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!

Oh gosh @Janefx40 BV, a cold and no sleep :( I mean the lack of sleep seems torturing I am really not looking forward to this. I think taking all at once is the best option with what you have the place I saw this is superdrug:

1-day course: 5 metronidazole 400mg tablets are taken together in 1 day as a single dose. You should swallow them whole with water.

@seven201 lol you can wish to start maternity leave just over half way through! When are you planning on leaving? I had my maternity meeting with work and I can't really afford anything, they only offer 6 weeks of paid leave and then statutory and I've spent so much on infertility, I am due 13th January and with a planned c section I've heard they will deliver the week before. So I'm hoping to be able to go to the end of the year but not sure if I will manage.

@Gardenlady543 that's rubbish about your maternity leave. Is there no way you can afford more? I know it might be painful to afford but it could be worth it if at all possible.

Hi all, just checking in and glad to see all the pregnancies are going well. So well deserved! I remember a time on the thread where we all looked like hopeless cases!!!

@Janefx40 hope your little one starts to sleep better soon. We went through that from months 7-9 and it broke me!! We were afraid to move once she started sleeping again and would just sit downstairs in silence with subtitles on the tv 😂😂

@Gardenlady543 can your DH not support you for some unpaid leave? I remember you saying you had to pay for everything Fertility related from your own wages so hopefully he could step up now?

we have a consult with our ivf clinic next week. Back on the horse we go!!!

@Dochas12111 wow, back already. How old is your little one now?

@Janefx40 she’s just turned one!!! Didn’t want to wait any longer. I have a friend who went back when her DD was 3 months old and she’s now 6 months pregnant!!!! I don’t know how she did that though. I am barely in the frame of mind as it is!

@Dochas12111 I'm surprised your friend was able to have treatment after 3 months, my clinic said one year after pregnancy and must have stopped breast feeding.

I've asked DH many times to ask his family for money and it never happens, I have all the financial burden :(

@Janefx40 I think I have 5 weeks of annual leave I can add on.

@Dochas12111 ah happy birthday to her. We started trying for number 2 after our DD turned 1. We had a small Covid delay but if our first FET had worked there would been a 26 month age gap which is fairly normal. Do you have Frosties? Let us know how you get on.

@Gardenlady543 she has severe endometriosis and had surgery to cut it all away so she was on a clock to have a second before it grew back! She stopped breastfeeding at 4 weeks so that they could get prepared to go again. She was like myself and DH - 5 years trying, multiple rounds of IVF all failures. It was only when they found the issue and had the surgery her next FET worked and now this one has too.

I’m sorry your DH is being so unsupportive 😢

@Janefx40 we have 3 Frosties but none are great quality. Yeah I think there are no guarantees for a second so just need to get back at it and hope for the best. I don’t honestly know if I have it in me to do another egg collection. Hoping one of the frozen a work or there will be difficult decisions ahead! How many rounds did you have to do for your DS in the end and how many for your DD? I’ve done 6 so far.

@Dochas12111 my DD was from our second cycle! So easy but it didn't seem it at the time. Of course there were some dramas across those two cycles but I didn't know how easy I had it at the time!

For DS we did an FET (miscarriage), failed fresh, 3 x embryo banking collections, ERA etc, FET (chemical), immunology, FET (DS). Plus a whole lot of other tests/treatment along the way, so that all took about 3 years from start to birth. You're already way ahead tho in terms of understanding the issues/tests etc and you're much younger than me so hopefully won't take as long.

DP did the first half of the night again and I've slept 6 hours in a row! Wow! Only issue is my boobs - terrible for my milk supply to skip night feeds like this so may have to express some but if I didn't have this awful cold I would feel great!

Hi ladies, hope you’re all off to a good start to the week?

@Janefx40 glad you got a bit of a better night sleep, hope you shake your cold soon!

I had my scan this morning, baby was facing the wrong way - tried everything I could to get him to move but he wouldn’t. Scan was all clear at this stage. They have two consultants scan you at each appointment, the first one couldn’t get a view of the heart fully due to the babies position but the second one took a look when he did the scan (it was the same doctor we saw last time who runs the the ultrasound clinic for the fetal medicine unit) and said everything was all good including heart and has discharged us back to the normal ultrasound team.

Feel relieved for now and so so nice to see baby.

@AM08 glad the scan went well, annoying that the baby wasn't in the best position!

How's everyone doing? Erg I'm feeling so tired, I'm in bed 7pm every night.

@AM08 so glad you got the all clear at your scan. You must have felt so relieved!

@Gardenlady543 hopefully you will get more energy soon. I definitely had more energy after the first trimester (tho not precisely so more from around 14 weeks) and then my energy levels were great all the way to the end with my first tho slightly less so this time around.

I've got Covid!!! I can't believe it. Obviously I knew I had a cold but didn't feel like when I had Covid (twice before). I only tested this evening when I realised that I couldn't smell anything!

Am now freaking out a bit about Leo. Obviously I know that they say babies are less at risk but he is so young and has been doing the odd weird cough. I'll test him in the morning.

Also feeling guilty about all the people I've seen since I had a cold!

Oh no @Janefx40 you're having some bad luck with the BV and now Covid. Maybe you're worn out and picking things up easier?

@Gardenlady543 maybe. I know they say babies are fine but I'd rather he didn't have it obviously!

@Janefx40 hopefully he doesn't get it, I would imagine you have been most infectious in the first few days, let us know how his test goes.

Blazing positive

Oh dear @Janefx40 do you have a health visitor you can talk to for advice?

Yes I spoke to the health visitor as we were due an appointment today anyway. She basically suggested I talk to the GP as a precaution but said I'm looking out for the usual stuff such as baby floppy, unresponsive etc. He is currently behaving totally normally other than a cough so think he's fine so far but will keep a close eye.

DD and DP currently negative but DP feels a bit ropey so staying home anyway. DD has gone to play with a friend who swears she doesn't mind even tho she knows all the facts! Have had to come out driving as driving or walking is the only way to get baby to nap. Figure it's fine as long as I don't get out the car

@Janefx40 Oh yea fine to go on a drive if you don't get out or a walk as long as you don't let anyone come up to you. Hopefully baby stays as symptom free as possible.

@Dochas12111 you're back!! Amazing. Good luck with the ivf.

@Janefx40 so annoying to have covid now. Hope you and baby Leo are doing ok and that dh and dd are well.

@AM08 great news about the scan, good they managed all the measurements despite positioning.

@Gardenlady543 hopefully the financials will somehow work out and you can take a little longer. I'm bricking it a bit as our building work is spiralling a bit so we'll have no money left to help cover maternity leave. No idea how we're going to afford nursery fees as last time we used savings to get by. At least it's only a few years of that. Think we'll have to get lots of credit cards 🙈

@seven201 ahh it's all so stressful isn't it.

I have started buying stuff that a baby would need, which seems very strange. I went on the John pye auction, you can't really guarantee what you get will work but it saves money if it does, I bought a breast pump, a swinging chair, a non swinging chair, some kind of high chair thing that goes on a chair and a small kids table and chair (the last two came with other things, they'll likely go in the loft for now). I also had a walk around ikea to decide what I might need and bought these baby sensory cards which people in the reviews are raving about www.priyaandpeanut.com/collections/best-selling-products/products/0-6-month-newborn-sensory-flashcard-collection

I am now off steroids and Progesteone and took a Progesteone blood test today to check that my levels are ok.

@2021ivfagain do you want to come and chat to us on here?

@Janefx40 ahh so sorry to that you caught covid - are you mend now? Hope little Leo is doing ok, bless him and DP/DD managed to avoid it!

@seven201 @Gardenlady543 definitely get what you guys mean about things feeling a bit tight, ivf is so expensive and we’re trying to sell the flat DH had before we met and it’s just fallen through before exchange so things are going to be a bit more difficult - we will all be ok 🙏 xxx

@seven201 thanks!! Hope you are keeping well.

How exciting @Gardenlady543 keep an eye out for Aldi or Lidl baby events - they have great stuff. What else are you planning to get?

I do recommend a changing table downstairs as well as up- it’s been very handy. Or if you have a kitchen island at the right height a changing mat and caddy with stuff in would work too.

huge congrats @2021ivfagain delighted for you. It was a huge road to transfer. But fair play you didn’t go ahead until you were happy as could be with the circumstances.

Should also say you don’t need to go big on brands @Gardenlady543 . We got a next to me crib thing that was the main brand but my mam got a Babylo one for half the price for me to use when I stayed over and it was perfect. There was no need at all for the expensive one.