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8 pregnancies...2 live births

by Krystal
(Ashland, NH USA)

Hi,

I am 26 years old and have been pregnant 8 times (I am currently exactly 4 weeks pregnant and praying for the best) I have had 5 miscarriages, 1 full term birth and 1 premature baby at 31 weeks gestation. The history is as follows:
1. missed miscarriage: found at 11 weeks gestation (only developed until 4-5 weeks) D&C

2. Full term baby boy 5 pounds 11 oz. (had a low thyroid during the pregnancy took meds.)

3. miscarriage at 5 weeks.

4. (found out I was pregnant only 3 weeks after previous miscarriage) I developed Pre-eclampsia and severe HELLP Syndrome. Delivered baby girl at 31 weeks 5 days (2 pounds 6 oz) and found that she was born with Auto Immune Thrombocytopenia ( I built up an antibody to my husbands antigen on his blood platelets.)

5. miscarriage 4 weeks
6. miscarriage 4 weeks
7. miscarriage 4 weeks
8. currently 4 weeks pregnant. Tested positive 11 days past ovulation. HCG at 12 days past ovulation was 9.06. Doc wants to re-test in 1 week and then THINK about doing progesterone injections.

I am worried that I lose all of my miscarried babies by 5 weeks gestation and he wants to wait until I am 5 weeks to re-test and then make an appointment for progesterone injections. It may be too late by then. What do you think?

Comments for 8 pregnancies...2 live births

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Nov 25, 2011
 8 pregnancies...2 live births
by: Wray

Hi Krystal I always recommend starting progesterone well before conception, so testing you at 5 weeks when you normally miscarry seems daft to me. We do have a page on Pregnancy you could look through. Please have a vitamin D test done, there's strong evidence pre-eclampsia is due to a lack of it, see here, here, here here and here. Plus it's vital for a successful pregnancy, see here, here, here, here and here. These are excellent videos to watch too, see here and here. I'm running out of space so will start a new comment below. Take care Wray
Nov 25, 2011
 8 pregnancies...2 live births
by: Wray

Hi Krystal For more info on testing etc see the Vitamin D Council, GrassrootsHealth Birmingham Hospital and Vitamin D Links websites. Blood levels should be 70-100ng/ml or 175-250nmol/L and not the 30ng/ml or 75nmol/L most labs and doctors regard as adequate. And the minimum daily dose should be 5000iu's per day, although the latest research indicates it should be 10,000iu's per day, see here. Low thyroid is also due to a lack of vitamin D, see here, here and here. Plus a lack of vitamin D reduces the benefits of progesterone. All autoimmune disorders have low vitamin D. Take care Wray
Nov 27, 2011
 thank you
by: Krystal

Thanks Wray,
I ended up miscarrying the baby last night at 4 weeks 3 days. My HCG when I got to the hospital was at 5.61. I will absolutely be looking into the vitamin D levels!!! I had no idea that could cause so much havoc on a pregnancy!!! It is also VERY interesting that all of the complications I have had during my pregnancies can be connected to low vitamin D levels...hopefully not a coincidence...I just want to know why this is happening! I am going to see a reproductive specialist at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (one of the best hospitals in the North East). I have already been there for a consultation with Maternal Fetal Medicine after my daughter was born to discuss possible complications with any more children (this was before I was having recurrent miscarriages). When I called them the other day they said the recurrent miscarriages shouldn't be related to any of the other complications I had with my daughter....so I have another separate pregnancy barrier to add to the mix. Hopefully, this all gets figured out, thank you so much for your advise.
Nov 28, 2011
 thank you
by: Wray

Hi Krystal I'm so sorry this has happened yet again. It makes me so mad the doctors know so little about progesterone, and vitamin D too. Please let me know your level if you get tested for it. I might be wrong of course, but all your problems point to a low level of both these vital nutrients. Something I forgot to mention, I had 5 miscarriages, looking back they were all brought on by stress, including separating two dogs fighting! I miscarried about 2 hours later. I've since learnt of course that stress can cause miscarriages as progesterone levels drop sharply. Another nutrient you might consider taking is the amino acid taurine, it's also vital for foetal growth, see here, here and here. Take care Wray
Nov 30, 2011
 Vit D levels
by: Anonymous

Hi Wray,
I went to see my PCP the day after I miscarried and explained how I felt that the OBGYN I was seeing was treating me, and not listening to me about testing my levels. I told her that I had found out that Vitamin D can be linked to the past complications I had...she tested me right then and there without me having to ask!!! It kind of made me mad that I had to fight with my OB and still he wouldn't test me, I merely mention it to my PCP and she gets right on it! She got my results yesterday and I do have low Vitamin D levels. I tested at 28. I am not sure if this is extremely low for pregnancy or not? I had read in a few places online that during pregnancy your levels should be around 50...is this correct? I will be seeing a reproductive endocrinologist tomorrow and will be bringing the vit d info with me. Hopefully, they figure things out!
Dec 02, 2011
 Vit D levels
by: Wray

Hi Krystal I'm so delighted your PCP listened to you, and did the test then and there. She must have read about low vitamin D levels. 28ng/ml is low, very low for anyone. Blood levels should be 70-100ng/ml and not the 30ng/ml most labs and doctors regard as adequate. And the minimum daily dose should be 5000iu's per day, although the latest research indicates it should be 10,000iu's per day, see here. A conservative level is 50ng/ml, but I would recommend you get it higher than that as the foetus will be drawing from you. Interestingly most specialists try to keep their levels around 70ng/ml. Toxicity is not reached until it gets too 200ng/ml, so over dosing is very unlikely. Mine is now 79ng/ml, but I want to get it higher. I would be most interested to hear if the repro endo knows anything about vitamin D! Take care Wray
Mar 27, 2012
 another pregnancy
by: Anonymous

Hi Wray,

I had gotten pregnant again, and I miscarried yesterday at 6 weeks 2 days. I saw a reproductive endocrinologist 3 times before this pregnancy (to no avail) and they NEVER tested my progesterone! Dartmouth Hitchcock's high risk nurse told me that there is trouble with giving people progesterone shots and that it is not as effective as everyone thinks. I fought with them, begging them to take my progesterone levels, and still they would not. My HCG levels were already low (level of 50 at 5 weeks) and they said impending miscarriage with nothing they could do. I just wanted mt progesterone levels tested for a "heads up" next time so I could start the progesterone shots or creams next time before conception. So, long story short...I went to my PCP (again) and she tested my HCG and progesterone but I had already started bleeding at this point (not a lot and the pregnancy had not passed yet (the cramping wasn't even bad when I got my blood levels tested)-it passed about 5 hours after I got my levels taken-and my progesterone levels were just over 1. I know that I had already started miscarrying, but is it typical that your progesterone would already be that low at the very beginning of a miscarriage? Or is it likely the progesterone was already very very low and then dropped more as the miscarriage began? Also, is a level of 1 low even if I had been in a non pregnant state?

Thanks for your help!
Mar 30, 2012
 another pregnancy
by: Wray

Hi there This sort of story shocks me, how difficult is it to check progesterone levels. Even if they think it a waste of time, doing so would put the mind of the woman at rest. Stress of any sort drops progesterone levels. Progesterone injections are not as effective as they could be, because far too little is given, and often only once a week. They are usually 50-100mg each shot. This is laughable, as it gives an average of 7-14mg progesterone per day. So of course people dismiss progesterone, as your nurse did. Even giving yourself the shots daily, 50-100mg is also far too low. The minimum daily amount should be 200mg, split into at least twice a day. Many are given 600mg/day, one women who's recently written in said her doctor was giving her 1600mg/day! He was taking no chances. Suppositories and creams are far better, and just as effective. But sufficient must be used, it's the same with any adverse symptoms. Women are told to use 20-40mg/day and wonder why they feel so awful. Yes, progesterone levels would have started dropping hours, if not days before the miscarriage actually occurred. It could be your progesterone was low while pregnant, this is a sure sign a miscarriage is imminent. Levels <1 show a follicular phase level, progesterone is not made in the follicular phase. Just over one would barely make much difference. We do have a page on Hormone Testing which shows the luteal, follicular and pregnancy levels. Plus hCG which also rise exponentially when pregnant. If you have another attempt at falling pregnant, please start the progesterone well before pregnancy, and continue using it while pregnant. We do have a page on Pregnancy and please see this page here too. Please have a vitamin D test done, it's vital for ovulation, conception, a successful pregnancy and the growth of the foetus, see here, here, here, here, here, here Continued below.
Mar 30, 2012
 another pregnancy Part 2
by: Wray

Hi there And another here. These are excellent videos to watch too, see here and here. Plus lack of it reduces the benefits of progesterone, and it can cause miscarriages, see here, here and here. Another nutrient you could consider is taurine, vital for the growth of the foetus and the newborn, see here, here and here. For more info on vitamin D levels, test kits etc see the Vitamin D Council, GrassrootsHealth, Birmingham Hospital and Vitamin D Links websites. Blood levels should be 70-100ng/ml or 175-250nmol/L and not the 30ng/ml or 75nmol/L most labs and doctors regard as adequate. The minimum daily dose should be 5000iu's per day, although the latest research indicates it should be 10,000iu's per day, see here. Take care Wray
May 25, 2012
 Tested progesterone levels
by: Anonymous

Hi Wray!

I have finally found a reproductive medicine doctor who was willing to test my progesterone levels!! I just got my levels back today. I messed the test up a little bit (didn't do it exactly every 48 hours). After ovulation I waited 5 days then went to get blood drawn on day 5: level of 10, on day 9: level of 15, on day 11: level of 10. The nurse I spoke to said "it looked like I ovulated beautifully and that my hormones were making a nice place for my baby to live, but as seen on day 11 the level began to drop because no egg was fertilized." Are these levels seeming adequate to you as well? The next step the doc would like to do is a sonohystergram to get "a look inside for herself" and make sure my uterus is an ideal place for baby to develop.

Wish us luck!!!
May 26, 2012
 Tested progesterone levels
by: Wray

Hi there It certainly does look as if you ovulated. We have a page on Hormone Testing so you can check for yourself. The normal luteal phase ranges from 5-20ng/ml, in some women it can go to 40ng/ml. Follicular phase levels are less then 1ng/ml. It's a pity she didn't think of testing prior to ovulation. All doctors think progesterone is only secreted once ovulation has taken place. But this is not true, we have a pre-ovulatory surge which occurs within 50 hours of the mid-cycle surge of hormones. With an exponential rise 12 hours prior to ovulation. This surge comes from the brain and is essential to ensure there's an early luteal rise of progesterone, see here, here, here and here. An early luteal rise is needed for successful implantation, see here. So I really suggest using progesterone prior to falling pregnant. This will give you a good start. I do wish you luck! Take care Wray

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