LTTTC/Assisted Conception - Due Autumn/Winter 2012

[kleinfor3]

Mrs Bear-thanks so much for the tips, I'm a bit scared of the shots...I've heard so many bad stories! Ugh.

Yellow- When I was preggo with DD, keep in mind my husband had passed away at this point so we had no do overs, they did routine blood tests. I wasn't asked if I wanted them so I'm not sure what all they tested for exactly. My results came back abnormal. They repeated the tests and still came back abnormal. They sent me for a special u/s screening and they didn't see anything wrong but couldn't rule anything out either. Then they gave me a video to watch about amnio, which I ABSOLUTELY WAS NOT GOING TO HAVE DONE. It was an emotional rollercoaster that I really didn't need at that point in my life. My DD came out perfect with no complications, THANK YOU LORD!!! The months of wondering if something was wrong was very stressing. If I get the option of having it done I'm saying no this time to save the drama. To each their own. Some have the amnio's and everythings fine. I, myself, couldn't live with the risk.

 

[sarahincanada]

Has anyone of you done the down syndrome testing?

I opted for the screening as I wanted the scan plus I was curious what it would say for my age, as the average is quite high anyway. But I wont do an amnio or anything regardless of the results, I too have heard of so many false positives. So I will take the info with a grain of salt. if you are someone who would worry too much with positive results its best you dont do it, but I think I will be fine.

I did the scan and bloods @ 11 weeks and go for more bloods @ 16 weeks and then get the report. I saw the Nuchal Translucency measurement for downs on the page and googled it, and Im in the normal range so thats good.

 

[urchin]

I'm not testing either Yellowbell ... for much the same reason as everyone else:
The test only gives you a percentage chance, and the nucal measurement just gives you a low or high risk.
It wouldn't matter whether my percentage was 80% or 20%, I would still be in a situation where my baby may or may not have Downs
Like the others I wouldn't do an amnio - any risk of miscarriage is too high for me
And I wouldn't terminate if my baby has Downs
So I really think I would have nothing to gain from it - all it would do is make me worry unnecessarily

 

[kleinfor3]

Well hubby did my first progesterone injection. It went well. He did it pretty slow and it's really hurting now. Sore and burning. I've been massaging it. Should I have a heating pad on it??? I do, maybe I should take it off though, any thoughts?

I went all over town photographing my kids today. I am exhausted. I'm hoping for an early bedtime today. I've been up so late it seems. I lay there trying to go to sleep and then I get nauseaus b/c I haven't ate in a while and when I get hungry I get nauseaus. Then I have to get up and make me something to eat or I can't go to sleep. I was cooking biscuits at midnight last night! Then I wake up and the cycle starts over again!

 

[yellowbell]

Thanks for sharing your views on the down syndrome testing, ladies.

Klein, thank God you didn't do the amnio and your DD didn't have complications. I have read indeed that these tests are not guaranteed and could lead to unnecessary worries and stress like what happened to your case.

My hospital made it sound like it's required for me to do the blood screening and scan screening. But they did also say that after my blood screening, I'd be given "counselling" for the down syndrome testing. I'm guessing that's when they'll let me know about the tradeoffs so I guess this is where I'll say yes or no to amnio testing in case my screening result is positive. But like all of you, I don't think I will do an amnio no matter what the result is.

 

[kleinfor3]

At my scan on Monday, the nurse measured my right ovary and commented on it being as large as the sac. She asked me if it was hurting or bothering me. I told her no and thought nothing else about it til today. I have some pain that feels sort of dull and stabbing, kinda like a cyst or like I'm 'o-ing'. I got pregnant on a nonmedicated cycle so I have no idea why it would be swollen. Any thoughts? TIA

 

[urchin]

Morning Klein!
I didn't have the injections, so no idea what you should be doing to ease the burning - do you have a number to ring the clinic ... I rang mine with all kinds of odd queries and they were very helpful

Although I am up at stupid o'clock most mornings (2.30am today!) I've yet to start baking
Cup of tea, bath and internet is about my limit!

Yellowbell - over here it is strictly voluntary to have NS testing - I think a lot of women automatically say yes because they haven't thought about it ... and it's definitely better to have thought through what you want before medical professionals start asking you things
But I have no idea what the set up is in your country? Might be worth asking if it is compulsory (if you don't want it) cuz it might not be - they might just assume that all women want it unless told different

 

[kleinfor3]

Urchin-Morning! It's only 10:30 pm where I am at. I think I may call them tomorrow and mention the burning and the ovary pains. I'm probably just being a big baby. Oh well, they get paid for looking after me so I might as well make them earn it lol!!!

Ok, I'm going to TRY to get some sleep. Nighty night ladies

 

[Care76]

Kein, maybe it is a corpus luteum cyst? My ovaries are the size of grapefruits or maybe bigger. We can't really see them because they are covered in apple size cysts. So all together they are absolutely HUGE. If you have a cyst it can bother you quite a bit. For the first couple months I could hardly move, but now they only bother me occasionally. Thankfully I am told they will shrink (as will my ovaries) sometime in the second tri.

If it keeps bothering you, I would ask for an U/S to check it out. I have no idea what would cause your actual ovary to grow, maybe the progesterone? Or like I said, maybe a cyst. Corpus Luteum are very common in pregnancy.

Yellowbelle, my OB acted as if the screening was mandatory or something everybody does, but I told him I did not want it at all and he said ok. My midwife said a lot of their patients opt not to do the screening, so I guess it depends on who you see.

 

[Dis3tnd]

I really didn't want to do the screening either - but then found out it means I don't get a 12 week scan and have to wait until my 20 week scan. I couldn't do that, so I will be having my screening in 2 parts, scan on April 9 and then some more blood work at 16 weeks I think. Won't do an amnio no matter what.

Good news, finally heard the heartbeat on the doppler last night! I guess I just have a very active bubs, at my 9 week scan it was moving around and doing flips a lot too. We heard it distinctively for about 4 seconds and then bubs swam off and couldn't be found again. Oh well, least I finally found it!!!

 

[kleinfor3]

Care-Wow that sounds like you've had a time with those cysts. It's hard to believe that they are that big! Glad they aren't bothering you too bad. I've had one before that ruptured and it was as painful as labor contractions. They removed it and took half of my ovary with it! I'm not sure what mine is, she didn't mention a cyst she just said it was big. I'm going to ask more questions Monday. I think I was so scared of seeing a bad u/s I wasn't thinking clearly!

Dis-So glad you heard your LO on the doppler! I don't blame you about wanting to have the screening u/s done. That's a long time in between scans.

 

[Mrs. Bear]

Dis - glad you finally found the hb with your doppler.

Klein - As far as the burning, mine burns right after but usually goes away. DH massages it in before he puts the bandaid on so I think that might help. My main issue was the pain later on, depending on where things hit when you sit or lie down sometimes it will hit the shot location. Other times I had crazy cramps/pains on one side or the other like he had hit a nerve or something and the muscle was rebelling. Generally massaging the area helped for me. As for late night munchies, I ended up with a container of honey nut cheerios and some cookies by the bed to give me something to settle my tummy but I wouldn't need to get out of bed.

I would have sore ovaries and/or cysts after about every cycle but they were always medicated. I agree it isn't uncommon to have a cyst though. A friend had one early in her pregnancy last year. My ovaries are finally back to normal after the IVF and OHSS but it took til about week 11 for me not to feel them any more. At one point they were both measuring around 8x9x13! (about the size of a bottle of water)

afm - I realized this morning how lucky so many of us are to have multiple ultrasounds to but our worries at ease. A lady I used to work with emailed this morning that her 2nd u/s went well (at 30 weeks!). I can't imagine only having 2 to reassure me. I think I've had 7 or 8 so far - I know they were weekly for a while. I doubt they will be that often once I move to the Ob/Gyn but it was nice to have that during the scary 1st tri phase.

 

[Teta81]

Yay dis! I'm so excited that you finally got to hear it! I was thinking of you this morning bc I realized the harder I press the less I hear it and the lighter I press the more I hear. I think that when I press firmly the baby moves away. So maybe lighter is better??

As far as the 12 week testing for me.... When I was preg with DD 3 years ago, I felt very strongly against having it done for the same reason as many of you. So many false positives, didn't want to torture myself, etc. as my pregnancy progressed I really regretted not having done it. My circumstances may be a little different, I work in a neonatal ICU and see the sickest of babies after they are born. So on a regular basis I see different kinds of problems that are detected in the 12/16 week screen. When the parents didn't know of the problem when the baby is born and it was a complete shock, it is always so much more tragic. I had myself worried sick every time I saw this situation. So because of that, this time I have decided to have it done. DH still would rather not, but he agrees with how I feel this time around. Also, I think we both need the scan because we are in major denial that this pregnancy is for real! Idk if it's bc if all that we have gone through or what, but with DD we left like I was so pregnant at this point, telling everyone, planning things etc. this time we barely even talk about it in fear of the jinx. So I think the scan will be good for us to see the baby again, and see that everything is ok.

There is definitely no right or wrong answer. It's however you feel about it, and as I have learned, you feel differently from one pregnancy to the next! I have thought about canceling it several times. But as of now, we will be there on Tuesday!

 

[Dis3tnd]

Good luck on your scan next week Teta! I always seem to be so behind for my scans lol! My clinic likes to make me wait!

You're right about the pushing hard - I think I was pushing a little too hard. I gave myself a bruise one night!! When DH does it I tell him he's not pushing hard enough, but he insists that pressure isn't needed!

 

[Dis3tnd]

So between DH and I we have two cars. I really would rather an SUV with bubs though because of the ease of getting into a car seat etc. Also DH and I are both tall - I'm 5'7 and he's 6'4 - so low bending into a car seat will not be easy!

We're stuck between a 5 seater SUV right now or a 7 seater? What would you do? I'm leaning more towards a 7 seater as I plan on doing another FET once I stop breastfeeding so that there isnt a huge gap between babies - expecting that at least 1 or 2 of my 10 frozen will be good!

 

[Care76]

Woohoo Dis! So glad you have found the HB even if only for seconds!

Klein, I have had cysts on my ovaries since I was 15 and when on clomid I had huge cysts that were so big I couldn't do consecutive cycles. I had to rest my ovaries and let the cysts shrink before starting again. So it was no surprise that I had them after IVF. They don't interfere with the pregnancy so I don't mind. The doctors only worry about ovarian torsion, but they were worried about it since I was stimming. So far, so good.

I forgot about the injection pain. I don't really have that. It stings sometimes during the injection, but I never had it after. The only problem I had was I got big welts on my hips and sides that were insanely itchy. Putting ice on it helped. Not sure if that would help with the stinging.

 

[Teta81]

Dis, last year when we started ttc again, we traded in our 5 seat suv for a 7 seat. The 5 seat back seat is so so small, I didn't even know if 2 car seats would fit, let alone 3 ( in the event we had twins!) our third row is removable so I wouldn't put a Carseat back there if I had to, but the extra room is a must, especially when you have a double stroller. My 5 seat suv fit the stroller, with hardly any more room for other things. Without the third row, the 7 seat suv fits everything we have ever tried to fit! So I agree it's you, go with the bigger car. Plus bigger = safer in my opinion!

But Then there's the issue of gas prices.... UGH!

 

[Dis3tnd]

Yea, gas price is never fun. Luckily I recently moved jobs to be much closer to home so my commute isn't too bad - in Canada mat leave is 1 year, so won't be commuting then either - gas will really just bother us on the occasional long trips and the trips to my in laws that live an hour away.

What kind of 7 seater do you have?

 

[Teta81]

Omg one year???? I'm moving to Canada!!!!

We have the Lexus GX now. Used to have the RX, which is tiny, smaller than some sedans I think. We also looked at the Acura mdx, the Honda pilot, Toyota highlander. We just loved our other car, so we stuck with Lexus. DH has a Nissan armata which he loves, but it's too big for me.

 

[Dis3tnd]

We looked at the Lexus RX, felt the GX was huge for us! We really liked the RX, but then test drove the Infiniti FX right after, and loved the feel of it a lot more - felt like driving a sports car! They're coming out with a 7 seater (JX) on April 11th, so we're holding out to see if we like it.