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Daniella, I am 10 weeks now. I still worry, but it is in God's hands. The thing that made me feel most comfortable was when my doctor told me that we have no way of knowing exactly why I misscarried, but we know that you have low levels so we will fix what we know is wrong.

Daniella, thanks for clarifying about the suppositories/v____al cream. The nurse never explained this to me-she was in a bit of a hurry when she informed me about my progesterone level. Good news is, I just started applying the gel and it is Crinone 8%! Are you still on it? Did you have any side effects? I noticed your sister took supplements as well and had a healty pregnancy. Did she take Crinone too? Thanks in advance for your advice. P.S.-I will definitely ask the nurse about my progesterone level.

Rosie- unfortunely by the time I finally convinced my dr. (the 3rd doctor) to test my progesterone level after 2 weeks of begging. By then it was too late. Sure enough it was low like I had thought and she rushed me on it. 4 days later my babys heartbeat had stopped. But, I now know for future pregnancies what I hadn't known soon enough on this one. So, I am no longer on the gel, but I will take it ASAP when I find out I am pregnant again.

I am currently on Prochieve 8%. I am 8 wks tomorrow, and after 3 mc in past year, 2 at 4 weeks, one of twins at 14 weeks, I requested my HCG and Progesterone levels be checked with this pg. HCG was checked. went from 2068 to 5000 in 48 hours. NP did not check my progesterone, instead went ahead and prescibed supplement. I have been on the prochieve for 3 weeks now, and after having 3 weeks of pink tinge in the "leftover" cream every other day(freaking me out), I asked to be put on something different. The Nurse said she has had serveral women call in with the pink or sometimes brown tinge in their discharge with Prochieve. She suggested Progesterone suppositories since they did not have the reputation of having that side effect. I was prescribed 200mg at night. My questions are, has anyone else on Prochieve experienced the pink in their dicharge(sorry so graphic)? should I be getting my levels check even though I am now on the supplement and saw hb and healthly baby at 5w5d and 6w6d? Is 200mg once a day in the suppository form equivalant to the prochieve? Any experiences that wil help answer my questions would be a great help to ease my mind! Thanks!

Cat- your dr. gave you supplements without even testing you?? I would definitely have them checked

yes. I told her that I had know people that had m/c and took progesterone had healthly babies so I wanted my levels checked to see if I needed to be on a supplement. She said she would go ahead and put me on it. That it wouldn't hurt anything. I was just so happy to be on it, I didn't question it any futher until I read the post and founf that women are getting checked every week. I have an appt next week with a high risk specialist that I did see for a consultation before. I will ask for blood work then

Daniella-I am really wondering if I should even get my progesterone checked next week. i read on a web site just a few min. ago that v____al creams and suppositories have minimal effect on serum progesterone test, because it is so concentrated to the uterine area. So, I don't think it's gonna give me any clear indication of what my levels are really at. What do you think?

Daniella-I noticed you are in NC. I am just below Charlotte.

Cat- Your right about the supplements not having that much affect on your blood serum. I was at 8.4 on progesterone get 8% for 4 days and my level only increased too 11.6 or something like that. But, I would still get it tested just to see if they are at good standing. I think usually at ten weeks they should be at least 20? I do know that if its below 11 (regardless of supps or not) that its not that great. Not to put more worries on you, but right now you have no idea and nothing to compare since you haven't got it tested. I will say this though, after 12 weeks it wont matter anymore because the baby produces it on its own.

Cat- I will say this though.... at only 8 weeks you are (?) your HCG are going up very nicely and if you already heard the heartbeat, that is great. I bet you feel so good. My HCG was going up pretty good until about 7 weeks and I did hear the heartbeat then but it was just flickering. Not a good strong beat. And I knew something was wrong. I knew it from the very first time having an u/s. I just had a gut feeling that it didn't look like I was as far along as I knew I should be. Knowing this because my husband is in the military and he left for deployment. So, I may not know exactly when I conceived, but I surely know when I "didn't". lol. Also, I was at least 8 weeks from conception (not from LMP) LMP I'd be around 10 weeks. At that stage I should be able to hear a nice strong heartbeat and see the fetal pole a lot better. But, the heartbeat stopped anyhow. The ONLY thing tested wrong wtih me was that my progesterone levels were low and near the end my HCG was still going up but only slightly. Also, Im not in NC (sorry for the confusion, don't know where you got that) but I did live in Va Beach for awhile. Yet, right now I am living in Japan (due to military). I do know where Charlotte is. Kinda miss the east coast. Anyhow, you sound like your doing great. Don't stress yourself out on stuff you read, just take it in as knowledge. :) Congrates!!!!

At six weeks my progesterone level was 4. Doctor thought I would miscarry for sure but placed me on 200mg progesterone suppositories 3x /day. After 24 hrs of use I went back for bloodwork and progesterone level skyrocketed to 23. Needless to say I know I was one of the few lucky women who's doctor checks these levels otherwise I would have miscarried. I stayed on the suppositories throughout the 1st trimester. I had a smooth pregnancy with my second child because of this knowledge. I had suppositories left over from 1st child(make sure they remain refrigerated..so you can use them 2 yrs down the road) and as soon as I thought I ovulated and might be pregnant I took them. By the time your4 -6 weeks pregnant you can lose a pregnancy because of this deficiancy so I made sure I had them and used them 2 days after ovulation until I could confirm with blood work/urine when detectable. There were a few times I wasn't pregnant but that was no biggy the progesterone I took just delayed my period for 3-7 days until I stopped taking them. Well worth it.

olga- that is great to hear!! and ya, your right... its about the 4 to 6 week of pregnancy that is most important to have good levels of progesterone. If you catch it later, like in my case at 8 weeks, its a higher chance of miscarriage. Good thing I still have some supplements left for I will take them as soon as I find out I'm pregnant again. THANKS!! Oh, and your supposed to refrigerate them? Too cold, doesn't hurt? Guess I'll look that one up. Good to know. Thanks!!

Hi all I'm going through the same thing after 3 miscarriages we finally figured out the problem was low progesterone. I'm on oral supplements till I'm 13wks pg. I've been taking them since I was 4wks, because thats when they dropped from 16.5 to 10. I'm now 8wks pg and progesterone is stable and we heard the heartbeat on us at 6.5wks. Goodluck to everyone!

daniella-sorry, That was Danielle,NC I was referring too. I got you guys mixed up. Yeah, My HCG was through the roof at 4w5d. I was actually very surprised they were so high. I have read that a lot of women have an average of 2000 at 6 weeks, but mine at 6 weeks would have been around 80,000 considering they were doubling. (I only had them tested in the very beginning of pg). I thought by my levels I was carrying twins again or I was having a blightened ovum. But, the ultrasound at nearly 6w and 7w both showed one baby with hb. Also, I dont know what the rate was. The first ultrasound I asked but the tech said it was so small (the fetus) that she could barley even see a hb, let alone measure the rate. The 2d one the fetus was much more visable, i even saw the hb clearly. I just asked if it look good and the tech said it looked great. I vowed that if everything looked great on my last u/s I would not go back to these forums! They just get you all worked up, ya know! The only reason I ended up here is because I was searching for info on progesterone suppositories. I haven't started them yet. I still have a few days worth of Prochieve left that I want to finish up. I think that Prochieve and Crinone are the same thing. Did you ever experience "pink" with your Crinone?

Cat--I've been on crinone 8% since I was at about 5-6w. I'm, hopefully, getting ready to enter my 11w. Had a m/c in Feb '05 and this pg was totally unplanned and unexpected. I had a day or two of pink (actually more orange-ish) tinged clumps about a week or two after I started using the gel. I was prescribed to take them twice a day, and when I saw the tinge I freaked and since it was a weekend, I decided to just do one application until I could talk to my dr's office. I was told that the clumpiness and occasional tinge was not out of the ordinary. It didn't last long and was never intense in color. Just a tinge that I could tell from examining it (which apparently all who have experienced a m/c seem to do....examine every piece of toilet paper after wiping :) ). I've noticed that I don't get the clumping if I take it consistently. If I miss my normal time, or forget to do use it in the morning or evening, I think I get more leakage. (is this tmi or what? :) ) Haven't had any other side effects that I'm aware of other than "normal" pg symptoms.

lea-thanks for your response! the color you described is exactly what I've been experiencing. Like a "salmonish" color. Any you are right, I am constantly examining every time I use the bathroom! Having had many miscarriages, I am on edge about everything. It's comforting to hear from someone else first hand that they have had a similar experience. That helps but my mind at ease. Now, I'm wondering if I should even stop the prochieve (I asked to be put on suppositories instead because the color was freaking me out). Anyway, thanks again. Best wishes with your pg!