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terrified to get pregnant
Sat, 09/19/2009 - 11:59Hello,
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 MzMandi on Mon, 2009-11-30 - 22:10
Hi there-
I am a 35 y/o female who recently had my first baby in July. I was first diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 10. I was on phenobarbital for four years and then slowly weaned off of it. I didn't have another seizure until age 28, and I was quite frustrated, because nobody could explain why I went so long without one, and then suddenly began to have them again. Four years later, I experienced one while alone at my house. That was in 2006. I had one last fall right before I got pregnant, and just had one last Tuesday evening. I began taking Keppra during my pregnancy, and it was the first medication I had been on in a while. I previously took Tegretol, but it caused extreme drowsiness, and since I knew I wanted to get pregnant, I took myself off of it with my (then) neurologist's blessing. After the one last year, I switched to a new neurologist. She saw me often during pregnancy, but for obvious reasons, we could not do an MRI or EEG. My baby was born perfectly healthy, and most babies born to epileptic moms are, you will probably just have to have frequent ultrasounds, but at least it will give you reassurance that all is well. I'm just glad I didn't have the seizure while pregnant. I think I know what triggered last weeks (I am currently taking meds for bipolar, which I was diagnosed with after suffering from severe postpartum depression, and I think since lemictral is also an anti-convulsant, it may have had a reaction to my Keppra), but I am awaiting word from my current neurologist.
GL with your pregnancy, I'm sure things will turn out fine :-)
Hi there-
I am a 35 y/o female who recently had my first baby in July. I was first diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 10. I was on phenobarbital for four years and then slowly weaned off of it. I didn't have another seizure until age 28, and I was quite frustrated, because nobody could explain why I went so long without one, and then suddenly began to have them again. Four years later, I experienced one while alone at my house. That was in 2006. I had one last fall right before I got pregnant, and just had one last Tuesday evening. I began taking Keppra during my pregnancy, and it was the first medication I had been on in a while. I previously took Tegretol, but it caused extreme drowsiness, and since I knew I wanted to get pregnant, I took myself off of it with my (then) neurologist's blessing. After the one last year, I switched to a new neurologist. She saw me often during pregnancy, but for obvious reasons, we could not do an MRI or EEG. My baby was born perfectly healthy, and most babies born to epileptic moms are, you will probably just have to have frequent ultrasounds, but at least it will give you reassurance that all is well. I'm just glad I didn't have the seizure while pregnant. I think I know what triggered last weeks (I am currently taking meds for bipolar, which I was diagnosed with after suffering from severe postpartum depression, and I think since lemictral is also an anti-convulsant, it may have had a reaction to my Keppra), but I am awaiting word from my current neurologist.
GL with your pregnancy, I'm sure things will turn out fine :-)
Re: terrified to get pregnant
Submitted by victoriathacker on Wed, 2010-01-06 - 12:34
WOW! So I read what Ola wrote...what a joke. Ok, I have epilepsy, and I have also worked in an OB/GYN office. Now, I was high-risk pregnancy with both my children. I was on Depakote with my daughter, I only had one seizure, and that was right before I found out I was pregnant. I had pre-eclampsia, and I was getting Ultrasounds, and stress test constantly to monitor the baby. Blood work as well. They did induce me, and even though she came out 7lbs, she had to stay in the NICU, just because her lungs weren't totally developed. 11 days later we got to bring her home, and today she is 7yrs old, the only thing wrong with her is she has food and seasonal allergies.
My son, this time, I was on Lamictal. I had 3 seizures while pregnant with him, and one right after I had him. Again, high risk pregnancy, Many ultrasounds, and stress tests. Induced delivery. Same thing NICU for 9 days. But also born over 7lbs. He's 3yrs old now! And NOTHING is wrong with him!
You can have your own family, and be epileptic. Have your significant other switch feeding times with you, so you can get some sleep at night. DON'T miss any of your medication!!! And you'll be just fine!
Victoria
WOW! So I read what Ola wrote...what a joke. Ok, I have epilepsy, and I have also worked in an OB/GYN office. Now, I was high-risk pregnancy with both my children. I was on Depakote with my daughter, I only had one seizure, and that was right before I found out I was pregnant. I had pre-eclampsia, and I was getting Ultrasounds, and stress test constantly to monitor the baby. Blood work as well. They did induce me, and even though she came out 7lbs, she had to stay in the NICU, just because her lungs weren't totally developed. 11 days later we got to bring her home, and today she is 7yrs old, the only thing wrong with her is she has food and seasonal allergies.
My son, this time, I was on Lamictal. I had 3 seizures while pregnant with him, and one right after I had him. Again, high risk pregnancy, Many ultrasounds, and stress tests. Induced delivery. Same thing NICU for 9 days. But also born over 7lbs. He's 3yrs old now! And NOTHING is wrong with him!
You can have your own family, and be epileptic. Have your significant other switch feeding times with you, so you can get some sleep at night. DON'T miss any of your medication!!! And you'll be just fine!
Victoria
Re: terrified to get pregnant
Submitted by linzysmith323 on Tue, 2009-11-17 - 20:32
So..I found out today that I am pregnant! I am excited but still a bit worried. I have a sonogram in about 4 weeks. I wondered how long it would take me to get pregnant - I stopped my birth control in the middle of september, had my period in october and popped up pregnant now. So it happened really fast.