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 🩷

@MintOwl @dubkitten @SarahAndQuack @Nosejug @magpie234

well no baby, no contractions during the night (cramps and twinges but that’s it)

we did go for a walk late last night and that was so uncomfortable, and I did have an upset tummy (which I thought could have been my bbq food LOL but my partner was fine) and I have lost some of my mucus plug… but alas no baby ☹️😓

with my first son (still sounds strange saying FIRST son lol) I had twinges for 6 hours and then my waters broke. There was none of this stop start/is this it?/omg this is it!/ffs no it’s not… and honestly that was great- this is like torture. As I am obviously letting my partner know what’s going on and I keep asking him, do you think I’m the girl who cried wolf (and he says no and understands it can be stop start) but honestly yesterday the contractions came on fast and I couldn’t talk through them, I was convinced it was it 😓😓 let’s see what today brings, I’m at home by myself until
this afternoon, partner only 45 mins away so can shout him if I need him

i hope everyone’s okay! Xx

@SarahAndQuack I hope the birthday party went well! What position did the girls decide the baby was in?

@Nosejug well I’m glad I’m doing the sample the right way like everyone else lol 😂 just so weird that it keeps coming up and then they look at me when I’m lying when I say I have no symptoms

@magpie234 ah no, I’m sorry sleep
is hard to come by. I am sure things will settle soon. How many times is she waking a night?

xx

@pastelheart aw man! Sorry you’re been tricked again! Is baby moving about alright and things? Going to bed last night I was wondering what messages we might be waking up to! Hope you managed to get some rest at least. Once again how nice it’d be to be able to make each other a cup of tea etc!

and eeek @magpie234 aorry to hear about continued sleep and feeding struggles. As I’ve no experience of either I’m useless to you, but I do hope it gets better soon. In my imagination having someone come over and do all the baby care for you besides feeding would at least help you get a few extra hours of sleep which would probably improve everything, but I probably just don’t understand that it’s not feasible. Wishing you some uninterrupted sleep!

hah @SarahAndQuack thats so funny! They’ll be loving having access to a pregnancy and asserting knowledge over you! I’d be frazzled after such a party!! Happy bday to your daughter :D 🎈

@Nosejug yeah he’s moving around fine and everything, so at least that isn’t a stress. Just frustrating it’s stop/starting, I deffo think something is happening… just don’t know how long that’s going to go on for! Honestly, can you imagine if this carries on and I go over 40 weeks? I will loose my freaking mind lol 😂 I went early with my first and that’s the deadline I have in my head (in 7 days time) xx

Oh I forgot to say @pastelheart on the night dress front, new (quality) ones are weirdly expensive? Like I found a verrry £££ company who I let send me emails in the hopes they have an excellent sale one day (called if only if) and I found one new button down cotton one at tk maxx, my fave is the excellent quality second hand one by past times (short sleeved and open necked) and then some cheap ones I found on vinted/ebay that can be used for lochia time.

@Nosejug what do you search when looking for them? I did actually order a few cotton and muslin short floaty night dresses from M&S yesterday that should work well with feeding and summer time so looking forward to getting those this week. Ordered a few different nursing bras as well, from M&S and skims so can report back on those. I have some from boux avenue and some cheaper ones from Amazon already but wanted to try a few more x

Oh yes! I need advice on nursing bras. I
might go M&S too. I read your message on the other thread, I am very much a non wired crop top style bra person, though atm I think they’re contributing to back pain so I let myself go free in the house haha.

hmm I went a bit intense when I was searching, I find eBay’s search functions more highly tunable than vinted who even when you tick cotton mix in polyester and (
even when you type night dress show you
a million Pairs of pyjamas. Try different combos of ‘nightdress nightgown Victorian button down white cotton floral’ etc and on eBay my best tip is ticking used and sorting for ‘ending soonest’. Once vinted got the idea of what I was looking for it’s algorithm showed me stuff, but ‘Victorian’ can be misleading, and you end up with actual antique items which are not ideal!

@Nosejug I think for nursing bras it will be trail and error. I think my ribs are quite sensitive (remember my rib pain from everything expanding at the start of pregnancy lol) so even not pregnant I HATE anything tight on my ribs (I blame covid lockdown and never having to wear a bra) the cheap ones I got from Amazon are comfy but I think that’s because I sized up and they are not tight at all, but then they offer no support so it’s swings and roundabouts. Hopefully the new ones I have ordered are a bit more supportive but still comfy. The ones I already have from Boux and comfy crop top style but they are a bit tight around my ribs now when im
pregnany so hoping they become comfy again when my rib cage shrinks back down 😂

I will start searching on the nightdresses, thank you! Xx

@pastelheart oh gosh that’s exciting and confusing for you all at the same time .. I do hope things either ‘just happen’ or calm for you till they are ready to ‘happen’ I wonder if you are dilated at all ? If your mucus plug has moved I assume your cervix has started to open ?! That’s a good sign I would say ? Just you take it easy and I hope you can relax ( easier said that done😅)

@Nosejug haha I am 100 percent with you on not wearing a bra .. av just abandoned mine unless am really in public .. I have resorted to dresses now as it’s a bit warmer here now and all my trousers are too tight round the waist and hurt but just no point buying more when I only have 5 ish weeks left ! So dresses and no bra is my ‘attire’ now 😂 lucky my fiancé works from home so if the postie comes to the door I shout him to answer so am not flashing my nips at everyone at the door 🫣😂

@SarahAndQuack oh happy birthday to your DD.. Hope you all had a lovely day .. and you bump isn’t to traumatised by the children 😅

on the bra subject I got some of shien and they are actually not to bad .. they are feeding ones so the cup but can be fastened or down for nursing and I can insert pads also and they were dirt cheap so I do recommend them, they arnt cotton though but just thought ad mention.

very much with you on this @magpie234
my baby has a meltdown every time we try breast feeding and it’s 50/50 each time whether she’ll latch on. Have started using nipple shields a bit which has helped. But basically doing combo feeding each feed followed by 20 mins on the pump so it is pretty relentless. She’s still pretty sleepy so in the nighttime particularly we have to set timers to wake her up to feed and then that can take ages so the whole regime can last up to two hours at worst. Bearing in mind they want us to feed her every 2-3 hours at the moment (still getting back to her birth weight), the maths doesn’t really work!! It’s a good job she’s so cuddly and cute.

@magpie234I can completely relate! Baby boy is 4 weeks today. The lack of sleep is brutal, especially having a baby who wants constant contact and wont be put down for long. Its not for everyone and before having a baby I would of said I'd never do it but we have began co sleeping some of the time. I was at the point where I was falling alseep holding the baby and decided that couldnt carry on so have followed safe co sleeping guidelines. I'm still tired but its helped take the edge off the sheer exhaustion.

Did any of your appointments help with the feeding? Again, I was naive to how draining breastfeeding can be. Especially the cluster feeding on these hot days!!

I'm trying not to wish the time away, especially after all the years of hard work and heartbreak to get here but its bloody tough!

Sorry to hear some of you are struggling with sleep but just wanted to say it does eventually get better. We are at 4.5 months now and she went down at 10pm last night until 6.40am this morning!

@dubkitten omg that sounds like a dream!!

It’s not every night but generally she only wakes once during the night so there is light at the end of the tunnel even if it seems so far away now!

Amazing! Great to hear

@pastelheart how are you feeling today ? Can I ask what contraction timer app were you using ?

@AmberRose26 feel absolutely normal again 😂😂 well boiling hot but no more labour signs, have been a bit stressed so maybe that’s putting it all on hold!

yeah course, it’s just called “contraction timer” and the icon is pink with a little baby in the middle xx

I wonder if you are in early labour then or if it was braxton hicks ? Hope you can stay cool, I have fan on in my room as we speak .. 🥵
Thanks for the app name . Am going to download it

@AmberRose26 honestly no clue! We will have to wait and see lol how are you coping in the heat?
it’s a struggle, I just had a cold bath lol which was lovely!

I hope everyone else is doing okay and not feeling too bad in the heat xoxox

ooh a cool bath would be nice. I’ve not been allowed in water since 16 weeks but I’m gonna try a nice cool shower before bed! We’re Lucky that the front of our house only gets late evening sun and that’s where we hang out and sleep so there’s always somewhere cool to go. If I lived in London still I’m not sure how I’d cope 😬 I hope you’ve all got a safe cool place to be. How on earth do you keep newborns cool?

@Nosejug I know, when I knew it was going to be hot I was like oh god I hope I’m not still
pregnant then… but then I thought actually I would rather not have a newborn in that heat!

well I just went for my 38+6 midwife appointment and had a stretch and sweep! Feel very crampy and feeling strange twinges and pops so we shall see if anything happens.

I also have to go for a growth scan as my bump has got smaller but I think it’s just because baby is fully engaged and my bump has dropped so not too worried!

how is everyone? X

Oooh exciting. Honestly every morning one of the first things I do is check and see if you’ve had your baby hehe!

@Nosejug hahaha! Well… no baby popped out during the night! I feel like there’s a big rush to get him out atm from everyone else but I’m honestly quite happy just chilling and seeing when he comes, obvs would love for him to be here asap but I know I will change my mind as soon as the clock strikes midnight at 40 weeks 😂😂

I did have a little bleeding last night, just when I wiped and haven’t had anymore so I’m not too worried think it’s just from the sweep yesterday but will keep an eye on it

thank god it’s cooled down a bit now, it was like a wind tunnel in our room last night, was lovely lol xx

@pastelheart Glad you're feeling ok after your sweep and yes thank goodness it's a bit cooler! Chilling and not getting swept up in others' impatience sounds the way to go! My inlaws keep asking me if I'll go to term - weird question as if I control everything. I'm avoiding them ATM! Have a good day. Xx

Ooh @pastelheart i hope very much I wasn’t adding to the litany of pressure, I think just with all the changes you’ve been experiencing I kept thinking it was about to happen, but absolutely keep them cooking and enjoy that wind tunnel! I’m praying to make it to my section date and now in a very selfish - must get decorating finished!! - way rather than out of concern for gestation. It’s quite wonderful knowing that minimal support will now be needed if at all, I’m just a normal pregnant woman finally!

how are you spending your time? Has anyone done batch cooking for their freezer? I haven’t started yet, but I think I’ll make a mild dhal first of all. I was thinking lasagne too but then that’s tricky as requires two hands to eat. Maybe a batch of veggie burgers…