I thought it would be all over by now. I had convinced myself that I was on my way to a miscarriage, and I had begun to accept it as a fact. Maybe I still will, but it looks like I'm going to have to wait and see.

I wasn't able to get my test results from Thursday and Saturday until today. The nurse called and told me that my hCG levels are fine (37,524). However my progesterone is low, which may be the cause of all the spotting. It is 9.8 and they like to see at least 14. It was recommended that I get progesterone shots. It wasn't mandatory, but highly recommended. I'm not going to do anything that might prohibit this pregnancy from continuing, so I quickly agreed to try it.

I can pick up the progesterone from the pharmacy tomorrow and bring it to my appointment with the midwife. It sounds like they will administer it at the office, and I will be getting the shots weekly. They said Hubby will have to do one while we are on vacation. I asked him if he'd be willing to give me a deep shot in the butt, and he said he'd do it since I'm not squeamish around needles. He takes insulin for his diabetes, so I think he can handle giving the shot even though it will involve a bigger needle.

I've read conflicting reports on the effectiveness of progesterone at preventing miscarriage. Some feel that it won't prevent a miscarriage, since the cause of the low progesterone is a result of the pregnancy not being viable.

It can't hurt, especially since I have always felt that my progesterone levels were borderline-low. I had my luteal phase progesterone levels tested years ago, and the doctor said it was okay, but probably borderline just before my period which caused me to have the 4-6 days of spotting at the end of each cycle.

I found a web site with some stories about women with low progesterone and spotting who had the spotting stop with progesterone supplementation during the first trimester and went on to have a successful pregnancy.

I'm still very concerned that I will have a miscarriage. It just seems like the baby is measuring way too small, and that scares me so much. I think I can deal with having a miscarriage, but I don't want it to happen while we are away on vacation (July 16-30). I think right now it all depends on my next ultrasound. If I see a heartbeat, I will feel so much better.

Now onto another topic. I found out yesterday at church that one woman is 5 months pregnant and had just told people. Today I found out that the couple from church that had been unable to carry a baby to term is also 5 months pregnant. Apparently the thing to do (as shown by the last 3 pregnancies in our church) is to wait as long as possible to tell people. If my pregnancy continues, I don't plan to wait that long!