Advice for a soon to be mother with epilepsy

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Hi Everyone, I am new here. I have had epilepsy for the last 20 years and although it is reasonably well controlled, I am still subject to occasional grand mal seizures which are almost always due to lack of sleep! I am 5 months pregnant now, and really concerned about how I am going to cope with a newborn who may keep me up all night! I have been frantically researching strategies to cope in this type of scenario, and would be very interested in hearing from parents who have been through this already! Many thanks in advance for your tips!
 
First of all let me congratulate u dear and give u a big warm hug! CONGRATS! U have not mentioned the most important thing and that is the drug u are having. Did u have an ultrasound in the 14th week, if yes what it said! Did u have ur doctors word before planning? Have u started with Zinc, selenium and folic acid supplements. Dear u are through ur first trimester which is the time most seizures really occur, now be vigilant in the 3rd trimester. Did u have any seizure during pregnancy? Have Vit K supplements in the last month. As far as giving care to baby is concerned u can have help from ur relatives and husband. I will send u some info in ur private message.
 
Thank you so much! I feel very lucky and am incredibly happy! Everything has been going well so far. We had the 1st scan and Down test and all looked good. I was on Tegretol 600 and the doctors increased my dosage to 700. They put me on folic acid ages ago, and as we are aware there is a small risk of malformation, they have ordered extra scans to check the heart etc. So far I feel like I am in good hands. I did have 2 seizures in the 1st trimester so I am trying to take things with calm and get lots of rest. Our relatives live abroad so, as far as getting lots of help, it will be not be so easy, hence my predicament! I am sure things will work out in the end but I am very anxious about having more seizures as they are almost invariably grand mal and not much fun at all.
 
Kindly see to the Carla's post and over there Nakamova has suggested a lot to read. Good to hear that everything is fine and under control. But be careful daily each day but without stressing urself. I had no seizure in my pernancy, but during my labour I had a Grand mal and the delivery which was supposed to be normal, ended up being a C-sec. Take care that u dont miss the medicine during labour pains and if they carry on for long long time, go for c-sec before anything happens. Good luck!
 
Hopefully you will have some assistance so that you can keep your sleep schedule. Personally, I lived with the philosophy that one cannot fall from the floor. So, if I wanted to feed my kid, I sat on the floor.

I'm not sure how much medication you are taking, but I had to gradually increase meds as my pregnancy also advanced. We tapered it down gradually again after my kid was born. I had to frequently have blood levels checked, too.

Are you taking folic acid? Women with epilepsy tend to not hang onto that essential vitamin during a pregnancy. Usually they give a multivitamin with an extra amount of folic acid.

Best of wishes and congratulations! In 5 months you can revert back to your childhood without looking immature and have a playmate, too!
 
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Im a mom of 3 little boys, and I was on Keppra and Carbatrol during all my pregnancies. I have three healthy little boys now. I did take folic acid with all of them during all the pregnancies. As for help, I did have family that lived close by so they helped me out when i had some sleepless nights. I did have a seizure about two months after giving birth to our second son. It was due to lack of sleep, and my body was just so worn out. It was then my mom stepped in and started to help me out alot during the night time hours to make sure it wouldnt happen again.
 
Thanks so much everyone for your kind words. I am taking folic acid and fingers crossed, everything is plain sailing from now on. I guess we will have to see how it goes when the baby arrives and make adjustments here and there ;-)
 
congrats.

Be sure to take your meds, and get your level checked to make sure it is in therapeutic range. Medications vs. seizure - the medication being the lesser of two evils. I have two grown children, 29 and 23. I was on Dilantin during my pregnancies, and they are both healthy individuals on every level.

Rest or sleep when baby does. If you have friends, family, or a church family enlist their help after the baby arrives.

Best of luck with your soon to be bundle of joy! :bigsmile:
 
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