IVF Pregnancy Club- Part Two

[pastelheart]

Hey girls!

thread number two for us, thank you again for all being so lovely and supportive. I still can’t believe, after all those years and all the upset… are babies are on their way ♥️

IVF pregnancy club Due Dates/Birth Dates

AmberRose- 3rd July (baby girl) 🩷
Sara237- 24th June (could be a week earlier)
Zirafica- 21st August, c-section could be 14th August
Magpie234- 1st May, could be 24th April (baby girl) 🩷
Nosejug- 27th June, may be earlier though
Fancygoose- 28th March- c-section could be 24th March
SarahAndQuack- 19th June
MintOwl- 14th May, (baby girl) 🩷
CloudyIvy55- 15th May
SamVan- 7th April (baby boy) 🩵
Pastelheart- 4th June (baby boy) 🩵

Dubkitten- baby girl born 8th January 2026 🩷

Wow your so close now @magpie234! I bet on one hand it's nice to have a set date to look forward too but also a little scary! Are you still at work? Long showers and naps sound lovely!

36 weeks for me today. I've definitely been feeling what google calls 'Lightening crotch'' - what a horrible name 😂 and I'm very tired today. Thank goodness I'm already on maternity leave so I've spent most of the day watching Netflix.

Hi @magpie234do you remember when you got the date for your c section confirmed? My midwife said they’d let me know closer to the time but I’d love to know is that like a week in advance or a month in advance or two months?

@CloudyIvy55 Not working now thank goodness! I am not good for much atm. Lots of Netflix here too!

@zirafica I think about a month in advance at like 36 weeks? Is quite close to the time so I would prepare for that.

I still don't know if I'm having a section or what - I hope my midwife will talk about it tomorrow. 31 weeks last Friday. I did a long day gardening for clients with heavy clay soil yesterday, and it was ok, but I decided driving back that it's the last time I do more than 4 hours digging. Weirdly I could feel it more after I stopped - or maybe the baby just woke up and had a good old punch at my sore muscles then!

It feels as if we're suddenly all getting through it, doesn't it?! Who would have thought?

Hi, glad everyone is getting on well apart from the aches and pains. @SarahAndQuack the thought of 4 hours digging...wow! It's as much as I can do to pull up about 2 weeds 😂
It does feel amazing to be here doesn't it?
@zirafica Consultant booked my elective in at the anomaly scan was that 20 or 24 weeks? St something like that!

I've just put the next to me crib together and it looks huge. Thinking I should have got a little space saver wooden cot but hey ho!
Here's to another week. 😊

Oh, I've been thinking about getting a next to me crib! Are they huge?!

I was all set for co-sleeping but I am slightly havering because DD is having a bit of a clingy time and keeps wanting to come in with me, and I don't want her to feel she's been chucked out for the baby.

@SarahAndQuack It's really not that big at all; my bedroom just looks like a baby bed warehouse ATM with the Moses basket and stand and now the next to me cot. Need to remind myself that the basket can go downstairs when he arrives! Plus all the other bits like bouncer, changing bag, travel system bits...there's so much stuff 😂 i co-slept with my son from about 2 months anyway so prob won't use any of it...

My next to me crib is up and ready - the side of it is see through mesh so now I'm wondering if I'll even bother having the side down at all 🤦‍♀️😅

I've been having some mild period type pains and some mucus type discharge (sorry tmi) - I know it's normal but I still rang the midwife to double check. 36 and 4 days today. This is going to be a long wait and I really don't want to over analyse every symptom. For the ladies who have given birth before....how did you know labour was close? I know it's different for everyone.

I had no warning signs at all, waters just went in the middle of the night, I thought I just needed a wee 🙈😂

Same with mine @CloudyIvy55. Have set it up and love it. Tutti Bambini Cozee Air 2 I think it is.

Oh gosh @dubkitten… hoping I get through the next 8 nights to my scheduled op without any such midnight surprises! Girl in my baby group had this happen the night before hers 🫠. Now on 6-8 loo trips a night over here…

@Sara237 the baby warehouse image made me grin! We are polar opposites - I'm still jittery about getting anything ready.

I had my midwife yesterday and a scan today, and baby is head down, weighs about 4lbs and placenta looks good, so I'm going to talk to the consultant next week about maybe trying a home birth if I go into labour before 40 weeks (ie., don't need to be induced). I was in a really good mood about this ... then went into my former workplace to buy stuff I needed, and my (male, twatty) former colleague looked me up and down and said 'surprised you're still going ... can you actually bend down at all?' I managed to say politely I had 8 weeks to my due date so it'd be a bit early to go on maternity yet, and he followed it up with 'ooh, bet you're waddling around'.

WTF is it with some people? Do they not realise how rude they're being?

Eek! 8 nights!

I was scheduled for an induction the next day so wasn’t expecting to go myself!

That’s awful! Some people have no cop-on!

They do not!

Were you wrong-footed by going into labour so unexpectedly? It feels on here as if you take everything in your stride!

Oh wow @SarahAndQuack your new maximum 4 hours of digging rule 🫣 what a strong and healthy pregnancy!

I’ve been moving with a little more confidence since turning 30 weeks, reclining less and only lying down if I feel a lot of pressure. So have started stripping Victorian wallpaper paste from the room intended for baby, I looked up what would have been used at the time (to make sure it was safe) and it’s a boiled water and flour mix! Certainly is goopy and takes a graft to be rid of it. Occasionally we find doodles underneath that would have been put on by the first house owners!

im also unsure about birth, I get close to saying elective C-section but it wouldn’t truly be elective. It’s just that the consultant says her main concern is that my cervix won’t open, won’t even be able to be induced as it’s so scarred the induction tools might not be able to enter. What o don’t want is to labour for hours and hours and then have to have emergency section (she said baby can bulge into birth canal due to the pressure being put on them) or to partially dilate and tear my cervix which is dangerous. But they’re not suggesting section is better yet so I’m just a bit lost. Keeping my mind focussed on the joy of still being pregnant rather than birth worries, I think basically I’ve to wait and see 😬

and wowwww so close now @magpie2347 nights to go!!!

Oh, goodness, I have all the feelings about stripping Victorian wallpaper! Some of ours was that. Then we also had some absolutely vile 1980s woodchip which nearly broke me. So nasty! And I guess it's swings and roundabouts - you are balking at the digging, but there's no way I'd be stripping wallpaper right now!

That sounds a hard choice about labour. I'm also really put off by induction - my ex had one that wasn't pleasant. However, I didn't realise until my NCT class last week why some of the things happened as they did. We could have requested a debrief at the time but DP was very sure it would only be more upsetting for her (which, obviously, she wanted to avoid!). The only downside of not having had it was that both of us had felt really unsure why they didn't let her have a section having said it was an option, but apparently there are points when they really can't stop the process, and we didn't know that. It's such a minefield!

No not at all. I’m a very relaxed person and takes a lot to get me stressed so just went with the flow. Probably helped I knew I was going to get induced the next day anyway. My main worry was a possible c section (as I drive a lot) so was relieved that didn’t end up happening

Could you booked an elective just so you have an end date and then see if anything happens naturally? It might ease your worries

@SarahAndQuack Cheeky colleague. People do ask and say the most ridiculous things. A woman I don't know that well asked if I'd used my own eggs or donor eggs in Sainsburys the other day...I just refer vaguely to medical assistance now and change the subject. Also frequently asked if it was planned or unexpected which if I say planned, opens up another line of enquiry. I think I'll start bluntly saying that's a bit personal and move on but I feel for you with the sheer gormlousness of SO many people!
@Nosejug It's a lot to think about. But you can keep options open and see what happens. I laboured for hours and then had emergency c section so I can understand you wanting to avoid that, as dubkitten suggests, you could book it in and still see what happens. On a different note, the diy sounds fun! Amazing what they used to use in old houses. Enjoy!

Oh, my goodness! That's such an incredibly rude question, about donor eggs! I'm not a terribly private person and I would still find that so intrusive.

Someone the other day asked me if this one was my friend's baby (the one I did IVF with before), and while we do know each other and I understand the question, it hurt.

Sometimes it is funny though - a lesbian couple I know had someone who they think was trying to find a PC way to ask if they'd done reciprocal IVF, but ended up looking at the non-pregnant one and saying 'and is the baby yours?' which made us all crack up.

I know there is people who know me that are wondering who I got pregnant by as I never said anything about using a donor. It’s not something secret but it not something I advertise either. The main people in my life (family and friends) all know