J~ and I are in California, in a hotel overlooking Monterey Bay in Santa Cruz. We can hear the surf from our bed, and see it from our window. We are dividing our time between exploring old memories (we both have history here) and creating new ones: running, good food (mostly sushi), hiking, and the beach.
A few days ago, before setting off on this adventure, we visited the fertility clinic and learned the results of all our testing: my uterus looks normal. One tiny fibroid but nothing to worry about, nothing that would cause a miscarriage. Karyotyping (genetic testing for both of us) also normal, as were all other tests of my blood except one clotting factor was a little bit high. I don't have the paperwork here with me so I can't get very specific, but suffice it to say, the doctor thinks this could be a factor in at least some of my miscarriages. He thinks that if and when I get pregnant again I should take both baby aspirin and Lovenox.
I'm a little skittish about this. I could handle the aspirin. For those who do not know, Lovenox is a drug I would have to take by injection. Every day. Ouch. Not to mention the fact that this blood clotting issue supposedly does not come into play with pregnancies that fail before 10 weeks. All of mine were in the process of failing well before ten weeks, if not completely over by then.
Ah, but for now there is no decision to be made. As far as I know, I'm not pregnant. In a day or two, I will know that for sure. And I'm on vacation. Last time I was in Santa Cruz I was living out of a back pack in the woods behind UCSC, unsure that I would ever have a life with enough financial and emotional stability that such a trip would be possible. I have lots of wonderful memories of that time in my life. Perhaps I had a healthier, more capable and fertile womb in those days. But all tolled, now is better. Life is good!
4 comments:
My sisters and I have a clotting disorder....mine is not as serious as theirs, and the only time it really is serious is during pregnancy.
My one sister was on Lovenox during her 3rd pregnancy (she had previously had one child, and while she was fine, her placenta was seriously small, sister was on bedrest for several mos, etc.), her second pregnancy ended in early miscarriage.
I just wanted ot let you know that while the shots weren't the highlight of her day, it wasn't miserable (and she is a TOTAL wimp :), and her pregnancy was perfect otherwise.
I hope you have some good luck in the future...and have a great time on your vacation!
Heather
i was on lovenox and baby aspirin for the first trimester. it's an annoyance, but was worth a try. the worst part was dealing with the insurance coverage, so at the very least, check into that. injecting into the belly area? the injections take less than a second, and aren't that painful. my other suggestion is find a non-pregnant, non-giggly nurse (like mine) to teach you how to administer the shot, in multiple places. i was only told along the belly line , but you can use other areas. i'm pretty thin, with very little abdomen skin/flesh (i'm an over 40 marathon runner with a toddler.)
I'm sure that the fact that your uterus looks good is welcome news. We did injections, not Lovenox but other fertility-related drugs, and they were not bad at all.
Enjoy your vacation and where you are in your life now!
I've only had two issues come up with the multitude of testing I've had done: clotting issues and scar tissue. Scar tissue is not something they believed caused the miscarriages but was the result from the miscarriages. At any rate, they took care of the scar tissue and I went on Lovenox for the first time for my fifth pregnancy. It's the only pregnancy that worked out. I figured, what the hell, what do I have to lose? Let's just do it - let's try everything we can because I'm not doing this again. And by the way, I WAS completely phobic about needles. I shot myself with Lovenox for nearly the entire pregnancy. The pain was minor and extremely short-lived. It really became a non-issue. The needles are extremely small. Did this pregnancy work out because of the Lovenox? That's something we can never really know but I feel in my bones that it had something to do with it.
Post a Comment