Thursday, November 10, 2016

Pregnant Again After Fourth Pregnancy Loss

I recently found out that  I am pregnant and unlike most women, the first emotion I felt was dread - a sweeping wave of dread.

Don't get wrong, but my initial reaction was mainly due to the fact that I've had four previous miscarriages and the memory of my most recent loss is still painfully fresh that it overshadowed the excitement that I should've felt when I the word "Pregnant" flashed on the Clearblue digital pregnancy test I used that fateful day.



Soon after I got over that stupid feeling, my maternal instinct kicked in and I realized that I do want this, I need this. I messaged my immunologist, who is managing my APS condition and sought her advice on what our next step is to boost my chances of keeping this pregnancy. So, a day after getting the BFP, I went to Asian Hospital to have an eight-hour session of Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), which is made of purified plasma from hundreds of healthy donors. It is said to manage recurrent pregnancy losses of patients with autoimmune diseases.


I admit, the cost was very pricey but my husband and I have agreed (after our last miscarriage) that we will proceed with this treatment the next time I got knocked up.

The good news is two weeks after my infusion, I went in for an ultrasound and saw our little beanie's heartbeat! In five pregnancies (including this one), this was only the second time we've seen a heartbeat so, this was such a huge milestone for us!

However, we are still not in the clear. As my OB said, we need to get past 12 weeks before we can somehow relax. Hence, on top of the IVIG infusion, I also take anticoagulants like baby aspirin and Innohep jabs.