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The healthcare professional will wrap an elastic band around your upper arm to stop the flow of blood, which will make the veins below the band larger, so it will be easier to put a needle into your vein. The doctor should clean the needle site with alcohol and then insert the needle into the vein. He or she might need more than one needle stick. The doctor will attach a tube to the needle to fill it with blood and then remove the band from your arm when he collects enough blood. After this, she will apply a gauze pad or cotton ball over the needle site as the needle is removed (you should apply pressure to the site) and then a bandage. [3]
For a woman having problems with her menstrual cycle or problems getting pregnant, more than one blood sample may be necessary for progesterone testing to help identify the problem. It is the best to take one sample each day for several days in a row.
Progesterone In Pregnancy
The progesterone levels in early pregnancy ordinarily double or triple during the first several weeks when a woman is pregnant.
The body should produce progesterone every day during pregnancy, while in the regular menstrual period progesterone produces at ovulation and for about 14 more days.
To protect the fetus, the progesterone levels during pregnancy then rise to as much as 10 to 15 times of their average amount by the third trimester. In other words, the progesterone levels during pregnancy can be as high as 300mg to 400mg per day. [2]
For women trying to become pregnant, an adequate amount of natural progesterone is crucial because this hormone prepares the uterine wall for the implantation of a fertilized egg. Low levels of progesterone and early pregnancy can result in the loss of the embryo or miscarriage. The progesterone levels in early pregnancy have a significant role in maintaining a pregnancy during the first months, so it is important for you to discuss your progesterone levels during pregnancy with your doctor. [2]
During pregnancy, progesterone prevents the premature shedding of the uterine lining, which is to say that any drop in progesterone levels could result in the loss of the embryo. Miscarriage is a well-known unpleasant fact for too many women, and it very commonly happens during the first trimester. As a mode of "treatment" to threatened miscarriage, physicians will often prescribe progesterone either in the form of oral or vaginal tablets. When the placenta forms, it will produce most of the progesterone during the last two trimesters of pregnancy. [4]
Pregnancy is a powerful physical, emotional and spiritual experience for a woman. As a pregnancy progresses, the placenta must produce an ever-increasing amount of progesterone until the birth of the baby to support the fetus and the health of the mother. In fact, during the third trimester, the placenta will be creating up to 300-400 milligrams of progesterone per day. This amount is ten times the usual amount of progesterone produced during ovulation. It, therefore, comes as no surprise that after the birth of the baby and the loss of the placenta, progesterone production and levels drop very suddenly and very drastically.
Applying a natural progesterone cream can help keep body levels of progesterone high during pregnancy, which is important just in case there might be a shortage in the mother’s system — this is why doctors perform progesterone levels tests in the first place. Moreover, after pregnancy, applying a natural progesterone cream can be very helpful in keeping the signs of postpartum depression at bay.
There are different medical and non-medical symptoms among the very early signs of pregnancy among women. For some, very early signs will mean the only faintest physical signs, which are almost undetectable to any but the woman herself.
During pregnancy the effects of estrogen are enlarging the uterus and the genitals, stimulating the milk glands and enlarging the breasts, increasing blood volume by 30%, and causing fluid retention.
During pregnancy, the effects of progesterone are: stimulating the growth of the placenta, stimulating the growth of cells that feed the embryo and preparing the breasts for milk production. [5]
When using a natural progesterone cream, all you do is apply it directly to your skin, and from there it is absorbed into the underlying fat layer. Then, the progesterone can be absorbed into the blood stream on a continuous basis, as the body needs it.
Sometimes doctors suggest women use this cream from conception to delivery, applied primarily to the abdomen, breast, lower back, and upper thighs. These areas of the body are the best because there it will prevent the skin from stretching, which is a common problem in pregnancy.
For the first two trimesters of pregnancy, you should use an average of one-half to three-quarters of a teaspoon, 2-3 times a day and during the last trimester, apply one teaspoon 2-3 times a day.
Discontinue at delivery and resume at one-quarter teaspoon twice per day beginning one month after giving birth.
Natural progesterone cream is extremely useful for post-partum depression, which is common for many women after childbirth.
Synthetic progesterone is safe for most people when used by mouth, applied to the skin, applied into the vagina, or injected into the muscle with the advice and care of a healthcare professional. However, sometimes it comes with the additional price: the side effects. [6] Progesterone can upset your stomach, change your appetite and cause weight gain or even body swelling. It can be responsible for skin breakouts and can even cause allergic skin rashes. Fatigue and drowsiness or insomnia, and even headache or fever are progesterone's second name. That's why the tiredness is common at the very beginning of pregnancy when progesterone levels start to rise, and that's why there is a slight spike in body temperature during ovulation. Progesterone can also cause typical PMS symptoms, like depression, breast discomfort or enlargement, or even altered menstrual cycles, irregular bleeding. Of course, your doctor should not advise you to use progesterone if you have arterial disease, breast cancer, depression, liver disease, or undiagnosed vaginal bleeding.[6]