MFM appointment update

Yesterday, Matt and I met with a Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor to discuss trying again. I was pretty nervous to see him because I have seen another MFM with this practice that was not hopeful that we would be able to have a healthy pregnancy. The last doctor we saw was very young and looked more at the statistics than me. I knew this doctor was nice because I had seen him when I had been admitted there with IUGR and Pre-eclampsia. He was very friendly and we even joked around a few times.

He said that there is no way he can tell us for sure how well we will do. My case is hard since I don’t have just LUPUS, or just Kidney Disease. If I do develop Pre-eclampsia again, it would probably be later in the pregnancy. He was very optimistic about trying again and he said that now is the best time to do it since the Lupus is quiet and not flaring right now. He also said that the sooner we do it the better since my kidneys are pretty stable right now.

We discussed IVIg, but he said that it is not a treatment they do there, but he would research it and let me know if it would be something that would help me.  I told him that from the research I have done, I have found it to be helpful for Lupus, APS, and kidney disease. He said he would look into it and call me next week to let me know what he finds out.  It sounds like he would prescribe it if he thinks it will help.

We talked about what my care next pregnancy will look like. He suggested I stay with my local OB and see him about every 6 weeks. My local OB has already said he will see me weekly, so I think this will be great monitoring. We will also do monthly lab work to check on my kidney function, protein, and anti-body numbers. If pre-eclampsia starts to set in I will be put on hospital bed rest.

The medications I will take during the pregnancy are: Labetalol(hbp), Baby Asprin, Lovenox, Plaquenil, Prenatal Vitamins, and Magnesium. He said they prescribe Plaquenil during pregnancy a lot and they find it to be very safe. As soon as I get a positive pregnancy test I will start Lovenox shots 2x daily and switch to Labetalol for HBP.

We talked about treatments for IUGR and I told him that I had been reading some women were treating it with sildenafil. He had never heard of this but said that it makes sense that it would work and he would look into it and also let me know about it.

The appointment took 45 minutes and went great. I texted my nephroligist after the appointment and he called me right away to say he is excited and will be praying for us. I will see him in November so we can talk about it more then.

So that's my update, We are very excited!