PAIF (Pregnant after Infertility) March

bows22

Note: This thread will include discussion of infertility and loss. If these topics are triggering for you, please take care of yourself while reading and posting here.

This thread is for those of us who went through infertility testing/treatments/transfers before becoming pregnant. Many have had different struggles to get to this place and face different anxiety and concerns. This thread is a space to support each other, and we hope it will be a safe space. Please feel free to post here at any time during the week/month, whether for good news or bad. Consider this an ongoing conversation. 

This thread is for those who have experienced infertility. The struggles we discuss may or may not apply to those who became pregnant easily. If you have not experienced infertility, please be considerate and sensitive if you feel the need to post in this thread. 

(do not feel obligated to utilize the 'structure' but some questions are below to get started if you want to share, but aren't sure how. 

What was your IF history/journey?
How far along are you?
Any symptoms?
Rant/Rave?
Next appointment?
Questions?

bows22

I figured we could use a fresh thread but thought maybe monthly versus weekly would be good. 

What was your IF history/journey? Tried for a year and did the basic testing and found out I had uterine polyps and a really thick lining. Had surgery to take care of that and tried for another year on our own. Had polyps again and had to have those removed along with some other drama that took way too long and finally had our first IUI after almost 3 years of trying. Our 4th IUI was successful. 

How far along are you? 8 + 5

Any symptoms? Nausea if I let my stomach get too empty, definitely exhausted by the end of the day 

Rant/Rave? Happy about graduating from the RE! Annoyed that they don’t print ultrasound pictures and mine are lost in cyberspace somewhere 

Next appointment? First OB appointment on the 28th. I’ll be 10 weeks 6 days, hopefully they will try the Doppler?

Questions? How open are you with your family about your IF journey? My SIL and I have the same OB/GYN and she asked if I am seeing them again for this pregnancy, so I answered honestly that I haven’t seen them yet and have only been at the fertility center so far. She asked some questions and I tried to be honest but brief because I don’t really want to talk about it/focus on that, and I can tell she was really offended. She went through secondary IF as well and am sure thinks I could have used her advice/input, but I didn’t want to have to update people through every step of our journey, and have people watching and waiting when we did treatment. Just curious if that’s how other people felt or if I am just a little selfish (not in a bad way but I can’t think of a better word)

sandy5693

What was your IF history/journey?  It's been a long road.  We started TTC in 2016 when I went off my BC pills.  We weren't in a rush and figured we'd let it happen naturally.  The first few years as we realized there was an IF issue most of the time was spent on me (testing, trying different medications, etc).  We then realized it was my husband and the next couple of years were spent on trying some less invasive methods on his IF issue.  We finally decided to start IVF right before COVID, delayed it for a little over a year during COVID, and started IVF in winter 2021.

How far along are you? 9w3d

Any symptoms? Things are definitely decreasing in severity now, but I still have constant nausea, exhaustion, sore boobs, heartburn, bloating and sometimes headaches

Rant/Rave? Just like @bows22 I am SO happy to be done with my RE.  I just want the first trimester to be over so we can tell some of our family and friends and feel less stressed.

Next appointment? I have my NT scan and next OB appointment the end of March

Questions? @bows22 I completely understand.  We have told very few people about our struggles in general.  After our loss in July we decided to let most of our loved ones know and it was SO overwhelming as everyone wanted every detail.  They presented it as supporting us/me, but honestly in many cases it became a chance for them to tell me every story they've ever heard about IF.   Similarly, they were/are still a lot of friends/family that are offended that I don't want to talk about it too much.  I'm lucky to have a support system and it helps to set good boundaries to keep my stress down and I don't even want to explain why I don't want to divulge everything. This retrieval/transfer round we have only told 3 people and are waiting to tell everyone else.  However, that hasn't stopped so many people from asking us really specific questions about where we are at in the process and if it was successful, etc.  I am so looking forward to sharing the news in a few weeks, but I know there will also be frustration in there as I have to manage people's emotions and feelings about how much/little I want to share.  

relizabethp

When you ladies started to wean did you feel “less pregnant “ ?