considering pregnancy

Hi there. My name is Amy and I have been diagnosed with ITP for almost 4 years now. My ITP was discovered while I was in labor with my son. Since then, I have been following with my hematologist and my average count is 60-70. My lowest count has been 34. I have been treated with steroids 2 or 3 times and respond well immediately (although I hate taking them). For the most part, I have been just being monitored as long as my counts don't drop significantly. I check in with the doctor quarterly. My last count 3 months ago was 105 so I felt really good about it and was thinking I may be going into remission. With that said, my husband and I have not really thought about having another child until the last few months. We have been prayerfully considering it and with such a high ITP count, I was feeling very hopeful and not so worried.

I had my IUD removed a couple weeks ago and we were considering TTC after my first regular cycle. With that said, I was due for my quarterly check in with the hematologist so my husband went with me today so we could discuss pregnancy and ITP with him. Although I have had more bruising, I was pretty surprised when the doctor said my count is down to 57.

The doctor said pregnancy is not out of the question but did discuss the possibility of needing prednisone during the pregnancy if my counts go below 75. He said that it is very likely that the pregnancy will drop my levels lower than what they normally are. He also said we would do IVIG prior to the c-section to raise my counts.

I am feeling very discouraged and questioning it now. I am very conservative about wanting to take any kind of medication during pregnancy. Before now, I have felt that if I had to take a medication, I would not get pregnant but I really don't feel that our family is complete. Doing IVIG in the 3rd trimester is not as concerning to me. What I am afraid of is taking any medication during the earlier time in pregnancy. According to both hematologists I have seen, prednisone is safe but it seems conflicting when I have researched online.

Thank you for letting me share my story and I was hoping to hear about other's experiences. I am so grateful for these discussion boards!

Amy:

I know it's a tough decision, but I wouldn't allow ITP to stop me from having a baby. Since your ITP can be easily controlled, you are one of the luckier ones. Prednisone is quite safe during pregnancy and you may not have to take it the entire time....just enough to keep your count safe. Not everyone drops with pregnancy; some people maintain or even go higher.

I did not have ITP when I had my children, but I've been on this Forum for 14 years and have seen many women go through this. Every single one has said that it was worth it and they have all had healthy babies.

Good luck with your decision!

I was one of those who passed by these last 14 years. Diagnosed during pregnancy and did Win Ro, Dex Pulse, splenectomy, and predisone all during pregnancy. Did no respond to any treatment with counts in the 20s.

I was lucky enough to have encouragement from Sandi and those like her who have watched many of us go through this. Thanks to her and good medical treatment I have a 5 year old boy, 100% healthy, born 1 mo. early 7lbs, no problems. I have had more stability post pregnancy. I am so glad that I the support here and that I chose to follow my heart!

Hi guys,

I'm considering pregnancy as well. We miscarried in March. Out of curiosity...were you considered "high risk" because of your ITP during your pregnancies? We have no children yet...so this is all very new to me. The ITP was discovered at the same time as the miscarriage.