Support and help with hypothyroidism?

[aspiringmum]

I'm 5wks pregnant with my first and have had an underactive thyroid for 5 years. Am told by my GP that I'll have to have reguilar blood tests, and be monitored by both an endochrynologist and and obstetrician from 12 weeks. Sounds scary. Is this normal? Any help and advice gratefully received.

Hi,
I have an underactive thyroid which is managed with Thyroxin. Had same advice when I became pregnant.

In my experience, it is nothing to worry about at all. It just means that as you have a pre-existing medical condition they want to keep an eye on you to make sure everything progresses as it should and your thyroid problem remains controlled.

I looked at it as a good thing as it meant that baby was getting lots of additional attention!

I am now 36 weeks, have had a perfectly heathly pregnancy and my thyroid levels have remained the fine.

Try not to worry.

I saw an endo/obgyn consultant just once at my booking in appointment. He recommended blood tests every 4-6 weeks, and in fact my levels have remained steady. I expect they'll see you once and not worry again as long as your test results are ok.

They may label you as high risk, they did with me and I thought it might have some bearing on my opting for a home birth, but there is no reason that hypothyroidism would have any bearing on labour.

As long as it is well managed there shouldn't be any problems. Be sure to continue getting checked regularly if you are breastfeeding too.

Hypothyroidism is no biggie. I got checked every trimester to make sure my TSH wasn't too high or too low and it didn't have any impact on my pregnancy at all. Your dose may need to be adjusted during the pregnancy - but mine didn't.

Watch out for your thyroid levels going whacky post partum. It can be hard to spot amongst the general exhaustion but weight gain/feeling cold/tired were symptoms for me.

Thanks everyone. I feel v reassured now :-)