Expecting...a baby and a "Beasty" in July

I am expecting a baby in July. The last migraine I wrote about...well during the time I was on prednisone my ovulation changed and now a baby is the beautiful result of that pain. Pretty great deal, in my opinion. Last year we tried for a few months for the baby that was later miscarried. This time it was a total surprise--and I even had two doses of Migranal, a drug that will cause uterine contractions and miscarriage. This pregnancy is now at 14 weeks and this baby is hanging on.

So I think it is the prednisone I was on that facilitated this pregnancy. Also, perhaps the reason I had such a powerful migraine, the kind that I hadn't had in months, is because I had a strong ovulation and menstrual cycle. Perhaps I wasn't ovulating for a few cycles. This is all speculation of course. As are all my ideas on why I have migraines, what helps to deal with them, what treats them. Well, prednisone is not a speculation. That drug, I know for sure, is what helps me overcome the cycles of headaches. Blessed drug.

Which brings me to my pondering...

I assume that when this baby comes I am in for a major migraine. Major. I don't know if it will be the day the baby is born. Or perhaps when I am finished with the post-partem bleeding, like with my miscarriage last year. I don't know when. But I do know my body and how it reacts to hormones. I do know that when there is a significant hormone shift, I get a migraine. A migraine that can last days, weeks and months if not treated with a strong prednisone taper.

So what happens in July?

I am beginning to wonder about this now, wanting to make a plan of action. A safe-for-baby plan of action. What am I going to do when I get a migraine?

I am going to breastfeed. I guess I should state that, for without that, I wouldn't be worrying about drugs. I would just take the prednisone and carry on.

But how will the baby be affected, through the passing of drugs into the breast milk, by Prednisone? I read online (which I hate going there for sources of medical information---the information highway for hypochondriacs!) that some does get to the breast milk. Also I read that the American Academy of Pediatrics considers it to be "compatible with breast feeding." But what about at a high but tapering dose? And will it cause the baby irritability and restlessness?

Anyway, I am saving these questions up for my next OB appointment. I assume I can take it and the baby will be fine. But I am so very careful when it comes to drugs and my babies. I have had headaches, back pain, shoulder pain with this pregnancy...and I haven't touched a single pill except my prenatal vitamin--even with Tylonel being okay. So very careful.

So I look forward to this baby...and plan for the Beasty. When I have a plan to treat the migraine, I can calm down about it. ...And then, because I'm carrying a life inside, there will definitely being something else for me to worry about. Because that is what I do.