Time to TTC

[kbielec]

I am back. Been away for awhile as March is a hard time of year for me still. It's been two years since we lost our daughter at 26 weeks to HELLP. I have since found out I have Factor V (one gene). I have tossed and tossed around the idea of having another baby and almost come to terms with not...because I am so scared. But my husband and my MFM think that with different monitoring, lovenox shots and prayers maybe we could do this again. Guess I am looking for a success story or two to "pump me up!".
My baby had IUGR as she wasn't getting enough nurishment...then the HELLP came along almost overnight. Hoping we can be successful - but still scared.

[jules2]

Dear Katie,

I am glad to see you back, and totally understand your fears about trying again. After PE/HELLP stillbirth and 2 m/c I was coming to terms with never having a living child, and now I am in the early stages of another pregnancy. I don't want to m/c again but I am much more frightened of not miscarrying, if you can understand that. It will be once year since my daughter died later this week too, and I find myself reliving the days this week.

I don't have a success story yet, but there are quite a lot on here. It is a massive leap of faith, but most women do a lot better in a subsequent pregnancy. I just have to keep telling myself that pregnancies are not all the same, and its really unlikely anything worse could happen than my first one.

My baby was IUGR too and lost at 26 weeks exactly xx

[joker]

I lost my first little girl to PE/HELLP at 19 weeks in June 2007. We waited a year, I got lots of testing and was +for homozygous MTHFR with elevated homocysteine levels. I also found out I carry both antibodies for hypo & hyper thyroidism. I got pg again in Aug. 2008. I was on lovenox shots and synthroid and saw both my reg OB & MFM. I had doc visits every two weeks for the first three months, then weekly after that till delivery. I had my second daughter at 34 weeks. My bp was up, liver enzymes elevated and my platellets were starting to drop so they decided to deliver me before things went bad. Alison did great and was only in the NICU for two weeks.

It was scary to be pg again, but I felt very safe with all the doc appointments and I knew I could call my ob anytime for anything. HTH and good luck!

[kbielec]

Thank you for your replies. I have actually had a phone conversation with my MFM today ... asking some specifics on treatment, plans for a pregnancy etc. and am awaiting her call back after looking over my last set of tests. She seemed very optimistic and yet realistic. I appreciate that in her. After our next conversation today or tomorrow we'll make our final choice about TTC.

[kbielec]

Well - there's been a turn of events...wanted to share - think this will be the end of the road for our TTC dreams...
My doctor wrote to me in an email :
I did have the chance to review your records. I was quite impressed by how bad your liver tests were and compromised your renal (kidney) function was-pretty much one of the worst HELLP syndromes I have seen short of a true liver rupture. We get a baseline set of labs including 24 hour urine analysis to make sure there is no long-lasting damage. I hope to hear from you as soon as possible.

[l412angel]

Dont give up hope! Do your 24 hour urine and go from there!! When did you deliver?

[l412angel]

Oh im sorry I see it was 2008. Any any rate I would check into any damage that was done. When did you have your last tests done and which tests have you had done?

[jules2]

I'm so sorry to hear this, but I would wait to get those labs done before you make any final decisions. x

[kbielec]

I will wait and see what the labs say - but, I am "scared" by the comment that it was one of the worst cases my Doctor ever saw...I certainly feel lucky to be here today after the 5 day stay in the ICU and just am unsure if I can put myself and family at risk again. A lot to think about.

[tree]

quote:

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Originally posted by kbielec

Well - there's been a turn of events...wanted to share - think this will be the end of the road for our TTC dreams...
My doctor wrote to me in an email :
I did have the chance to review your records. I was quite impressed by how bad your liver tests were and compromised your renal (kidney) function was-pretty much one of the worst HELLP syndromes I have seen short of a true liver rupture. We get a baseline set of labs including 24 hour urine analysis to make sure there is no long-lasting damage. I hope to hear from you as soon as possible.

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This is a lot to digest, and it is frightening. You certainly deserve the time to process it. You already knew that you were really sick, but has to be hard to have "the worst" confirmed by a high-risk doctor who has seen some BAD cases. That said, I agree with the previous posters that you could wait until you get your new lab results to make any decisions. Your risk depends more on your health now, your recovery, and management of underlying conditions than it does on what happened in the past. It seems wise to emotionally prepare for some bad test results but not to plan on them. It isn't a done deal yet.
If it helps, I met a HELLP survivor a few months ago who had been incredibly sick. She and her son survived after a long NICU/ICU stay, and she introduced me to her 12 week old daughter. She was able to stay pregnant six weeks longer (34 weeks) and "only" got pre-E with her daughter. It was a good outcome for her, and it was a heck of a lot easier than her first pregnancy/birth. It doesn't happen for everyone, but it does happen for some people.