IVF Pregnancy Club- spring/summer 2026

[pastelheart]

Wanted to start a thread for anyone expecting after IVF and due next spring/summer

I am finding it quite daunting after infertility for 4 years and then a round of IVF to now be FINALLY expecting in June 2026, can hopefully chat with anyone else in the same boat

@backtotheicsi🩷

Perusing prams at 4am being my new activity of choice 😂 😴

@magpie234 yay pram twins! When is yours due to be delivered? The pewter was out of stock on John Lewis when we went to order 🙃 so have ordered from silver cross and it’s due to be delivered end of March!

@Nosejug more than likely… my partner was out the other day and I couldn’t help myself and I put together the baby bouncer and swing (it’s just sat in our room now out of the box) he didn’t notice for 2 days lol 😂 it’s so amazing to feel kicks on the outside! My tummy doesn’t stop moving now.

@Sara237 silver cross have just brought out the Breez which is similar to the cover but smaller and folds up smaller. Just not sure how good it will be in the countryside, but worth a look

xx

@pastelheart That's so funny he didn't notice 😂 mine would be the same!
Enjoy the kicks! I remember when my son would seem to lurch right across my stomach and I'd see all the skin moving. It is miraculous isn't it? ❤️

@Sara237 I found it hard to find a lightweight one that folds up small while also being all-terrain. Cove was the best we found but tbc how well it ticks those boxes! Is quite heavy but think all the all-terrain ones are as their wheels are bigger.

@pastelheart Oh no annoying about JL! Their stock seems quite bad atm. I did order ours from there a couple of weeks ago and have now got it along with the car seat from the bundle (went for Maxi Cosi Pebble) but not built them yet. Given my current inability to walk I think that might be a job for my husband… but then we also need to get a new car. Starting to feel like time is running out but trying not to panic!

I have a midwife appointment later this morning. Not looking forward to the bit where she pushes on my pelvic bone with the tape measure as that hurt last time. I am also a bit anxious that baby might already be engaged given my severely increased pelvic pain… hopefully not! Then got a growth scan and obs consultation tomorrow. It all feels extremely real now! I will be 29 weeks on Friday.

We had the same problem with JL. We wanted the Cove in Damson. JL was out of stock with no view on when they would be back in stock.

got it in the end from UKBabyCentre.com. Never heard of them but trust pilot reviews are good.

the travel system came within about 3-4 days.

pewter is showing in stock with them at the moment as well as bundles which include the pebble as well if that’s what you’d like.

you also get 10% off for first time purchase.

its not been used yet but we got it out the box and seems to all be there.

I have no affiliation with this company. Just sharing my experience- found this company after some googling of who had stock. As you’ve seen - the Cove is popular and can be difficult to find.

All the pram shopping is very exciting! Although a little overwhelming also haha.

Interesting to hear that raynauds can make BF harder... I didn't know that and will definitely do some research.

I'm 26 weeks and had some spotting after going to the loo this morning. Had this a few times in the earlier days but thought I was past it so it's definitely caught me off guard! Can still feel baby moving so I'm not as worried as I was when it happened before I could feel any movements, but I did ring the midwife unit. They've said I need to ring the miswife unit which is an hour away from us as they don't deal with bleeding at this stage....as I've spotted before and all was fine, I'm tempted just to leave it.

Great to hear you are all getting on well. It is so exciting when you start buying things, make it feel real!

Callie was one month old on Sunday 😱

Oh, this is so lovely to see! Goodness, she's so cute and so big!

How are you doing? Are you getting anything resembling sleep?

I hope the spotting settles down soon, @CloudyIvy55.

I am keeping an eye on the pram chat - I thought I had mine sorted; someone had mine after me and they said they'd still got it and I could have it back (which was lovely; I didn't ask them to return it). However I've now heard they've been keeping it in the garden under a cover, so I'm a tiny bit unsure ... I would think it'll have gone all manky, won't it?!

My 4am browsing is all maternity clothes. I am going to buy mat jeans next time someone pays me, I think. I thought I was doing pretty well but my current ones are not comfortable.

I am good thanks, baby is a night owl 😂😂 I usually feed her about 8/9 and she will stay awake until her next bottle which means she ends up cranky and falling asleep while drinking her next bottle. Usually then feed her about 11/12 and she goes down about an hour later until about 4/5 and then back up about 8/9 so it’s not too bad.

@Nosejug that's interesting on the theories to let things air before putting a newborn in - that does make sense!

A few people were talking about colostrum harvesting - this was something we covered in my recent antenatal class actually. You shouldn't do it before 36/37 weeks as it could potentially bring on labour. We were told the official advice is 36 weeks but a lot of midwives still say 37 as that is full term so just being risk averse. And I think it's just handy to have in case for whatever reason you struggle to breastfeed to begin with e.g. think a CS can make it a bit of a slower start for milk/colostrum or if e.g. baby ends up in nicu. But equally, probably not worth stressing about too much, people have breastfed for centuries and this very much seems to be a new phenomenon!

I have had an eventful few days - went in for reduced fetal movements on sunday and ended up staying the night for monitoring as the ctgs were a bit worrying. Had a couple of extra scans while there though and they all looked okay, other than issues we were already aware of so they were happy to send us home yday afternoon. They have booked me in for another scan on tuesday and then will be every 2 weeks until the big day. The care was amazing, everyone was so lovely and thorough and I felt like I was in really safe hands and weirdly I think it's actually helped my anxiety as I was observed so closely and they were reassured. My poor partner found it hard though as after he went home at night, I was moved for 1:1 observations in a different ward for a bit and I think he just felt a bit helpless getting updates and not really knowing what was going on or how serious things might or might not be getting.

@CloudyIvy55 I'm sure the spotting is totally normal but must be worrying nevertheless. Crazy that your normal midwives don't seem interested in checking you over though.

@dubkitten oh how lovely! So nice to see someone out the other side and see them and baby thriving :)

And exciting people are getting on and ordering some of the big bits - still dithering over here but maybe I just need to put my big girl pants on and buy some things. Might be a good thing and help me get over some of the fear if I just make myself go for it - fake it 'til you make it kind of approach!

Well my pram bundle that I ordered on Sunday and wasn’t meant to be delivered until the end of March… has just turned up so I am v v v confused lol but I’m not complaining… my partner on the other hand is like where tf are we going to store all this stuff until the baby comes… dunno hun sounds like a you problem x

@CloudyIvy55 sorry to hear you are spotting, has it calmed down a bit now? Would it put your mind at ease if you got checked?

@dubkitten awwwwwww she is beautiful! I’m glad everything is going well and thank you for the cute baby pics!

@SarahAndQuackmaybe have a look at the pram first? But I think it will depend on how well covered it has been? If it’s not too bad you could steam clean it or take it to a professional cleaners to clean? Maybe I’m not sure lol! I am on my 4th pair of maternity jeans now, I dunno if I’m doing something wrong with maternity clothes but they just don’t fit very well so I have started sizing up in them too as I just don’t want anything tight on my bump

@FancyGoose the thought of harvesting is just stressing me out so I’m not going to do it. If worth comes to worst and there is any reason baby can’t feed I will pump then I think. Sorry you had an eventful few days, but glad you are home and well and so is baby. Lovely that you had such good care too. Yes go buy the things… I am having great fun buying anything and everything lol xx

Oh ... I want those baby snuggles already! You sound as if you have it all down. Still, hope you get some good long stretches of sleep before long.

Ahhh @dubkitten she’s so cute (and dressed so well!) those cherry jean turn ups oOo

@FancyGoose sorry you’ve had a worrying few days, but I know what you mean about feeling safer when they’re closely monitoring you. Nice to know they’re thinking seriously about you, and that in that context they were happy for you to go home.

@CloudyIvy55 oh sorry to hear about the spotting. My heart would drop but then of course feeling the baby move now would help ease worries. If it were me I’d go get checked (annoying it’s an hour away!) but I’m coming from a high risk context, and maybe wouldn’t be too worried either if i wasn’t!

eep @SarahAndQuack that’s annoying it’s been stored outside! Maybe go see it and give it a good smell, see if it’s dry or damp. I can imagine condensation would get in even if it’s well covered… could always just replace an insert? (I know nothing about prams)

lol @pastelheart your post made me laugh.

@Nosejug well I sorted the issue of where are we going to store the ginormous boxes and I put the pram together… it’s now in our bedroom looking all pretty. My partner said I’m ’unbelievable’ which is strange as I saved him a job lol 😂

@pastelheart Hah, I read ‘unbelievable’ as like ‘wow so amazing and strong and practical’. Surely it’s the only thing he could have possibly meant.

@Sara237 sorry for the late reply, yes I am feeling a lot better thank you, a few days of just powering through work and then sleeping when I got home but defo on the mend, my cough has pretty much gone and just a stuffy nose now, thanks for asking :)
@CloudyIvy55 hope all is well with the spotting, has it stopped now ? I have heard it can be really common for some woman to get spotting all the way through pregnancy and everything is totally fine.
@dubkitten she is just adorable crazy to think two people in the group have had their baby already, how are you settling into motherhood @worldwidetravel2017 ? Hope you are enjoying all the baby cuddles !
@pastelheart so excited you have got your pram .. I can’t wait to start buying things but we are just still slugging away waiting for this 20 weeks scan .. (20 weeks on Friday but scan is not until next week when I am 21 weeks 🤨🙄😩) it seems like still ages away 🫠
@Nosejug that’s so cool you are seeing the movement on the outside, (I think you are only 6 days ahead of me ?) I am 19+5 today? I am still just getting flutters at the minute.. I keep looking at my belly to see if I can see anything but I don’t think they are that strong yet ?! Hopefully will soon as stating to worry the flutters are still just small and they don’t seem to have got much stronger in the last 3 ish weeks ? 😵‍💫 was hoping they would feel stronger by now ?! Roll on my scan next week 🙏🤞🏽✨💛

@FancyGoose glad you were in such good care and they are monitoring you closely, and hopefully having a scan every 2 weeks now will be reassuring for you 💛

@Nosejug maybe he did mean it like that… that’s how I am going to take it actually! I wonder what he will say if I build the crib later on 🤨😂

@AmberRose26 honestly, so exciting I was like a kid at Christmas! Oh exciting for your scan! Hopefully it comes around quick for you. I could just feel flutters for a while and then I think at about 20 weeks my tummy started moving and hasn’t stopped since. I do think he’s sitting quite low atm as kicks are right down near my cervix which is fun! Xx

@pastelheart Think I missed that you are having a boy! Congrats 🩵 Good for you on building stuff! I might have a crack at the pram too. Was it pretty easy?

@AmberRose26 ah no, other folks are seeing it, but I only meant I’m feeling (and partner too when I can grab his hand on time) it on the outside. Mostly still just inside. And this only started a few days ago! Just some flutters/rolling feeling the week before. And only when I’m lying flat (so presumable my fat cushion flattens a little 🫣 enough to feel them!) I’m 20+4 today to yes 6 days ahead (well done haha. I’ve started writing people’s dates ish down so I don’t need to keep asking, I hope that’s not creepy! Otherwise my brain will not retain!)

@pastelheart hehehe whatever he meant, def chose to believe it!

I built the cot months before I was due to use it as storage 😂😂

Settling in good thanks, it feels like she has always been here!

@pastelheart Good job on the travel system build. The nesting instinct is strong! I'd be exactly the same, currently still decluttering thinking I can then thin out my bedroom stuff and have more space. 'Unbelievable' I'd defo take as praise...😂
@dubkitten She's perfect and the headband/bow is literally melting my heart! 💕 Congratulations on the one month milestone!
@FancyGoose Glad to hear you're being so well looked after though sorry you've had the extra worry. Reassuring to get the fortnightly scans.
@SarahAndQuack I'm looking at prams on FB and vinted but honestly the best ones I've seen are on that KidX UK website I mentioned. Really reasonable and great condition. I'm deliberating between a silver cross, I candy or bugaboo one ATM all less than £200 for chassis, carry cot and buggy parts. No car seat but I'll just buy that new anyway. Worth a look. The trouble with prams stored outside is the mildew. You can often get the fabric off and another option though it sounds extreme is pressure washing it. But can't always get the hood off. I'm a bit paranoid about mould spores that can't be seen also...did you get your jeans?