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!

@Dochas12111 Thanks. It’s still scary as I have been getting over a BV infection but only on canesbalance with Flora Femme twice a day. Feeling better but worried. My last swab at Home Diagnostics revealed one pcr swab positive for gardnerella and other swab normal. So will test again in a week. My nk cells in blood were marginally high so not on steroids at all as I am so at risk of infections.

@Gardenlady543 Do you know how the covid vaccines affects nk cells? I have not had a vaccine since December 2021. Also, do you know if canesbalance actually treats a bv infection? I do feel better on it with Flora femme. Is it also normal for discharge to change in pregnancy? Sorry for tmi.

@Janefx40 Sorry you have covid and bv. Just read the thread updates. Canesbalance gel is brilliant for treating raised ph. Personally, I take it during a course of metronidazole only because my ph gets so high after antibiotics. I also need to take it for several weeks afterwards.

@Dochas12111 so when I was at ikea I saw they have a good changing table and cot, so that seems to be the most cost effective option for essential furniture. I'm all on one floor luckily but will have to give up my dressing room :(

@2021ivfagain yes discharge will change in pregnancy, but should be clear or white. As far as I'm aware there is evidence for the acid products resolving BV. But if you feel you need antibiotics you should discuss with your specialist, your hcg level is great, I really hope there is good news for you at the scan :)

@2021ivfagain hello and welcome to this thread. Yes I always get more discharge in pregnancy although it's not consistent which has led me to panic sometimes!

Fun to be buying baby stuff!

IKEA stuff is great. You don't need much for a new baby to be honest. Clothes-wise mine have only ever worn vests and sleepsuits. I put Leo in a two piece outfit someone gave him the other day and it looked sweet but was such a pain with socks falling off all day. Sleepsuits are easiest.

Other than that you just need muslins and a changing bag and a few places to put them. A buggy, car seat and a couple of slings. We have a Facebook page in our area where people give stuff away free and there is usually loads of baby stuff on there. Maybe worth seeing if there is something similar in your area.

My best branded buys are my baby bjorn bouncer that I take everywhere so I have somewhere to put the baby down (bought on marketplace) and my Cybex Cloud Z car seat. No idea why these aren't more popular. It swivels which makes it easy to get them in the car and it can fold down flat outside the car meaning you can leave them in it for longer if they fall asleep. Amazing!

I'm so sorry. I meant to tag @Gardenlady543 in the second half of that post - sorry @2021ivfagain I hope that didn't sound insensitive x

Thanks @Janefx40 my friend said I can have her Quinn's 4 travel system which is a car seat, pram, push chair and carrier. The only thing is it was for her 15 year old so is quite old but she said it should be fine still. Erg I haven't even thought about clothes yet! I think I won't go overboard as I know baby's grow quickly and I could always buy more if needed.

So I'm stressed, I keep seeing people in the immune group talk about having their progesterone monitored after stopping Progesteone so decided to do it.

I weaned off and took my last dose of cyclogest on Monday night and tested my progesterone level on Wednesday morning and my level is 93.2nmol/L.

When I’ve searched the normal result for the second trimester it says 81.41 to 284.29nmol/L, so I seem to be at the lower end. People in the immune group have ended up on more Progesteone with this result, but I don't have anyone to give me any. I have emailed Dr Gorgys nurse team although I don't know if they'll actually reply and since they don't routinely test they may not know what to do anyway. I think I have some lubion left over and utrogestan but I'm allergic to that and feel that if I restart I could be in more of an issue when I run out. I could ask my GP to prescribe but I'm not even sure if I should be on more or not.

@Gardenlady543 you shouldn't need progesterone at this stage and your level is in range. What does Gorgy say? Mr Shehata doesn't continue or re test at this point.

@Gardenlady543 ah this sounds really confusing, I’m not an expert on this but when my combine test result came back high risk, one of the things that triggered the result was HCG being low (apparently v common in ivf pregnancies) I knew that HCG level was tied to progesterone production and it really freaked me out so I did ask the fetal medicine consultant at UCLH and he was absolutely certain that your body produces it’s own progesterone after the first trimester, I asked about supplementing progesterone incase mine was low and he really was adamant against it and said it would be completely pointless at this stage of pregnancy. I know it might be different for everyone but I didn’t supplement and everything has been fine - week 17 today. Also I did read a study saying injecting progesterone after week 10 of pregnancy shows no benefit and CRGH who are super cautious with weaning off meds take you off lubion at 10 weeks, so if you are going to do it then maybe the pessaries are better.

@Gardenlady543 With my first pregnancy with my son I was also worried about this, I tapered crinone and continued taking it until week 20 but only one a day. I stopped lentogest at week 10.

Thanks guys so the nurse called back and said Dr Gorgy says my level is fine but if I want I can take one cyclogest a day until 28 weeks. It seems safer to do that, like I don't want anything to go wrong at this point and with everything else I'm doing one pessary a day seems such a minor thing to do. They said they'll do a prescription, but it will be a while before I get it so I will do one lubion a day in the mean time, they said that is stronger but I don't have any other option really.

@Gardenlady543 perfect. Hopefully that will feel reassuring and not too onerous. I'm sure the Lubion will be fine in the meantime x

@Gardenlady543 That’s good news. I expect you’re relieved. I’m taking two Flora Femme at present plus one canesbalance but I have been told I can take two canesbalance a day. The clinic don’t understand about using probiotics with canesbalance. I might use canesflor sometimes. I’m wondering whether two Flora Femme a day is too much apart from the expensive. If you were taking two canesbalance a day (one morning and one evening) instead of antibiotics, would you also still continue with probiotics as well?

@Gardenlady543 Apart fr
being expensive.

@Janefx40 thanks, I have a scan in Sunday so I hope that's ok.

@2021ivfagain I haven't done any acid treatment in pregnancy, just daily vaginal probiotics until 8 week scan and then around once a week. I checked my pH today and it's fine.

@Gardenlady543 That’s good that your ph is ok. Good luck for your scan. It sounds like you are doing well.

What I meant to say is as my clinic are allowing me to take two canesbalance a day due to raised ph and gardnerella in one swab, do you think it’s still ok to take probiotics as well? They don’t understand the purpose of using probiotics with canesbalance. Did you ever experience slight burning from Flora femme? I have read that can occur if ph needs to be balanced more.

@2021ivfagain I would take the probiotic since that's all I take and I have done it at the same time as an acid product. I don't get burning.

@Gardenlady543 I used canesflor with canesbalance last night and had some slight burning, so I’m not taking canesflor again. In fact, I might keep to one canesbalance or one Vagibiom a day and reduce Flora femme to 2-3 times a week. It’s got me scared.

Also, with my son, I had sickness 24/7 from about 5 weeks and severe headaches. I also struggled to use my phone as scrolling made me feel travel sick and dizzy. This time I get twinges from time to time, sometimes feel dizzy, sometimes get sore boobs and only feel slightly sick if I am really hungry. With my son, I struggled with my work and could no longer cook meals or open the fridge without putting a jumper over my head. The contrast is strange and worrying.

@2021ivfagain at the point you're at very little was happening to me, maybe you're thinking back to the peak of symptoms last time, but even if you're not no pregnancy will be the same. I suspect the symptoms are definitely coming! I think especially towards the end of the first trimester people feel really symptomatic, so just try and enjoy the time right now.

@Gardenlady543 I remember it so vividly due to subchorionic haemorrhage. I’m 5 weeks 2 days today. I had to have a scan at 6 weeks due to subchorionic haemorrhage and by then I was struggling to get into a car without wanting to be sick. I went off decaf coffee at 5 weeks as it made me sick. My mother in law was the same as me with my son.

I hope it’s just different symptoms or that they will get more prominent! It’s just that it was reassuring last time even though so traumatic at the same time. I wish I could have a scan earlier, but it’s going to be Tuesday 8th August.

Good luck with your scan tomorrow. It sounds like everything is going well.

Had my scan which went fine but had a different technician and she started off by asking if I'm coming weekly and when I said yes she gave me a lecture. She seemed to be saying I shouldn't do this many scans as I'd get anxious. But I feel this is stopping me from being anxious especially since things like my hyperthyroidism issue and lower Progesteone level keep happening unexpectedly. I feel like if I get to the point of feeling movements then there will be something to reassure me but right now all I have is the scans.

How's everyone else doing?

@Gardenlady543 glad the scan was ok. I have to say people like that sonographer made my blood boil a bit. What right do they have to tell us what will or won't make us anxious? What personal experience of infertility and loss do they have that qualifies them to judge - and actually even if they do have that experience they still can't decide what is right for someone else.

It's like people who tell you not to google information when anxious - that might be great advice for some people but it's not how I work. Depriving me of information makes me more anxious not less.

They just trot out their standard advice as if they know best.

Ignore them. You know far more about you than they do. One person might be made more anxious by having regular scans but another would find it helpful. You are going to be anxious anyway so you decide how best to survive it x

Thanks @Janefx40 it was literally the first thing she said as well. So it's not like she gauged my worry or anything. She then asked if I'm in obstetrics which I thought was weird, if I come across as someone in the specialty (which I'm not) why would I need this lecture.

@Gardenlady543 I’m sorry you had this bad experience. I had some difficult midwives which made me anxious when I was pregnant with my son. If it’s helping you, that’s good. I’m finding the wait so difficult especially as I had subchorionic haemorrhage with my son.

With regards to movements, I didn’t feel anything properly until about week 23. This is very normally particularly in first pregnancy as I’ve been told.

@2021ivfagain I have an anterior placenta so I suspect I'll be waiting, the technicians keep asking me and sometimes I think I can feel something but it's not consistent.
What date has your scan been booked in for?

@Gardenlady543 My scan is 8th August. It seems so long to wait. I’m getting really worried.

I think I had a slight kick at 16 weeks with my son but then properly at 23 weeks.