TTC 40 plus!! Lets share the ups and downs!

[Pippi_elk]

Must not have been meant to be Misty. At least you got the reassurance of a great scan so while the figures would have been nice it seems to be just one of these things. They must really have got no DNA as I'm sure they used some amplification methods where you only need tiny tiny amounts of DNA to start...
(I used to work in science with DNA but noting on testing like they are doing).
Must be quite a tricky procedure to get enough DNA....
Good you got in before they put up the price ...

Yea maddy, dh is nt great when it comes to pain. He's afraid of surgery so think whatever the surgeon says he needs he'll be happy if he does nt have to go under the knife.

Any news Garfie...no letter or af?

Read that article butterfly...jezz its expensive though. Would definitely like some proven studies before blowing a few thousand on it...

 

[Mistyy]

Pippi - yeah, perhaps this new process of trying to extract the baby's DNA from the mothers blood is just a bit too unpredictable for NHS yet. It's a wonderful idea though. It negates the need for risky invasive testing. (when it works) It was worth a try anyway My MIL has a theory. She thinks that possibly the 'material' i lost last week could have been a 'twin' fetal sac which never got going, and was not picked up on the 10 week scan. If this was the case then perhaps there could have been confusion with the DNA from the blood they gathered from me, which was before i had that big bleed. They cant Harmony test if you are carrying twins, or have any DNA present from a lost twin. Aaaanyway ..... taking it all one day at a time. Getting a little less nervous every time i go for a wee and wipe and then INSPECT the tissue

Your poor DH. I hope the news is that he does not have to have surgery. The time is flying by. Cant believe it's Aug tomorrow. How are the IVF plans?

How is everyone? xxxxx

 

[Pippi_elk]

Hello everyone...been really quite here !

Interesting theory that your mil has misty...did harmony just say they could n't get enough material or they test was inconclusive. I'd imagine it was the latter if there was a twin sac ?
Hope all going well still on the tissue wiping test ..

Hope af arrived Garfie, hope all going well butterfly and maddy.

Waves to pdmc, barnibear, Nise, booth...

A couple in church this morning were there with their 3 weeks old baby this morning. She is only her in 20s but baby has Downs with heart problems and also needs a colostomy bag for now. Poor thing.
They have had a hard time but baby is gorgeous and they love him so much its heart warming to see. Coincidentally there was a hymn mentioning a newborn baby....so the minister at the end got everyone to gather around the baby and sing that verse again. Everybody then gave them a round of applause...the dad was in tears !

I've been knocked out of action with vomiting/fever but think i am almost back to normal today. Of course it happened at ovulation but luckily we did the deed about 4 hours before it started and were able to bd again after the vomiting stopped. Did not want to kiss dh in case i gave it to him...so very strange bd without kissing !

Dh also needs surgery...booked in for 20th August. So ivf postponed...hopefully he'll make a good enough progress after a month that ill feel confident to start planning for ivf in October. Can't easily get time off in November so it'd have to be December otherwise...
Looking up artifical insemination kits as don't know if he'll be up to bd 1 week after op and I'll be ovulating
Will get some in stock as a back up...

 

[Butterfly67]

Aww bless that little baby pippi

Shame DH has to have surgery Could you use soft cups for the AI? He just does his business straight into one, you shove it up the vajayjay and Bob's your uncle

 

[Mistyy]

... and Fanny's your Aunt!

Yes pippi i would say the same about cups. There are many different ones on the market to experiment with so you find one that suits you. The other good thing is that as well as delivering the swimmers, it will also keep them up in place for a while which - it is said - can help if your DH has less than perfect swimmers. If you want any tips i can give you some as i used them for TTC for a while

Sorry to hear about DHs surgery. But for IVF in Oct.

FMC said ''the test failed''. There were muterings of not enough DNA, but it did sound like a 'stock answer' IYSWIM? You know how you mull these things over? I wonder weather it was a case of it being easier to say that than start going into the ins and outs of lost twin tissue. Or maybe it did just fail!? We'll never know!

That was indeed very moving - about the bubba in church. You often find an inner strength when things are not going to plan. Weather it's divine or not i'll never know.

Hi butterfly hope all's well xxx

AFM - No more blood 17 weeks tomorrow! Needing some maternity bits now. Bump is (very) visible No more appts. till my 20 week scan on 6th Sept

 

[Pippi_elk]

And bobs you uncle
And fannys your aunt ...

LOL, LOL

Tanks butterfly and misty for the tip...

Had an unsuccessful attempt last year with a soft cup thing...not sure of the brand name as after dh spend almost 1 hr retrieving it for me...I binned it immediately.Maybe I have a long cervix but i could n't get a good enough grip to pull it out (Know the nurse for smear had to go get a longer speclum).
Or maybe I needed to relax more but with visions of a trip to A&E it was hard to relax.
Maybe if I tie a string to it i could pull it out like a tampoon. ...

So any tips would be appreciated misty !!!

Exciting needing maternity clothes....only a few more weeks to go for the 20w scan.

 

[Nise]

.... How's your father! I think that's the final line. I used to work with 2 guys and after work we'd go to the pub - we always had the same drinks and they got ordered as:-

We'll have a Bob's your uncle, Fanny's your aunt and a hows your father!

Well, I'm up in Newcastle now working - been here for a week. I drop K off at her Aunts on the way in to work and pick her up on the way home so she's having a nice time with her cousins. It was a bit stressful the first 4 days as K got a nose bleed each day - ended up taking her to A&E last Thurs when I couldn't stem the flow, after 45 minutes of bleeding, it finally stopped as she was being weighed by the nurse. They couldn't find any reason for it though, but they showed me how to stop it - I was pinching her nose a bit to high up! Demonstrated my new skills on Friday when it tried to bleed again and caught it in it's tracks - touch wood we've had nothing for the last 3 days.

 

[Maddy40]

Pippi - yeah, perhaps this new process of trying to extract the baby's DNA from the mothers blood is just a bit too unpredictable for NHS yet. No more appts. till my 20 week scan on 6th Sept

Same with the Aussie system Mistyy. In fact GPs can't even order the test, it can only be ordered by a Fertility Specialist or Ob/Gyn. And if you want it done you have to courier the bloods to the US at a cost of around $1500.

Only a month until the next scan - I'm actually really relieved to have a whole month with no appointments, how about you?

I've been knocked out of action with vomiting/fever but think i am almost back to normal today.

Yuk Pippi, hope you get back to normal quickly

I drop K off at her Aunts on the way in to work and pick her up on the way home so she's having a nice time with her cousins. It was a bit stressful the first 4 days as K got a nose bleed each day.

Glad K is doing well and enjoying her visits. I think nosebleeds are pretty common at that age, both of mine went through phases where they would get heaps of them. My personal theory is that there must be some growth hormone going on at that time - both mine would have big growth spurts either at the same time or shortly afterwards.



Hi everyone else I missed! Really busy at work so have been popping in and out but not posting much anywhere. Like Mistyy I have no more scans or appointments until 20 weeks. Yay

 

[Barnabibear]

Hi all, :wave:

Just popping in to see how everyone's doing. My goodness, I can't believe Mistyy and Maddy that your nearly at the half way stage!

Pippi- Good luck with the soft cup option. I thought about it myself for a while but chickened out.

Nise - My dad suffers from nosebleeds. They come out of nowhere, bleed quite a lot and then eventually stop. He's never found a reason why it happens either. I tend to get nose bleeds when I'm stressed, so I always know when things have got too much, my nose lets me know.

Butterfly - I was wondering if I could ask you a question re UAE seeing as you've been to Dubai. If I visited my dh in UAE but was on drugs from the fertility clinic (some of which I see are on the banned/controlled drugs list) how would I safely see my dh, keep my drugs and not end up in prison?????

AFM - I'm rather pleased that I have ovulated after the MC and it hasn't taken nearly 6 weeks to do it. So I'm getting all revved up for the end of cycle, so I can book the hysteroscopy at the FS. Not looking forward to it because I will be awake and I'm sure she mentioned injecting my cervix (wince) but she laughed and said it was a gel. Wondering if its a gel to cope with the needle or just a gel. It won't be nice whatever the scenario but once its done, I can look forward to my first IUI cycle with the immune suppressants. Not sure what happens if I get a cold while I'm on them but maybe that's a question I need to ask. I just hope it works.

I'm going to try and squeeze in seeing dh after hysteroscopy and before new cycle starts because I think I have to have infusions of intralipids so I need to be here from day 1. Flying will be a new thing. Feel a bit stupid saying it but I've never flown international so haven't a clue what to do. What a sheltered life! I may have to wear a sign saying "Never flown before please help!"

 

[Butterfly67]

Barni I have not even read the rest of your post but before I go any further

DON'T GO TO THE UAE WITH BANNED DRUGS. THEY FIND THEM IN YOUR LUGGAGE WHEN YOU ARRIVE AND YOU ARE IN JAIL. NO QUESTIONS ASKED.

ok I think I made my point A woman was put in jail for having codeine when I was there. Even though she had a prescription

Ok I'll go read the rest of your post now...

 

[Pippi_elk]

Jezz, never thought about it until barnibear said it but yea 20 weeks is half way....wow for misty and maddy (in a few weeks). Suppose when your counting week by week you don't think About week 38-40.

Great your body is getting back to normal barnibear. Good luck with the hysterocopy....hopefully it won't be as bad as you expected.


Nose bleeds...poor LG.well at least you have learnt to stop them Nise.

See ye all in a few days....I'm off to visit my parents for 5 days.. so no Internet access and roaming on mobile is too expensive. it will do me good...cold turkey for a few days

 

[Mistyy]

Gosh Barnie yes don't take any risks re: flying out there with your drugs. By co-incidence DH and i watched Midnight Express last night and i now have this awful image of lovely Barnie getting dragged off the plane with her fertility drugs all taped round her chest!! I am so glad tp hear you have ov'd. Your body is ticking over nicely again

About first time flying - my first ever flight was in 2008. DH has been flying about for years and thinks nothing of it, but i was like a child. All wide eyed in the airport (i still get ridiculously excited/nervous) Since then i have flown 8 or 9 more times and the last few trips i've done all the booking myself - so trust me - anyone can do it Google is your friend in this case. Last time we flew we booked the flight and payed online, printed the tickets out at home, booked the car-park online, chose the seats and luggage allowance online, all automated. First human contact we had regarding the trip was at check in at the airport on the day. Scarily easy.

Exciting that your hysteroscopy is in sight now. Write down any questions that pop into your head. If you're anything like me i forget all the things i want to ask as soon as someone medical starts talking to me

Pippi - have a lovely relaxing time at your parents It's bitter sweet having no internet access. As i found out when we moved .....

Maddy - it was odd last week at the GP's when my midwife said she didn't need to see me for 9 weeks. (By then i'll be 25 weeks). Yes, i'll have my scan at 20 weeks at the hospital, so someone will see me, but it seems a big gap! lol. On one hand i feel the need to be nurtured - on the other i want NOT to be treated like a 'special case' because i'm not in my 30's any more. How are you feeling?

Nise - i've heard nose bleeds can occur for no good reason around that age too. Don't fret too much. Bet K is loving being with her new cousins

AFM - yes, the weeks are actually flying by. And I thought it would drag! Still getting nausea, which is supposed to have gone by now - but i'm not too bothered by it. I confess to having to nap every day (i am not a daytime sleeper usually - even if i'm really ill) But i'm finding by 3 in the afternoon i am soooooo tired i can't function. Dizzy, sick, etc. An hours kip does wonders - and it means i can stay up till - oooooh - the dizzy hours of half 9, lol. (but then we are up at 6am every day) ...

Love to all xxxxxxxx

 

[Maddy40]

If I visited my dh in UAE but was on drugs from the fertility clinic (some of which I see are on the banned/controlled drugs list) how would I safely see my dh, keep my drugs and not end up in prison?????

Barnabi, part of my job is advising people on this exact question about the UAE multiple times each day. There is a process you can go through to get approval to carry the medication, it's a bit labour intensive but actually not terribly difficult. It's just paperwork

Look under the Health tab in this link www.smarttraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/Advice/United_Arab_Emirates The final 3 paragraphs tell you what to do - just replace "Australia" with "UK". Seriously people travel every day with their approved medication with no issues - it's only those who fail to get approval that are in trouble.

 

[Barnabibear]

Gosh Barnie yes don't take any risks re: flying out there with your drugs. By co-incidence DH and i watched Midnight Express last night and i now have this awful image of lovely Barnie getting dragged off the plane with her fertility drugs all taped round her chest!! I am so glad tp hear you have ov'd. Your body is ticking over nicely again

Mistyy - You create a wonderful mental image. I'm hoping that doesn't come true. Thank you for your advice about flying. I really hope after I've done it once or twice it will become a breeze. My DH is so excited about me going out there, mainly because it means when I've done it once there will be no excuses for doing it again. I seriously want to see him, just all these issues (for me being a scaredy cat) to deal with.

Hope you're getting your power naps still.


Maddy and Butterfly - thanks for your advice about the UAE. I will see what happens with the FS and take it from there. I am going to try and squeeze in a visit between hysteroscopy and next cycle start if I can, then at least all I have to worry about is flying....not flying with drugs in my suitcase.

AFM: I'm going to have a rant. The London Hospital rang me today..... why aren't I at my appointment, for blood tests??? and to discuss my results??? What appointments? I have a letter that told me to get stuffed and get another GP referral if I wanted to go back. So, "strongly" told them I have not been given an appointment, in fact I'd been told that I couldn't have another appointment without my GP refferal. I would like my blood test results, could I get them sent? "I'll have to speak to the doctor", why do I have to come to London to get my results.... "I'll have to speak to the doctor", " If I was meant to have an appointment to get answers why did I get that earlier letter..."I'll have to speak to the doctor". So, I got tired of it all and told them that I don't think I've been treated very fairly, that I'm seeing a different consultant but I want my blood test results. I wonder what will happen now, probably nothing. And yet this is the same hospital that looked after Princess Kate. I bet she didn't have any of these issues.

Other than that just waiting for end of cycle to book hysteroscopy, so no news there, just trundling along.

Big :wave: to everyone else I haven't mentioned. Hope you're all doing fine and tickety-boo.

 

[Butterfly67]

Oh blimey barni what an absolute pita They seriously need to get their act together

Yay for a trip I bet it will be nice to see dh and get some sun

 

[Pippi_elk]

Where is everyone ?

Hope you have sorted out the mess with the hospital barnibear. What did the blood tests show ?

Hope all still going well misty and maddy. I stalk your journal every now and then butterfly so i know things are going ok.

Dh has had his ankle surgery on Tuesday and now home. He has to be non weight bearing on it now for 2-3 weeks. I'm working from home since he came home so here to run after him!! Never had so many arguments walking up a flight of stairs...a real test of patience.
I'm ovulating next week so trying to persuade him to do his business into a cup...he's not too keen.

 

[Butterfly67]

Oh dear an invalid husband, that is a recipe for arguments

Hope he manages to get the job done although I'm sure there must be some non weight bearing positions

 

[Spoomie]

Beautiful words and I know this pain will resonate with many of you somewhere along your journey. I hope this doesn't bring anyone down but that it validates the grief we feel for our losses, even if we have another child or children. Keep on keeping on ladies, until such time as you feel it is time to move on xxx

https://facetsoflifeafterloss.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/exhausted-mom-meets-grieving-mom.html?spref=fb

 

[Reb S]

Weird - Spoomie, I was just checking up on everyone and you had posted! I only check up once a month or so. Great to see BFP's that are on-going! - go girls!
Lots of love to anyone who remembers me!!
(Spoomster, bit busy at the mo, but definitely up for a bottle of vino soon!) x

 

[Spoomie]

Darling Reb. I am the same, only visit every couple of weeks for a catch up. It is just when I read this article I thought of how many of us on this thread over the years (?!?!) have endured loss and how that pain never leaves you. Even though we have moved on (to a life with wine in it!!!) that pain still resides inside. Drop me a FB message when life calms down and we can meet, does Clapham Junction still work for you? xxx