Have been trying for dc2 for 5 1/4 years. One natural early loss, 5 failed ivf, 3 surgeries (main one being an adhesion removed), 2 natural pregnancies and early losses, 1 ivf pregnancy that got to heartbeat stage. This pregnancy is a letrazole round and I'm 9+6 (although measuring 9+0 but that's been consistent) so due early November. I've been spotting brown for the past 3 days but my scan was this afternoon, so reassuring (although still worried). I'm under the CRP clinic in epsom due to the miscarriages.

Good luck to us all!

@seven201 not surprised you are fed up. You've been through enough without having to deal with GD. It would be lovely to have an easy ride for once. But on the other side just think how far you've come. You are 21 weeks pregnant and that seemed like a distant dream a few months ago. You're allowed to feel rubbish about things being hard tho. We can't spend our lives feeling grateful just because we had to fight to get here!

@Gardenlady543 oh by the way I had an anterior placenta with my DD but still felt plenty of movement. They say you feel less but you will still feel it eventually x

@Janefx40 I mean both forms of tiredness sound very annoying, at least there isn't a double whammy! We'll all have this to look forward to! Lack of sleep is torture, you're right though it will improve in time.

Erg my throat is so sore still and I'm so tired, I thought I'd hit the peak and things are supposed to get easier by now. I have my last PIO injection tomorrow though so 🎉

@Gardenlady543 hopefully your first trimester tiredness will stop soon. Annoyingly these things don't always run to schedule. Woohoo about the the last progesterone in oil! Maybe that's contributed to the tiredness.

@Janefx40 sorry about the lack of sleep. I really didn't enjoy that part! Me and dh were so so snappy at each other. At least Leo's paying you in smiles and alertness. Sorry about the weight stalling - maybe it's just a slow week or he'd just done a big loo and next week will be better.

@AM08 are you back from hols. How are you?

How is everyone else? You've been quiet for a while, which is obviously fine. Have been thinking of everyone.

I have to go on insulin as my blood sugar levels are all over the place. It's pretty early to go on insulin I think. Got my training session tomorrow - at least I'm well practiced at injecting!

@seven201 oh you poor thing. What a pain about the insulin but it sounds like they are on top of it which is the main thing.

Ah gutting @seven201 it seems the best way to accurately adjust blood sugar though, so hopefully will be good for getting things in range.

Erg I'm suffering, thought I would be setting off a party popper to celebrate my last pio and instead it's completely overshadowed by this cold :( I did a Covid lateral flow test yesterday which was negative so at least that's a good thing. Have ordered saline nasal spray, eucalyptus oil and strepsils. I have all the autoantibodies back now for the thyroid and they are all normal so that's a good thing, tsh is still 0.006 but t3 just in range and t4 still a bit high but not too bad.

Thanks ladies. Bit gutted about it but know it's for the best.

@Gardenlady543 sorry about the cold. So annoying not being able to take usual 'cold and flu' remedies! Good news about your test results.

@seven201 i’m still away until Sunday, tbh it’s been such a blessing to get some time away and to temporarily stop worrying about the pregnancy. Ah I’m sorry to hear about the blood sugar levels and having to inject again - but glad they’re keeping an eye on things

@Janefx40 i hope little Leo has slept a bit better the last few days - I’ve not been through it myself yet and I can only imagine how difficult this stage is but thinking of you and the little man

@Gardenlady543 i hope you feel better soon, how annoying to have picked up a cold at this time of year - are your symptoms starting to ease at all?

@AM08 this is day 3 I feel like it's mostly been a sore throat the last two days, today the throat feels a bit better but my nose and ears are congested. First day of no PIO for me so that's been nice.

@Gardenlady543 glad the throat has started to clear up and hope you feel better today. So nice to come off the meds, last day of crinone gel for me today too

Hi ladies, I really hope you don’t mind me posting on your thread but don’t really have anyone to speak to IRL. I have lurked on these threads for the last year or so and have marvelled at your strength, knowledge and kindness that you show to others even in the depths of desperation that I have had a slight experience of. I am so so happy for all of your pregnancies and @Janefx40 for your little boy! I know how hard you have all battled (I feel like I’ve read every board on here but been too nervous to post).
A bit about me-I had a stress free pregnancy in 2020, but then a MMC at 9 weeks last august. The MVA wasn’t successful and I had a hysteroscopy a month later at which they found slight Asherman’s but were confident they had resolved it. From what I learnt on these boards I saw Mr Lower and Mr Trew and had positive US and HSG results confirmed no further Asherman’s. I then fell pregnant again this February but lost the baby at around 8 weeks; Mr Lower performed the ERPC in order to test the embryo which was abnormal. We then went straight into an IVF cycle after my period returned, did PGS testing and ended up with 1 euploid embryo (I was 35 at the time). I was just about to start the cycle for the EMMA/ERA/Alice biopsy but found out I was pregnant again, and am now terrified. I have zero symptoms (I am totally exhausted but think this is because of the cyclogest) but no sore boobs, nothing-and I will be 5 weeks tomorrow based on when I ovulated (I got my Clearblue peak on day 15 so am I actually 5+2?). I have very strong/dye stealer FRER lines but only 2-3 on Clearblue. I know that no one can predict the future-I tried to reassure myself by reading the ‘my boobs stopped hurting and it was fine’ threads before my last MC yet I knew deep down it was going wrong and I have this feeling again. I’m on 20mg pred, Clexane, aspirin and Cyclogest so I’m not sure what else I can do and I was just looking for advice/tough love. I have a scan booked for the 24th, I’m literally testing every time i go to the bathroom which I know is madness but equally I’m too scared to check HCG levels in case it is bad news.
Am so sorry for such a garbled message and I’m cheering you all on for your pregnancies and wishing you the best.

Hi @Jellybelly56 congratulations! So you are naturally pregnant before you had a chance to have a FET? You're on all the right stuff? Who started you on the prednisolone etc? Once you get a dye stealer the tests really aren't good for progression. And I think the week indicators are pretty variable for when they change to the next option up, as long as it hasn't gone down that's great. I found the wait so difficult between the tests and the scan :( I think if the blood tests with be scary for you then you just need to try and distract yourself as much as possible.

Thank you very much @Gardenlady543 and huge congrats on your pregnancy too. I hope you aren’t feeling too bad with your cold and are managing to also find distractions.
Yes, we conceived naturally in our cycle ‘off’ after egg retrieval-we had planned for PGS testing then the biopsies.
We have a family history of miscarriages so I did the blood clotting work up after my first miscarriage and was confirmed to have heterozygous Factor V Leiden and also the MTHFR gene. There’s also a family history of raised NK Cells so my consultant agreed to treat me empirically with prednisolone this time too if I got a BFP - this was meant to be for the IVF cycle but he agreed to prescribe it now.
I think I’m a bit addicted to seeing the FRER progression but know I should also see the weeks indicator move up soon. It doesn’t really make sense as I got an early 3+ last time but still miscarried, so am not sure why I’m obsession about it. How have you managed to distract yourself-have you found it any easier as the pregnancy has continued? Have your symptoms got any stronger?
I’m so convinced this won’t work out that I’m even planning the dates I may need to be off work/cancel plans to deal with it, which I know is really awful. I usually do lots of high intensity exercise to take my mind off things-which I don’t want to do at the moment, so need a new hobby. I am also going to start counselling this week which will hopefully help.

@Jellybelly56 oh I am the worst person in this sense! I did manage to hold off a tiny bit on urine tests although broke at 22dp5dt so did a frer for reassurance while waiting for the scan. I have been having scans once a week, they have all been fine, it's just there has always been something, I unexpectedly developed hyperthyroidism a few weeks ago and now I'm weaning off steroids and Progesteone and have this cold :( it must be so hard for you with the losses, I think we just need to hope that the last loss was due to the abnormal embryo and that this one will be a euploid.

@Jellybelly56 I'm sorry that you find yourself here but welcome.

Pregnancy after loss is a really hard place to be. I'm not sure there's any way around that. I did blood tests but regretted it each time I did as I got so anxious for the results. Then the good results reassured me for a time but not long.

You have to work out the best way to survive these early weeks and what works best for you.

Xxx

Thank you both so much ladies, I really do appreciate your words. I never realised how hard this would be-the only way I can describe it is that my head feels like it is going to explode. @Gardenlady543 your message actually brought me to tears when you said ‘we have to hope’ as I feel hardly any of my friends get the fear and just what could go wrong whereas you all do. Since I only got one euploid from my IVF cycle I’m now unconvinced I’d have produced another euploid in this natural cycle and be lucky enough to have this as the ovulated egg! I can’t see how this will end well but if it does I can see myself also getting weekly scans-I’m lucky enough to work near Harley Street…which I take full advantage of (I hope my husband never finds out how much I have spent). I hope you are not feeling too bad. Do you know what has brought on the hyperthyroidism or is it something you have been prone to? I feel like my first pregnancy I was naive (probably also quite smug and irritating) and now my eyes are totally opened to what can do wrong. Fingers crossed you feel better this week!

hi @Janefx40 you are so right, even that immediate relief of a good result I think will go quickly for me and I’ll want reassurance again. I am in this for the long haul-we are prepared to do more IVF cycles if needed so I need to find a way to manage this without losing my mind. I hope you and your little boy are doing well.

Even now I’m toying with doing another CB Digital tonight rather than waiting until the morning, not sure if that will depress me even more. I’m emailed the fertility coordinator at our clinic to see if they recommend me coming in for blood tests (they know how anxious I am). I think they probably want me to have a successful pregnancy just so they don’t have to deal with me anymore!!

xxx

@Jellybelly56 I found it cheaper to use Medichecks for blood tests and there are other even cheaper companies. You can get your blood drawn at TDL which is easy to get to if you work on Harley Street. There are also cheaper places to get scans (probably - have never checked Harley St prices). I used to go to Window to the Womb and they basically use hospital sonographers so I found them perfectly good and the staff were really kind.

I actually went there to be scanned after my miscarriage was confirmed as I just wanted longer to look at the baby. They handled it so well and were very supportive. Sorry if that is a bit of a negative post but it means a lot when people treat you well in the bad times x

@Jellybelly56 by the way I didn't mean to say "You're on all the right stuff?" I meant to say "You're on all the right stuff" as a statement! Stupid typo! I think the body is more likely to create euploids because in IVF we are creating eggs from follicles which under normal circumstance would just disappear as the body only picks out the best one. I am not sure that there is any evidence that this is the case but it seems logical. If you do a blood test you should do a couple as it's the doubling that's the most important, my therapist managed to talk me away from tests in the initial stages (I mean I still did a fair amount) but she said if it's meant to be it will be it doesn't matter about the tests and she was right because my doubling was over 3 days rather than 2 days which worried me but I've then consistently measured ahead on my scans.

My thyroid is a condition called gestation transient thyrotoxicosis, it's because hcg is like tsh and stimulates the thyroid gland, it should hopefully settle by 16 weeks so I am on a reduced dose of levothyroxine and will keep an eye on my levels.

@Janefx40 you are so right, the way people treat you in the lowest and saddest moments is important and something that always stays with you. I can’t go back to my local EPU for that reason but I do remember before my hysteroscopy to fully resolve my first miscarriage this lovely nurse just holding my hand as I cried. I’m very glad they were so kind to you-I hadn’t heard of that chain-during such an awful time. I find The Birth Company on Harley Street good as they always have availability and very good sonographers but they are expensive (as I guess Harley street is!). Thank you for your tips on the blood tests. I think I am going to try and hold off as otherwise I can see myself doing them every other day until the scan. I did get ‘3+’ weeks today on Clearblue at 21dpo even though I know they can be a bit of a gimmick. That has bought me a few hours of (relative) reassurance.

@Gardenlady543 dont worry about the typo!! I thought it was an encouraging ‘?’! I know there’s additional I could be having in terms of intralipids and IVIG, my consultant is not really a believer in this so I hope I don’t regret not going to Dr. Gorgy as well. I am lucky though in that he prescribed the prednisone. That’s so great you have been measuring ahead in your scans and fingers crossed gives you some reassurance albeit fleeting. Have you had your 12 week NHS scan yet? I hope you don’t feel bad with your thyroid, it seems like there is always something but sounds like you are all over the management of it too.

xx

@Jellybelly56 welcome and congratulations! What a little miracle the embryo must be implant before the ivf transfer! The waiting is just awful, but I'm sure you'll battle on through.

@Gardenlady543 how's the cold?

@Janefx40 how is Leo's weight?

Not much news from me. My insulin dosage doesn't seem to be right yet as my blood sugar levels are still pretty high sometimes.

@Jellybelly56 you know my friend was told there was no hope after her 4th Ivf transfer in the context of DOR and implantation failure when trying for years, two weeks later she fell pregnant naturally, she decided against all the immune treatment even though she'd just done it in her FET, she also didn't do testing like NIPT, she's just given birth to a healthy baby. Despite her being told she'd need all the immune treatment she didn't at all.

I've just had my NHS scan date through for Friday, although I did ask at ultrasound direct and the technicians that have been scanning me, work in the nhs and they told me they would be doing exactly the same thing they've been doing.

My cold is still here, this is day 8 now, mostly horrible congestion :(

@seven201 I really hope they can get the dose right as soon as, one less thing to worry about then!

@Gardenlady543 I found the 12 week scan pretty underwhelming as I'd had a much more thorough one through CRP just the day before, and had the grumpiest nhs sonographer ever. Still nice to say hello to the baby though. Hope your cold goes soon.

How is everyone doing? Any updates?

At my 12 week follow up scan, I requested a 16 week scan which is scheduled a week on Monday (will be 16.5 weeks then). V much looking forward to it, feels like a long time since I last saw the little bean.

@AM08 I have my nhs scan today, I'm at the tail end of my cold I think and need to see how thyroid hormones are next week.

I've had so many scans I made this little video! imgur.com/a/SmLuKB9

How's everyone doing?

@Gardenlady543 what a lovely video! Please keep us posted re your scan today, I’m sure all good as you’ve had quite a few scans but still exciting!