Pregnancy after LT TTC #17

hi everyone

lori- congrats on the scan and that you are having a girl (as MH says, you could also see on ours it was clearly a boy)...you must feel relieved... sorry about the stressful meeting tho :-(

oneday- woohooo 13 weeks...it's so exciting!

yogi- great to hear from you! wishing you the very very best for this next cycle...cmon BFP and a sticky baby

airline- glad you have worked out some routines etc that work!! it sounds like such a full on time in those early weeks... you are doing so well! xx

MH- acupuncture sounds great...and how great to feel movement! still waiting for that

kelly- thinking of you!

afm- halfway today! woohooo...there was a time I never thought we would make it this far
we head away tomorrow, so catch up with you all next week! DH and I are so looking forward to our mini break.

wow possums, i feel like that time has flown by for you! you may not agree with that lol.

lori - oh that's annoying about the scan result, hopefully you get another look to confirm!!! and lol about your mum buying stuff. she must be so excited!

MH - yeah we had one of those scans with the chord between the legs... and the hands! and the legs crossed! I think we were just not meant to find out!! but how i'd love to know so i can shop!!!! :)

yogi - oh love all fingers toes legs and arms are crossed you are in here soon love. oxoxo

airline - I hope bub is cooperating a bit more today! you poor thing. But did you have to come in here and talk about having a wine!!! lol.

oneday - congrats on 13 weeks!!!

hey Kel - omg you are a wonder woman 'getting the house ready' AND carrying those little boys around in your tum too!!! I can barely managed to put the washing away most days and just do the bare minimum!!! You continue to amaze me.

not much to report here. ;) reflux is killing me atm and so are my hips, which keep me awake at night gggrrrr.

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Hey Lori - Sounds like girl then. I can assure you there are dingle dangles between the legs well and truly at th 20 week mark. I have a pic of my boys frank & beans (which were not small either), so there's no denying it for us. Although our ultrasound person is the best in the region and has all the latest equipment. She is prepared to stand by 100% what she see's is the sex. I think the issue lies when they can't get a clear shot between the legs or the cord is between the legs, and perhaps the equipment they use. Was your's a 4D scan like mine?

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Hi, no my scan was just the very basic free 2D one at the hospital. In fact this one the pictures were less clear than the 2D one I had done at 13 weeks. We got a much better profile of the face shot at that one and got the "scarey ailen face" shot too. This time he took the same pics but they aren't as clear. So maybe thats why he was hesitant to give an answer regarding the sex.

I am thinking it might be worth paying to go to a place that specialises in pregnancy ultrasounds - the 3D or 4D ones.

When I was pregnant with my daughter (almost 15 years ago) my 2nd scan was at the Royal Women's hospital because they had specialist equipment and since my first scan (at 16 - 18 weeks) had shown she might be "growth retarded" they had referred me there to get the most detailed scan they could. The guy doing the scan there was obviously very experienced as well and very confident to tell me she was definately a girl. So I'm thinking maybe a different ultrasound technician with better equipment might be able to give me a more definate answer.

While I was waiting for my ultrasound yesterday I got chatting to a woman who was 37 weeks pregnant and having a follow up scan. she told me she was hoping they might be able to find out what it was at this scan as the 20 week scan the bub was in a position where they couldn't see. She said she already has 2 boys (both of whom did the same thing in their scans so they couldn't tell the sex of either of them either) so she is hoping this one might be a girl but has no idea. I hope she got good news at her scan. Would be horrible to really want to find out and not be able to. And I guess since she's only had 2 boys she's probably got a ton of boys stuff and no girls stuff so if it turns out to be a girl it will be alot of last minute shopping!

Lori
DD - 14
Bub due 28th Aug (possibly a girl)

Hi gals

Possums - Oh my goodness - nearly half way - what a huge achievement! Every day must be even more wonderful for you and it' so nice to see you ticking along to getting your much wanted bubba

Lori - another girl by the sounds of it. Yeah I have to say when it's a boy it's pretty darn obvious... Congrats! I know that's what you were hoping for :)

Mindhugs - where do you get the accupuncture (not location, I mean where on your body)? It sounds cool.

Grub - oh you poor thing re the reflux. I am relying heavily on the milk at the moment, which seems to help. Maybe I shouldnt eat so much chocolate... yeah right!

Yogi - I have everything crossed for you darl, :pray: that we see you back in here very very soon.

Airline - you sound exhausted. I remember it well and am trying to psych myself up for it again. You have your good and bad days, and I'm glad to see you have wine on standby for the bad days!

Hi everyone else!

Well I got a call from my OB yesterday following my glucose test on saturday, apparently my iron levels are looooowwww. Like, ridiculously low... So it's back on the iron supplements for me, and if that doesn't work it's injections. At least I'm used to injections! At least it explains why I've been so tired and breathless!

Hi ladies thanks im very happy to be at 13 weeks, every week brings more and more excitment!

Well i had my last appointment with my first IVF specialist/obstertrician and i was very sad leaving! Im going with the public system so im now just going be dealing with my local GP and the midwifes. I know its silly but i feel like im a bad mum, we have spent so much on IVF yet i cant affford to stay with an obstertrician i love because we arn't in a health fund, i just want to be able to give my baby the best of everything because as you all know these are very precious bubs. I know im being very very silly i guess its just hard as DR Farag was the man that opened our eyes to IVF and was the begining of our journey and today i had to say goodbye. I just wish we joined a health fund ages ago. sorry for my winge i know i will get over it and wil be looked after by the midwifes.

Aww Oneday I think it's lovely that you have a fondness for your FS. While my FS/OB is the same guy and I think he's great, I couldn't wait to say goodbye to the witches at the FS clinic!

And no you are not a bad mum!! Look at what you have put yourself through to get your bubba in the first place!!!

Yes, you will be well looked after in the public system but bear in mind that IVFers tend to be a little more on the paranoid side (I know I sure as hell am!) and need a lot of reassurance, so don't be afraid to ask every question as many times as you want so that you can be as relaxed and happy as you deserve to be.

Hi,

Thank you all so so much for listening to my marriage problems and being so nice about it. Thank you - you made me feel very normal and like it will hopefully be one of those things that we can get through. I actually think him being away for work all week has been a good thing so we can both have some thinking space. I spoke to him last night (he rang to say goodnight to DS) and it sounded like he had been thinking. We all know that in-grained attitudes are hard to change though. Anyway, thank you!

Oneday - congrats on getting to the next milestone. The public private issue is such a hard one, isn't it. Don't feel like you are doing your baby any disservice by going public though. You/we have already spent so much just getting to this point, that now the bank is pretty much empty. You get the same baby at the end of it all. I think, from memory that you are in the same area as me and I know from experience that the public services here are great. We have options - hospital antenatal clinic, community midwives and midwifery group practice. With DS I went through the comm midwives - which are a team and you see people from the team throughout your pregnancy and then at your birth. I loved them. This time I wanted to go to the Group practice where you see the same midwife throughout, but as I am considered high risk (from GD last time) they wouldn't take me. So, this time I am going through the antenatal clinic at the hospital, which so far has been fantastic. I make all of my appointments for a Friday and see the same midwife every time. Sorry to bombard you with info that you probably already know, but just wanted you to know that it is not a second rate system by any means. And, Dr Farag works at the hospital too, so there is a chance that he could still be the one to deliver your baby. Save your money for the fun stuff!

Bug's mum - what's going on with your iron girl? Hope you can sort that out straight away.

Lori - so sorry to hear about your horror day. What an awful way to end the relationship with the family you've been caring for. Makes you want to go work in an office, doesn't it. And then the uncertain scan. Yeah, maybe going to a more high-tech place would be money well-spent if you want to find out the sex. You can claim a bit of it on Medicare. I think I got about $100 back from my 19week scan, which cost $225.

Grub - what's up with your hips? Sorry if you've said already (I have no memory). Is it something that will linger till the end?

Possums - Yay for reaching the top - now just the downhill slide till the end. Have a great trip away!

Mindhugs - can I ask what the acu is for? Or is it just a general pregnancy health one you can do? I used to go when I was TTC but didn't think there was much they could do until the end. If it gets bub moving though then that's really cool!

Yogi - HI! I hope hope hope that this long horrible journey ends so sweetly for you with this cycle. Good luck xoxo

Airline - very glad you've found a way to get some sleep. Best of luck! xo

afm - nothing much here, just trying to think through marriage issues and trying to create enough space in my tiny house for a baby. I know they are pretty small, but they need a bit of stuff still. Ahhhh

Thanks girls xo

oh bug's mum - I had low iron, not overly tho and started on iron tablets and OMG the difference was noticeable in my energy level. But TMI coming - be warned it can make your number 2s black! freaked me out til I goggled lol. I am taking them every 2nd day now cos they do constipate me, another thing i dont' need atm lol.

oneday - kaybee sounds so postiive about your public system there! i hope you are happy with it ... and so true kaybee, you get the same baby. and it's you who does all the work anyway! But i understand your disappointment. We coudln't get into a private one here (there are only 3) and i had no choice but to go public, which apparently the delivery part is fine... it's the sharing of the ward part here that can be a huge issue. But we got into the birth centre/midwife program like kaybee did for her first and it really has hit the spot with me :) and it's public :) so there are options love.

kaybee - i'm so glad he's at least thinking things through and I hope you guys can work it out. It's amazing what a good ole heart to heart does... but if he's anything like my DH that communication ONLY comes at the 11th hour once I'm nearly beside myself with stress etc ox

Oh, my hips. The relaxin hormone makes them over-stretch when i'm laying on my side (which we are SUPPOSED to do) when i sleep and then I get like a cramp in the hip joint. It's very very painful and I'll often react so quick i then get a cramp in my calf or thigh. So i spend the night with pillows between my legs to try and even my hips out so they don't overstretch so to speak and then turn from side to side to give each leg a rest. At the moment I am waking about every hour in pain. On a bad night, the aching will linger for most of the day.... but mostly it feels fine within an hour of getting up! ah the joys of pregnancy. Unfortuantely I also have an awful neck and back so sitting propped up just brings up a whole other bunch of issues for me... but SEVEN MORE WEEKS TIL FULL TERM!!!

had a cup of raspberry leaf tea today cos normal tea just returns to haunt me for several hours afterwards. I thought it'd be fine to have one cup and slowly build up to when i'm allowed more at 34/36 weeks. Can anyone remember/tell me what they have been told about the tea? when to start etc I really love drinking it, even when not preg, and soooo enjoyed my cup today that i'm keen to start but also don't want to start too early iykwim.

OMG my little toad who should be having a nap is playing silly buggers in his cot! head standing and giggling is nearly like sleeping mummy!!! lol. gotta run
ox

Hi Everyone

Wow so busy in here I'm having trouble keeping up

Lori - yay for a good ultrasound, sounds like a girl too, will you book in another one? Glad you're meeting is over and hope things are resolved quickly for you.

Airline - glad your routine is going well!

Kaybee - thinking of you and am always happy to listen, glad you're feeling a bit better about it all.

Possums - enjoy your break away, some of my friends called it a babymoon?

Oneday - 13 weeks already sooo good! I have heaps of friends who've gone through public after ivf and had good treatment so I hope thats the case for you too and you get some really kind and talented dr's and midwives when you visit/labour!

Kelly - great effort with the housework - the nesting instinct must be strong!

Bug's mum - wow july is creeping up quickly, hope you're iron issues get sorted out soon, were you already on a pregnancy supplement with low iron? I agree with grub about the colour changing too - so gross - but god to know. Hope they come back up quickly. I had low iron for a little while (not while pg though) and I got really really ditsy, memory loss, and quite slow, I had no idea what was wrong!

Grub - Oh dear, hips sound painful. I've heard of the raspberry leaf tea but am unsure of the quantities allowed before 36 weeks, hope someone here knows though.

MH - hope you're having a good week!

AFM - am starting to get excited and impatient aswell but still have a long way to go, I splurged again and got a beautiful hot milk nightie and pyjama top on the weekend, perfect for making you feel pretty instead of frumpy (they were on sale)! Am still stressing about everything I eat, I can't wait to not have to worry about it anymore, but am more than happy to live off vegemite sandwiches if it means a baby!

Take care xoxo

hey ladies thanks so much for your replies! and kaybee you wern't bombarding me with information, i really appreciate it! You have all made me feel so much better and your right it dosnt matter where we have our babies because we get the same baby at the end. Your all gems xxxx

oh I forgot to say before

hi yogi hope this is the one for you - so glad you are having a really good go this time and using everything possible - thinking of you!

Possums - everyone gave such good advice on the parenting, newborns are all so different and you have to find what works for you little one. I found my girls followed a routine (but still flexible) really quickly (once we got their wind and reflux sorted out)! I only read a few anecdotal things but some tips I found really helpful were:

- when baby wakes after a sleep see if you can chat to them for a minute before picking them up, my girls would often wake up happy and have a little chat it was really nice.

- we also tried to base our routine around 3 - 4 hourly feeds during the day (may need more frequent initially, but my girls were mostly bottle fed to as I couldn't produce milk :( so I know it can be different with breast feeding). And we used the Feed, Play, Sleep pattern. It really helped them to feed while they were hungry and awake and alert and they then learnt to go to sleep when they were tired and not have to be fed-to-sleep. Although sometimes we did feed-to-sleep if we were having an off day or something. But overall found it a really good overall strategy, something to aim for :). Don't put too much pressure on yourself at first though I loved the first few weeks, but they were also such a blurr!

Take care everyone!

oh I forgot again..
Grub - I haven't had a chance to ask my mum but I was almost positive she said she got it from Bunnings (or maybe I confused it with Mitre 10)

Hey lovely ladies

You may or may not have noticed that the due date list has been removed. I received a message from one of the mods advising me it had been removed, and that we are no longer able to keep a list of due dates and arrivals on the forum. I have asked if one of the mods can either post a message on this thread explaining the rationale or allow me to copy and paste what was in the message but I haven't received anything back yet - will let you know when I do.

I guess the way of keeping up to date with each other (if we all feel comfortable) is to have a due date on the signature like some of the tickers do, but that's obviously up to each individual and only if we want to. Either way, countdowns on tickers make it pretty obvious who's getting close!

So it's the end of an era of the passing down of "the list", but I can understand the mods' reasoning and will hopefully explain better soon.

Moderator Message »
Hi all,

Many thanks to Bug's Mum for keeping up the list of due dates however after discussion with the other LT mods we have decided to remove the list.

Bug'sMum has asked that I rewrite what I PM'd her, so that you all got to hear it 'from the horse's mouth' ;).

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As an LT’er myself I am very aware of the excitement and anticipation of finally being able to join the Pregnant after LTTTC thread. This is a great time to share your joy with other’s who understand your journey and it’s always exciting when your LT friends are able to announce their pregnancy and join you in the Pg thread.

After discussion with the other LT mods we have decided to remove the ‘Due List’.

For those members whose names are not on the list, these threads can often unintentionally make them feel excluded. They may feel there is an established group already and might not feel they can join in. For those LTers who have suffered heartbreaking miscarriages and losses of babies may not wish to have these details on a list along with pregnancies and birth announcements.
We have found in the past that these lists can become a bit cumbersome to keep up to date as members move on to other sub-forums of BB after their babies are born.

Individual members can keep their own private lists, to help them keep up with others pregnancies and due dates and births, and this may be something you wish to do. If so, please do so privately and do not post the list on the forum.

Thankyou for taking into consideration the feelings of other women who may be struggling with their much sought after pregnancy.

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Thanks for posting that Lenny. I'm sure all the girls will understand and be accepting of the decision.

Hi everyone,

I understand the reason for not wanting to keep the due date list going but it also seems sad.

Anyway I spoke to a social worker at the hospital on Wednesday and she arranged for me to get a referral for another ultrasound based on the fact I feel I need to confirm the sex for my mental wellbeing. well it was all done and then when she spoke to radiology about making an acutal appointment they said that I would not be able to get any funding from medicare as wanting to know the gender of the baby is not a good enough reason to have a scan. The social worker then spoke to the guy who did my scan and he told her that he is "pretty sure" it is a girl but "nothing is definate". The social worker and I talked about the fact that the pictures from this scan had been less clear than my 13 week scan and she said maybe they were using an older machine. So given all this I think I will look into getting a 3D / 4D scan done privately. The social worker agreed she thinks in my case it will be money well spent. Not sure if I will need to go to Melbourne to get a decent one.

I also had a woman come to look at the bungalow on my farm which I am advertising to rent out. She seemed fairly keen so hopefully it might work out and that will be a bit of extra money to help make ends meet. It was funny because I took her for a walk all around the farm (12 and a half acres) up and down the hill, and of course I got a little out of breath. She has never had kids (is 45 now and told me she has already started menopause) so she kept asking if I was ok and should I be doing this much exercise when I'm 20 weeks pregnant. Then she asked if I normally have an afternoon sleep. It was nice that she was so concerned but also seemed funny to me. I guess since she's had no experience of being around pregnant women or having had kids herself it was all really strange to her! Anyway I think she could be a good tenant as she seemed keen to help out with little jobs around the farm and I'd be happy to take money off her rent if she did help me out in that way - there are alot of things I can't do at the moment.

I have also been invited to an interview for a job just a few hours a week. It won't be much money but again it will just be that little bit to help make ends meet and it also means for Centrelink purposes I will still be in the workforce as far as the paid parental leave scheme goes. I discovered you have to have worked 10 of the previous 13 months so even though I am way over on the number of hours I have to do I still need something for the next few months to qualify.

Lori
DD - 14
Bub due 28th August (possibly a girl)

DR: Lake Imaging at Wendouree do the 4D scans, we had one done with DD. You need a referral from your GP and from memory it cost us about $160 - no medicare rebate - but you can definately get them done in Ballarat as soon as you are 26 weeks.

Hi Girls,

Firstly let me address the acupuncture questions.

ACUPUNCTURE IN PREGNANCY: Once past the 1st Tri (all my 1st tri treatments were to help me sustain the pregnancy), I now go for monthly appts. The needling is done mainly on the legs and arms, some lower back. The treatments deal with my pregnancy symptoms like nausea, heart palpitations, cystitis, sciatica etc and make sure there's plenty of good blood flow going to the baby. Then once I've had the CS I will go in for scar treatment to make sure everything below the surface is repairing as they cut through so many layers of muscles. She sometimes does a bit of heat therapy and massaging around the lower back to ease my sciatica.

Lori - I hope your next scan gives you lots of beautiful piccies of your precious bub! And brings you some relief.

Kaybee - hang in there honey, and fingers crossed it all comes right again. It's great to feel like your situation is quite normal, and believe me - it is!!

Aimee - I am feeling like I may just turn veggo during this pregnancy. I've now started to go off red meat. I'm exploring the raw food diet too. Crazy what the body wants!

Possums - Hope your babymoon is going well. I'm planning one in the next couple of months too!

Oneday - glad you are so happy and comfortable with your Dr. Takes that stress away from everything and can be hard to find. I know we changed DR's at least once.

Kelly - You are one impressive mumma to be! Go go go with the housework. Hope you are resting up heaps too. Not long - excited!

Bug's mum - I'm on the low iron bandwagon too! I take the liquid sachets "Spa Tone". No black poo's or constipation. Just pop in my glass of juice every morning. It's made such a difference to my symptoms.

Grub - Hope you sort those damn hips out luvvy! Can't wait to hear how you get on with the tea. Your pregnancy tips are priceless to me!!!

AFM - having a great week, just being kicked the hell out of with this bub. Getting very active at certain times of day. Such a weird feeling!!! But great confirmation that bub is still good :)