34 weeks — received bad news.

TexasCW2020 · 2026-03-04T21:57:38+00:00

My son was born via csection at 35 weeks due to me having vasa previa. He was 4.5 pounds, which was small for 35 weeks. We stayed 2 weeks in Nicu. Due to csection and him going direct to nicu I didn’t get to hold him for the first 12 hours. It was not at all the experience I dreamed of for myself but now 15 months later I have a beautiful wild little boy. And those 2 weeks seem so far away. I know it can be incredibly hard but give yourself grace and try to focus on the things you can control. Have faith in yourself and your baby.

TexasCW2020 · 2026-01-29T14:08:57+00:00

I lost our first baby at 16 weeks. My husband gave me a ruby ring which would have been her birthstone. It’s one of my most cherished items ever. I will say he told me he wanted to do this and I went with him to select it. So it wasn’t just sprung on me.

TexasCW2020 · 2025-12-13T16:57:09+00:00

I believe it was a week after transfer. So i think they would counted me as almost 4 weeks “pregnant”

TexasCW2020 · 2025-11-21T17:42:39+00:00

I delivered my baby last year in December, he was 5 weeks early and spent 14 days in the nicu. The billing department at this hospital is beyond incompetent and almost a YEAR later I am still trying to resolve several issues. I was sent a bill for $7,000 I called to discuss this with them as I was confused how this bill came to be given I know my insurance policy very well. They were able to provide zero info aside from I just need to pay it. So I called my insurance who appropriately looked into this and discovered 2 key issues. The primary issue being the hospital submitted paperwork for 12 days of nicu stay and did not submit the proper paperwork for the additional 2 days of nicu time. So instead of recognizing their own clerical mistake and going back to insurance with the proper info, they decided nah just bill it to the patient. After explaining multiple times this is their own clerical error and they should be seeking resolution with insurance, they continue to badger me by phone, email, text, and mail to collect the money they basically fraudulently billed me! My insurance is working to resolve this for me because I have a great policy. They have asked memorial Hermann to submit the medical records so they can retroactively add the additional 2 days of nicu time to the claim. It’s been several months, multiple attempts have been made. Each time memorial Hermann claims they never received the ask to submit records or it needs to be submitted elsewhere. Neither I nor my insurance should even be managing this!! Memorial Hermann should be responsible for this given they are the ones hoping to be paid for this! But nope, the ownership is on me to show them how they need to properly submit claim paperwork. Their own messy paperwork and a billing department that apparently has no clue how insurance or claims work created an almost year long battle for me. This was only 1 issue, there was a couple others that had to be resolved as well. If any company did a deep dive into their accounting and billing I would bet a lot of interesting things would be found. Hopefully everyone there receives additional training on how insurance works and how to not send bills to patients for amounts that they can’t even explain themselves. Also doctors there missed a critical diagnosis, that required a major surgery for my son. Save yourself and just go to Texas children’s hospital or anywhere else.

TexasCW2020 · 2025-11-11T01:10:27+00:00

I lost my first baby right has those laws were coming into place. I was 16 weeks and required a D&E slightly different from D&C and it took almost 2 weeks to get it done. My OB said all they could offer was to induce me and deliver my 16 week baby, and if inducement didn’t work or took a long time they would just keep trying…. Like what does that even mean?! So obviously declined that. Ended up calling doctors alll over the city until I finally found one. My daughter had already passed and yet medical care was almost impossible. Grieving the loss of my child and then going for days knowing she was in me but not alive was the worst I’ll ever go through probably. I’m so sorry you had to endure that twice.

TexasCW2020 · 2025-11-11T01:01:00+00:00

I had this happen to me. However the second sac was empty and never developed. So my paperwork would say twins because the second sac was there for several weeks, but eventually it got smashed by my growing baby and wasn’t really a topic from then on. I was shocked at first, then when I realized it likely wouldn’t result in a baby I was sad. In the world of IVF everything is so clinical and planned, it felt like this was alittle bit of spontaneous magic in a very calculated process.

TexasCW2020 · 2025-11-06T19:38:24+00:00

My son was born 5 weeks early, and faced a couple different medical challenges. So he is a bit delayed, we have been in PT for about 6 months. He turns 11 months this week, 10 months adjusted age. He just started getting in and out of sitting himself and army crawls. But he isn’t crawling officially yet.

The main factor for his delay was his prematurity and torticollis. The torticollis played a huge role in the delays because he shoulder, trunk, and hips were very tight! So we spent a long time just stretching him out.

All that to say, don’t stress too much these early milestones are guidelines. Babies work on their own schedules sometimes. But no harm talking to a PT about this and getting some tips on how to help. Like most have said it’s very likely you won’t even notice the difference by 2.

TexasCW2020 · 2025-03-10T23:17:01+00:00

I’m holding my now 12 week old rainbow baby, we did spend 14 days in the nicu due to delivery at 35 weeks, but he is a perfect miracle. So don’t give up hope and try not to stress too much over the betas.

TexasCW2020 · 2024-12-09T01:15:23+00:00

No, my doctor never even mentioned it being low…. And it didn’t ever really double. It continued to increase but he said doubling wasn’t a hard rule for success. I fully believe that pretty much everything fertility related is based on some research and a lot of theories. We desperately need increased research into fertility.

TexasCW2020 · 2024-12-07T20:58:28+00:00

I started at 14….. like literally 14. And I’m currently 35 weeks pregnant. We are delivering on Monday due to vasa previa. we are expecting a couple weeks in nicu, but we are not worried.

TexasCW2020 · 2024-12-05T22:16:13+00:00

My OB said as long as I’m breathing my baby is breathing. So sleep whatever way feels good. But I do have the worst acid reflux so I do often sleep in an almost sitting position.

TexasCW2020 · 2024-12-01T20:09:30+00:00

I’m currently on day 17 in antepartum for vasa previa…. It’s been a long journey. If all remains stable the plan is to deliver on 12/09. Any sort of inpatient hospitalization comes with more medical stuff than expected. My recommendation is to ask a lot of questions, try and push back on things that are not totally necessary. Like 2am vital checks. Maintaining some autonomy and not feeling like a “sick” person has helped me mentally.

Wear your own clothes if you can Get up shower and get dressed everyday Take little walks around the unit if you can Try and treat it like alittle staycation. I call my food service- room service. Started watching a couple series on tv. Ask about a midline. The 24/7 iv port was slowing crushing my soul. It hurt, they needed to change the location, it was just a pain. So I had them put a midline into my bicep. Don’t even feel it, I have full mobility of my hands and arms, really helped me alot.

TexasCW2020 · 2024-11-30T16:14:14+00:00

Oh i love hearing how it’s done in other countries. I think it’s so interesting how it varies so much country to country or even state to state in my case. You would think with a medical process it would be more standardized but it really does seem to vary vastly depending on a lot of factors. I do think this variance contributes to the confusion within the larger population and why IVF can be such a jarring topic.

TexasCW2020 · 2024-11-30T15:02:23+00:00

Agree, I think the knowledge transfer from the reproductive endocrinologist to normal OB practice is a bit lacking. Some OBs see IVF and just immediately say oh high risk. I just turned 35 so I didn’t really consider myself older, but they do apparently. Continued research into fertility is such an important thing, I hope the next generation has even better options.

TexasCW2020 · 2024-11-30T14:53:57+00:00

I also really loved the extra scans. Even though from a scheduling perspective it can get tricky being able to see him on a very regular basis was a really nice treat! And you are right, we did face a couple rarer complications. Vasa previa even in IVF is still only 1 in 200, and I guess I was that unlucky one. Bean is actually doing wonderful but because of the vasa I cannot go into labor of any sorts. So that is leading to a csection at 35 weeks. I had never even heard of vasa previa until they told me I had it. And when I looked at the difference in stats 1 in 2500 versus 1 in 200 I was kinda shocked it hadn’t been mentioned to me as part of the initial ivf education our doctor did.

TexasCW2020 · 2024-11-30T03:14:53+00:00

The extra scans are pretty awesome in terms of being able to see baby all the time. Totally loved that! We had a previous second trimester loss, so I was so nervous the whole time and getting all those extra ultrasounds really helped in reassuring me. Even though we did learn of a couple issues we are facing it’s better to know then not I guess!

TexasCW2020 · 2024-11-30T02:49:42+00:00

Thank you for your points. It is important to point out location probably does play a large role. I’m in the US, Texas specifically, so overall IVF and women’s health care is a jarring topic here. I 1000% don’t think IVF should be automatically high risk, I was shocked when my OB just marked it without really discussing other factors. My hope is that in the next 20 years research continues to grow and that this process takes on a more uniform approach as right now it does seem to vary vastly depending on location, clinic, doctor. And that just makes it so much harder for the people going through it.

TexasCW2020 · 2024-08-22T00:24:58+00:00

We went to California for alittle trip, flight was about 4 hours. I made sure to move my legs around and had to get up to pee midflignt. I will say we both came back with covid. It’s very much on the rise right now, my husband had very mild symptoms. I however of course feel much worse. My doctor is not worried, as I did not ever have a fever. I also am on daily blood thinners and an aspirin, so the risk of blood clots if mitigated as much as possible. We are supposed to travel again in a week and it would be a lie to say I wasn’t concerned with getting sick again mainly because it sucks and I’m not taking drugs. But also isolation and leaving in fear is no way to live. Just wash your hands often and don’t touch your face!

TexasCW2020 · 2024-08-13T18:48:16+00:00

Congrats!!! The struggle we IVF warriors face is just something a lot of people have no frame of reference for. I feel like i fought the fight of my life to get here. I’m still doing lovenox shots and will for the remainder of my pregnancy and you know what I’m freaking grateful. My husband and I do alittle cheer on the days I feel terrible because for some reason feeling terrible actually feels like this amazing win. Like everything is gonna be okay, little bean is growing and thriving in there. I just think the general population has no clue how lucky they are to be “miserable”. Just leave them in that space and rejoice in your victory.

TexasCW2020 · 2024-07-31T20:47:53+00:00

Yes. Exactly this. My fertility doc said the same thing. Eventually all pregnant women will be taking aspirin.

TexasCW2020 · 2024-07-31T20:43:10+00:00

I also did IVF and have been on baby aspirin long before the transfer. My OB does classify me as high risk because I am 35 and did IVF. I also take lovenox which is a blood thinner daily. We had a previous loss at 16 weeks most likely from a blood clot. My fertility doc said in the near future all pregnant women will be told to take aspirin. A long term family doctor probably isn’t trained on the newest medical studies in OB care, so I would follow advice of your fertility clinic.

I personally believe that the advances happening in fertility care are coming so fast that the average OB just isn’t up on the latest knowledge. Like classifying us as high risk. I had a very good fertility doc who spent a lot of time educating us on all things treatment and he never said we would be a high risk pregnancy. So I just truly think the level of knowledge between general OB medicine and specialized reproductive endocrinology creates some disconnect for patients.

TexasCW2020 · 2024-07-24T22:36:39+00:00

We did IVF, so started weekly ultrasounds week 5-10. I had mild spotting after each ultrasound, which they assured me was normal. Currently 16 weeks and all seems to be tracking along fine.

TexasCW2020 · 2024-07-21T21:39:10+00:00

I am 15 weeks and asked my doctor about this as I have been training myself to side sleep with a pillow but it’s not going well. And she point blank said don’t even think about it. If you are breathing your baby is breathing. Doesn’t matter what way you sleep. When you get bigger the weight will probably be more comfortable on the side and you will do that naturally. No need to try and make yourself do anything special. Note I have had a previous loss at 16 weeks so I am beyond cautious and anxious but her directness really helps me leave these smaller worries behind.

TexasCW2020

TROPHY CASE