stats for 3rd pregnancies?

[jean]

I remember Caryn saying that pre-e/hellp tends to hit every other pregnancy for some reason. Caryn, do you (or does anyone else) have any stats on the likelihood of it returning during a 3rd pg..esp in a situation like mine where I got HELLP early in the 1st and then not at all in the 2nd? My hubby is not keen on the idea of having another child, but a part of me wishes our babe would have a sibling. If the stats/odds are horrible though, I don't know if I could go through it again.

[rosalinda]

Hi Jean,

I'm glad to see you posting again on the forums. I've checked your blog, but it has not been updated in a while. I too would love my son to have a living sibling, but
for me the stats and odds are pretty bad. Nevertheless, my peri respects my decision if/when I choose to try again. Now convincing my husband....well, that's another story. Good luck.

[angieb]

While there are a few really sad third pregnancies especially here on the forums, I've not seen the every other theory.

I was really nervous about how a third preg might go as well and we decided to try again sooner than later for partly that reason. Plus I wanted them close in age and everything. So far, so good. This preg I have been on lda like before though we cut my lovenox dose in half to just once a day, and we stopped it after his growth was still on track at 26 wks. I'll be 28 wks on Friday, so currently have made it almost 5 weeks farther than my worst pregnancy, with no problems so far. My MFM is so happy with how things are going she's only seeing me every 4 weeks as opposed to every week by this point last time. (And when you have a toddler to accompany you to all your appointments, you tend not to mind being seen less often in the absence of symptoms or other trouble. Once a month is plenty for me right now!)

[jean]

ooh yeah, I kinda forgot about updating that..I just wrote a little update on there-thanks for the reminder.
It's good to see you on here too rosalinda! I've thought of you and wondered how you've been! Good luck to you too! I'm so sorry you've been through all that you have..no one should have to go through any of this. :~( And I think we're in the same boat as far as convincing our husbands..I'm just a little hesitant about thinking about every trying to get pg again, but he is pretty darned set against it.
Ever since I was young I thought I would have 2-3 kids when I "grew up"...


However..I count my blessings every day that we were able to at least have 1 good outcome.

Angieb-that's great! Thank you for letting me know how things are going for you! That is so wonderful that you are making it farther than your worst pregnancy!! I hope you keep that babe cooking for a long time to come!
My hubby and I have talked about whether or not we would try again (because I'm guessing a person still has to take advantage of that 2 yr window for the best outcome..and that leaves us a little pressed for a decision in the somewhat near future), but I feel like the best info I've gotten on all of this has come from this board. And I thought I remembered something about an every other pg theory..I just wanted to check and make sure. Since my hubby doesn't really want to try again, I might feel that was a little more justified if I knew that the 3rd time around was likely to go south again. (Even though I wish our son had a sibling) I just don't know that we could go through all of that pain again. It has really had a lasting affect on our family. :~(
I just feel so sad that our son might never have another sibling to play with-a brother or sister to grow up with..

[cmccaffrey]

SO glad you posted this! While my husband and I are FAR from trying again, the thought is definitely in the back of my mind. Our second pregnancy was almost like a dream in comparison to our first, so I am nervous about what could happen with our third. Could it be that the devastating third pregnancies are mostly for women who's first was not quite as complicated? Like a more mild case of PE?

I know that Lisette/Miamibunnie had a very successful third pregnancy after having two difficult previous pregnancies. So there is another success story for the count!

I think they outcome in a third pregnancy could also have a lot to deal with the type of care given. Maybe some women feel that after having a successful second pregnancy that they are no longer high risk and therefore don't take as good of care of themselves that third pregnancy? I dunno. I hope some experienced mamas chime in. I am definitely curious.

[caryn]

No one's collected stats on 3rd pregnancies. I think I was just commenting on a number of cases we've seen here on the forums - and who knows if they are in any way representative of our population - who'd had very bad outcomes in their first and third pregnancies, and good outcomes in the second.

The reason for that would almost certainly be genetic. Each sperm contains only half of your partner's genes, and if one of the genes that contributes to dysregulated placentation shows up in the sperm from the 1st and 3rd but doesn't show up in the 2nd, you'd have an easy pregnancy once and a rocky pregnancy twice.

Maternal self-care is not really connected to this condition in any useful way. I mean, of course we encourage people to have healthy lifestyles before and during pregnancy, but that's because healthy lifestyles are important for things like easy recoveries. There's very little evidence supporting a reduction in preeclampsia rates following any therapy or change in lifestyle at all - if there were actually something we could do, all the docs would recommend it! The evidence that *is* there is mostly for weight loss between pregnancies to lower (not eliminate) risk. That works better than LDA according to a few preliminary studies, but still doesn't work all that well - it probably lowers inflammation levels enough that a few women who would have developed mild late preeclampsia don't. And as far as I know there hasn't been a big trial (and of course you can't randomize or double-blind very well in a study like that!)

I'd approach a 3rd pregnancy the same way you'd approach a 2nd. Luck of the draw is a really big factor. The big advantage is remodeled spiral arteries, and in both cases you've got that advantage in place.