Pre-E moms- baby aspirin

PhillyGal34 · January 2014

For those of you that discussed a baby aspirin regimen with your doctors, how long before you started TTC did you start it and/or is it not started until after you conceive? I am going to discuss this with my doctor and wouldn't start without consulting them but I need to know if I should see them well in advance of starting to TTC or if I should wait until I go to get my IUD out.

Gracias!

LaciJaxx · January 2014

I didn't have pre-e but my ob-gyn had me start taking baby aspirin as soon as I went in to confirm pregnancy. She knew we were trying but didn't tell me to start taking it before. I stopped taking them at the third trimester.

flerlgirl · January 2014

We didn't exactly plan this one

but my OB had me start taking it as soon as I found out I was pregnant. I just take one of the smallest dose every day.

PhillyGal34 · January 2014

Thanks guys! I have to go in at least a month before we TTC since I have an IUD so it sounds like I won't need to take it before then! If they tell me I have to take it longer than that before we TTC maybe we will just have to wait. I appreciate the input!

andthatmakes4 · January 2014

I made a similar post yesterday and accidentally deleted it so I'm glad this was posted. We just found out we're pregnant. We definitely weren't trying but are excited and scared because of my severe pre-e last time. That was only 5 months ago.

PhillyGal34 · January 2014

@imlorenz12 please let me know what your doctor says! and CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

PhillyGal34 · January 2014

I've also read articles about vitamin C, E and fish oils helping... I'd love to hear thoughts on any of these if you've discussed with your doctor!

rslhmg · January 2014

My birth control failed with this one, but my ob started me at 12 wks. He wanted to make sure my bad gallbladder was ok enough to postpone surgery until after delivery, he would have started it immediately if it hadn't been for needing to confirm surgery could be postponed.

KTZ17 · January 2014

I'm going to stalk this thread because I want to know about this, too. I had HELLP syndrome, so I'm not sure if that would be treated differently

Bluebird2318 · January 2014

I had pre-e/HELLP with my first and started taking baby aspirin at 11-12 weeks with with my current pregnancy at the suggestion of my MFM specialist. I was worried that maybe 12 weeks was too late, but she said that's when she typically likes to start her patients on it. I'm 27w2d right now and so far so good.

Cst2CstBride · January 2014

Mine said that I would need to start it as soon as I started TTC.

PhillyGal34 · January 2014

Thanks everyone ! I called and left a message for the nurses. We aren't TTC for a few months but time is flying and I figure better safe than sorry!

LaciJaxx · January 2014

I would love to hear what they tell you. And best wishes when the time is right.

cjbwifey2010 · January 2014

I too had Pre-e and I'm in the "babies on the brain" phase. Would love to get pregnant by end of Spring and a little nervous about the possibility of pre-e again. So glad to know ladies out there went through the same thing. At how many weeks did your first babies come ladies? Mine was born at 28w1day.

Bluebird2318 · January 2014

cjbwifey2010 said:

I too had Pre-e and I'm in the "babies on the brain" phase. Would love to get pregnant by end of Spring and a little nervous about the possibility of pre-e again. So glad to know ladies out there went through the same thing. At how many weeks did your first babies come ladies? Mine was born at 28w1day.

Mine was actually born at 29w0d due to pre-e/HELLP, but I started noticing the serious symptoms (vomiting, bad back pain) in the middle of week 28.

PhillyGal34 · January 2014

Mine was at 31w5d. I started swelling badly a few weeks before but we thought it was vacation/bad food/traveling etc.

megs2011 · January 2014

I had pre-e/hellp last time. Mine were born at 34+4 but I noticed the symptoms a week and a bit prior. I'm hoping it was just because I was pregnant with twins. I'm nervous about this time. Really hoping I don't develop it again.

Bluebird2318 · January 2014

Just gonna hop back in and add this little tidbit for you currently pregnant or TTC hopefuls with past pre-e because I found it very encouraging.

Just had an appointment with my MFM specialist today (everything went well) and she mentioned to me that she thinks that baby aspirin is the single best thing they've been able to do for pre-e in the past few years. She told me that it cuts pre-e recurrence rates from 35+% to as low as 5-10%! It was nice to hear that from someone in the medical field who deals with high-risk and pre-e patients all the time.

LaciJaxx · January 2014

Bluebird2318 - thank you! Great news!!!

andthatmakes4 · January 2014

@Bluebird2318 - when does suggest starting it? I'm seeing my dr on Monday. Just curious if you know this about yours though.

Bluebird2318 · January 2014

lmlorenz12 said:

@Bluebird2318 - when does suggest starting it? I'm seeing my dr on Monday. Just curious if you know this about yours though.

@lmlorenz12 She likes them to start by 10-12 weeks and to stop at 36 weeks (to allow for a week to get it out of your system for delivery). I know some will start you on it as soon as you are pregnant. I personally started at 11 or 12 weeks.

andthatmakes4 · January 2014

Thank you so much for the info. Definitely making me feel better.

LaciJaxx · January 2014

I'm really curious why/how this works. Did she happen to give any sort of explanation?

We actually take a baby aspirin (81 mg) daily anyway so it's a good chance I'll be taking it prior to conception whenever we decide to try again. I also continued taking prenatals, just for the heck of it. You just never know and better safe than sorry.

Bluebird2318 · January 2014

@LaciJaxx From what I understand it's because aspirin functions as a blood thinner, preventing clotting and keeping blood pressure low. It keeps your platelets from sticking together and blocking arteries, which is a problem with pre-e. That's also why you want to stop taking it at 36 weeks: the aspirin causes a permanent change to the existing platelets to prevent clotting and platelets take about one week to get replaced. So if you stop at 36 weeks, your platelets are back to "normal" (sticky and more able to form clots) in time for delivery at 37+ weeks. Does that make sense?

LaciJaxx · January 2014

Bluebird2318 - Yes! Thank you. My OB didn't explain it to me too well and I didn't ask too many questions.

At that point we were just happy to be prego but really anxious & nervous since we just went through a miscarriage a few months earlier. It's interesting that she put me on an aspirin & progesterone regimen. She is one smart lady and love her to bits!!! I'm def learning a lot by talking with you ladies!

Thanks again!

PhillyGal34 · February 2014

did your doctors tell you any risks of taking the aspirin? I've seen mixed messages online about the risks of aspirin but I cannot tell if it is for the baby aspirin dose or not

rslhmg · February 2014

My ob told me the only real concern is that the baby aspirin can cause the babies pda to close to early before delivery, but that happens in the 3rd trimester typically. He is keeping a closer eye on this lo so if he sees any signs of that before 36 wks we can stop the aspirin. (Ps not quite awake yet so I may be confusing pda with what he said, but its the hole in their heart that closes shortly before birth)

andthatmakes4 · February 2014

I've read that with aspirin may be an increased risk of miscarriage but I think that is why some doctors have patients wait until10-12 weeks to start taking it.

andthatmakes4 · February 2014

@PhillyGal34 - I had my appt yesterday and could see a beating heart. Yay!! My dr said a baby aspirin and calcium supplement might help and definitely wouldn't hurt so he recommended taking them to help with avoiding pre-e. He said for the calcium to eat a couple of Tums everyday.

I found an article on the World Health Organization website that goes through all of the possible treatments/interventions for pre-e and explains whether or not they are recommended and how strongly. I thought it was very informative.

https://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/maternal_perinatal_health/9789241548335/en/

Sorry, the link isn't clicky.

PhillyGal34 · February 2014

it is clicky @Imlorenz12 thank you! that is great information... I am so glad the appointment went well!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!

Bluebird2318 · February 2014

My MFM didn't outline any specific risks, just said that the potential benefit far outweighs anything else. She only said to stop taking them at 36 weeks to allow time for my platelets to go back to normal before delivery.

PhillyGal34 · February 2014

I called my doctor and the nurse said they don't recommend anything like that. I'm wondering if I should go see an MFM

Bluebird2318 · February 2014

PhillyGal34 said:

I called my doctor and the nurse said they don't recommend anything like that. I'm wondering if I should go see an MFM

When I first spoke to my regular OB about this pregnancy she said something like "they will probably want to start you on baby aspirin, but we'll wait and see what MFM says because they have more specific knowledge." So my regular OB did briefly mention it, but she did not actually make the official recommendation herself. It is the MFMs with the high risk expertise, so it wouldn't hurt to see if you can speak to an MFM specialist if your OB doesn't automatically refer you to one (mine did).

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