newly diagnosed and pregnant

Hi
hope some of you can help me, although I am being treated it would still be nice to know if anyone has gone through the same thing! I am 33.
I had full blood count done at 8 weeks pregnant which resulted in a call on a friday evening telling me my platelet count was 28 and to go to ER if i cut myself or had any severe bleding, which obviously in my slightly more emotional state than usual sent me in to a bit of a panic.
The next day I decided not to worry too much, had no idea what platelets were and didn't want to google and scare myself unnessarily!
Made a GP appt for te monday and they told me I would be referred to hemo, who i have seen 3 times now. First appt was up to 52, 2nd appt was at 31, 3rd appt was at 15 and have just completed 5 days of IVIG.
Am awaiting call to let me know when I will need another blood test done, have next appt with hemo in for next week.
Now 15 weeks pregnant and been told the ITP shouldn't affct the pregnancy but they want to keep the levels up about 20 for earlier pregnancy and towards the birth. One of my biggest scares is not being able to have epidural if levels below 80!
I had always bruised easily and occasionally I'b had a pin prick rash which I'd shown to a doctor once and he just though it was a viral thing. So assume I have always had low platelets but never been diagnosed as had no problems.
At the moment the only symptoms I have are very mild nosebleeds every other day or so, last only a minute or so and occsaionally drip rather than anything heavier.
Thanks for reading!

Hi Katie - glad you found us.

Don't be too afraid of childbirth without the epidural. I did it twice with no meds, and one was an induced birth that lasted 24 hours. Just concentrate on your breathing - you'll be fine. Have you taken any classes?

Hopefully, your counts will be up by then and you won't have to worry about it.

Hi Katie,
Welcome to the forum this is a great place for info. I am currenlty 11 weeks pregnant and was dx with ITP 4 yrs ago. My hema and OB are working closely together and neither are really concerned right now. My counts hang out around 40, and was advised that I would probably need IVIG before and during my delivery as well as possibly steriods. My hema and OB will both be on hand when I deliver just in case. My hema thinks that the pregnancy may help my platlets stay up. He thinks its all hormone related so who knows yours may go up on their own. Congradulations. And try not to worry too much.

Hi Katie.
I was diagnosed with low platelets at 7 months pregnant and was unable to have an epidural. The best advice I can give you is to really take care of yourself and do what you can to get into the best physical shape possible. I exercised and stretched a lot to prepare myself for the natural birth and I think that was the best preparation. I felt really strong going into it. My recovery was a snap! I walked to the bathroom about 5 minutes after giving birth and I only took Tylenol for 1 day after for the mild pain that I had. I never intended to have a natural birth but after being forced into it, I'm actually really glad that it happened that way. Good luck to you.

Hi,

I am 33 and 33 weeks pregnant with my second child. I was diagnosed officially with ITP at 7 months with my first child. My hemo never allowed my platelets to go below 50 the first time and put me on steroids when they approached that level. This time though he's fine with it going down to 30 since I'm showing no other symptoms. When I'm not pregnant, my platelets usually stabilize around 76-90. I guess since you are already on the IVIG (i hear that should work even better than steroids), they probably won't also put you on the steroids. For me with my first and what is planned for my second is that I have a planned induction date one week prior to my due date. Then one week prior my induction date, my hemo prescribes me Prednisone. Last time this worked and bumped my platelets up to 80, which allowed me to get the epidural (TG since labor lasted 18 hours and my son was sunny side up). I was going to have the unmedicated birth plan, but I tried the Prednisone just in case I wanted to go for the epi. Not sure if this plan or steroids will work the same for you, but something to discuss with your hemo if you like and think that an epidural will be an important option.

61 and dropping on 9/14