Pregnancy Info HOME

Ame--Go to Reproductive Immunology Associates' website for good info on antiphospholipid antibodies. Sounds like your doc is on the ball. You have a >80% chance of full-term delivery on Heparin and aspirin. Email me if you have questions @ Cameronandriley@aol.com. I am on the same regimen. Best wishes. Jennifer in Oklahoma

I am so glad I stumbled onto this site. I've been feeling very alone and confused. My husband and I have been trying to have another child for 12 years, our daughter is now 14. I suffered a miscarriage in Nov of 2002 and another in May 2004. After the second miscarriage my Dr has put me on progesterone supplements he says to build up my progesterone before I conceive again. Has anyone heard of this before? Thank you and good luck to everyone!

Hi. I had a question for all of you that have been on progesterone supplements. I am now eight and half weeks pregnant. When i went in for my first check up at 7 weeks i had some slight spotting so they called me in for an ultrasound to check if everything was okay. they also did some bloodwork. they were able to see a baby with a heartbeat of 143 which made me feel better but then they called me the next day to tell me that my progesterone levels were only 11.7. They also said that i had a subchorionic bleed and to take it easy. They started me on progesterone shots which i have been taking daily since then. I have another ultrasound tomorrow. I was just wondering if starting progesterone at 7w4d is too late or will it help.

What a blessing to find this site. I just had my second miscarriage this year, both at 5 weeks, and was feeling fatalistic and ready to give up hope. In considering diminishing egg quality (I'm 33) and medical history (I was a surrogate for twins and also donated eggs), I figured I would have to be happy with my wonderful 7 yr old boy, which wouldn't be bad. I have an appt with my doctor in two weeks to test for abnormalities I guess and see if there's anything keeping me from carrying a pregnancy. I would LOVE to know how all of you get seen and tested by your doctors so early in the pregnancy. None I have spoken to will give appointments before 6 weeks at the earliest but usually at 8 weeks. The information I got from this site is giving me hope that maybe we will want to try again. Thank you all.

Rabia- I have basically read that if your going to m/c then it will happen no matter when you start the progesterone. I began taking two weeks ago at five and a half weeks pg and also got to see the heartbeat last Thur. I had my levels taken again today and will get my latest levels back tomorrow. Last tue they were 16.9. I asked my dr. today if that level was dangerous and she told me anything above 10 is okay but she likes to see it above 20, that is why last week she doubled my prometrium. So hopfully it will be above 20 tomorrow when I get my results. She said that even if it stayed at that level through the first trimester it would be okay, she was not worried. I hope that helps

Vanessa - I didn't have a real "prenatal" appointment til 9 or 10 weeks, but the day after I missed my period, I did an hpt and called my dr. They had me come in for blood tests. I did not see the doc, but I did see the nurse. That's how they caught my low prog levels in both pregnancies - the one I m/c'd in May and the one that is now 20wks along. I think my doc didn't want to see anyone til they were further along just because so many pregs miscarry early. My mis was at 6.5 wks. I never even got to schedule my first prenatal. p.s. I'm 37. I wouldn't worry about the old egg issue.

Thanks for the comfort, Reb. Continued blessings to you.

Hi all. I was very thankful to find this site too. I am 6w2d and a vaginal ultrasound 2days ago showed a sac with no embryo. My Hcg was 7000 and progesterone was only 7. The doctor said at 7000 Hcg she should have seen the embryo on the u/s and that the progesterone at 7 means a failing pregnancy. She did not suggest supplementing progesterone (I guess there would be no point if there is nothing in the sac). I have another ultrasound next week, I am praying that the Dr. is wrong and we will see something. Could it have just been too early to tell? Has anyone had progesterone that low and still carried a baby to term?

Nicole, thank your for sharing information from your dr. I miscarried in July and am now 7 weeks. My dr. just put me on a progesterone supplement because i'm at 16 instead of over 20. Until I read your posting I was worried sick that I could m/c again. Knowing that you can have levels of 10 all through the first trimester and still be ok is such a relief. Thanks!

I am in need of some advice. I just found out that I am pregnant. My husband and I are very excited since we have been trying for about 6 months. The doctor called me on Thursday and really upset me - she said that my progesterone level was 6.5 and she was concerned with miscarriage. She said that another hormone level was 605 (I am assuming that the pregnancy level everyone is talking about). 605 seems normal, but the progesterone is definitely low. Could someone please tell me what the chances are of my baby not miscarrying? I have read such mixed reviews and I just want to know if anyone knows statistically what my chances are of survival. They did more blood work yesterday and said that if the 605 doesn't double and the preogesterone level doesn't get to AT LEAST 15, they would take me off the 200mg/day of progesterone and let me miscarry. Does this seem right to anyone? And lastly, does the very low progesterone level cause birth defects or retardation? If my baby not getting what it needs to survive, does that mean that if it DOS live, it will have problems? So confused and scared right now. I would very much appreciate some advice! Thank you and God blass.

Hi Heidi,
I really don't have too many answers for you since I am in a similar situation (see my post two above yours). But I wanted to share one thing I read on the internet (on ivillage.com I think). They said that low progesterone wasn't the CAUSE of a miscarriage, but usually it's just an indicator. Therefore they said that progesterone supplementation really doesn't work. That said, lots of people on this board have had it and had successful pregnancies and it seems lots of doctors are giving it out so there must be some research indicating it is effective. I just don't know. My doctor didn't even offer it. I wasn't sure if I should call and ask since it seems like everyone else in the same boat is taking it. Right now I am just praying to see something on the u/s next week. How far along are you Heidi? I wish everyone here the best of luck and I hope some more people respond because I am in a constant state of worry and other people's stories really help me to get through this.

J - Thank you so much for writing back. I am 5 weeks pregnant. I was told about 6 weeks ago that the reason I was not getting pregnant was because I had PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) and that was making me infertile. So, they put me on metformin to help me ovulate - it obviously worked! I am just so scared right now because we REALLY want this baby. I am a teacher and I have told my whole school, incuding the students, my friends and family. I know a lot of people wait til the second trimester to say anything, but I knew I couldn't wait! I hope things work out with you - I think you have hope because 6w2d is still pretty early in the pregnancy and the baby may be too small to see it in the sac. My dr. said that he wanted to wait til at least 7 weeks, if not 8 to do an u/s. Keep up the faith. When the drs told me I was infertile 6 weeks ago, I refused fertility drugs and bam - I got preg on my own! So, anything is possible. Sometimes these drs are wrong. They go 100% by tests and that's not always accurate. I think positive thinking does wonders! If I were you, I would call and ask the dr for a prescription of prometrium. If they won't give it to you, go to the health food store and buy some natual supplements. Also, eating red meat and protein (I have heard) can help!
Good luck, J. Keep me posted.

Hi Heidi,
I know exactly how you feel because I told a bunch of people at work too. I could not wait either, it is just too exciting. That's why when you get that doctor's phone call that something isn't right, you feel like you are on an emotional rollercoaster. Anyway, in my search on the net I found some info that might be useful to you.
Info on progesterone:
http://www.askphysici
ans.com/cgi-local/forums.cgi?display
=thread&forum=17&id=6230
In
fo
with some miscarriage stats:
http://www.medhelp.org/foru
ms/maternal/archive/3957.html
This
site has a lot of info. If you type progesterone in the search and scroll down, there are lots of Q and As on it.
http://www.babyzone.com/features/experts
qa/default.asp?QAID=248&ExpertID=1

Goo
d
luck.

J - Thanks for those websites. I will go on them tonight. I just got more results from the doctor today and my HcG level went from 603 (which is really low to begin with) to 539 in 2 days. They say there is pretty much no hope. So, they took more blood today, and we will find out the results of that tomorrow. It doesn't look good. They told me to just sit at home and wait for the miscarriage to happen. That's not a very fun or easy thing to do. So, now it's more than just the progesterone levels...it's the actual pregnancy hormone that not only is not doubling, but it's dropping. It's all so discouraging. But, how are you doing? Any new news?

I can't believe I am researching like crazy to understand what low level progesterone means for an early pregnancy. I guess this is what happens when you find out you might be a dad for the first time. :) We just found out my wife is pregnant a few weeks ago. The doctor said that her progesterone levels were low (12.9, we think about 4 weeks). I've read alot of the post here and it is nice to see and tell my wife that low pg levels is fairly common. Also, I found a great chart that shows where the progestorone levels range for a pregnancy. Check out http://repro-med.net/papers/progest.php#graph

If you don't know alot about statistics, I'll give you a little lesson. If you notice in that chart, it shows a mean and a standard deviation (SD). The mean, you probably know, is the average for a given sample of women at different terms in their pregnancy. The standard deviation is the spread of progesterone levels for all of the women in the sample throughout the pregnancy. Please notice that the spread is pretty significant for women throughout their pregnancy. If you are within 1 standard deviation from the mean, you represent 68% of the women in the sample. If you are 2 standard deviations from the mean, you represent 95% of the sample. My point is (or at least I keep telling myself), that woman's levels of pg vary pretty significantly, and many women have had low progestorone levels and things have worked out ok.

Hope this helps some.

I have been trying to post this for two days but the site wouldn't let me!
Hi again Heidi,
I am so glad you have been responding. It is really nice to have someone who knows what you are going through. I am sorry to hear your numbers are dropping. My ultrasound is not until Thursday, so until then, I will not know if the pregnancy is good. From what my Dr. said last week and the fact that they saw an empty sac and the low progesterone, I could miscarry any day too. I hate not knowing. I am still hoping they are wrong. I was going to call today and ask for progesterone supp. but I was so busy at work. I am really not in the mood for work either. Thanks again for responding. I'll keep you posted. Hang in there.