October 13th 2010

"Hmmm, interesting" I hear the high risk OB say as he opened the door to my exam room.

"You must be talking about me," I laughed as I reached out to shake the doctors hand.

Fred and I went for our pre-pregnancy consult today with Dr. Mason. Dr. Mason is a highly recommended OB who specialized in high risk and complicated pregnancies.

"Well to tell you the truth, this whole thing will be dicey," he said, "but I see a lot of women with these disorders deliver and have healthy post-natal outcomes."

Fist things first- we analyzed the medications I am currently on and he suggested some minor changes. And he sent me for some lab work and told me the second I am pregnant he needs to know to send me for testing and basically I am going to be in for a lot of pokes when I'm pregnant (yeah? and?...like I'm not used to being a human pin-cushion...)

"The second that urine test turns blue, I want a call from you!" he says.

I didn't have the heart to tell him that pregnancy tests don't turn "blue" any more, they have two lines or a plus sign and they probably haven't turned "blue" since the eighties lol!

He layed it out for me- I'll be in for at least monthly blood draws for my Protein S levels.
"Protein S drops when a women is pregnant," he explained, "and since you are already starting off deficient, we would want to monitor that level closely and keep you at least in the 50's.

(80-90 is normal, my last test showed I was at 15).

After all the pokes and Lovenox injections he informed me that at 36-37 weeks gestation I will need to undergo an Amniocentesis to confirm lung development in the baby (the lungs are one of the last organs to fully form in a fetus). If full lung maternity is confirmed then they will schedule my induction or c-section.

Either way, I would need to be admitted to the hospital 24 hours in advance to begin weaning off the Lovenox. They will put me on Heparin and "flush" the Lovenox out of my system. After the 24 hours has passed they will start the pitocin with the heparin until I am dilated to 4cm, at which point he stated I WILL get an epidural (he pretty much indicated there is no way I would be going through a 24-48 hour ordeal without it) and the heparin would be stopped, they will test my clotting levels to be sure I am safe- and up the pitocin- before my body has a chance to know what hit it, or to clot (hopefully) we'll be having a baby!

That would be the BEST case scenario.

"There will be a lot of changes, dice throwing and tap-dancing," the doctor said, "but it will be interesting to say the least."

He's freaking smiling right now- I thought to myself. Yeah, I guess I would be too if I did not have a uterus.

Well, hell! Everything in my life has been complicated up to this point, why should my child come into this world any other way lol!

With this information I am very happy we did not decide to wait any longer. I think the older I get the more and more scared, and impatient, I would become about the whole deal. More time to think about everything that can go wrong leaves more time to get comfortable with the way things are and never taking that chance. I also know as I get older I will likely become less and less tolerant of the medical "hoops" as well...

I've only been dealing with this clotting disorder for two years and that seems like an eternity, I can't imagine waiting until I am mid- thirties and have been dealing with it for 7 or 8 years and trying to do this. No, its now or NEVER!