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Fertility Challenged Graduates Thread - Spring/Summer 2014

45K views 941 replies 32 participants last post by  tracyamber 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
This is a thread for those who have "graduated" from The Fertility Challenged Thread

Due in October 2014
monkeyscience - EDD Oct 1 - expecting baby #2 after a miscarriage 9/13 - PCOS sufferer blessed to conceive naturally


Due in November 2014
autumnlaughing - EDD Nov 15 - expecting baby #1 after 6 years, thanks to IVF


Due in December 2014
mainebaby- EDD Dec 8 - expecting baby #1 after 9 years, thanks to IVF

NaturallyMo - EDD Dec 22- expecting baby #2 after exactly one year to the day of trying and 3 rounds of Clomid


Due in January 2015
Xerxella - EDD Jan 6 (38 weeks) - expecting LC #3 & 4 after recurrent losses

Due in February 2015
milk8shake - keeping baby in as long as possible!

iixivboots - EDD early Feb - expecting babies 2 and 3

tracyamber- EDD Feb 7 - expecting baby #2 after TTC since December 2012 through IVF with no success. With a change of clinic had success on June 6,2014!!!!!!!!!!!!!
kewpie80 - EDD Feb 17 (Babies #3 and #4)

alivewithyou- EDD Feb 25 - expecting baby #1 after 8 months of trying and one miscarriage


Due in April 2015
silverbird - EDD April
chuord - EDD April 24 - expecting #1 & 2 after IVF

Due in May 2015
adiejan - EDD May 1 - expecting #1 & 2 identical twins thanks to IVF after 6 years of TTC and 2 losses

BABIES!!
Sourire - Liliana
, born May 8
Laggie - Casey
& Jasper
, born August 16
 
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#2 ·
Thanks for starting the thread!

Are you sick, or just pregnant? :) I slept from 6pm until 7:15 am, with a brief bit of awakeness (progesterone..) around midnight. Missed dinner, but my stomach was iffy on the concept anyway.. it's kind of reassuring, but I do hope it lets up on the early side...
 
#5 ·
I'm glad you're not sick, too :) I'm a bit of an emitophobe and get maybe one stomach flu every decade or so - I've been slightly nauseated for the past weekish (so much for hoping I'd skip that part..), and that's enough for me!

Had my third beta today - doubling time is 49 hours, so that was good :) They've got me in for the first u/s on the 25th, which is good - next week at work is *CRAZY*, and I don't feel like there's anything to see then, anyway.

Aside from work, I forsee sleeping for all the time between now and then..

But I also hope we'll have more people who can complain about feeling not so good soon?

@Tear78 - hi!
 
#7 ·
I keep wondering if I overstimulated some... either that or I had some sort of weird fatigue + lung virus for a week or so? My asthma (which is usually minimal) was really kicking my butt last week, which probably didn't help with the fatigue, either. I did get better about taking Singulair (my allergist strongly advised me to stay on it if I got pregnant).

I guess it's not severe even if that is what happened.. I am feeling a bit better, or at least coping better. Though now I'm worried that that means that something has gone wrong
:irked


Anyway, I hope you're doing well! I'm going to see if I can actually find coffee filters today before I get frustrated and give up!
 
#8 ·
Welcome to the new world of worrying! You thought it would end once you finally pregnant, huh?
wink1.gif
All sorts of weird and uncomfortable sensations can be totally normal in pregnancy, and probably yours are, too, for whatever comfort that may provide. When do you have an ultrasound?

I'm doing okay. Had some rough days recently. I made it through SIL's wedding and reception yesterday without feeling too bad, so that was good. I took my blood pressure at Wal-Mart yesterday, and it was 114/80, which has me a little worried. The bottom number is borderline high, and the whole thing is higher than normal and much higher than when I was pregnant with my son. Pregnancy tends to lower your blood pressure initially, and with my son I was more like 95/55 or so in the first trimester. I thought about texting my midwife to ask what she thought, but I have an appointment Friday, so I think I'll just wait it out.
 
#9 ·
Well, on a happy note - finally got the bills straightened out from my hCG tests (they charged the wrong insurance company). And even though my insurance company thinks I owe the lab $60/test, the lab says I only owe them $25/test. Which is excellent - I was not happy about the $60/test. I've had Quest do this before - charge less than what my insurance EOB says they will - and I don't know why, but I'm willing to just roll with it!
 
#10 ·
I'm really not sure that I believed I'd ever *get* pregnant at this point! But yeah, I did think some about tests etc... and not much about worrying that I was "still pregnant".

U/s isn't until next Tuesday. Because I wasn't quiet about the IVF stuff, there are a bunch of people that I probably should tell before the grapevine does, but I'm having a hard time without some sort of daily confirmation. I've forbidden myself from any HPTs - if one comes out light or is just a dud, I know I'll freak out and won't be reassured until next Tuesday!

I'm glad you got the bills sorted out - our insurance company said they'd wrap everything together and figure out one co-pay at the end.. but I have no idea what that'll be.

Thanks for mentioning that Bp sometimes drops in the first trimester - I was feeling awful until I drastically increased the salt in my diet, and I bet that was it. I should probably try one of those machines, too. For all I know, it's super high now...

I also need to start looking for an actual ob/midwife. When I started this adventure, I really wanted to try for a homebirth, but now that I don't know what my home situation will be like when I do give birth (currently living with housemates, so I'll be moving locally), I was thinking that the local birth center might be better... BUT, yesterday I was talking to a fairly anti-HB friend, and she knows people who had awful experiences at the hospital that now has the birth center, and actually sounded like she thought that a homebirth might not be a bad idea (!?) or she suggested a practice associated with another hospital. And once I know where I'll be living, I'll probably be upset that I didn't try for a homebirth. I feel like I have a little "extra" time to sort it out since the early care is being taken care of by the IVF center, but I should still get this sorted out in the next few weeks. Sorry, long rant :)
 
#11 ·
Good for you for staying away from the HPTs - they are really very, very meaningless at this point. By the time they'd really look different, you would probably already know you were miscarrying, anyway. Mine took FOREVER to get back to nothing after my m/c. And you've got enough hCG now they probably won't really get any darker, too.

I called the OB's office today to try to figure out what I owe them for my u/s visit. Way too freakin' much, I'm sure, from the EOBs, but they haven't called me back with a number yet. I hope you don't get massive sticker shock when you get your bill. But on the happy side - hey, you are pregnant! So much better paying those bills when you get the desired result than when you don't. It would be nice if IF treatments were like some apartment applications - if you don't get approved (pregnant), they keep an administrative fee, but give your big security deposit back! And yes, the bp thing can definitely make you woozy. I didn't know about it, either, until mine was so low with my son. It freaked me out until they told me it was normal. I learned a LOT of things can happen to your body when you're pregnant besides just morning sickness. I feel like I had almost every weird symptom in the book with my son.

Good luck figuring out what you want to do for your prenatal care/birth. It is good that you have monitoring for now so you have time to think about it. I know for some people, after all they've gone through to get their baby, they feel like they need all the monitoring and medical watchcare they can get. Others feel like after so much poking and prodding, they want the bare minimum of medical messing around possible. I'd say talk to some OBs and some midwives, and see who you click with. :)
 
#12 ·
Heard the heartbeat today - took a little bit to find it, but it's 160 bpm, so we are still looking good! Also, I lost 1.5 lbs since my last visit, which is okay with me. I was STARVING this time, so I'm sure I'm right back to where I was now that I've had dinner!
 
#13 ·
That's awesome :)

I'm really hoping that we'll get to see a heartbeat next Tuesday - I'm hoping that'll help me be more comfortable with the idea that we finally Succeeded. I get why it's so hard for me to trust that, but I wasn't expecting it!

(We had the most stressful day of the year at work today - I mostly forgot that I was pregnant, except that eating was really a challenge (which sometimes happens when I'm stressed anyway) and getting out at 8 felt like 11! )
 
#14 ·
Yay for hb!!!!
 
#15 ·
Sooo, do I count as a fertility challenged grad, even though I am an IVF thread grad?

Her is my miracle donor unknown race frozen for 10 years who just happens to look just like us and fit perfectly into our little family baby...
 
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#18 ·
Oh, what a cutie, rcr!! Is her hair a little red? It looks that way in the first picture. And WOW... it is crazy to look at that baby and think that she was a frozen ball of cells for 10 years. I mean, I know people do FETs and all, but I guess I'd never really thought about how crazy that is, in a way. So she was actually "conceived" in 2003 or so? I now feel like we live in a sci-fi movie - in a really cool way! I'm still so excited for your miracle baby. As far as I'm concerned, you're very welcome here. The IVF grads have had a few posts lately, and the IF One thread grads has pretty much died (sadly), so I started a new thread.

Autumn - Big day tomorrow!! Hope that everything looks awesome in there. Definitely let us know what you find out! And I hope work stress diminishes some, too.

Kewpie -
hola.gif
Hope to see you become an official thread member soon!

AFM, I started Prilosec yesterday to try to help with the heartburn-induced nausea. I thought I was doing better yesterday, but today I'm not sure. I think I am having somewhat less heartburn, but my insides just felt BAD a lot of today, and nothing (medicine, food, etc.) really seemed to help. I am so, so over feeling like garbage. I'm really ready to skip ahead to 20 weeks!
 
#20 ·
Monkey - congrats on the HB! What great news. Yea, sometimes I feel like I am living in a science fiction novel. I don't know what is up with her hair. Her looks have changed a lot and keep changing. When she was born we really thought she was Asian (we are not Asian). We were like... Ok, we knew this was a possibility... I guess we have some explaining to do because we had not told anybody about the donor embryos. Then she didn't look Asian after a week or so. It is crazy how babies change in the first few months. I didn't notice it with DS, but never really thought about it because he is our genetic child. With her we didn't know what to expect, so I was really aware of it. I would like to do that DNA testing that tests for ethnicity someday, just so that I have something to tell her... I know she will eventually have a lot if questions, and I don't have many answers. Other than the fact that she was frozen as 3 cells for more than a decade, her genetic parents disappeared (I wonder if they got a divorce or if one of them died, because who could really "forget" about their frosties after going through IF) but fortunately had the good sense to sign the documents to donate her when they originally froze her. Crazy...
 
#23 ·
Hey I'd like to join if you ladies don't mind! For those who don't know me I used to be on the IVF thread before the Fertility Challenged One thread was started!

Monkey - I'm so excited to see you've made it to 12 weeks! We're you more anxious this time after your miscarriage? Are you starting to feel confident about this pregnancy yet? I know 12 weeks and my nuchal translucency ultrasound were a huge relief to me after my prior miscarriage.

Autumn - best of luck with your ultrasound today!

Rcr - what a cutie! It seems like fate must have brought you together with her.
 
#24 ·
Blurb.. sure... (keeping the same format...)

autumnlaughing - EDD Nov 15 - expecting baby #1 after 6 years,thanks to IVF

The u/s went well - we saw a heartbeat! The nurse noted that it would be reassuring for about 24 hours... I thanked her for making me feel less crazy! But - yeah :) So, I've started telling the people who need to be told ahead of the rumor mill - we haven't been very quiet about it, so I may be late on a few :/ but, you do what you can.

I also get to stop the progesterone + estrogen, so that's good. I meant to ask what she meant by that (should I taper etc.) but I couldn't really get a word in edgewise - doesn't really matter. I've been ramping down a tiny bit on them, and I'll probably keep it up for a little while. The exhaustion/low blood pressure is taking a toll on some of my relationships, so it would be nice if that let up a bit... It's no wonder so many couples become hermits! I can't imagine maintaining a social life when you can't even explain why you can't really do anything after work...

Just afterwards, I found out that a close friend had her baby (hyperemesis the whole way, so really glad!) this morning. We were actually at different buildings in the same hospital!

@rcr - She is Adorable!!! Thanks for the pictures!!

@Sourire - welcome! I remember some discussion about your icon when I first came back - someone posted a picture of a serious grey woman strewing bright flowers the other day, and I thought of how much I felt like that. Every time I tell someone the news, they're SO EXCITED!!! and I'm just nervous. I'm glad to hear that it gets better!

Ok - I've now been up for over an hour later than I intended... *hugs* to all!!
 
#25 ·
Autumn - YAY!! Glad it was good news. And yeah, glad the nurse forewarned you that the reassurance can wear off quickly! I would probably taper off the medicine, as opposed to going cold turkey. But don't be surprised if the low blood pressure and exhaustion remain! We've told a ton of people so far, and I meant to do a big FB announcement after seeing the HB, but I have just not been up to it, between dh being gone for work for the last week, and feeling pretty crummy again the last couple of days.

Sourire - Welcome aboard! I'm sorry the grads thread kind of died out on you, but you're more than welcome here. I have to live vicariously through you and my cousin, to know what an April/May baby would have been like. It's hard to believe you're already 33 weeks! I always get super excited when people pass 24 weeks (viability), and then increasingly more excited as each week goes by, and chances are better and better that they are going to have a perfect, healthy baby. I still stalk your blog, though you don't update much. :p ;) Considering the turmoil of my loss and hesitance on TTC, I've actually been remarkably calm about this pregnancy. Between the rising betas and a blessing my dh and father gave me very early on, I have felt certain this baby was going to make it. The 6w ultrasound and the nausea further reinforced that feeling. I know anything can happen, but I actually would have been absolutely stunned to not hear a heartbeat at 12w. I am glad, although I still detest being sick, that my m/c was so very different than my two viable (thus far) pregnancies. I would still rather not be sick and deal with the worry, but since I don't have that choice, at least I can feel reassured by being ill. Incidentally, my mw agreed with me that things probably went wrong very early in my previous pregnancy, which was why I didn't develop symptoms, but just took awhile to result in miscarriage. Do you want a blurb in the first post?

Hi, Tenzi! I'm sure I sound like a total nut, but it's so nice and warm and fuzzy to see so many of my "old" IF friends pop up here and on the Fertility Challenged thread, and a few other places. I have missed so many of you since many of us have had babies and others have taken a break from MDC and/or TTC. I've felt like I'm missing my family. I'm sure it sounds creepy, but I still think about you ladies a lot, and hope you are doing well!
 
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