Gestational Thrombocytopenia

[LHill2010]

... now say that 5 times fast. I had a doctors appt today to get my results from the GTT and all is well with that.. however, my doctor said that she's a little concerned with my platelets. She said that they are 138,000, and she drew more blood. When I first had blood drawn at the beginning of my pregnancy, it was 233,000, so the platelets dropped a lot. She said that it is Gestational Thrombocytopenia. The only thing that went through my mind was WTH is that?!?! I thought I was aware of every possible condition a pregnant woman could get, but apparently not. Thrombocytopenia could cause blood clots or cause me to bleed out, which REALLY scares me, but apparently my count isnt' too far below the "safe" zone. I'm still scared though. I thought I was fine... & now I'm freaking out. Am I alone here or does anyone else have this tongue twister of a condition? & to top it off, DH and I had sex today after he came home from a 2 months gone, and I spotted a tiny bit. It's just not my day apparently. Connor, however, is moving around and seems fine. His HB at the Doctors was good, and he doesnt seem affected.

 

[BabyPenguin]

Hi. I have had thrombocytopaenia for years now and because of this I have to see a consultant during my pregnancy. My levels haven't been above 74,000 for a long time. They are mainly interested in the relative decrease and change rather than actual numbers so as your numbers have dropped they'll look into it. I was always told that anything over 130,000 was normal. I've never had any treatment for it - just been monitored. If it became really bad (below 10,000) then you could bleed for no reason - I think bleeding is more likely than clotting. In pregnancy the main issue is at birth to ensure you don't haemorrhage - as they know about it already they will be well prepared. As far as I know it's not a problem for the baby and things should go back to normal after the birth. I hope that helps a bit - I have my consultant appt on Tuesday so will let you know what they say.
Take care xx

 

[LHill2010]

Thank you!!

 

[LHill2010]

Well, the doctor called and the results are the same. The Doctors are just gonna have to keep an eye on me. I was so upset when she called, but I'm okay now.. just preparing myself for natural birth if I need it.

 

[BabyPenguin]

Hello!
I'm pleased your numbers stayed the same - that's good
I had my consultant appointment on tuesday and was really surprised! My platelets were at 86,000 a month ago and the midwife did nothing with the results. The consultant was very annoyed as it meant he was dealing with out of date results and he thinks they will have dropped more because they do decrease in pregnancy anyway. He said that if you are over 100,000 - 150,000 then there is no real worry, but under 100,000 is not good enough for proper clotting. This isn't a problem for me or the baby during pregnancy but it could be a problem for me during birth! So I am now on steroids for 3 weeks as this can boost platelet production. I go back for bloods and an appointment in 3 weeks then take more steriods for 2 weeks. If this doesn't help I will have to have an immunoglobulin infusion and in a worst case I would need a platelet transfusion!!!!
I was so shocked because for the last 7 years the doctors have done nothing and just monitored with blood tests - they never made it seem serious.
I am so glad I am with the consultant from early on and he did say that the steroids are likely to help, but also that as they are prepared any problems with bleeding at birth can be sorted out quickly.
He seemed to say that caesarean would be worse than natural birth - I would prefer natural rather than caesarean for definite.
When I know more I'll keep you informed!
Best of luck to you - and please don't be upset as I'm sure it will be fine and the fact they know in advance is the best news.
Take care xxx

 

[LHill2010]

Thank you!! I'm sorry you are going through the same thing. I agree, that a natural birth will be muchhh better than a cesarian. DH and I are looking into some lamaze classes. I need to be prepared as much as possible. We actually just moved 1300 miles to Texas from North Carolina, so I haven't seen a doctor here yet. I'm getting all of that straight on Monday! It's been exhausting! But, I'm okay with everything now.. just had to let it all sink in. It's just terrifying not knowing what is going to happen. Good luck to you and keep me posted girl!