My Journey to Solo Motherhood | Ep 3 | First bump in the road...

Things don't go to plan in today's episode...
My website for reusable cloth menstural pads and more : www.preciousstars.co.uk
Support me on Patreon: / preciousstarspads
My Facebook page: / preciousstarsyt
My instagram: @preciousstarsvlogs
My Twitter: / preciousstarsyt

[@em418]

As a pharmacist in the UK I thought I would share that typically someone with hypothyroidism (low thyroid) can apply for a medical exemption which covers the costs of all medicines on NHS prescriptions. Now you are pregnant (congratulations by the way, so excited for you!) there is also a maternity exemption you can apply for. Just as a heads up! X

[@zoggyzoom]

I came to the comments to say the same.

[@Jenflower]

I came here to say the same too! Should be able to claim back your £9 that you paid too

[@rachyriottt]

I came to say this too, it's listed as myxoedema on the form, which you can get from your GP, then it just needs the GP to sign it and it should come through in a few weeks

[@FelixBeeble]

Yeah same here too, although my GP did it right away for me

[@NessieS93]

I’m not sure someone who can afford private fertility treatment really needs a medical exemption..

[@rebekah3483]

I'm SO invested in this series and I don't wanna wait for episode 4... I want it NOW! LOL! 🤣 Sending you the warmest thoughts and well wishes !

[@kpwxx]

This whole process seems so intense! I understand why of course, because everything is in the interest of your and baby's health (and in increasing success chances!) but it seems there's so much more to think about, so many more boxes to tick, when you consider some people get pregnant inadvertently or without even knowing! I'm not surprised that the process is draining, but im glad you're getting through it and can't wait for the joy at the end.

[@3BeckyBee]

I've had to take thryroid medication for both of my pregnancies. I know you're passed this point but having a thyroid in check is super important to avoid early miscarriage. It is very interesting that they check this before IUI (I conceived naturally) and it makes so much sense. My thyroid is considered "normal" when not pregnant but they want the numbers lower when pregnant so I get on medication.

[@InternetFad]

In therapy right now, I've been talking about trauma stuff related to being shamed for my body and menstruation. I know that's not the topic of this video but I wanted to let you know how great my therapist thought your channel was. He thinks it's fantastic that there are people like you out there who talk about things in such a matter of fact way and make it safe/normal to talk about our bodies and how they work. I'm teary eyed writing this because I admire you so much for your ability to talk about these topics in such eloquent and simple ways. I've followed you since the beginning and I really appreciate the wealth of content you've made available for everyone. It's such a generous thing to do, to share your life like this! Thank you for helping me heal from my past trauma with your videos. All my love and support!

[@KarrieAnn_]

Wow it’s so cool seeing this chapter of your life! I’m getting a little bit of nostalgia for some reason it’s crazy to when I think about how long I’ve been watching your channel I was still in high school, your also the reason I’ve expanded my period product variety and I love my Luna cup! Thank for always making these topics not so embarrassing ❤

[@HatchlingChibi]

Thank you for the update Bryony! I’m excited for you and I’m enjoying hearing about your journey! I would say in the future if things come up, don’t feel bad rescheduling business calls! And they don’t need to know the personal details, it’s fine to say “I’m sorry but something had come up (or you can say you’ve had a family emergency) and I will have to reschedule our appointment. I apologize for the inconvenience.” Your mental health is more important than a meeting.

[@samcoates8938]

Omg I need episode 4! I don’t wanna watch the bumpdates until I have finished these 😂🙈

[@Jazzvibesicl]

I’m very much enjoying watching these in depth videos it’s super educational and helpful ❤

[@lindsey4178]

I just want to say congratulations! I've not been a constant follow of your channel but I've definitely checked in with your videos here and there over the years. I'm a single mother to three girls and I can tell you that, although it's stressful and tough at times, my pregnancy and motherhood journey has been the most AMAZING experience. I did not plan on being a single mother but I wouldn't change it for the world. I can't wait to hear your birth story because the moment that labor is over and you see your baby is unimaginable. It's one of those things that you can't explain...(that rush of hormones in conjunction with the love, relief and pride you feel...its incredible). Lots of love to you from Texas. I am thrilled for you! You will love this experience of a baby of your own. Watching them grow is amazing.

[@AngelsLieToKeepCtrl]

I'm really enjoying watching your journey. Hope everything is going ok xoxo

[@laurakinsella1692]

I'm sorry that your going through this there just making sure that your in the best place mentally and physically to carry a baby carrying a child is a huge thing. I know from your previous videos that you are struggling with your pregnancy, but personally I think your doing really well you've done the scary bit and told medical professionals that you are struggling, and your getting help. Your doing a really important thing here saying about the up and the downs.

[@hebbbby]

Love watching these videos. Hugs to you xxx

[@SarahBevElizabeth]

Ahhh I’m so excited for you. I’ve just started school again, but I think once I graduate I’m going to start looking into having a baby the same way. I have PCOS so I know it won’t be easy either but I’m hopeful!

[@chevandisla]

I know 2 friends with PCOS, one is super fertile, 6 kids in, gets pregnant so easily and one that took a bit longer but still managed to always conceive within a year, so it all depends with the syndrome, I wish you all the luck x

[@matemahe]

@@chevandisla That seems odd af bc pcos is infertility issues. I literally was told getting pregnant will involve fertility treatments. I'm just confused how someone with pcos has 6 kids

[@maira1195]

Id offer to be a surrogate for you but apparently you already have to have had children before.

[@chevandisla]

@@matemahe not all cases mean fertility issues, its associated with it, but not everyone with it has fertility issues if that makes sense, there are groups of women on Facebook who explain their conditions some are very fertile still and have multiple babies

[@deedeegee2825]

I have adenomyosis myself and I COMPLETELY understand just how badly a period can effect your life. Most people know that some periods are worse than others but I don’t think people fully understand that for women with adeno it means excruciating pain, fainting, vomiting, being unable to move, the bloating and the exhaustion. But to a degree it is hard to explain unless you experience it yourself. I do the same thing that you were doing in this video. I count time by how many periods there are between now and whatever event I am planning for. I don’t schedule meetings or appointments in that time as it’s likely I won’t be able to stand up during that week.

[@starshine9205]

I have had really painful periods since I was a teenager. it really is stressful to plan around your periods and explain to people why you have to miss certain days because your in so much pain you can't hardly stand up or walk.Then besides feeling bad you feel like your letting people down, its so frustrating! Or when people don't believe your in that much pain and think your being dramatic, that really hurts my feelings. Luckily it's getting a little better but to go through that especially in your teens is so hard! I try to be as sympathetic as I can. Because you never really know what's someone is experiencing.

[@aydenleigh2445]

I’m so so so excited for you! I’ve been watching your videos for the longest time and they have helped so much over the years! My birthday is December 23rd and I can say having a Christmas birthday isn’t bad, I always think of it as extra presents! Congratulations and the best of luck on your journey!!

[@claudiajade624]

Yup. I feel like once u properly make the decision that u want to start trying to have a baby (through whatever method) the time it takes to happen feels like an Eternity

[@jemmalow8958]

As a fellow person who has a thyroid problem. A thyroid problem is commonly diagnosed after being on some form of contraception. I was diagnosed with a underactive thyroid back in 2009 then it took me until April 2011 to fall pregnant. They didn't start any medication until September 2010.

[@brittanyphillipps8899]

You are my kinda person!! You're the same age as me. I find it hard to make friends with mums my own age. All my mum friends are over 30 as they are more mature. But you are on my wave length 😅 much love

[@karinseaman4060]

I also had to get an MMR booster before I could start.. I understand all the emotions of this...

[@mikafairystar]

Do you think your business will make cloth nappies in the future?

[@katfoster845]

Thyroid medication is extremely cheap, but if you go to your GP you can get a medical exemption certificate. No point paying if you don't have to!

[@mikeholmstrom1899]

Iron in vitamins can also make you feel sick.

[@myreality5959]

I'm trying to watch but I've only had a couple hours sleep and baby just fell asleep sooooo I shall come watch the rest later

[@solesuna]

Turns out the mmr needs to be redone as an adult for most people. Didn‘t know about it until my Gyno told me a few years back.

[@JosieAreSee]

I found out my uterus is slightly narrow. Which is hilarious considering that its the only skinny thing on/ in me.

[@SarahBevElizabeth]

Lmaooo

[@nicolebrown4149]

I don’t have a resistance to chicken pox so I had to make sure to avoid anyone with it when I was pregnant.

[@gloriam8762]

I had a similar experience with varicella. I had the vaccine in my early 20's. Did some fertility treatments in my 20/30's had a pregnancy and all was good. Had a surprise pregnancy at 39 and my varicella came back indeterminate but it was not recommended i get the vaccine again post partum by my ob or the health nurse. Next pregnancy my results came back with no protection. I got the vaccine post partum that time. So many people thought it was wierd that I seemed to have lost my protection.

[@MillieQuirke]

i definitely only had one rubella shot! i had my mmr as a child and lost immunity, though didn’t find out until i was already pregnant. they gave me the booster the day after i gave birth and never needed a second dose. must have been frustrating to be jolted around so much!

[@thanku4et449]

Just FYI sometimes after pregnancy the MMR shot fades and you can lose immunity so before trying for another one day check if you need another dose so you don’t get stuck waiting etc…

[@eprohoda]

Precious! you made splendid view. see u aroudn~ )

[@kateshealthylife]

These happened to me to!! I wish the gps did a better work up so that all vaccines were ready when u say u want to get pregnant! I had to waist a lot of cycles on this stuff too :(

[@hintsd071]

My clinic is the save I have to message or call all the time to see where were at

[@pattyfluegel7816]

Dont take vitamins on an empty stomach

[@WalkWithFaith7]

Thank you Jesus only 4 weeks yahoo! ❤

[@DeepinIngo]

Thank you so much for sharing your emotional and physical journey with us, Bryony! I'm (as far as things stand now) not going to be a solo mum or need a sperm donor or many of the other things discussed in your vlogs but it is extremely interesting and I look forward to each new episode coming out!

[@rebeccaturner4988]

Its a barrier or bump or detour on the road to that goal especially it will be a story to tell them and laugh. I have cousins - like 11 - one born on Christmas Day, 2 born in mid January etc. Days can be moved, there are unbirthdays and half birthdays too.

[@emilygauthier4000]

I’m the same way I wrote down conception month and due date months cause I want a summer baby I like the separation

[@miriamrowan4236]

I had my first baby on boxing day! We've moved her birthday celebrations to 26 June :p

[@orangepulp392]

That’s stupid. Let her have her real birthday

[@miriamrowan4236]

@@orangepulp392 haha that's a weird response. She gets so much more party out of it this way!

[@CantTameBeauty]

My birthday is January 4 and I have had July birthday because we lived in an area with snow. It was kinda fun as a little kid

[@rebekah3483]

I'm confused on the dates Bree. The 2nd and 3rd sections both say the 22nd of Feb, if I'm not mistaken. It doesn't really matter, but I know you're gonna want to obviously keep these videos for your personal use and for your child to see one day... just thinking they might be off a day in the 3rd section where it could've been the 23rd of Feb. I love that you've documented all of this and will have this forever! Much love to you and you're obviously MUCH farther along now in the journey than we're currently seeing!

[@MsMoniss]

Omg it seems so long and difficult to check all the boxes that I think It would be easier just to find someone to get pregnant with 😁 no tests, fees, appointments ect.... crazy how different the experience is when you're not going the natural way

[@amyforster1208]

Except then you have a father to deal with for 18 years, who you may not want to deal with!

[@MsMoniss]

@@amyforster1208 up to you if you even let him know he has a child

[@amyforster1208]

@@MsMoniss maybe technically true but non donor fathers have parental rights. It's not quite so simple not to tell him and poof, he's gone forever.

[@shelleyjones4146]

I only found out I didn't have immunity to Rubella once I was actually pregnant in the blood test to confirm the pregnancy and I had had all my MMR doses in childhood so I think it is something that can just wear off in some people? I could only get the booster once I stopped BF so at least was up to date when #2 came around.

[@DieAlteistwiederda]

Yes immunity can be lost especially if you never really built a strong one to begin with. Happens all the time but many people never even know because this stuff is rarely checked.

[@Feya297]

First, love the journey

[@joeyp7431]

Random but I had to have an MMR jab when youngest was little, apparently according to their records I'd never had one but my mum was 100% that I'd had it.🤣

[@HatchlingChibi]

Same thing happened to me with chickenpox lol! Thankfully they ran a blood test to see if I had the antibodies or not.

[@joeyp7431]

@@HatchlingChibi I think it was easier to just give it me than test🤣 we don't do the varicella vaccine as standard here which has always confused me as we have everything else lol

[@emilyjane7166]

I got the mmr and whooping cough while pregnant because my body doesn't develop antibodies to immunisations

[@risheleshoults9500]

Oooh I had the internal conflict about whether or not to have biological children at all when Ukraine was invaded and found out I was pregnant a couple months later! 🤦🏼‍♀️ One reason it's been so hard for me to accept.

[@brittanygulker2051]

The hardest part of my fertility journey was when my treatment was cancelled. I cried too 😢

[@Beanjast]

just fyi if your thyroid is clinically underactive you'll want that passed onto your GP because it'll entitle you to free prescriptions. You probably already know this by now or it might be a totally different issue with your thyroid i just wanted to make sure you knew :)

[@TomboyNatzz]

When is Ep 4??? ❤❤❤

[@delphinium5555]

So surreal watching this. She seems like a child yet the same age I was expecting my third baby, my second having died from SIDS. Some things in life make you have to grow up real quick. I've grieved for him for the past 39 years, it's devastating to have had to live so many years without him.

[@SarahBevElizabeth]

@@alyviasworld I believe you but this is so inappropriate to comment.

[@TheChlozie]

@@alyviasworld Can you not?

[@oliviaequitation2317]

@@alyviasworld Get a life, vaccines don’t cause SIDS. Don’t be so insensitive

[@22SeaJay]

I wish you could have been told about the immunity issues and had a blood test before you came off your pill. It just shows lack of consideration 🙄

[@JDMSakura]

February? Why are these videos so late? How far along are you right now, I'm confused?

[@charklaus]

She's on week 19...is better wait in case something happens, like a miscarriage...

[@K-a-n-d-i-s]

Wow how old is this girl does anyone know? Old enough I'm sure but she looks so young !

[@SarahBevElizabeth]

24 I believe!

[@Aliciae411]

I think 25, she does look young though. But she is very mature for her age, had a business from being a teen and has been a foster parent, has her own home and stable income so becoming a mum is a good choice for her at this age.

[@K-a-n-d-i-s]

@@Aliciae411 oh wow she looks so much younger haha and yeah she does come across very sensible and together, from the few videos I've seen it seems like she is made for motherhood, go girl !

[@Tahliax]

Did you even watch the video? She literally said she’s 24 and was going to wait till she’s 25 to have a baby but decided not to wait

[@Jazzvibesicl]

25, she’s a wonderful young woman

[@withoutlimitsbudgets]

I’m curious if you’re recording this back eight months ago why were you not recording this as you were going through the process? A question is are you already pregnant and expecting or what’s going on because the videos that you’re putting up or eight months old

[@justanotheranonymousaccoun6365]

She recorded the videos in real time as she was going through the process, but didn’t start posting them until just recently. She mentioned in another video that she didn’t tell very many people she was trying to get pregnant, so she obviously couldn’t post all her videos about the treatment process until she was ready for everyone to know. That’s why she’s just now posting videos she recorded back in like January/February. She’s currently pregnant and has also been posting pregnancy updates, in addition to all the videos explaining the process she went through.

[@emmasymonds9856]

I’m confused…… if you can’t deal with a period for 3 months because of the pain it causes you and your scared to have one ! How will you deal with the pain of child birth ?

[@SarahBevElizabeth]

Childbirth happens once and for a good reason. Period pain from a medical condition is different. I also would not want to break my leg three times, but I would like a baby.

[@Noblebird02]

Periods as painful as hers aren't normal. I suspect after she has her babies she will get a hysterectomy.

[@christinejones7721]

She has adenomyosis...it's not normal period pains she's fearing. It's debilitating pointless pain, at least after labour you've got your little one.

[@emmasymonds9856]

I get that she has a condition but if that is painful for her child birth will be worse than that still so how will she handle the pain of that ?

[@TheChlozie]

@@emmasymonds9856 Pretty much the same as any other person giving birth I'd assume

[@delphinium5555]

It must be very hard not to have a child yet I just feel uneasy about all this

[@SarahBevElizabeth]

Uneasy about her becoming a mother???

[@lanis57]

?

[@LilySaintSin]

Why?

[@simplyshea8511]

I’m nosey. Does she have a boyfriend or husband? Just wondering how she got pregnant and if no man was involved I’m interested. I want to raise my kid alone but get pregnant is my issue. I can’t do it alone, I can’t hookup (eh I’m sure I could) but no man will just get a women pregnant like that. I run two successful buisnesses. I don’t really want to to medical insemination but that may be my only option

[@Rachel_1983]

This whole series is about her journey which includes IUI. She has purchased sperm from a donor. It's covered in the previous parts of the series.

[@ZombieJuggalette]

Please try to talk slower...its so hard to understand you

[@nursepls4110]

Are you getting pregnant to avoid having a period?

[@SomeoneBeginingWithI]

She's getting pregnant because she wants to have a baby. She was previously taking hormones to avoid having a period. She stopped the hormones so that she would be able to get pregnant. Now that she isn't taking the hormones, she is having periods again. She has a medical condition which means her periods are very painful. She wants to have as few periods as possible before she gets pregnant because her periods are very painful.

[@LETMino85]

What even is this question?

[@nursepls4110]

@@SomeoneBeginingWithI I didn’t know about the hormonal therapy to stop periods. All I’ve seen is her speaking about desperately wanting to be pregnant so she can stop having periods.

[@nursepls4110]

@@LETMino85 A valid one. A baby isn’t an anti period tool. It’s a life.

[@SomeoneBeginingWithI]

@@nursepls4110 Watch the previous episode

[@ankra12]

Why do you want to complicate your life so much?

[@MsRainingDays]

Because she always wanted to be a mother. Why so judgy?

[@joeyvigil]

Do you really think you can raise a child on your own?

[@joeyvigil]

@@UTRipleyxoxo If you look at any statistical evidence, children raised in single parent households are worse off in nearly every metric.

[@fricafricafresh]

She has support why does it matter?

[@LETMino85]

She has her family, that's more than most people have.

[@zoepeters3826]

Why not? 25% of parents do it just fine, Bryony will be fine too.

[@joeyvigil]

@@zoepeters3826 Yeah, she looks like she would be a good mother, it just take a lot of resources (time + money) to raise a child well.

[@turnthepaigebrooklyn2951]

Why and how did you find yourself in this precarious situation? For someone who ladles out advice - etc this was a extremely poor choice all around 🤨

[@duck6100]

Well she wants a child but isn't interested in dating or being in a relationship. Also she has a condition meaning her fertility will decline faster than normal so she can't wait around for someone she might want to be with later.