IVF pregnancies - Spring 2024

[thislittlebird]

Anyone here in a similar position? I'm feeling a bit of an odd one out on forums now where I don't feel pregnant pregnant and I don't feel infertile infertile, and thought I'd see if others were in the same, tentative situation. I don't feel like I'm ready to join the main May 2024 gang until I'm more confident this will continue.

I'm only 4 weeks 5 days :/

@thislittlebird Neither have I, but I dont look 18! Or 25! But 30ish is within the realms of credibility! LOL

Symptoms absolutely come and go.

I had a GREAT week symptom wise, this week. only to be hit by horrendous nause yesterday, out of the blue. And Im 13+3 now!

@Misty84 Nah, people are generally surprised when I say I'm 37.

I once got ID'd in Sainsbury's and the girl looked at my ID then looked at me did a double take at my age and said 'Wow... that's really good.' 😂

@TheBirdintheCave I’ve had that happen! Like they have regrets for asking and look a bit shocked lol. I think a Waitrose delivery guy did the same thing and looked very confused when I showed him.

@ASGIRC I think I look 30s now, but when I think back I did look very young at 25-30. My 23 year old colleague thought i was about 32 this year, so I’ll take it lol. In my case I’m short, so if I happen to be dressed like a scruffy teen the shop workers are more likely to quiz me. But it hasn’t happened in a couple of years, think I’m getting nearer to my age!

I hope so. I really want them to come back so I feel confident as 6 weeks hits.

@thislittlebird About 10 years ago, I was 30 or so, a younger colleague thought I was 19/20 😂It made me laugh. I was a few years older than him as well! LOL

It also helps that I dress "young", as I dont have to look "professional" for my job. Im currently wearing a My Little Pony Applejack hoodie, complete with ears, mane and face, when you zip it up! And Im wearing Lelli Kelly shoes 😂

Plus my blue hair!

@ASGIRC yeah, I think that’s true. I also don’t have to look professional and it’s never really suited me anyway, so I’m in casual stuff most of the time. No blue hair though, I’m hiding my two greys with some blonde!

@ASGIRC fair enough still living it up at 33, I’d probably be doing the same if I didn’t know what I know 🙈 I also sometimes wonder what if I’m not mature enough? Do I really know how to be a parent? Would I have more money if I’d waited a few more years? I think there’s always what ifs. I do sort of believe in fate though and think of this is the baby that sticks, this is the baby I’m meant to have.

Also good on you, @TheBirdintheCave and @thislittlebird for still looking young. I’ll probably just get Botox if the child ages me 😂

@Misty84 i completely get you not wanting to find out yet. I know everyone’s journey is different. For me personally, I felt like I wanted to know in case I do lose this one, I thought it would be easier to mourn knowing the sex of the baby and a bit more about who it was. My chemical was way too early to find out and I’ll never know what that baby was and could have potentially been so for me was harder. Which I know may sound completely crazy. And like I said, I completely get people who are the opposite and worried about finding out at this stage because of getting too attached

After my lack of symptoms today I checked my Fitbit and my heart rate is going back down towards normal :/

I can’t say I’m not worried right now that we finally got this far and that it’s possibly ended

@thislittlebird I don't know how accurate heart rate is in pregnancy but try not to worry. You could always ask for hcg bloods (should approximately double every 2 days) from your clinic or done privately elsewhere if you're worried - although I guess you still wouldn't know until Wednesday at the earliest. When is your first scan?

I had a private NIPT test (not the harmony one as the clinic had just changed their supplier). All low risk for trisomies and we found out we're having a boy too! My partner and I like lots of girls names but hadn't really thought about boys - but I think we've decided on one we both like now. I'm glad I've got ages to get used to having a boy as I always wanted a girl.

@thislittlebird is your heart rate supposed to stay high throughout? Asking as I’ve never monitored this as a symptom. Is your scan on Weds?

@hopefulmum46 Good news on your results and yes you have plenty of time to adapt to having a boy now :)

@hopefulmum46 the scan is Thursday, so not much point on spending on the HCG tests now I think. Will just wait it out.

I also always wanted a girl and I think it’s because my family is predominantly women, my mum only had girls, there’s not any men left other than my nephews. But since I thought of a boy name I love I’ve come round to the idea a lot more for some reason.

@Misty84 scan is Thursday. I only learned about it from another thread and then when I got my BFP checked it and it had increased a fair bit since 2dp5dt. So yeah it does increase afaik, mine has been high but I’m too scared to look now. I found a story of a woman whose hr dropped down again and had the same pattern on both her successful and unsuccessful pregnancies so I guess it doesn’t have much bearing. Was just worrying because the symptoms toned down at the point they’re supposed to increase, or so everyone says. I think I did get the racing heart early this morning though, pretty sure I woke up with it.

@thislittlebird yeah, probably best to just wait until Thursday. I really don't think symptoms are very reliable - I've heard of people having missed miscarriages despite still having some nausea, and equally symptoms fluctuating or disappearing with a healthy pregnancy. On a population level symptoms may be more likely to be associated with a healthy pregnancy but on an individual basis it's really hard to tell either way. Best to just assume everything is going well unless you're told otherwise by a medical professional x

@hopefulmum46 I always wanted a girl too but can't imagine actually having one now we have our son 😅 I don't think we're going to find out this time around. My husband wants to know but I'd prefer a surprise since this will be our last baby.

If you can I would stop looking at it @thislittlebird as it doesn’t sound like a reliable indicator and it’s just further stressing you out. I agree with what @hopefulmum46 said.
You don’t have any pain or bleeding so just hang on as best you can until Thursday. The worries are natural but we just have to keep going until the next scan! 😮‍💨

@hopefulmum46 that’s the worry I guess, mmc and no indicator either way.

@Misty84 I haven’t looked at it really, only yesterday when I had no symptoms because I’m worried. Would really like something else to kick in some time soon, since I’m 6 weeks now. It’s stressful that I’ve gone from having loads of symptoms to not much at all.

@hopefulmum46 cobgrats on having a boy too! I’d also always pictured myself with a little girl. Mainly because girls are a lot more common in my family but like you say we have plenty of time to get used to it 😊

@TheBirdintheCave I really admire people who can hold out and wait for a surprise but that is nice if you can do it 😊

@thislittlebird like everyone else has said try not to worry too much, it’s hard not to stress but I’m sure it’s all fine. After vomiting in weeks 5 and 6, I had no symptoms at all really for weeks 7 or 8 and then they all came back last week (with the covid 🙄🙈) I hope your scan on Thursday goes well but if you’re still worried maybe contact your EPU x

@thislittlebird When I had a chemical pregnancy last time, I found out from just testing, the lines went from strong back to weak and faded out so it was easy to see what had happened, I then had bloods to confirm the same. I'm still testing daily in the morning like a crazy lady with this one, similar changes in feelings and body but I'm just checking the lines don't start to fade. It's keeping me reassured after last time. Hope all goes well at the scan. As all have said symptoms fluctuate constantly so there's no real way to monitor using those alone, easier said than done but try not to worry, the scan will tell all and fingers crossed it's a worry about nothing. We almost have too much information now to compare ourselves to others at each stage ❤️ keep plodding on🤞

@thislittlebird symptoms really arent reliable. They come and go all the time.
And high heart rate is..not really a symptom!
But I understand the worry.
I dont have any good advice... You could try testing, but if they are really strong, it is unlikely they will fade quickly, even if it is a MMC.
You could try to contact the EPU and see if theyll see you.
Or just wait until Thursday for the scan and hope for the best! Either way, there is nothing you can do.

In regards to sex, I want a girl.
I spent ALL my life thinking Id only have girls, as Im a carrier for a genetic illness that only affects boys (girls would only be carriers, and not affected), so having a boy was always something that was probably not going to happen.

Obviously, Im not using my own eggs, so that is not a concern, but it is a lifetime of conditioning...

I have been talking myself into not being TOO disappointed if it is a boy, though. I still will be, but hopefully Ill come around.

i cant wait to find out! Need to book a scan for a few weeks from now, cause I definitely cannot wait until my 21 weeks scan!

@ASGIRC Heart rate can increase in pregnancy by up to 20bpm so I would definitely call that a symptom. It’s not necessarily an indicator of miscarriage but it is something that happens. And it absolutely has been a symptom for me, ny heart started regularly racing 7dp5dt which is a documented experience of lots of women and there’s plenty of research around this, and my heart rate increased generally as soon as the transfer worked. I don’t need to see the EPU, the scan will tell me on Thursday either way.

@Jpos I had a chemical before too, it’s beyond that stage now for me and probably for you too, and moved into clinical pregnancy so hopefully it’s all ok. I definitely won’t be doing any pregnancy tests, that’s too much stress for me.

@Doughnut89 it’s very hard not to stress. Especially when it wasn’t easy getting here, and the previous “success” ended as soon as it started. As mentioned above, it’s pointless contacting the EPU when I have scan coming up. It took me two or three days to be seen last time. Good to hear your symptoms come and go though.

I was just reading through as I approach an FET cycle (gives me some hope). Sorry to butt in and I won't have anything to contribute going forward but, if it's helpful @thislittlebird I used to be part of a TTC RHR thread where we only used RHR to track as you can definitely track ovulation and potential pregnancies with it (follows similar trend to BBT). SO many of the people on there got pregnant and had a slow gradual dip in RHR from week 6 to week 7 of pregnancy. I think it's normal to happen even when pregnancies are going perfectly. Most of them stopped wearing their watches after that. I know it probably won't stop the worry, but just in case you hadn't come across it happening to anyone else before.

@IVFKinster thanks! I knew I'd seen such groups around and honestly had never bothered with it all because I'd never been even remotely close to success. So that is reassuring to hear, thank you. I found a story of a woman who had the same pattern in a mmc and successful cycle which also helped, but good to know I'm not alone in this 6 week dip. I wouldn't have even checked if I still had lots of symptoms, and I'll keep my fitbit on for now as it's useful for me to track steps. When is your FET? Good luck, and do feel free to join if it goes well.

Glad to have given a bit of reassurance @thislittlebird ! I've got my baseline scan tomorrow so hope to start meds after that and then transfer sometime in the next few weeks! We had a freeze all IVF round last month so this will be the closest to pregnancy we've been in 4+ years. I'll definitely pop back if successful thank you 😊

@IVFKinster Best of luck with your transfer! X

@IVFKinster ah yeah, I know the 4 year journey pain. Good luck with the baseline and FET, and thanks again for sharing!

Hi ladies I'm not able to keep up, apologies but I do appreciate your good wishes and thoughts!! Right back at you all ❤️

All going well with me, that is, no spotting or bleeding, I think everything else is highly variable, very subjective and relative and will drive me mad. But yeah thoughts about my heart rate starting to drop being an ominous sign, or not having nausea for half a day, or the occasional weird pain/sensation - all these do cross my mind. Then I remind myself I saw heartbeats (I did cry a lot when we did, unashamedly and unapologetically so :) and there's no bleeding so so far so good.

The midwives in my area are apparently understaffed so I'm not getting a booking appointment until week 12-13, perhaps after my 12 week scan on the 2nd November despite being high risk by default. I'm 7+4 today so it will be long 5 weeks. I'm mostly worried about gestational diabetes but I guess I'll just have to watch my diet preemptively.

Congratulations to all of you who know the gender:)) and yeah I'm not surprised it's boys, that's common for IVF pregnancies (Y-chromosome spermatozoids swimming faster because they're lighter etc), I'm also preparing mentally for boys all being well and good.

Massive thumbs up to all the brave ladies here doing it alone, hope you have lots of support around you, you're really strong, well done!!

And yeah, looking forward to showing off a baby bump too when I get there hehe :)))

Have a lovely week everyone!! 🙂