Chat with fellow IVFer has freaked me out- I need to hear from people who are ahead of me.

LO95 · October 2014

I was doing okay-ish after my scan at 11 weeks. I saw the baby move and that felt pretty reassuring.

But I was chatting with a fellow IVFer at work who is much farther along than I am and I got freaked about two things. Can you give feedback on one or both if you're ahead of me in the game at this point?

1) I mentioned I'm having cervical pain. She didn't say much and then I said, "So, did you have that?" and she said, "Well, my doctor said that's round ligament pain. I didn't feel it until 16 weeks though..."

Isn't there no such thing as round ligament pain at 11 weeks?! And omfg why does it feel like there's a knife in my cervix at random times of the day? (My next appointment is Monday...MONDAY... That's a hella long time to be thinking about this question...

)

2) Her doctor had her do some additional ultrasounds because there is an increased risk of heart defects in fresh cycle IVF. Say what? Is anyone getting extra ultrasounds or hearing this information?

I love talking to people that are ahead of me in the process even though it freaks me out sometimes. Thoughts?!

pblge · October 2014

I'll share what I've picked up about these, although it's not that much.
1. Cervical pain is not RLP. The RL are near your ovaries. It's my understanding that some women do experience these in the first tri. I've heard of the cervical pain, but I think it's something else.
2. I looked up this research when I heard about it here, and the more recent studies have shown a very slight increase in risk--on the order of 1%. When I asked my OB, the same one who classified me as high risk just bc I'm an IVF grad, she said they would look for this at the NT and the A/S screens, but otherwise not treat me any differently.

I probably shouldn't have even responded based on my limited knowledge, but I'll leave this here since I typed it. $:\$ ">

LO95 · October 2014

@pblge Thanks for the info! I agreed that the cervical pain doesn't make sense in terms of considering it RLP! The only other thing I can think of (other than the absolute worst case scenario) is to wonder if my Prometrium is affecting my cervix. I literally don't know...

ekc0630 · October 2014

I did have pain! and 2 we were told that there is a higher risk for heart defects with IVF. We did do echo's. Our first was done at 14 weeks. Something to talk to your dr about. I loved our echo's.

LO95 · October 2014

@ ekc0630 Well, at least it sounds like something potentially positive---extra views of the baby! But wow. I would have never guessed...

Milagros315 · October 2014

1) Your body is doing all sorts of new things and that comes with all sorts of weird pains. Personally, I've never felt my cervix (I hear people saying the baby kicks it sometimes) so I would have no idea if I had or was having cervical pain. I did have all sorts of shooting pains in all parts of my pelvis. My doctor said it's normal growing and stretching. It started pretty early for me.

You have endo right? I imagine that causes some extra pains for us. I know I have definitely had some intense pains thanks to the endo that was left behind during my surgery.

2) I never read or was told anything about heart defects and IVF. Everything looked fine at the NT and A/S so we have not had any extra ultrasounds.

FWIW, my doctor has endometriosis and she went through IVF so I really trust her judgement regarding my care. She says that there's really nothing that she does differently for the average IVF patient.

LO95 · October 2014

@milagros315 Ah! Thanks!

I assume the pain is my cervix, but honestly it's just "up there", if that makes sense? I have no idea.

But it's good to hear that there are doctors who aren't making a big deal about IVF. I tend to predict my OB will be laid back because he's laid back about everything, but I was worried after talking to this girl at work that perhaps I should ask for something that might not be recommended to me. But if the scans come back normally it makes sense to not do further testing.

Milagros315 · October 2014

Your NT scan must be soon. I bet you're going to be so amazed at what you see and how much he/she looks like a little baby. I hope that everything looks perfect and that it's a very reassuring experience for you!

LO95 · October 2014

@milagros315 Out of curiosity, did you ever consider not doing the NT scan? My anxiety has really gone through the roof and I am seriously considering not doing the test for fear of getting news about something I can't control. I know I'm allowed to have the ultrasound without the actual test. Do you have any extra info about this or feedback about doing it?

mdiblasi10 · October 2014

I am so sorry you are having anxiety right now.

This is my second pregnancy and weird pains in the nether regions are usually normal, so don't freak out about that. I'm not a doctor obviously, but it's sometimes called "lightening crotch" and I experienced it. And even RLP can happen early on. Remember, lots of things are stretching out, changing positions, etc. Contractions or bleeding are something you would want to monitor closer and possibly be more concerned about.

My OB is not doing any additional screening of our baby's heart. My OB has not recommended anything besides the anatomy scan, where her heart looked normal.

Hang in there! I know it's hard after IF, especially early on. Talk to your doctor about your concerns if you are still feeling worried. Hugs!

hopeby2015 · October 2014

Like others have said, there's so much pulling and tugging starting in 1st tri that it's all completely normal, imo. As for the heat defects, I've had so many anatomy scans (due to not being able to see everything they wanna see) and they've never seen anything wrong with the heart. But they check, so I wouldn't be too worried. Plus there's so much else to be worried about, might as well keep the worry at bay until the doc gives you a reason to worry.

Hope at ur appt next Monday you'll get your answers and you'll be at ease.

Ecarabeo217 · October 2014

All those stabby pains are stretching and expanding of the uterus....quite common but not worrisome. It isn't RLP, though.. The round ligaments come from the sides to the uterus, dive down the groin and end in the labia. So totally different pattern of pulling pain.
As for the cardiac stuff, it's not associated with IVF, per se, but it is associated with ICSI. Common protocol among most MFMs is to recommend fetal echo (usually between 20-24 weeks) for women who underwent IVF with ICSI. The increased risk is small like pp have said, but the MFM should discuss this with you when you do your NT or A/S :-)

Milagros315 · October 2014

LO95 said: @milagros315 Out of curiosity, did you ever consider not doing the NT scan? My anxiety has really gone through the roof and I am seriously considering not doing the test for fear of getting news about something I can't control. I know I'm allowed to have the ultrasound without the actual test. Do you have any extra info about this or feedback about doing it?
--------------------------------------------------quote fail-----------------------------------------------------
No, I never considered not doing it. One of the reasons that some (many?) people choose not to do it is because there is the chance of getting a false positive result (meaning that it looks like there is a high chance that the baby has a condition when really the baby is fine). And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that choice.

However, my outlook is that it's always better to know than to not know. So what if they told me I was high risk when I really wasn't? I'd be really worried and would educate the shit out myself only to be ridiculously relieved later on when we found out that the baby was fine. If we didn't do the available tests, we might miss something that could have helped us prepare for the baby in the best way possible.

ccam · October 2014

I've also had the shooting pains that @mdiblasi10‌ is talking about with both of my pregnancies. There is so much changing and going on down there that those pains are pretty normal. Unless you have bleeding and severe cramping, I wouldn't be too worried.

As for the heart defects with IVF babies, I've only heard that here. DS was the result of IVF and my RE released me as a "normal" pregnant person and my OB never did extra u/s for this reason. I don't think it hurts to mention it though if you're at all concerned.

We did not do the NT scan for either baby. Personally, if my odds came out high for some sort of issue, I don't know that I would have taken the next step (amnio, etc) so for us, it would have just left us wondering and worrying so we decided to skip it. Its a very personal decision. We spoke at length with our OB and between ourselves.

indianaalum · October 2014

I had round ligament pain early in pregnany for sure.

My OB/GYN did refer me to MFM to have an echo because IVF do have a slightly higher risk of cardiac problems. I enjoyed the extra safeguards of looking at baby (esp in 3d)

lincoln79 · October 2014

We had an extra cardiac echo but we had no problems. I just saw it as another chance to see the baby.

We didn't do the NT scan either. Our anxiety was SO high after three losses that I just thought that it would only create more issues.

poohniki · October 2014

Not sure if anyone else agreed- but I also had twinges in my cervical area around 10-12 weeks. I had already been on the look out for a short cervix, so I was a little nervous- but in actuality it was my cervix growing because my uterus was moving up. Maybe that is causing the pain? All I know is I went from 2.3 cm to over 3.7 cm- so I was pretty darn happy.

MKateG · October 2014

I had lots of pains early on, its just stretching, you should only worry if there is bleeding along with the pain. My OB treats me like a completely normal pregnant woman. No extra tests, although I do get extra u/s but only because I'm having twins :-) I know it's hard but try to relax and enjoy this! Your only two weeks away from the 2nd trimester and that's a huge accomplishment! :-) congrats!

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Chat with fellow IVFer has freaked me out- I need to hear from people who are ahead of me.

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