Thank you, Pope Paul VI Institute and progesterone!

I worked with the Pope Paul VI Institute in Omaha, NE to track my progesterone during my recent pregnancy, which unfortunately ended in miscarriage.  I wrote earlier about PPVI's helpfulness, and very pro-life perspective.  They also helped me during my pregnancy with Nicholas.  Here is that story.

Shortly before I discovered I was pregnant with Nicholas, I read an article about a woman who had been trained by the Pope Paul VI Institute to teach the Creighton Method of Natural Family Planning.

I was instantly interested.  We were hoping to have another child after losing our son Benedict at 21 weeks gestation in early 2011, but nothing seemed to be happening.  I suspected something might be off with my cycles, and the Creighton method seemed like a good way of pinpointing what was going on with my body.  If it helped me get pregnant, that would be great; but I also wanted to know simply for the sake of my own health.

I contacted the Pope Paul VI Institute (PPVI), and set a date to begin my classes via telephone.  They mailed me the materials, and I was ready to go!  I was so excited!  I wondered whether I should consider teaching the classes at some point in the future, because I felt so confident that God was leading me forward in this.

My own embracing of my faith came hand-in-hand with learning about NFP in college, as well as the beauty of so many of the Church's teachings.  As I looked forward to my Creighton classes, I just couldn't help but feel that God was once again leading me down a very significant road in my life.

Then, about a week before my classes were supposed to start, I learned I was pregnant.  I was filled with joy, but also wondered what I was supposed to do about those classes?  I cancelled them, but I couldn't help but think all of my enthusiasm about them must have been for something. It really seemed God had been leading me to PPVI -- why?

He had fun, but made such a mess! What was I thinking?

As I explained my situation to the person at PPVI, she mentioned that with my history of pregnancy loss, I might want to have my progesterone monitored by their nurses.

I had heard about progesterone support for some pregnancies years earlier, when some of my loved ones had gone through multiple miscarriages.  I even had supported my previous pregnancy with progesterone for the first 11 weeks.

But to get my blood drawn every two weeks, and to mail it to Omaha, and to get regular shots?  I tend to seek natural, simple solutions for things, and I just wasn't sure I could take on all of that if I didn't know it was really necessary.  Also, the Prometrium suppositories I had used with my previous pregnancy had given me terrible migraines and left me feeling awful.

I didn't throw away the idea, I just processed it a while, prayed, and tried to discern what was the best course of action.

First, I immediately got my blood drawn, and asked them to check my progesterone.  Everything came back great -- it was 25!!  The midwife happily informed me it looked like this would be a healthy pregnancy.

Still, I wanted to make sure my progesterone would stay that high.  In my previous pregnancy, with a different hospital, the doctor had checked a second time, and it had begun to drop.  So I asked my midwife to check another time -- 25 again.  Two weeks later, when I asked her to check again, though, it had dropped -- to 20.

Nothing to worry about, the nurse assured me.  She said anything over 15 could sustain a pregnancy, and the numbers often fluctuate.  But I wasn't so optimistic.  How could I know whether the numbers were fluctuating, or whether they were just dropping?

I had suffered so much through the loss of Benedict, and even with our very early miscarriage about a year before that.  I wanted to make sure that I did everything I could, but it became clear that my current office wasn't comfortable tracking progesterone levels.

So I made up my mind, and signed up with PPVI.

Starting the process of having them track my progesterone was a lot of work.  First, I checked with my insurance company, and I was happy to learn they did cover Dr. Hilgers, the world-renown doctor who heads PPVI.  (My husband and I had agreed to proceed regardless of insurance coverage, however.)  Next, I called around to find out where I could get my blood drawn close to home, and what I had to do to ship blood via Fed-Ex.

If I had any questions about whether all of this effort was worthwhile, they disappeared when I received the results of the first blood test I mailed to PPVI.  At 10 weeks, my progesterone was 13.

I recalled that comment the nurse had made about anything over 15 sustaining a pregnancy, and was so thankful God had led me to PPVI.  Maybe my passion for the Creighton Method was God's way of leading me to the place that could help maintain this pregnancy.

(I want to add here that the progesterone shots mailed to me from a compounding pharmacy also in Nebraska did not make me feel sick at all -- very unlike the Prometrium.)

I learned so much about progesterone, and PPVI's perspective on pregnancy versus the view of a typical OB/GYN office.

The difference, I believe, is that PPVI views the baby as a human being with a life worth saving, from the moment of conception.  This became very clear to me early in my pregnancy with Nicholas, and was verified during my recent miscarriage.

First of all, there is the use of progesterone.  My office was willing to test it, but not for long.  All they wanted to see was one number that looked decent, and then they didn't see the need to continue watching my levels.  During that same time, I also had a friend whose doctors refused to even check her progesterone levels, despite the fact that she faced complications that eventually led to her baby's delivery at 26 weeks.

PPVI doesn't argue that progesterone should be followed in all pregnancies.  But they have a compelling body of evidence that indicates women with certain histories or symptoms can often benefit from progesterone supplementation during pregnancy.  Among these reasons are previous stillbirths, or even infertility.  The same factors that can cause you to have a hard time getting pregnant can also cause you to have a more difficult time carrying a baby to term.

Much of my knowledge about this comes from a chapter of the book "The Medical and Surgical Practice of Na-Pro Technology" by Dr. Hilgers.  One of the nurses sent me Chapter 55, "Using Progesterone Support during Pregnancy" to share with my doctors and midwife, and to explain the reasoning behind my choice to use progesterone.

Also, early in my pregnancy with Nicholas, I began to experience what seemed like signs of possible pre-term labor.  I had spotting, and I began waking up at night with hard contractions.  The contractions often continued during the day.

I was terrified.  I began resting, and having my other children get things for me so I didn't have to get up.

When I visited my doctor's office, they did an ultrasound, and thankfully everything looked fine.  But they didn't think there was any need to rest, or to do anything differently.  They didn't have any way to help me at all.  At this early stage, if I was going to lose the baby, I was going to lose the baby.  They couldn't do anything to help until I was much farther along.

When I noticed their diagnosis read "threatened abortion," I shuddered.  (To clarify, "abortion" here meant "miscarriage.")  Did they realize what this baby meant to me?

Happy 11th Birthday, Brendan!

I had a very different response from PPVI.  They supported me in my decision to rest, and they also prescribed progesterone suppositories, in addition to the shots I was already taking.  As that chapter I mentioned states, progesterone "inhibits myometrial contractions."

In my case, the extra progesterone thankfully did just that.

I asked one of the doctors at PPVI how there could be such a difference in the two office's response to the same situation.  She said that before she had come to PPVI, she would have given the same response as my doctor's office.  But she had seen tremendous results from patients following PPVI's protocol.  She hopes the protocol will become more accepted by the medical community.

After all, as Dr. Hilger also states in Chapter 55, "Progesterone support in pregnancy has been in use for nearly 60 years."

 At the time I was going through that experience, I couldn't help but feel the difference in thinking had a lot to do with PPVI's understanding of the baby -- even at its earliest stage -- as a person.  They fight for the baby throughout the whole pregnancy.  Studies and experience have shown them that progesterone can make a difference even in early pregnancy -- so they use it.

Why doesn't the typical medical community do the same?  That is a question I certainly struggled with throughout my pregnancy.

One other significant difference with PPVI is how they monitor progesterone regularly, throughout the entire pregnancy.  In my experience with a NFP-only doctor, my midwife's office, and also from reading online, most doctors that do prescribe progesterone supplementation usually give a set amount of progesterone (not necessarily related to the woman's levels), only through the first trimester.  After that point, the placenta is expected to provide sufficient progesterone support.  However, Dr. Hilger's research shows this is not always the case. 

When you have risk factors for low progesterone, how can you know whether you fall into the "your body does make enough progesterone in the second and third trimesters" camp or not -- unless you check?

I also liked regularly checking my progesterone because I don't like taking more medication than is necessary.  Yet, I also wanted to make sure I was getting enough.  PPVI could look at where my numbers were, and where they should have been, and tell me the right amount of supplementation for me at that time.

My progesterone during my pregnancy with Nicholas never rose to the level at which they consider discontinuing progesterone use.  In fact, it often was near the lowest level.

Did this cause me to wonder whether low progesterone after I discontinued progesterone at the end of my first trimester could have caused me to lose my previous pregnancy?  Yes, it did.  Of course, I will never know for sure what caused Benedict's death, but I certainly have given thanks that Nicholas benefitted from progesterone support!

In fact, almost every time I kiss his sweet head, a prayer of thanks to PPVI comes to my mind.

Thank you, Pope Paul VI Institute.  May God bless all you do, and all of the women and babies you serve.