TW: ttcal grad check in

splashmountain

I havent seen one of these in months and I realize there is a  ttcal grad board, but I am not a member and I have been thinking about a bunch of our grads lately, so I thought I'd start a check in for anyone interested.

NewMommyCoop

Thanks for doing a check-in. I look at the TWW everyday hoping to see more grads. Crossing my fingers for all of you and sending good vibes your way.

TW:
So far, so good. I can't believe that I just or am about to (depending on the source) entered the second tri. My MaterniT21 testing came back negative and we are having a boy.

BornReady

I'm not sure anyone remembers me at this point, but thought I'd check in with you all since I still lurk here. I had a MC in November 2015 at 9 weeks after having a son in May 2014. We started working with an RE in March 2016 due to male factor infertility and did IVF with PGS testing in June. In August 2016 we transferred our only PGS normal embryo and got pregnant. I delivered a baby girl on May 5th. She is awesome and a total miracle following the dark storm of miscarriage and TTCAL. 

I follow this board all the time to root you on from afar and can't wait to have you join us on the grad board. We all know too well the horribleness of this journey and wish you ladies all a happy ending, whatever that may look like.

Mack2342

@BornReady congrats!! I remember you I've been here forever

@NewMommyCoop glad things are progressing and all is going well. 

lala123321567789

Hey ladies, I miss this amazing community but am cheering for you all and hope you get your rainbows and join the grad board soon   

I had a MMC at 12 weeks in December 2016. I'm now 21 weeks pregnant, and doing good. We are team green, so not sure what we are having yet. 

laeberge3

Hi ladies! I too follow along with you all and root you all on. Hoping for BFPs for all very soon! 

I had had a natural MC in Feb 2016 and then called this place home as we went through the next year or so. After two CPs, a RE consult and testing, I got my BFP in Jan 2017. Currently 28+4 and due in October with a boy!

vlagrl29

Congrats ladies - I remember a couple of you!  I'm glad everything is working out with your healthy babies.

dubcompanion

Hi all. I'm not sure if I'm a familiar face to many posters at this point, but this board will always hold a special place in my heart! I root for each and every one of you ladies, because having a loss was incredibly devastating for me. Having others to talk to and understand what I was going through meant so much to me. The grad board was created shortly before I got my BFP last summer, and it was awesome to have my TTCAL gals to talk to while PgAL. Even now, having had my rainbow baby, I am psyched whenever we have a new grad join the group! Every BFP and rainbow baby born just reaffirms the power of the human spirit. This board, in general, is a beacon of strength. 

Okay, mushiness aside -  - I had a MMC in Dec 2015. I should have been 12 weeks along, but the baby had stopped growing at 10 weeks. In July 2016, I got another BFP and delivered our rainbow baby in March. She is my entire world, and I am so thankful to be her mother. 

Wishing you all the very best in your TTCAL journeys! The road can be tough, and everyone's story is different, but you're not alone. 

chloe97

Hi ladies- I had a MMC December 2015 at 10 weeks and a severe chromosomal abnormality found at the NT scan in May 2016. My (double) rainbow baby is now 3 weeks old and lying next to me in her rock and play. 

I was 36 with both my MCs and 38 when Hannah was born. The cycles I got pregnant with my MCs, I ovulated later in my cycle and had no EWCM- just wetter CM. With DD, I had 4 days of absolutely gorgeous EWCM. If we decide to have a 2nd, I will wait for that EWCM. I'm not sure how scientific the correlation is with beautiful EWCM and heathy eggs, but I've actually read similar stories from women who have had confirmed chromosomal abnormalities on other boards.

MooFish2364

Having trouble tagging today but so excited for these grad updates! I've been here forever and remember most all of you guys. It warms my heart that your pregnancies are going well and that others have their rainbow babies!

babypi

Hi ladies! I have also been lurking the TWW hoping for BFPs. I'm rooting so hard for everyone. 

I had my rainbow #1, my DD, in Dec 2015 after two CPs while TTC. Then I found this board after a MMC resulted in D&C at 10 weeks in Dec 2016. I'm currently 18+5 with rainbow #2 and due in Dec 2017. We were overjoyed that we got our BFP a few weeks before my DH left on deployment, which would have left us benched for over a year because of his schedule and Zika risk. 

Spartanrd4

Hey everyone! Don't know if anyone remembers me but I still lurk here and root all of you on quietly from afar too!! I had a MMC at 9 weeks in March 2016 and got my BFP June 2016. I had my rainbow baby girl this past March 1st, exactly one year after my MMC was discovered. My journey truly came full circle! She is 20 weeks old today and I love her with everything that I have and everything I went through was worth it to have her in my life. 

Wishing you all so much love and hope that you will all meet your rainbows soon!! ❤ 

dpjennifer

Thanks for the grad updates!  I miss all of you but am so happy you're PGs have been going so well! Although this is also a very sad reminder of how long I've been part of this board. I hope I get to join you all at some point!

hdaley

Hugs ladies!  I lurk everyday with fingers and toes crossed for you!  

Update on me: 5 weeks tomorrow.  betas came back good - first appointment scheduled for August 17 at 9 weeks.  We wanted to wait until DS started school so we wouldn't have to tell my in laws we had an appointment and we needed them to watch DS.  I have been keeping busy getting ready for him to start kindergarten!  

Miss you ladies!!!  I am rooting you on!

vlagrl29

Glad all is going well @hdaley - you will love kindergarten!!!! Freedom!!! Can't wait for DD to start first grade in 4 weeks.

HLD3194

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Wingless00

Hello! I was active on this board last fall but see a few names that are familiar. I'm including my story here because DH and I had a few somewhat unusual hurdles to clear to get a healthy baby and you never know when there might be someone out there who might benefit from your experience. 

DH and I got a BFP in January 2016, just after traveling to the Dominican Republic but right before the Zika travel warning was issued. We were ahead of the CDC for our entire pregnancy and were never able to get tested. We had a miscarriage at 10 weeks in February and were on the bench for a long time waiting to get some more information about Zika. The current recommendations are to wait at least 6 months after a possible Zika exposure and we are hoping, hoping, hoping that those recommendations continue to hold! 

While on the bench, we had a meeting with an MFM doctor who recommended that we get a genetic carrier screening done since DH had an aunt who died of cystic fibrosis. Good thing we did because it turns out that we are both carriers, giving us a 1 in 4 chance with every pregnancy of having a baby affected with a disease. For a lot of reasons, we decided to try naturally and were lucky enough to get pregnant with a healthy baby boy (due 9/1). This board was a wonderful source of support for me when we were TTC. I also found that the Genetic Carrier board on Baby Center was a great resource for some of our more specific concerns.  

The pain of the miscarriage and the struggles of trying to get a BFP are all too fresh in my mind and I am rooting so hard for each and every one of you. Isolation was (and is) one of the hardest things about coping with a miscarriage and I'm so glad that this board exists. Hoping that all of you get your rainbow babies soon! 

fivetimesnoluck

Hi ladies! I (also) lurk here regularly. Continue to hope and pray for each of you to achieve the BFP that will give you your take home baby.

I was active here after my 5th loss in November of 2015 until late in 2016 when I moved to mainly participating in the Infertility board. After not previously having trouble with conception, we went through a year of fertility treatments (meds + TI and IUIs) with our RE without ever getting that elusive BFP. Due to several factors including my loss history, diagnoses and age, we made the decision to try IVF with donor eggs. We took some time to raise/save some money and wrap our heads around the concept and then had our first transfer on May 1, 2017. It worked! I got a faint BFP on May 6 (5dp5dt) and it was confirmed with a beta test on May 11. On May 24, we saw something on the ultrasound we had never seen - our little babe and a tiny flickering heartbeat.

It's weird and amazing and I am still mostly shocked to have made it through the first trimester (as of today!) for the first time ever. We started trying in early 2013 and frankly, there were so many times when I found it hard to believe we would ever get here. I am 14w today and even though I am 39, my egg was only 27, so we didn't qualify for the NIPT that would reveal the sex of the baby, but we will be finding out in the next month or so.

This board gave me so much hope, support, and love. It may seem unlikely or even impossible, but I hope that each of you persist. It wasn't the path I expected and it definitely wasn't a straight or short line, but I think we are finally going to have the opportunity to be parents. My RE had a quote on a shelf behind his desk that said, "Never, Never, Never Give Up." I am so glad we didn't ever give up.

Miscarriage is a devastating, life-changing event, but it doesn't have to be the end. Sending each of you love, hope and light. You are stronger than you think and you are definitely not alone. xoxo

dpjennifer

@fivetimesnoluck I'm SO glad you're doing so well and made it through the first tri!    I hope things continue to go well with this PG for you.  You give me so much hope!  

ladipale

so happy to hear from so many of you! 

fivetimesnoluck

@dpjennifer, @ladipale, @MooFish2364, @Mack2342 - I check on you all frequently and am continuing to hope for the best. Just know you have fans - even if we are in the background! xo

MooFish2364

@fivetimesnoluck awww...thanks! I'm so happy and excited for you!

Mack2342

Thanks @fivetimesnoluck

BelhurstBride

I've been rooting for each of you from behind the screen! 

I joined the board in January after a MMC due to a SCH at 16w. Finally got our BFP in May. 

12+3, but again in limbo. I had Fifth's Disease (yes, the fever and rash that school aged kids get) at 6w. During pregnancy it can be serious, if it passes on to the fetus. It takes 8-12w for complications to appear, so I'm back to waiting and regular u/s. 

I joined the grad board but now can't figure out how to get back to it.

BornReady

@BelhurstBride
does his work?
https://forums.thebump.com/groups

Grad group is:
ttcal graduates

amberruka

@fivetimesnoluck I'm so, so happy for you. @chloe97 Hannah is an absolutely beautiful name. We're so happy for you guys, truly gives us hope.

splashmountain

Sorry you're in limbo again @BelhurstBride fx everything is fine.

ladipale

Thanks @fivetimesnoluck - DH and I are in a bit of a back and forth right deciding if we should continue to try or not. Its been a long two years full of so much suffering for us (lots of other non baby losses) we may need a break for now. Its a difficult decision and I feel like I've been thrown right back to the time when we had 2nd loss.
We just, right now, feel uneasy about trying again with no interventions. such a crap shoot.

silentP

Hi ladies! I'm not sure most of you will remember me, but I wanted to update. I know these stories can be hopeful when things feel hopeless.

I had a MMC in July 2015, and devastatingly, another one just a few months later in November. After some time off and some testing, which didn't reveal anything, I got a BFP in August of 2016. That baby was a girl and she was born in April and currently sleeping on me. I'm still amazed! We were trying since August 2014, and here we are nearly 3 years later finally with a baby. 

I lurk here from time to time and I am rooting you all on. All these updates just show you never know and try to keep up hope. Thinking of you all.

arapkin1

Hi these stories give me some hope. I mc 5 weeks about a week ago. First preg and first mc.  I was so sad but I'm ready to try again. Hoping I'm ov in 1 week or less.  Crossing my fingers and toes!!!! 

fivetimesnoluck

@ladipale I am sorry you have had such a difficult time. I totally relate to there being plenty of other hard things going on beyond TTC. Sometimes the universe really does just pile it on. I won't lie - our sex life really suffered during much of our time TTCAL because we were so scared about trying without any intervention. We basically avoided sex if we weren't in a cycle with the RE - and really that's not fair or sustainable. Loss and IF can be all-consuming. Taking care of yourselves and your marriage is key, glad you are making that a priority. Take all the time you need. We will be here.

RiverSong15

I think some folks here may recognize me. I'm sorry to see some familiar faces here, as well as new ones. I'm always lurking and rooting for everyone! This board was a safe haven for me after my losses, and I don't know what I would have done without you all. I hope you all get your BFPs very soon!

I had two MCs back to back - Christmas 2015 and April 2016. That was followed by lots of testing that found nothing significant, although my OB suspected I may have a less than optimal vascular system. We saw an RE with expertise in RPL, and she agreed we had good chances to get and stay pregnant on our own. We started trying again in Nov 2016 and got our BFP in Feb/Mar 2017. We saw the RE for early monitoring, progesterone supplementation, and I'm on baby aspirin. The early USs were so reassuring to finally see a healthy bean with a heartbeat!!! So far, this seems to have done the trick! We're due 11/14 (so I'm almost 24 weeks) with a little girl!! We couldn't be happier! We're getting some extra monitoring in third tri because of some risk of growth restriction and pre-e, but for now, my OB is happy with where things are at. Time seemed to drag up until 20 weeks, with all the testing and monitoring and PGAL fear. The grad board has been a huge lifeline! But now time is speeding up, and I just can't wait until it's November. Hugs and good sticky BFP thoughts to all! 

ladipale

@fivetimesnoluck - for us the need for intervention is after we get pregnant.. can't sustain past 2nd tri. but all tests currently available show nothing to treat so 'baby asprin' and hope is all we get. Just tired of using my body as an incubator/experiment place.

mylittleversailles

Hey all! I'm not much of a lurker so let me say first of all I am so, so sorry to see some of you still here. This board literally kept me alive after my loss and I only want the best and happiest life for them. 

I really, really struggled in the later stages of TTCAL and dropped off for the most part after Clomid did the magic trick for me and DH. We had a lot of support from our health care team but were very close to quitting. We had actually decided to stop TTC the night before the positive test because the thought of constant ultrasounds to monitor fertility was too much, which was our next step with the Clomid. We'll probably never know what stopped us from getting pregnant for so long after loss as we may very well be one-and-done.

As far as my pregnancy - what can I say? It's been great! I was sicker than sick for a great deal of it and I can't walk some days because of pain, but there was something that shifted in me almost as soon as I had my bfp. I've had an unusually breezy emotional time for being pgal/pgaif and I am grateful every single moment of every single day for that. I no longer experience intrusive thoughts full of irrational fears when I am happy or excited; I just get to feel hopeful. Who knows if that's hormones or what, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts. We're due October 12th (coming on 29 weeks right now) with a healthy, extremely active baby boy and can't wait to meet him!

MooFish2364

@reneeannemm so happy you checked in with us and that you are doing so well. Congrats on your little boy! 

TScalei

Hi ladies! I too lurk here often and I'm rooting you all on. I had a mmc at 10 weeks in March 2016 after ttc for about a year and then another one in August 2016. This board was my lifeline particularly after my 2nd loss. It made me feel less alone, gave me the strength to ttc again, gave me so much good advice and some laughs as well (ttc/ttcal can be pretty riduculous.) Ttc my first child was a longer and more difficult journey than I ever could have possibly imagined. But I'm currently 22 weeks pregnant with a baby boy and everything is that much sweeter now.  The grad board has been absolutely amazing esp during the anxiety filled 1st tri. I really, truly hope that each and every one of you can join us there soon! 

Spartanrd4

Glad to see an update from you @reneeannemm, so happy everything is going well. Congrats on your baby boy! 

vlagrl29

@reneeannemm how long after loss did it take you to get another bfp? I'm glad all is well now.

Wishilivedinflorida

Soooo glad to hear from you, @reneeannemm! I'm so excited to hear you are having a boy! 

Im not sure if anyone around here remembers me, but I just wanted to share that I have a healthy 4 month old rainbow boy after 2 consecutive losses. My RPL panel was unrevealing, and the only thing I "changed" during my third pregnancy was taking a methyl-folate supplement (I wasn't specifically tested for MTHFR). My DH was also treated for a prostrate infection that came up after he had a bad stomach bug that likely invaded that area. It may have had a role, but we will never know. 

I will say that being a loss mom has changed me forever and has changed my frame of thinking in all situations. Having a rainbow baby has been amazing, but the pain of loss never quite stops stinging. I hope so much that all of you get your turn to have rainbow babies and your stays here are short. We love it when we get new grads for the grad group! This place will always be my first home, and being able to commiserate with others here was paramount in me keeping sane while my world was crashing down on me. I have come to make such wonderful internet friends that "get it." Sending love, hugs, and well-wishes to you all. It's a tough journey, but there is hope! 

NYTino24

I was on this board after a miscarriage in January (got a BFP in March) and am happy to say I am now 24+ weeks pregnant with a very active baby boy due in November. This pregnancy has been much easier than the first (that one had lots of abnormal blood tests, crazy headaches, and bloody noses as baby measured about 10 days behind) and all bloodwork has been normal (at least for me) other than ferritin. I'm on baby aspirin and iron supplements and will probably need some medication to help me with clotting before birth. I have prolonged PTT among other low levels, but MFM released me after my 20 week scan. I still cry a lot, particularly as my angel baby's August EDD approaches, but I'm trying really hard to keep anxiety and depression at bay. I know how desperate some of you feel to get and stay pregnant again, and I send my best wishes your way. 

mylittleversailles

@SpartanRN @Wishilivedinflorida @MooFish2364 ILY The anonymous format of TB really aggravates my anxiety and I wish I could follow your journeys more closely than I'm able to. Always sending out my love to you, though.

@vlagrl29 It was a full year.