Hi all. Have read through a few of the stories on here, especially robbyd and chrisd's threads, and I'd like to thank them for posting their stories.
Here's what may be the start of my own epic thread, perhaps the first of 2011, although obviously I hope it won't last that long...
So, a little about me and my situation. First up, my name's not actually "Art", but is reasonably unusual, so combined with a few details about my wife and so forth which may come out in future, would make it very easy to identify me. As I want to be very open about things on here and yet preserve my privacy, it's time for a pseudonym!
I'm a man in my early thirties, married to a wonderful wife, almost the same age as me. We've been married for almost ten great years. As a child, I had a case of undescended testes on both sides, and for whatever reason this wasn't picked up until age eleven. It was then dealt with pretty rapidly through surgery. Before getting married, I had a sperm test, as it was always likely that with that history I might have trouble fathering a child, but the results of that test showed good numbers of sperm in the sample, acceptable motility, normal forms etc. Slightly low volume but otherwise good.
About four and a half years ago we decided that we were ready to try and start a family, my wife came off the pill, and four months later we had the wonderful news that we'd been hoping for, namely that she was pregnant. Nine months later, our daughter arrived, and has brought joy and happiness to us ever since.
We always hoped to have two or three children, but wanted a reasonable gap between them in age, so waited eighteen months before stopping contraception again. However, this time, nothing happened. After almost a year of trying, with my wife temperature charting and religiously logging everything you could think of on fertilityfriend.com we decided to get some investigations. In theory, we knew that "everything worked" but for whatever reason it wasn't working anymore!
My wife has always had quite variable cycles when not on the pill, from 27 up as far as 42 days, which doesn't seem to help, but there's nothing specific that appears to be wrong with her in conception terms. For me, however, sperm tests revealed good volume of semen but low numbers of sperm, and in particular very low numbers of normal forms within those.
Since that initial diagnosis we've tried a few things, and are currently both having acupuncture for fertility, but we've also had a couple of consultations at the local IVF clinic. Unfortunately, at the last one of these (in early December) my sperm count came back with ZERO normal forms! Hopefully this was an aberation and the next test will reveal enough sperm for ICSI at least...
In the last few days, since finding Mensfe, I've read through every single post on this forum, and as far as I can tell I seem to be the only person posting here with what is known as "Secondary Infertility". This is the situation when a couple has been able to conceive once but are unable do so again.
It's very frustrating in many ways. Whilst we are hugely grateful for our daughter, we don't seem to fit into either the group of friends who are now all on their second or third child and keep saying "When are you two going get round to it?" and yet we also don't fit with the people desperately trying anything to get their first and looking at us and saying "You're so lucky to have a child, what do you have to complain about?"!
Anyway, there's the background. We want to give the acupuncture a chance, and also I'm currently working away from home which isn't very compatible with being able to attend IVF sessions, support my wife through the hormone treatments etc. As such, we've arranged the next consult for the end of March and would probably be aiming to start IVF in late April after a couple of weeks holiday.
Hope that our experiences might be useful to someone. I'll keep an eye on the site and post when there's something to add, even if it's just frustration at yet more friends and family seemingly easily adding to their families!
Just heard from a colleague that his partner's had to have emergency treatment for an ectopic pregnancy. Obviously concerned for them and glad to hear that treatment has been successful, but have to admit that it makes me think "How come other people can even get pregnant if the sperm and egg aren't even in the right place!" ???
Hi Art
Welcome to mensfe, I am sorry to hear about your situation, I know it cant be easy but I personnally have found this site to be of great help in getting things off my chest.
It is good to have a new person here too, I was kind of getting a bit lonely. Keep us posted and if there is anything I can offer in the way of words or advice then I will do my best.
Chris
Thanks Chris.
124 views and only one response...but I think that seems pretty typical for this site! :-\
I wonder if other people's partners are using the "Clearblue Fertility Monitor"? My wonderful wife (I might abbreviate that to MWW in future!) has had one for a few months, having previously tried the temperature charting, mucus checking etc. and I'm a touch sceptical. It usually seems to almost default to giving a few days "Medium" then a "Peak" just when I can't be around for some reason! This month, it's just given about 8 days of "Medium" fertility, but MWW is convinced from the temp, mucus etc. that she ovulated sometime over the weekend...
And another Medium today. :(
"MWW"... Why did I never think of that!?
Welcome to mensfe!
If you've read through all the posts on the site, Art, you'll have seen that the reads:replys ratio has always been terribly poor and has from time to time prompted me or Chris to have a miniature tantrum on the matter.
I hope Chris and I can offer you a little support where the lurkers for whatever reason feel that they can't.
I think you're right; I haven't read any posts from anyone with secondary infertility. I always found it very hard to deal with all of my friends who were getting pregnant. It must feel terrible for you both to be stuck between both groups of friends.
When we had a couple of miscarriages, we were desperate not to let people know that it happened, primarily because, as sympathetic as people can be, if they know you've got pregnant once they project an expectation/certainty that the next pregnancy will be just a month or two away. We knew that it would be at least four months after a miscarriage that we would even have a shot at another.
My point is, I can completely sympathise with you. The expectation from all the people who know that you have a daughter and are a good dad who is enjoying his role is that you'll want to give her a sister or a brother in the near future. And people can be remarkably ignorant.
The number of people we spoke to who would just come right on out and say it! "You'd better got on with it!" "time won't wait for you, you know!" like we didn't know that and hadn't spent the last two years trying!
So the weight of expectation on you must be even more than it ever w on us because people can see that you've done it once already and, I suppose naturally, presume that there's nothing to stop you getting on with it again.
I feel really positive both for the good of the site and for me and Chris (mostly Chris. I've been sh1te at keeping posted since my twins came along - I have an excuse! One's not been well.) that you've come here to share your story, Art. The site (Again: basically I mean Chris!) has been a really helpful place for me to safely vent off steam and even get some support from people of the same gender who really get where I'm coming from.
Keep us posted. I'm always interested, and if anything I can say is of any help at all I'll be around.*
Good luck
Rob
*albeit quite tardy. :-)
Thanks for the welcome Robby. It's nice to actually hear from one of the people reading my thoughts, but in some ways, perhaps I can be more useful to those who, for whatever reason, don't want to post. Maybe some of those are people in my situation who don't want to put anything on here for fear of offending people who don't seem to be able to have a child at all, but can get something from my thoughts and comments (and from the responses of yourself, Chris and anyone else who may join in in future).
It certainly is annoying to have people commenting that "shouldn't you get on with having a little brother or sister for her?" and has driven MWW to tears afterwards on more than one occasion.
Cheers,
Art
PS - Sorry to hear that one of your twins has been ill, Rob - hope she's okay now? Having kids certainly puts you through the emotional grinder as well, as you're just so worried whenever they're unwell. I always feel like saying "Just give me what she's got and take it away from her! I'll take it twice as unpleasant if it will help her!". Especially when they're so young they can't talk and can't understand why they feel horrible.
Another month with nothing happening naturally. MWW a bit depressed about it yesterday, as the gap to our first daughter is now larger than between MWW and her sister, which she had always felt was more than she wanted for our kids.
Anyway, appointment at the clinic a week today, for a sperm test and then a conversation about whether we're ready to start IVF, exactly what type and when...
Hoping that the sperm test shows that last time's "zero normal forms" was an aberration!
Well, all feeling a bit more positive today. :)
Had another sperm count today, and got back some much better results. Decent volume, borderline numbers per ml, but up to 39% motile and 5% normal forms. Given that last time I had 0% normal forms, this feels like a really big step forwards. ;D
Also discussed next steps, and we're planning to start IVF, almost certainly ICSI, starting around June/July depending on cycles etc. MWW and I both think that it feels good to have made the decision, even if we know there's still a very long way to go even in the best case.
That's brilliant news.
Good luck to you both.
Chris
Typical. Today MWW gets a "Peak" fertility on the Clearblue monitor, and once again I'm out of the country and not returning until the end of the week!
Definitely doesn't help conception trying to live in one country and work in another. Firstly there's the obvious impact that with 3 nights per week away I'm often not home on the right nights, and secondly there's the less tangible impact on my sperm of me being stuck in a metal tube at 36 000 feet and hence being irradiated for an hour twice a week >:(
I know that we've decided to go down the IVF route, but it would be lovely if we could be one of those cliche'd couples who conceive naturally after deciding to do IVF, and this definitely isn't a step in the right direction!
It's all really beginning to happen now. MWW's last natural period this month, so she'll start the down-reg drugs at the start of next month, the drugs for which are now at home...
So in about six week's time we should have eggs, might even have embryos, and if there are enough of them then possibly blastocysts being reimplanted!
Of course, there's a long way to go before we get to that point, and many, many things which could interrupt that happy plan. Even if all goes well, I think that I'm expecting the drugs to have quite an impact on MWW, and I hope that I can be strong enough to be a give her the support that she needs when going through the hormone enhanced mood swings and so forth.
May well post on here a bit more as we start to get into things. Hope some other people will start to post too.
Hi Art
Good luck with everything, I hope it all goes well for you.
Chris
Hi Art,
Thank you for posting your story. I know my wife is plagued by people getting pregnant all around her (including her sister!) and people saying to her "it'll be your turn next! *wink wink*" all the time.
It must be especially difficult when you've had children before and people just assume all's well.
Best of luck for the treatment, fingers crossed :)
Matt
Matt and Chris, thanks for the comments. Nice to have a bit of a flurry of action on the forum for once!
One bit of good news is that it looks like soon I'll be coming back to working in the UK and being able to support MWW by being home every night. I explained the situation to my boss, and they've agreed to pull me out of my current project a little earlier than originally planned, replacing me with someone else who was due to come in anyway, but not for a few months.
I'm now finished overseas for now, which is much nicer. MWW is a week into the "down reg" injections. No noticeable sideeffects.
Celebrated our wedding anniversary a couple of weeks ago, and this weekend we're away for a family weekend. MWW had a lovely spa night last night, and we said how nice it would be to do one together. However, if we're successful she can't do one due to pregnancy...and if we're not successful then I shouldn't do one given the effects of sitting in jacuzzis and saunas on my sperm quality! Oh well, one day we'll be able to!
It's nice that a few of us are all going through it at the same time. Check in again soon guys!
Good luck Art, I have everything crossed for you.
Chris
Good luck, Art. Best wishes to you both
Where to start? ???
As you know, we've been going through our first cycle of IVF, with MWW downregulating and then starting on the Gonal F injections since this time last week. Also MWW's been a bit ill (feverish, achey, stomach troubles) since Saturday, and we're not sure how much of any aches, pains, tiredness, grumpiness etc. has been from the hormones and how much from the illness. I'm fairly sure that the illness can't have helped MWW at this time, and that some of the discomfort she's been in has been because both are happening at the same time.
However, there's been a lot else going on our lives too, as a couple of weeks ago MWW's mother was diagnosed with a form of cancer which is almost certainly terminal in a matter of 6-12 months, meaning that:
(a) MWW is going through even more of an emotional rollercoaster than normal for IVF
(b) This cycle of IVF is really important to us, as if it doesn't work out, MWW's mother might never even know about the grandchild we'd like to give her, let alone be able to meet him/her
(c) MWW (and I) will be spending every free weekend driving across the country to spend as much time as possible with MWW's parents, rather than relaxing and doing what we can to help the process along
We're all very upset about it, as MWW's mother is a wonderful person (I get on better with her than my own mother, to be honest) and she's not even 60 yet. In fact, her own mother is still alive. There's another stressor, as MWW's grandmother is in a nursing home, seemingly going downhill every few months and yet somehow confounding medical science by recovering each time, outlasting almost all of the other residents there. MWW's mother and MWW have power of attorney over her accounts, and are having to go through the process of moving money between bank accounts and then sorting out and selling off her bungalow in order to pay the nursing home bills. With MWW's mother being ill, this is now all going to fall on MWW, again adding to the stress levels during this IVF round...
...speaking of which, MWW's been being scanned every day this week, and as we suspected might happen, has had high response to the drugs, with at least 20 follicles ripening, possibly as many as 40, so we've been told that actually we can't go ahead with the current cycle due to risk of Ovarian Hyper Stimulation. :(
However, what is going to happen is that on Saturday they are going to harvest those eggs, take my sample and try to fertilise as many as they can. They'll then freeze any resulting embryos, and in a couple of months we can try implanting some.
So that's where we are. My mind's all over the place right now, and I just don't know what to think.
Hopefully it's a good thing as we'll get lots of eggs and can pick the best one(s) to try and implant in a couple of months time. Also, that couple of months might be enough to help get through some of the things I mentioned above, putting us in a better place at that time, although it increases the chance of MWW's mother never knowing the outcome.
Thanks for the best wishes Chris and Matthew, and good luck with your own processes at the moment.
Hi Art
I am sorry to hear that you wont be able to go ahead with implantation this month but hopefully you will be left with lots of embryo's for future use, you never know if you get enough then you will be able to store them and get your entire brood from this batch.
I am sorry to hear about everything else that is going off in your life, treatment is stressfull enough without all the added problems you are experiencing, it never rains but pours eh?
I know the feeling as we encounter similar problems and are experiencing them now.
All the best to you both.
Chris
Art,
Can't imagine how much stress and upset you've been through recently. A terrible situation to be in and then to have a delay on your treatment is awful.
I hope that your mother in law is able to meet her grandchild. I hope the actual prognosis is much better than has been said.
Thoughts are with you all at the moment.
Best of luck
Matt
Thanks guys.
Had egg collection this morning, which wasn't particularly troublesome+, but we've got 9 eggs and been told it looks like 6 of those may be mature enough to fertilise through ICSI. Should find out tomorrow morning how many have taken.
However, we're really unsure how to proceed at the moment. As mentioned above, we'd been told that very high risk of Ovarian Hyper Stimulation Syndrome (OHSS) meant that we'd have to freeze any embryos this time and try again another time. However, after the eggs were removed, the doctor came to talk to us and said that they class people as high risk for OHSS if they meetat least two of three conditions:
- Greater than 30 follicles responding (we met this one)
- Greater than 25 eggs collected (didn't meet this one)
- Estrogen levels greater than 15000 (didn't meet this one either, estrogen was only 5500)
So they're now saying that we can go ahead if we want, but there is still a slight risk of OHSS. In some ways we'd love to get on with it, and know it's working, hopefully while MWW's mum is still around to know about it. However, OHSS can be very serious indeed, possibly even fatal....but there's a really low chance and the clinic has said we only met one of the three criteria...
Just don't know what to do right now, but need to decide today...
Tough one to call! Risks with both ways: OHSS or the freezing process.
Doesn't sound like they're too worried about OHSS but then they don't have to live with the risks!
Hope you're able to make a decision you're both happy with.
Matt
Decision....deferred!
Phone call just now to say that five eggs have successfully fertilised. More than we expected, given that we were told four eggs were mature and two nearly mature, and they only have a 70% fertilisation rate...
So, we've decided to try and get to blastocyst stage and will proceed as though we're going to implant then, but if MWW gets any more symptoms of OHSS then we'll freeze at blastocyst stage (well, technically it's a different process then, called "vitrification", but it still gives us frozen embryos).
So now we just keep waiting and hoping that all five get through the next few days.
Four out of five progressing well towards blastocyst. Fifth one might still catch up, but may not...
Still looking positive, we're just keeping everything crossed right now!
I've everything crossed for you both.
Yeah, thinking of you all at this time.
Encouraging news with the embryos. Long may that continue!
Matt
Thanks guys.
As of yesterday there are still three embryos, so today is implantation day and then the 2WW...
Just keeping fingers crossed at the moment!
Good luck Art. All the best to you both.
Well, there's one embyro (blastocyst) floating around inside MWW at the moment, and either two or three which they hope to freeze tomorrow. Now we just have to wait ten days....
Apparently the blastocyst was graded "3BB" which makes it pretty good. Fingers crossed for the next two weeks really!
Absolutely mate, hope you get the news you're longing for in two weeks!
Fingers crossed for the embryo freezing too!
Matt
They were able to freeze two, which is great news. :)
Great news Art, best wishes for your results.
Matt
Fantastic news Art.
I hope your wife is taking it easy and you are to, I know how long the 2ww feels.
Good luck to you both.
Chris
Thanks Chris and Matt.
MWW is taking things as easy as she can, but it's not easy with her Mum being ill so in and out of hospital. Hopefully she's been able to have enough relaxing time to give the embryo the best possible chance of implanting...but we just have to wait until the 18th to find out!
Damn, this two week wait is hard, isn't it? :(
MWW's been having a few odd pains and cramps, which don't seem promising, but we've just got to keep waiting and keep fingers crossed. She's due to have a blood test first thing Monday, with the results available around lunchtime, assuming no bleed before that...
Hi Art
Dont count it off just yet, it could be implantation cramping, a lot of the symptons of a period are similar to early pregnancy.
Good luck, I have everything crossed for you.
Chris
Wa-hey! ;D
In case it wasn't obvious from that first response....we had the test today, and it was positive! :) MWW has really oscillated from positive to really down about it all, then back up to feeling good this morning when the blood was taken, but having just had the phone call to say that it's positive with HCG of 397, which is really positive (might even be twins!).
Over the moon right now. Must be something magic about this forum, for all three of us to get positives within a few days of each other.
That is absolutely brilliant Art.
I am so pleased for you and such a good HCG level.
I am so pleased for you both, there certainly must be something in the air at the moment.
Chris
Thanks Chris.
The one thing that I hope is that a few more new people come along to the forum so that it continues to have a few active people on it. It wouldn't have been the same without you, Matthew and Robby going through the same things. I wonder why so many more women seem to post on ivillage and the various other fourms that MWW has used, compared with the men who post here....
Art, that is fantastic news! (sorry for the delay)
When is your scan?
You must be feeling incredible right now. I'm so pleased that all three of us have had good news. A testament to modern medicine and this forum.
If you are reading this and you're hesitating to post, do it. It really is good to share the highs and lows with.
Keep us updated Art!
Matt
Feeling a little down at the moment, as we (foolishly) did one of those Clearblue digital tests at the weekend, expecting it to say "Pregnant, 3+ Weeks" and it showed "Pregnant, 2-3 Weeks" which suggests slightly low levels of HCG. MWW was a bit worried by that and we did another test yesterday, which still said "Pregnant, 2-3 Weeks". :-\
She's spoken to Clearblue, our clinic and the local hospital's "Early Pregnancy Unit", none of whom were particularly useful, and I think we just need to keep waiting. Our scan is in about ten days, so that will be conclusive, but I think we'll probably do another test this weekend. If it's showing "1-2 Weeks" then we know things have not worked this time round (although hopefully it'll say "3+ Weeks" and we'll all be happy again!).
Please dont worry too much Art, low levels of HCG can still lead to a succesfull pregnancy.
I wouldnt worry too much, just try to stay positive and I would actually advise not to do a test at the weekend as it could lead to stress and that may have a bad impact on little Art, just try to be positive for eachother and be hopeful.
Chris
Thanks Chris.
I know that we should try to avoid worrying about it, but it's difficult.
It's hard to know whether to do a test or not. A positive outcome would really relieve a lot of stress and worry, a so-so outcome would continue it, and a bad answer would be very depressing. If only I could know the outcome before testing! :)
Hi Art,
When we had our pregnancy result our HCG level was 125, yours was 397 so I really wouldn't worry. Our consultant was really pleased with that initial score. From what we were told (this may differ person to person too) that over 100 was great for the initial pregnancy test and that around 1000 was good for the next test (ours was 997 or something).
How accurate are clearblue when it comes to giving the time of conception anyway? I can imagine it could be a week out or so. Most people would be using in diffferent circumstances and might just need a ballpark figure (i.e. not having gone through IVF with such a definite conception date), then they'd get checked at the doctor and be given a more accurate date anyway. I'm sure the next scan will give you good news.
We didn't realise that tests could be an indicator of HCG levels. We kept away from them in the initial two week wait as a friend of my wife said her's didn't say they were pregnant until two days before the results day so they were stressed and upset in the run up. Ignorance is bliss I think then when you get good news it feels fantastic!
If you do decide to do another test, I hope it gives you both the peace of mind you need :)
Matt
Thanks Matthew.
I know that our initial HCG was good, but the worry is that if anything's happened that would result in a miscarriage then the HCG level will fall off, and that's obviously what we are desperately hoping hasn't happened. MWW's said that she doesn't "feel pregnant" whereas around this time with our daughter she was feeling really ill every morning.
MWW's in a much more optimistic mood this evening, and we've agreed that we don't plan to do another test this weekend, but we just hope that we can be strong enough not to! :-\
I totally understand that Art, I think it's down to how the worry gets to you. My wife was very superstitious so didn't want to test in case it somehow jinxed us, so probably would have found it difficult to take a test, even if we were asked to by the hospital!
I'm sure everyone will have said how "every pregnancy is different" etc but from those friends who I know that have had more than one child, it does seem to be true!
It is a real head-mess though and I guess that's where talking to people is so critical, I would have ended up being committed if we'd dealt with it on our own.
I think it was easier for us as we knew we had a second blood test a week after to check progress. if you're having to go straight through to the scan without that input I can imagine it's very tough indeed. My wife has started with nausea so we know things are still happening. She's feeling sick every day but is really happy about it! Very strange situation to be in.
Anyway, I hope that wait goes a quickly as possible so you can get some more good news soon.
Matt
Thanks Matt.
I know it must be hard Art but I agree with Matt in how accurate are those tests really?
Just keep positive about next week and when you see the little heartbeat it will be all worthwhile.
All the best
Chris
Succumbed. Tested."3+". Happy. :)
Very pleased for you.
Now put those tests away and relax.
Chris
Quote from: chrisd on 2011-08-01 15:17
Very pleased for you.
Now put those tests away and relax.
Chris
Lol. What he said.
Seriously, glad it gave a good result. Hope it gives you some peace of mind
Matt
We can definitely relax a bit now. Had our first scan today, and MWW and I were both really relieved to see a heart beating there (and only the one so no more surprises there!).
They measured it as 7 weeks plus 1 day (we know it's actually 7+2 of course, because the fertilisation took place in the lab!). So, around March 24th next year there should be another addition to the family!
I'm convinced that it's a boy as MWW has very different pregnancy symptoms to last time (she felt ill all the time, whereas now she's fine other than being tired and getting headrushes).
Hope things continue to go well for everyone else.
Thats brilliant news Art, We are really chuffed for you.
All the best
Chris
All here too .....................
Thanks guys!
Great news Art! Really pleased for you both :)
Just to add a quick update to day that we've had our first NHS scan today. 13 weeks plus 3 days because MWW had an appointment which she couldn't reschedule last week so we had to rearrange the scan.
All looks amazing, much clearer than the 10+3 scan which we had with our daughter. We saw little legs kicking, arms moving around, and it looked like he/she was either chewing or talking to him/herself! ;D
As with Chris and Matt, I think that I'll be posting on here less now, but I'll keep looking in from time to time, and I wish everyone else who is going through this all the best. Thanks for the support I've had here, and good luck folks.
Nice one Art, hope everything carries on progressing well.
All the best
Chris
Great stuff Art. Hope everything is still ok!
Matt
We're currently at 31 weeks. MWW is having a few complications (similar to the first time we went through this) with "cholestasis of pregnancy" which basically means that her liver is having trouble so she gets very itchy. Not too serious, but means that they are likely to deliver her early, potentially around the start of March.
We might all be becoming Dads at the same time! Keeping my fingers crossed guys.
Yeah, and any of you need fatherly advice, you know where to come!
Lol!
P.S. For God's sake dont ask me anything!
Well, things are certainly starting to get close now!
MWW's cholestasis has worse over the last few weeks, and we've now been scheduled for a C-Section on March 9th, which would mean our little one arriving around the expected dates for Chris and Matt. However, things might progress faster than that even...
MWW started having regular contractions on Tuesday evening, and having had a C-Section already with our first child, with the complication of cholestasis, and with being only 35 weeks, we were asked to go into the hospital for monitoring. They kept her in overnight, as she was having contractions every five minutes or so, but since they weren't painful and weren't getting closer together or more intense, they expected to send her home on Thursday morning...until I got a call at 2am on Thursday saying "They're every two minutes and painful, and I'm being moved to delivery suite!" so I jumped in the car and dashed up to the hospital, to sit with MWW on a birthing ball and concentrate on breathing etc while we looked at the contractions and the baby's heart rate on the monitor. Everything seemed to be happening...and then at about 6am it all just stopped! MWW went back to ten minute apart, non painful contractions and even drifted off to sleep.
We stayed around for the rest of the day before being sent home, and have been told basically only to come back in if contractions get painful again. MWW's continuing to have them, but describes them as "mild period pain" rather than anything more severe, although she's feeling very big and uncomfy at the moment, and would really just like the baby to arrive now!
Hope the rest of you are all doing well, and I suspect that we'll all be celebrating at a similar time in the next few weeks. Will keep you all updated...
All the best to you both, I hope everything goes well.
Chris
Things were more than "starting to get close"! :)
Yesterday morning, MWW gave birth to a lovely, healthy baby boy. Her waters broke just after 2am, and five hours later he arrived by normal vaginal delivery. At only 36weeks and 4 days, he was still a pretty healthy 2.85kg, and although MWW and he were kept in hospital overnight to ensure that feeding established well, we're now home and beginning to get used to the chaos and wonder of a new baby in our lives!
I would like to thank everyone on here who gave me support during the IVF process, and to say to any of the "lurkers" and others who read but don't post much that IVF really can work, and when it does it's the most wonderful thing in the world. The very best of luck to everyone else who is going through this.
Best wishes also to Chris and Matt, and I hope things go smoothly for you too.
Congratulations to the both of you and welcome to the world baby Art.
We are so happy for you and your wife, enjoy fatherhood and everything that comes with it.
All the best to you and your family.
Chris
HOOOORAY!
Congratulations Art and family!
Well done Mrs. Art and baby Art!
The very best of luck and the biggest of congratulations to you all. Great news!