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from what I have read about it...it should only help your pregnancy along and not keep you from having a mc if that is what is going to happen just keep praying and all should be ok good luck to you by 12wks you should be fine and prolly won't even need the progesterone...I used natural progesterone cream and I am now 25wks and everything is fine....my little guy is growing fine and nice strong heartbeat and like I said all is fine hope that gives you some hope..

Tamar, Have you had an ultrasound where the baby and the heartbeat are seen or has the doctor at least checked and heard the baby's heartbeat yet? Once the heartbeat is located if it is normal, your chances of a successful pregnancy are over 90%. If that has happened, the progesterone shouldn't be doing anything but helping you. If that hasn't happened, I would insist your doctor checks immediately so you can have some peace of mind. At 12 or 13 weeks, you shouldn't even have to take the progesterone anymore, as by that point the placenta should take over and be producing all you need.

Hi. Thanks for the responses. I had an ultrasound with a heartbeat at around 7 weeks. I am planning to stop taking the progesterine in one week when I hit 12 weeks. I have another ultrasound scheduled in 2 weeks. I am just wondering if the progesterone could put off a miscarriage that is going to happen, anyway. Does the heartbeat at 7 weeks mean that it is definitely a viable pregnancy?

Tamar, I have wondered the same thing. My doctor started me on it at 8 weeks cuz mine went down a bit. He told me to stay on till 17-18 weeks to make sure all goes well. I was nervous about the same thing.

I am 11 weeks and bleeding, this past weekend i felt a gush of water, no smell and no reason to have happened out of the blue,, ususally like what happens after a bath..i wonder if that was the amnio fluid and here comes the rest,,,,,,,:( I have had three heathy babies and never a miscarrage, not sure what i should expect.....

Hi Tamar - I had to be negative, and you may be just fine, but I miscarried at 10 weeks while on progesterone supplements, but it was a missed miscarriage. I had no signs or symptoms. In fact, I had bad morning sickness straight through, and had seen the baby and heartbeat several weeks earlier. I only found out when I had another ultrasound at 10 weeks.... I had had 3 mc prior to this, and one live birth. So when I had the ms and saw the baby, I thought it was just like with my daughter, and that I was out of the woods. The other mc's were all early... Anyway, I was never tested for luteal phase defect when I was not pregnant. My progesterone was 12 at 5 weeks and I had some light spotting (I did with my daughter, too, so go figure). I insisted on the progesterone, and the Dr. agreed, although he did not feel that my levels were too low and that if I were going to mc I would eventually, anyway. He was right. The baby died just after 8 weeks. However the placenta and sac didn't recognize this and continued to grow. They were right size for 10 weeks... Which is why I was still so sick. The supplements (or my own body) was doing it's job on that front. I most likely have some chromosomal issue and am being tested now. I am also being tested for actual LPD. If I find out it is in fact OK, there's no way I'm taking progesterone again. If you don't need it and you miscarry for some other reason, it only prolongs the agony. But if you do have low progesterone and also have a chromosome problem, which is definitely possible, it will still prolong a mc... So it is VITAL that any woman taking progesterone received frequent ultrasounds. At least every two weeks. Every week is better. Many doctors will do this. Good luck.

To all on Progesterone and are wondering... your doc should be following up on your HCG levels as well as your progesterone levels... HCG is produced by the placenta and should double in a 48 hour period in a viable pregnancy. If your progesterone levels are normal for the stage of pregnancy you are in (especially while taking progesterone supplements), and your HCG do not double w/in 2 days, this could mean a non-viable pregnancy that the progesterone is prolonging. (this is not always true, but usually it is.). The cause is usually not hormonal imbalance, but genetic defect in the fetus (contributed either by the mother or father), or an undiagnosed genetic condition in the mother (i.e. blood clotting disorder or MTHFR.) Mosts docs do not want to pursue genetic testing because it is costly, and some insurance companies won't pay for it. I am not saying that your doc is wrong about their previous diagnosis of "hormonal imbalance" or whatever they cla__sified you as to put you on your suppositories, but if you have repeated m/c, I hope that I can urge you to dig deeper, and ask your doc about the genetic effects on pregnancy. I'm not saying this is the answer to everything and everyone, but it is an avenue to pursue.

Bohnwin - You are SO right. Progesterone works for some people (lucky them) but it is NOT a band-aid for everyone.

Hi. Yes, I have had lots of background testing, and I am uncomfortable with progesterone supplements, but trying them this time around. So far, I have every reason to believe this pregnancy is going fine. If you go to my first posting, my question is actually whether anyone knows how long progesterone can delay a non-viable pregnancy. I am almost at 12 weeks and wondering if I have to worry well into the next trimester. I am not able to have an ultrasound for 2 more weeks. I think this is a question a number of women have about progesterone supplements.

In a nutshell, four weeks or more. My baby was dead for two weeks before the ultrsound showed anything.. My doctor said lots of pregnancies end around 8 weeks for genetic reasons. Many doctors don't do ultrasounds until 12 weeks, and then it's news to these poor women... This happens to some women even w/o progesterone supplements.

I just went through IVF and had to have daily progesterone injections for 12 weeks. Progesterone is only needed during the first 12 weeks, after that, the placenta takes over and more progesterone will have no effect on preventing miscarriage. Really, once you hit 12 weeks, if the heartbeat is strong, it is unlikely you will miscarry.

Prometrium won't make an inevitable miscarriage look viable it just stops or delays your body from physically miscarrying.  I was diagnosed with a missed miscarriage at 10 weeks.  The only reason I didn't miscarry at 6 weeks was the prometrium I was on.  My embryo stopped growing at 6 weeks and my first ultrasound was at 8.  It took 3 days for my miscarriage to occur once I stopped taking Prometrium.  I stopped having pregnancy symptoms at 6 weeks and never had morning sickness which was a clue for me something wasn't right. Good luck to you. 

Don't tell people their hCG levels need to double. After an hCG level reaches 6000 you can take over four days to double.  Most hCG levels by six weeks will be over 10,000 and at that time you can do an ultrasound.  Please refrain from giving people information that you don't know as fact as it causes unnecessary worry.