Wow! So amazed by all the support from some many in regards to my last post. I kinda of gave the brief, but not so brief, version of our story and where we are as of today in the last post. This post is a little info on what my actual "diagnosis" if you can call it that is, and what our next steps will be.
After I miscarried our twins my doctor was pretty proactive in trying to determine if there was something causing this difficulty carrying a baby or if we were just dealt a terrible hand of bad luck. We decided that it may be best to run several typical test they would run on a woman with a history of recurrent miscarriage, which test for many things, one of which being blood clotting disorders. Now I am not sure how much you know about blood clotting disorders, and I am by no means an expert on the topic, but there are many different things/abnormalities that could cause a blood clotting issue. Some have to do with blood not being thick enough others with blood being too thick. I have two abnormal markers for two separate clotting disorders. But basically I have thick blood.This is why, we assume, the hemorrhages or clots are forming during early pregnancy and why they are so large in size. Typically a woman with a thick blood would be put on some type of blood thinner during pregnancy, heparin is the most common. However, with the changing of doctors during our most recent pregnancy and some misinformation from UAMS genetic counseling, the information regarding my clotting issue wasn't brought up and addressed until after my first ultrasound at 7wks when it was determined that the baseball sized clot had developed. It is so true that you are your own advocate when it comes to medical issues...lesson learned. Anyway, the doctor did not think it advisable to start doses of heparin thinking that would/could be harmful to the fetus. We decided to take the baby aspirin in and effort to thin out my blood less drastically. This, sadly, did not work and we were not able to maintain the pregnancy as you all know. BUT there is good news! We have a plan for moving forward!
The doctor has given us the go ahead to start trying to conceive again in two or three months...we are two months out from our miscarriage so in all reality we could start trying on my next cycle. Now will we...not sure yet...my body may be ready but I'm not sure our hearts and spirits are quite there yet. Back to the plan...once we have a positive pregnancy test confirmed we will immediately start twice daily doses of the blood thinner heparin. Now this doesn't sound so terrible I know, but I have not mentioned that this is not an oral medication...you must inject it into your body, meaning shots twice a day for 40wks. Not so much looking forward to that, but at this point I am willing to do whatever I have to in order to ensure that I am able to carry a baby to term. I am sure that in addition to the heparin there will be heavy monitoring of hormone levels and most likely progesterone supplements because I usually have very low progesterone levels.
So that is where we our and our plan for going forward. I feel good about it and our chances this next go round...whenever that will be!
It's amazing what we can go through, isnt it? I was pretty nervous about giving myself my first injection. But now I can do it in the car, in a public bathroom, in our boat...basically wherever we are when I need my injection. I definitely invested in a cute little pouch to keep my supplies in. I also highly recommend Disney Princess bandaids and some fancy chocolates as a reward!!
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