3rd pregnancy after 7 year break--SCARED!

[suzanne]

Just discovered this forum and am so happy to be able to talk with others that understand! I just found out last week I am unexpectedly (but happily) pregnant with my 3rd child. I am due in late August. My first doctor appt. is tomorrow. I developed preeclampsia early in the 3rd trimester during my first pregnancy. After 10 days of bed rest, it took a sudden turn for the worst (kidneys basically shut down, visual disturbances, etc) and my son was delivered by emergency C-secton at 32 weeks, weighing 3.5 pounds. He was in the hospital for 3 weeks and came home at 4 pounds. He is now 9, and a wonderful boy, but it's been a long road. He has high functioning autism and had a rocky babyhood, with much OT, PT, etc... Has been in special ed. all his life. He is bright and handsome, but I can't say it's been an easy road. My second pregnancy was CLOSE to normal. I took baby aspirin every day, lots of calcium, lots of protein, all things that were recommended then, but from early talks with the nurses at my practice, no longer are thought to help. My BP with my second son did spike a few times, and occasionally I had +1 protein on testing, but he was full term and healthy.

However, I am now 7 years older (37 now, will be 38 when the baby comes), heavier, has been diagnosed with hypothyroidism and am on medication for that, and of course am not able to get as much rest as I did the with the second pregnancy (my first son napped 3 hours a day and so did I!) I am quite scared.

That being said, I'd also love to share my experience with having a pretty good 2nd pregnancy after such a tough first one. I REALLY wanted someone that had been there to talk to last time, and didn't know anyone!

Thanks!

Suzanne (+husband Tony, son William, 9 and son Freddy 6)

[alimarie]

Suzanne,

i am glad that you found this place! i know many women will be able to share their stories with you. congrats on your new baby! keep us updated with how your appt. goes tomorrow!

alison

AliMarie---mommy to Madalyn Anne-born at 35 wks due to severe pe (9/18/2001 4lbs. 14oz.)

[julie f]

Suzanne,

Congratulations on your pregnancy and welcome! I hope that this pregnancy will be a long and uneventful one for you! You have certainly come to the right place for support!

Are you being followed by a high-risk OB? Let us know how your appt goes!


Julie
Zachary James, 7/22/03-7/27/03, born at 26wks - severe pe

[laura]

Hi Suzanne, welcome to the Forum. I'm so glad you found us, and I'm looking forward to hearing about how you're doing![:D]

Laura-28
DH Jack-30
Allie 5-13-98 (35 weeks-pre-e)
Baby Camille 4-17-03 (36 weeks- htn and oligo)
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/c/camilleandallie/

[sweetiesuzy]

Suzanne,
Happy you found us here! You will find great support from all the ladies here. I am also due in August with my 4th baby. My last pregnancy was filled with hypertension nightmare, so I can relate to the feelings of worry. There are a few others that are due at the same time. I am sure they will introduce themselves as well.
Keep us updated and wishing you all the best!

Suzanna

DS 3/25/95
DD 10/26/01 stillbirth
DS 12/30/02
AND ~ Peanut edd 8/6/04

[suzanne]

Thanks so much for your kind words of support! It means a lot to me. It will be great to have other women going through this with me!

My appt. yesterday was fairly good. The OB is the same one I saw wiht my 2nd son. She is not a high risk OB, but quite experienced and not afraid to refer when necessary! She DID tell me to go back on the baby aspirin, which I was glad of. My BP was 120/70 which made me happy (my normal BP is quite low, when not pregnant!) and my urine had no protein. She did an ultrasound with her office machine, which she said was the cheapo $10,000 model, and had a hard time finding the sac with the baby, was unsure what was the ovaries and what was the baby! Which she told me might be the case. But what she thought was probably the baby's sac was bigger than she would have thought, and she thinks I might actually be 8 weeks along instead of 6. Which would put the due date around mid-August. I am going to have a dating US on Friday at another office with a better machine.

I am wondering about the aspirin---are most of you taking it or not? I got so much conflicting info on that. My dr. seemed to feel it was sort of a given, but nurses I talked to and others said it's not done much anymore?

Thanks again to all of you!

Suzanne (+Tony, husband, and William, severe PE during his pregancy, born 32 weeks, now 10, and Freddy, pretty typical pregnancy, now 6, and Baby (due probably mid August!)

[suzanne]

Just wanted to correct---William is 9, not 10! I was thinking about how he'd be 10 just after the baby was born, and wrote that down from my thinking!

[julie f]

Suzanne,

Glad your appt went well, I bet you can't wait until Friday now!

I have had consults with 3 different doctors and they have all recommended baby aspirin for my situation. By doing more research I have learned that for every study that says aspirin looks promising, there is one that says it does nothing... I would guess that the fact that women come down with pe for soooooo many different reasons has something to do with that. Interesting though, one doctor directed that I take the aspirin before ever even looking at my file so, I wonder if it may be a blanket therapy for some doctors.

Good luck and keep us updated!

Julie (26)
Zachary James, 7/22/03-7/27/03, born at 26wks - severe pe

[twolfgram]

Congratulations, Suzanne! Welcome to the group! I can't wait to hear about the US on Friday! I am homozygous for the MTHFR gene mutation, so I take a baby aspirin a day. Now that I'm pg ( just 4 weeks or so) I will have to have heparin shots starting at about six weeks. I'm not sure if I will continue the aspirin or not. I go tomorrow to talk about the heparin and that's one question I have for the dr.

Therese Mom to
Jonathan - 28 weeks born 10/4/95
Angel in Heaven - Erik 12/20/02

[suzanne]

Thanks for your good thoughts about the US tomorrow! I am very nervous about it, but eager too. Thanks for the info about the baby aspirin also, Therese and Julie. I hadn't heard of the MTHFR mutation---I will have to research that! I know that PE runs in my father's family. My aunt was hospitalized with both her pregancies for months, and my great-grandmother actually died after childbirth from seizures (which I am assuming were eclampsia, that was around 1920).

I got a call today that my thyroid levels were very low. I have been on Levoxyl for hypothyroidism for a few years now. The dose was raised 4 months ago or so, but the most recent testing showed high TSH levels again. The nurse that called said it might be from taking my prenatal vitamins at the same time as the thyroid medication---so I have to try taking them seperately for a week and then if the TSH levels are still off, will have to have a serious dose adjustment. Do any of you have thyroid problems? I have always felt it's all tied together somehow---being as hypothyroidism is another auto-immune problem, but haven't had a medical person confirm that!

Thanks again! I will write tomorrow after the US. Best thoughts to all of you!

Suzanne (and DH Tony, and William, age 9, severe PE, born at 32 weeks, and Freddy, age 6, fairly typical pregnancy, and Baby boy or girl, due around 8/20 or SO!