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Preemies
Delphianraven
member
Natural MC - 4/18/10 (9 weeks)
DS was born six weeks early on December 2010!
Natural MC - 11/21/11 (7 weeks)
DS born full term on October 2012!
Pregnant again with Makena question
Delphianraven
member
in Preemies
Hi everyone!
It has been awhile since I posted here, but I was hoping you ladies might help me with a question. My son was born six weeks early in Dec of 2010. They didn't have any reason as to why I was early. I didn't have pre-e or anything else. I just laid down to take a nap one afternoon after work and my water broke. Fast forward and we are now expecting baby number two! We are over the moon. The doctor mentioned an injection called Makena and I was wondering if you guy's had any experience with it?
She said because I was early I was at risk for another early birth and that the shot could help prevent another early delivery by 20% if I got this injection every week starting at sixteen weeks. I'm honestly not sure how to feel about it.
Also, any of you ladies who had one preterm baby and followed it up with a full term baby? I'm just really hoping I can make it full term this time. The NICU while it was a short visit wasn't a fun one.
Thanks!
Natural MC - 4/18/10 (9 weeks)
DS was born six weeks early on December 2010!
Natural MC - 11/21/11 (7 weeks)
DS born full term on October 2012!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Pregnant again with Makena question
Hi, I've talked to my doctor about having another baby in the future. She 110% recommends weekly progestin injections. She said that I could either go into the office and have them done, or I could do them at home myself.
Hi there! I had the p17 shots for my 2nd child (DD) which I made it to full term and delivered on 38w6d.
My first child (DS) was born at 31w6d and was in the NICU for 30 days. He is now 3.5 yrs old. They also didn't have a reason on why I delivered early.
I was high risk the entire pregnancy solely due to DS being a preemie. High risk dr recommended the shots and said it could lower my risk for another early delivery. They can't really say whether the shots affected the time of delivery, but I wanted to do whatever I could safely do to help with being full term with my DS.
And the shots itself was nothing. The nurse did house visits once a week and gave me the shots. She was actually a really nice nurse and we ended up being friends. A plus!
I start those shots in two more weeks. My first LO was born at 35.5 weeks, after preterm labor started at 32 weeks.
Do you have good insurance? With Rx copays? It would probably be worth it to have your dr send in the request for the shots really early. They probably won't be approved and sent until right at 16 weeks, but Makena is CRAZY EXPENSIVE.
With my insurance (a high deductible health plan), I was going to be charged $3871 for ONE VIAL (5 shots) of Makena. The insurance guy I was talking to actually transferred me over to Makena's copay assistance people. I was approved for the program and only have to pay $50 per vial.
My first dd was born at 33 w 4d due to pre-e and ptl. My water broke in the hospital. For my second pregnancy I received p17 shots until I delivered at 34w 5d. I started to have contractions at 32 weeks was put on bed rest and then delivered almost two weeks later.
I would check with your insurance about the compounded version. My insurance didn't cover the makena version. Good luck and Congrats on baby #2.
Natural MC - 4/18/10 (9 weeks)
DS was born six weeks early on December 2010!
Natural MC - 11/21/11 (7 weeks)
DS born full term on October 2012!
Just had that conversation with my doc as well. She is prescribing Proterm from Wedgewood Pharmacy (they mail it to you). She said that some insurance companies are making people take the Makena brand name one because it is FDA approved. The sad thing is that some will make you take it, but then won't cover the cost or not enough of it.
I refuse to take Makena. Even if I pay for the whole entire cost of Proterm, it would still only be a fraction of the cost of Makena.
Just lurking, but wanted to add as others have that Makena is brand name for the drug 17p (hydroxy-alpha progesterone caproate), which has been made by compounding pharmacies for many years. Because of KV Pharmaceuticals unethical behavior when they were awarded the exclusive lapsed rights to Makena, I refuse to take Makena, though I required the shots in this pregnancy.
My doctor prescribed compounded 17p for me (same thing, but with a different carrier oil that was preservative free). It was actually much less expensive from the compounding pharmacy - and the FDA has clearly said that they will continue to allow compounding pharmacies to make 17p. Some insurance companies require the name-brand, but if you don't have insurance, ask whether there is a compounding pharamacy near you that can produce it and find out how much it would be - it may be less per shot than the assistance program from KV Pharmaceuticals.
GL to you.
Gabriel Ross - August 24, 2009 * Vivienne Rose - May 1, 2012
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