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terrified to get pregnant

Sat, 09/19/2009 - 11:59

Hello,

My name is Linzy and I am 26 years old. I was diagnosed with Absence seizures when I was 23. I have been on a boat load of medications to control them and now I am on Lamictal which has done the best so far. I have been increased recently because of some breakthrough seizures. My husband and I have decided to have a baby and I am terrified for the health of the baby. My doctor told me that Lamictal can cause cleft lip, palate etc., to the fetus and that I cannot breast feed. I take 125mg of lamictal in the morning and at night. I have always dreamed of having children - healthy children. I would love my child no matter what but doesn't everyone want healthy children, free of defects? I have also always dreamed of breast feeding. I was pretty devastated when my doc told me that I wouldn't be able to breast feed my child. I want to be able to have that connection with my baby. I guess I am just hoping for some similar stories and to know that there are people out there who understand where I am coming from and how much of an impact seizures can put on your life even if they are just absence.

 UPDATE (May 5, 2011): I thought that I would update this thread :) I am happy to tell you all that I am the very proud mother of a happy, healthy and totally normal 9 month old son =) I got pregnant shortly after posting this thread and my whole pregnancy and delivery was completely normal, problem free and most important of all, seizure free!! Towards the end of my pregnancy I did accumulate too much amniotic fluid but it wasn't a worry at all and my water ended up just breaking on its own 2 days after my due date which kicked off 21 hours of labor and 2 hours of pushing, to which I welcomed a very healthy 7lb 14oz baby boy (with the help of the vacuum because he was coming down at an angle and was a bit stuck!). He was pretty jaundice for a while because he ended up getting some of my blood during delivery but that went away within 2 weeks. He does have an undescended teste which is fairly normal in boys anyway and has nothing to do with the lamictal. He already had the first surgery to fix that and is doing awesome. I haven't had any seizures since before I got pregnant which is really awesome since I was having them fairly often. And which is even more amazing seeing as my soon to be ex-husband wanted a divorce right before we found out I was pregnant and wanted one even faster once we found out I was pregnant a week later. I ended up having to move 9 hours away back to my hometown while I was terribly sick with morning sickness. To go through all of that stress and not have a seizure is pretty awesome I think! I was really scared about birth defects and such when I was ttc but now I know how small of a chance those things are especially with lamictal and in the future if I find someone else to spend the rest of my life with I will have no fears about having more children. Thank you all for your support and for sharing your stories! I wish you all the best of luck!

Comments

Re: terrified to get pregnant

Submitted by randalynn on Wed, 2009-09-23 - 21:03

I agree with you on that breastfeeding is very important, I was unable to atfirst because i didnt know with the drug in my system. After my first child was about 3 days old I had talked to my doctor and that is when he told me that she wuld recieve the same amount wither way(me carrying her or breastfeeding), although after that she wouldnt take so I was unable to breastfeed with her..

Good Luck to you

I agree with you on that breastfeeding is very important, I was unable to atfirst because i didnt know with the drug in my system. After my first child was about 3 days old I had talked to my doctor and that is when he told me that she wuld recieve the same amount wither way(me carrying her or breastfeeding), although after that she wouldnt take so I was unable to breastfeed with her..

Good Luck to you

Re: terrified to get pregnant

Submitted by linzysmith323 on Wed, 2009-10-28 - 13:06

So...I went to my neurology appt.  I recieved good news :) I am going to type out the questions that I asked and the answers I recieved:

-What are the risks of taking Lamictal while pregnant?: He said that there is a 5 out of 100 chance of the baby having a cleft lip/palate.  The biggest worry though is that I would have a tonic-clonic or grand mal seizure which could cut of the air supply to the baby.  He said as long as we check my lamictal level every month - everything should be fine.

-as far as breastfeeding: He said that what his other patients have done is breastfed/pump before they take their medication. Which doesn't help much in my case because I take my med twice a day...So I told him about the research (tons of it ) that I have done as far as the baby getting a higher concentration in utero because I would be taking a higher dose while pregnant and then put back on my regular dose once I have given birth...he said that there are always risks but that the benefits may outway the risks..so really I didn't get a clear answer but it is something I suppose we will have to "wait and see" about.  I have thought about it and maybe what I will do is breastfeed before I take my evening dose and do formula the rest of the time. he said this would be an option as well as just breast feeding the few days after birth. so we will see about this.

-I asked about precautions to take while pregnant - he said just to check my levels every month

-3D ultrasound - I will have a 3D ultrasound because I will considered a high risk

-folic acid or other vitamins - he said that I need to take a prenatal vit (of course) and to make sure that I am getting 80mg of folic acid a day.

-c-section?- I would only have to have a c-section if there are complications - but he thinks things are going to fine as far a the seizures are concerned so the only need for a c-section would be other complications.

- could the baby have seizures or maybe down the road? - he said that it was a possibility but that there is no way to tell. another thing we would have to wait and see about.

SO - I got great information... and I feel quite a bit better. He made me feel as though everything was going to be fine and there wasn't this need for me to be so nervous and worried. my doc said that I am doing very well right now and he didn't want to see my back for a year - unless I become pregnant.  I have been going every three months.. So I hope that someone out there gets some comfort or ideas of questions to ask their neuro or even answers from this!

So...I went to my neurology appt.  I recieved good news :) I am going to type out the questions that I asked and the answers I recieved:

-What are the risks of taking Lamictal while pregnant?: He said that there is a 5 out of 100 chance of the baby having a cleft lip/palate.  The biggest worry though is that I would have a tonic-clonic or grand mal seizure which could cut of the air supply to the baby.  He said as long as we check my lamictal level every month - everything should be fine.

-as far as breastfeeding: He said that what his other patients have done is breastfed/pump before they take their medication. Which doesn't help much in my case because I take my med twice a day...So I told him about the research (tons of it ) that I have done as far as the baby getting a higher concentration in utero because I would be taking a higher dose while pregnant and then put back on my regular dose once I have given birth...he said that there are always risks but that the benefits may outway the risks..so really I didn't get a clear answer but it is something I suppose we will have to "wait and see" about.  I have thought about it and maybe what I will do is breastfeed before I take my evening dose and do formula the rest of the time. he said this would be an option as well as just breast feeding the few days after birth. so we will see about this.

-I asked about precautions to take while pregnant - he said just to check my levels every month

-3D ultrasound - I will have a 3D ultrasound because I will considered a high risk

-folic acid or other vitamins - he said that I need to take a prenatal vit (of course) and to make sure that I am getting 80mg of folic acid a day.

-c-section?- I would only have to have a c-section if there are complications - but he thinks things are going to fine as far a the seizures are concerned so the only need for a c-section would be other complications.

- could the baby have seizures or maybe down the road? - he said that it was a possibility but that there is no way to tell. another thing we would have to wait and see about.

SO - I got great information... and I feel quite a bit better. He made me feel as though everything was going to be fine and there wasn't this need for me to be so nervous and worried. my doc said that I am doing very well right now and he didn't want to see my back for a year - unless I become pregnant.  I have been going every three months.. So I hope that someone out there gets some comfort or ideas of questions to ask their neuro or even answers from this!

Re: terrified to get pregnant

Submitted by Steph104 on Wed, 2009-10-28 - 20:13
I agree with you, I am 33 and scared of getting pregnant.  I am on Lamictal as well I take 200mg in the morning and 200 at night, and it has worked the best so far as well also.  I am afraid to bring a child into the world and it some type of birth defect,  But I would still love it just as much.  I tell myself If god wants me to have a child he will make it happen if not then I wasn't meant to have a child.   But I can totally relate to your scenerio completely.

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