The Great Big Questions Thread - Jul/Aug 2022

acleverusername

(Since we’re so close to August, I figured one thread will do the trick.) 

A place for any questions, pregnancy related or otherwise! 

Keep in mind that medical questions are best directed toward your care provider. 

acleverusername

I'm finding myself not being that hungry. Is anyone else feeling that way? 

iiirene

@acleverusername I’m the opposite. Constantly starving! Trying not to eat too many junky snacks

etnyah

@acleverusername I’m hungry, but I keep opening the fully stocked fridge, finding nothing and then walking away. Nothing looks good! 

acleverusername

How much can you really use hCG doubling to conjecture if you're having multiples? Like is there actual truth to that? I know betabase.info has a really great breakdown by singleton/twin/triplet, but what's the correlation there? 

iiirene

@acleverusername I don’t think there is much of a correlation honestly. That said I have only had a singleton so I don’t have any personal experience with that. 

baker_bee

Does anyone else have fibrocystic/fibrous breast tissue? I normally get very sore and tender boobs with both pms and pregnancy but it’s been especially bad on one side this time and my ob said that it was because of fibrous tissue. If you have dealt with this, any tips on how to make it less painful? 

returning_bump_member

Add me to the having Covid while pregnant group. Just messaged my OB for advice.

For the women that had it recently, any words of wisdom? Husband and I stripped the bed, opened all the windows (yay for a 74° day), disinfected everything and are quarantining from our 10 y.o

maggied26

@baker_bee I also have fibrous tissue, I actually had an ultrasound a few years ago because mine feels like a very large lump and I thought I might have breast cancer but it's a fibroadenoma. It's always more painful when hormones are rampant but I switched to a wire free bra and that helps a bit. The breast specialist I saw also recommended that I sleep with a light bra on (just like one of those thin cotton ones, like a sports bra but not tight) to help ease some of the discomfort. 

cortsull0724

Hey All! I will be 8 weeks on 9/4 and my OB confirmed the pregnancy and dates today in an appointment. Their policy isn’t to schedule the first Ultrasound until you hit 8 weeks, so the soonest I can do it 9/6. I am heading to TN that weekend and really wanted to share the news with my mom and sister in person. Is it okay to share the news before the first Ultrasound? 

etnyah

@cortsull0724 I’d say that depends on what you’re comfortable with! I shared with my parents last time around week 6, well before my first US, mostly because I needed support. I was spotting and didn’t know if things were going the right way, so I told them “I’m pregnant, BUT…”. It helped a lot because my mom shared that she’d had multiple losses before she had me, so I felt safe and taken care of. If you share early, you might have a good support system if things don’t go the right way, but if you’re more of a private person it’s smart to wait until later so you won’t have to tell people over and over in case that happens.

Depending on your situation too, hiding it might be hard! I don’t feel ready to tell people yet, and I spent a lot of time worrying a couple weekend ago when we visited my ILs, I was sure they’d figure it out since I wasn’t drinking. 

If this is your only time in a while seeing your family in person, and you really want to share, I say go for it! There’s no rule. Whatever you feel is the right thing is what you should do. 

nsk489

@cortsull0724 I agree with everything @etnyah said!
My first pregnancy I told my parents at 7 weeks (which was when I had my first appt to confirm pregnancy, but still before my 1st ultrasound). I waited to tell siblings/extended family a few more weeks, and announced to the rest of the world after 1st trimester.
This time, I told my family (parents and siblings) at 5 weeks bc we were all together and I won't see them again until sometime next year. We actually had a family photo shoot and I shouted it out during one of the pics, so I'm excited to see the reaction picture while simultaneously hoping I didn't jinx myself (since I still have a week before my 1st appt and prob 2-3 weeks before an ultrasound)

mcmanda4321

@returning_bump_member I tested positive for covid the day after I found out I was pregnant. My midwife just told me to watch for a fever and only take Tylenol if I had a fever. She told me that the only real change would be that she will recommend I take baby aspirin in the second trimester to decrease risk of preeclampsia! Otherwise, I'm about three weeks past my first positive test and everything seems fine! Baby had a heartbeat at my 6 week u/s so it's looking good! Good luck and I hope you're feeling better!

cortsull0724

@etnyah and @nsk489 thank you both so much! I talked with the midwife again this morning and they decided it’d be okay to do the US late the week before, so going on 9/1 for it right before I leave! Hopefully all goes well then we will feel better about sharing the news that weekend! 

acleverusername

@cortsull0724 glad this was helpful to you! Good luck! Hopefully you'll have good news to share all around. 

@returning_bump_member how are you feeling? 

returning_bump_member

@mcmanda4321 thank you for the heads up about the baby asprin! I'll brong that up at my next appointment. Also had a good 6 wk u/s, but I still worry. My ob said the same, but added to take Robitussin DM as needed to help my cough. 

@acleverusername feeling way better than I was over the weekend. Feelings of fear how this affects "ocean" (what we call it, lol) but staying positive. But the only 2 nasty symptoms remain (no fever) so that's good news.

ohkaylabobayla

Does everyone seem to get dark dark HPT lines? I’ve been getting positives for about a week but they don’t seem to be getting darker or changing color a ton now that they are clear positives. My midwife said not to worry about it because the tests aren’t designed to indicate increasing levels but it seems like everywhere people get darker line the farther they get. Anyone only even get definite but not super dark positives and be all good??

etnyah

The tests aren’t designed to show increasing levels, but in my experience, they do trend darker over time, yes. I wouldn’t worry about day to day changes (there are so many variables like how diluted your pee is etc), but over a week I’d expect to see some change. It’s impossible to say though, some people don’t see much change! Are you using wondfos or frers? Wondfos/cheapies are notorious for not showing much darkening.

If you’re worried, you should ask for betas. That’s really the only way to know. I’m sorry, early days are so stressful!

ohkaylabobayla

I’ve used a variety and definitely had some darkening in the beginning. I have wondfos showing some mild darkening, FRER showing a little bit, clearblues showing a bit etc. But nothing super drastic. I did talk to my doctors office and they want me to come in for confirmation and a pelvic exam to check some spotting and possibly early ultrasound. I just wish I knew one way or the other what was happening. Lol. Thank you!

etnyah

I’m glad they want you to go in! I definitely saw darkening over time this time around, but I’d have stretches of 3-4 days with no change. 

Fingers crossed for you, I hope you get answers quickly! 

ohkaylabobayla

Thank you so much! Just anxious. I’m struggling with wanting to tell my mom and in laws but also not being sure if everything is going the way it’s supposed to. I can’t be seen until Aug 29th so I will have to be patient I guess.

etnyah

Totally understand being anxious, I was a wreck this week in anticipation of my US. 

And the 29th is so far! I’m sorry. Hopefully you can keep yourself occupied meanwhile!

etnyah

Anyone else waffling on NIPT? I didn’t last time and I’m leaning towards not doing it this time too. The false positive rates especially, but also the fact that it doesn’t pick up a whole lot of things (my son is disabled and his rare condition would not have been discovered). Buuuut part of me is also in camp “want to know as much as possible about baby”. Thoughts?

acleverusername

@etnyah would you do something more invasive like amnio instead? Would amnio have picked up your son's condition? 

I'm definitely pro NIPT (our loss history is due to genetic abnormalities due to my old eggs) and I need to know ASAP. But I'm also thinking amnio. Currently reading more into it. 

etnyah

@acleverusername I don’t think I’d do anything invasive like amnio. And no, it wouldn’t have picked up on his condition either, there’s no way of knowing until you either

1) see physical signs on US or other fetal monitoring types, but some babies don’t have them. My son didn’t and he wasn’t diagnosed until 18 months old when his delays were obvious and he had seizures.

2) have a blood test. But even a regular blood test doesn’t check for his condition (or other rare conditions), so you need to suspect it first and have a specialized blood test. That + an MRI is what diagnosed him in the end. 

There’s about a 1-3% chance of new baby having the same condition, the only way to rule it out is with that specialized blood test after birth. Or we can look for physical manifestations via US and fetal MRI, but those wouldn’t rule it out if no signs are present, it would confirm it if they are present.

My situation is a little different than most. I’m definitely pro NIPT in most cases, but it does have its faults. A negative result would calm me down, but a positive would obviously send my anxiety through the roof, and having no way of knowing what’s really going on potentially until birth sounds horrific. A positive result on NIPT wouldn’t make me want to terminate, so I feel like I’d be in limbo forever and not knowing anything until AS or birth would be better for me mentally. 

peachyalex3

The Obgyn I’m going to is very busy and somehow I’m ending up waiting until the 10 week mark for my first appt. Has anyone else waited this long? I’m 6 weeks now and I’m just on and off worried about something going wrong and me not being able to tell. I have all the basic symptoms and boob pain for days and that’s reassuring. I have bo reason to believe something is wrong but I’m so impatient to know everything is ok. I’m curious to know if waiting this king is normal or if I should try to get in earlier. 

@etnyah if you didn’t do the test, would you worry about it? I feel like if you can be at peace with not doing it then that may be easier on you. It sounds like a negative would be calming but not completely but a positive would cause worry without you taking any action. However, I’m saying that it may be better to have a little faith when my above questions show I am very much and over thinker / worrier hahaha. 

etnyah

@peachyalex3 I would definitely worry if I didn’t take the test, but I’ll worry if I do as well, regardless of the results. I just like to worry in general. It would be nice to rule out stuff, but the highest risk for me personally isn’t even tested, so. 

And the recent reports about how high the false positive rates are, combined with knowing a couple women who received false positives… I don’t know if it’s worth it.

acleverusername

@peachyalex3 I think unless you have a history of loss, first appointment at 8 or 10 weeks is pretty normal. You can try and get in earlier, or go to another OB for pregnancy confirmation. You could also ask for blood tests for confirmation. 

@etnyah I went down the rabbit hole on NIPT after you mentioned it reading through a lot of threads on R e d d i t that had contributions from genetic counselors, OBs, epidemiologists. The thing to remember is that this is a screening test, and not a diagnostic test, which is a big difference. The other thing is screening for anything other than major trisomies/monosomy (13, 18, 21, X) is not worth it, so don't do it. 

In my case, I'm 38, with a history of losses due to genetic issues, so I'm definitely doing the NIPT. 

acleverusername

@etnyah in case you want to go down the same rabbit hole 🐇

https://www.reddit.com/r/InfertilityBabies/comments/ru05r5/false_positives_with_nipt_big_story_in_todays_nyt/

etnyah

Thanks, @acleverusername! I definitely will!

peachyalex3

@acleverusername thank you. It’s nice to hear that waiting this long is normal. Maybe pregnancy is meant to start teaching you patience in preparation for parenting haha.

@etnyah like you said, your chances of the same condition reoccurring are so low and you’ll love your baby anyways  

etnyah

@peachyalex3 oh definitely! I’m at peace with my son’s condition now, while it would be upsetting if new baby also had it, we’re way more prepared. And yes, both my son and new baby are loved, no matter what! 

solo_mama_81

Hi all, hope I am posting this in the right place - I did read the rules 😉
I am feeling a little lost and low as I am 13 days past my 5 day fresh transfer and yesterday my HCG was measuring at 43.
Did anyone else have a lowish HCG?
I took another pregnancy test this morning and it is a stronger line than yesterday… but so far the lines have been faint.
Just be really nice to hear some positive outcomes 😊

acleverusername

@solo_mama_81 this is the best place for your q! I know we have some FET pregnancies here so maybe someone can comment on your questions. Otherwise @mama2wy just posted in a different thread (threatened MC) about her low betas with her now live daughter. When is your repeat beta? 

Personally, having gone through infertility and gotten as far as a mock transfer, I listened to a lot of podcasts on the matter. I remember in one particular one 2 doctors asking one another what is the lowest initial beta they had that resulted in a live birth and it was something crazy low like 14 or 19. I don’t want to give you false hope / encourage toxic positivity but those are some data points I am privy to. 

Unfortunately, the thing to do right now is wait and see. Hugs and thoughts of strength.