Low progesterone, seizures, and homebirth

691 Views 7 Replies 5 Participants Last post by User101, Apr 11, 2006

User101

Discussion Starter · Apr 10, 2006

I hope I am posting this in the right place. We're TTC and hoping for a homebirth this time around.

I've always had fairly medicalized pregnancies. Natural-ish births, but "med-wife" visits, ultrasounds, etc. If/when I get pregnant again, I really want a more natural prenatal experience. There's an Amish homebirth midwife and I might see what DH thinks of that, if she'll even take me on after my high blood pressure/bed rest experience with Nicholas.

We lost a baby before we had Michael, our first.

I had Michael, no problem.

When I was pregnant with both Katie Grace and Nicholas, I was tested and found to have low progesterone. I want to say it was around an 8, which is low even when not pregnant. I took vaginal suppositories with Katie Grace and pills with Nicholas.

So, my question is, with the progesterone thing. How serious could it be? I guess there's no way to know if it's why I lost the first baby. I carried Michael to term--past term, really LOL!--with no issues and no progesterone supplements. Is there a way of knowing if I have low progesterone without blood work and doctors? Is there a natural way of dealing with it?

One other question. I have juevenile partial clonic seizures. They just look like little tics. I could probably have one in front of you and you would never know. There's no danger of me having a grand mal seizure or anything; I actually have had one doctor say that they're not seizures at all. I don't take meds for it normally, but when I was in labor with Michael it was pretty bad; they brought down a neurologist and everything while I was in labor. It was not pleasant. They're worse when I'm tired and stressed, and labor was twenty-seven hours exhausting stress with Michael. With Katie Grace and Nick, I took depakote from the third month on, and had no seizures. I usually stay on it for the first three or four months once the baby is here, just to make sure I don't have a seizure with the babe in arms, and I make sure to have the baby in the sling. I'm afraid a midwife will here "seizure" and not want to take me on. Do I have to disclose it?

Thanks!

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mamaverdi

· #2 · Apr 10, 2006

Yes you should disclose it. Yes.

I think it will depend on the midwife...I don't see any reason why partial seizures would rule you out. You have never been status epilepticus have you? Do you keep emergency meds to stop seizures at home? What happened during the birth that they called down a neurologist?

You never know, you could find a midwife who has a seizure disorder or has a child with one. I have a child with a partial seizure disorder, but as a boy, so he won't ever be pushing out a baby.

Hmmm...And I know another woman who had progesterone problems, but was fine with her second baby without much progesterone at all.

And WRT blood pressure, it doesn't always happen again....depending on what it was.

I would just remain flexible and look around. The right midwife will come to you. Or you will stumble upon her.

mv

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Lynski

· #3 · Apr 10, 2006

I would definately disclose everything. Your midwife has a right to know what she is dealing with. I don't know about the seizures or the high bp. But my progesterone was low with DS and this pregnancy. Not as low as yours, but still very low. Somehow I managed to carry this baby this far with no supplements, although I did supplement w/ DS. From what I understand it's not as much of an issue past the first trimester. It's not a factor in your delivery at all, so I doubt that would preclude you from a homebirth.

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User101

Discussion Starter · #4 · Apr 10, 2006

Thank you both! I will disclose it. I've never been status epilepticus and I don't have emergency meds. The only reason they called the neurologist during my first birth was because I was having the little jerky tics one on top of another and they didn't understand what was happening. But my first birth was a 27-hour induced drugged disaster ending in a forceps delivery, so

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sapphire_chan

· #5 · Apr 10, 2006

I wonder if the drugs during labor aggravated the "tics" you were already starting to have from the stress of labor.

I hope you find a fabulous midwife!

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Zyla

· #6 · Apr 11, 2006

RE: low progesterone.

I lost my first at two months. Had my second with no problems, aside form some bleeding at 10 weeks -- went 15 days past my due date and birthed at home. Then I had three miscarriages. My periods were irregular. When I discovered I'd conceived again my DR recommended testing my progesterone: the level was a 6. Everyone thought I'd already lost the baby, but an ultrasound showed that although one of a pair of twins had died, the other was viable and 8weeks along. I began taking progesterone pills (natural progesterone, made from yams grown in Mexico, available by presciption). Carried him full-term, homebirthed again. Then I had another miscarriage. The next time I stayed pregnant long enough to get my progesterone levels tested again -- they were *just* into the safe zone, but one week later they had dropped so I went back on the pills. Again, full-term, homebirth.

I want more kids: I will definitely test for progesterone levels again. I wouldn't be able to bear losing a baby when there is something I can do to prevent it.

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mamaverdi

· #7 · Apr 11, 2006

Well avoiding other drugs and the induction-stressed-out-fatigued nightmare would be the first step in having a succesful homebirth for you. If it were me, I would do a lot of soul-searching....meaning, I would think about and read things that made me think about what i thought about birth and what I was afraid of and what I need to feel safe and have things move as quickly as they were safely able without speeding them up. And I would want to avoid fatigue if possible.

The problem with the ticks getting one on top of the other is that it can turn into status epilepticus...from which you may never recover. I *might* consider getting Distat or some such if it is safe while pregnant/in labor so that if something did happen you could be given that while waiting for the ambulance.

But I would be prepared, not scared. If that makes sense.

And if it were me, I would have a trained person (midwife) with you to help in case you did need something like CPR or a calm-headed one to give you care or care to both you and the baby.

My little one withthe seizure disorder I really feel like we are remiss in that we haven't learned CPR. We are planning to this summer....

Like I said before, you will find someone...it will be all good.

mv

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User101

Discussion Starter · #8 · Apr 11, 2006

Thanks! I've had three children. My second two births I had a doula, and I took depakote from around 5 months pregnant til around five months post-partum, and there was nary a tic. They also were lovely natural births. Well, mostly, Nicholas was induced by having my water broke. I'm a weirdo--I actually like labor and childbirth--so I don't worry about feeling stressed. My other two births were also fairly quick--five hours and two hours respectively. So, I feel like I have my birth issues pretty much in order. I just need to find someone around here who will work with me. It's not easy. From what I understand, there is just one Amish midwife who lives about an hour away. But, seeing how I'm not even pregnant yet, I have plenty of time to figure it out. I just don't want to go through another pregnancy with lots of scare tactics and unnecessary tests and stuff, KWIM?

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