Follow Up Appointment and Worried About the Future

[riehlism]

My follow up appointment was a few weeks ago. My OB said that while I was in the hospital they ran every test possible searching for a cause/contributing factor as to why it happened. The search turned up with nothing. **** was very thorough and even had internal medicine involved, but there was nothing.

During my follow-up appointment he said baby #2 may be "tricky." He said I would need to see a perinatologist to see if we should even try again. My OB is worried about the future outcome. But he did say he wasn't the Gospel, and that we should seek advice from someone who deals with these cases on a regular basis.

The thought of being advised to not even try again is rough. My perinatology appointment is on Monday and I'm just scared to hear what he has to say.

Anyone sailing on the same boat?

[joker]

I think seeing a peri for a preconception appt sounds like the best thing. They really can advise you best on your future risks.

For me, I saw two peri's for a consult. And they botyh told me about the same thing. I was also put on lovenox for my next pg. I had my care co managed with my OB and peri. It felt good to have to the long term connection with my OB who I adore and the expertise of the peri too.

Hang in there. This might sound cliche, but getting pg again after PE was a true leap of faith for me. Hugs.

[annes]

Jen is right, there are not going to be any guarantees about a future pregnancy, but finding a perinatologist who you trust and who you can map out a plan with is comforting. That being said, being pregnant again after losing my son was one of the hardest things I've ever done, a total leap of faith. My husband and I were extremely fortunate to have a healthy 35 week old baby girl a little more than 2 years after we lost our son. Take care of yourself.

[kerisue]

My baby girl was delivered at 24 weeks just a few days after your baby on June 8, also due to severe pre-e. My OB was a little more direct in advising me not to get pregnant again. It's very sad isn't it? I don't have any other children and the thought of never holding a baby of my own.... (no words to describe)

[riehlism]

Keri, did you by any chance try to ask for a second opinion? A Maternal-Fetal-Medicine specialist perhaps? I was planning on getting a consult from a few different people. I'm in Los Angeles so I will be trying to get the opinion of a perinatologist from the ****** *****, ***, and **** (my home hospital) perinatology groups to see what their thoughts are. At the same time I will be working with my regular OB to put all those opinions together. I guess that's part of my "I won't take no for an answer" personality. But I think I would feel more comfortable seeing everything out in front of me...at least that's the plan. You never know, I may very well avoid doctors and hospitals altogether when this is all said and done.

Jen, Anne, I see both of you were successful after Pre-eclampsia. Did they find any underlying disorders or did your doctor advise you to take baby aspirin or lovenox? Were any of you told trying was probably not a good idea?

[jules2]

Jasmin,

I am so sorry about your little boy. Most of us either turn out to have no underlying conditions at all, or something that's often pretty minor (and common in women with totally normal pregnancies too); there are no real answers here and that is so hard to accept when you've lost a baby, and something I still struggle with 15 months on (believe me, it will get easier though).

I am now 16 weeks pregnant again and very scared but hoping for the best. Statistically, most women who get PE have it worse in a first pregnancy and I try to hang on to that (though its hard to predict for any individual woman and baby). I am taking low dose aspirin (for which there is some evidence of a small benefit); calcium supplements and high dose folic acid (for which there is no evidence that they really help much, but they don't seem to do any hard either so I'm trying them).

I can't say its been easy to get this far, but I would suggest you speak to a high risk specialist who may well have a different opinion about your case, given that they are more used to handling similar cases compared with a regular OB.

Even though my PE was life-threateningly severe I was never discouraged from trying again; quite the opposite really. My docs are confident they can manage my care if I get sick again; just no guarantees for the baby.

I hope this helps a bit; take care

Jules

[kyliek]

I have a similar story to you. I lost my son at 25wks after being diagnosed with PE at 23wks and while I had a lot of investigations, there was no underlying cause found. However, I am currently 32wks pregnant with my second child. My MFM was very supportive and did not reccomend me lovenox (since I had no underlying cause he thought there was more risk in me taking it than not), I take calcium, high dose folate and low dose aspirin in combination. Going through pregnancy again is difficult and I think your expectations are very different from the first time (our goal was 28wks and 700g). Now that we have surpassed our goal we are thankful for every day.

[wrennie]

Jasmin, dont give up! Seek out good doctors and educate yourself. I also did not have any significant underlying disorders. I went on to have a healthy baby girl the second time around. There are things working in your favor, you know what to prepare for now, and if you have the same partner, you have better odds at being successful. Hang in there, take it one day at a time...i know it seems like forever away!

[brianned5]

I'm so sorry for your loss. I delivered my baby girl at 25 due to severe pe/hellp. I started having signs of PE around 21 weeks, but was misdiagnosed. I was never told not to have another child. I made it to 36 weeks with my second pregnancy.