Preparing

Now that dh and I have been married for nearly two years, and are nearly finished with school, we no longer see any reason to postpone the addition of children to our family. We have arrived at this decision after much prayer, discussion, and consideration! Obviously, there will never be any 'perfect' time to have a child because life is alway crazy, finances can change any time, and trials are always right around the corner. But we both see children as a blessing and feel that waiting any longer, for us, would be a selfish reason at the core: wanting to further our careers, buy a house first, find financial 'stability.' But this wasn't a 'pros' vs. 'cons' decision, we both love children and are very excited about having our own! I have always wanted to be a SAHM, and recently have felt even more like that is my responsibility as a Christian wife, but it would be difficult without kids of our own :)

We have always known that this would be a difficult journey for us, as I hinted to in my first post when I said I would track our 'trials' in this area. I have the blood clotting disorder Anti-Phospholipid Syndrome (http://www.apsfa.org/aps.htm ) which causes my blood to clot. I had a clot in my lungs when I was 15 after a broken leg, which caused the discovery of my APS. Since I found out that I have APS, I've known that I am at risk for pregnancy complications, the most devastating being miscarriage. My primary physician recommended that I see an OB before we even start TTC.

A few weeks ago I had my first appointment. I was surprised to find that my doctor was very positive about this future pregnancy, because I had read many intimidating things that other women with APS had gone through. This is what I learned from my first appointment:

• I will need to be on self-injected Lovenox before we even start TTC because I have a history of APS, and I've already had a clot
  
• I will need to be induced a little early (around 39 weeks) so that the doctors can make sure I have no blood thinning agents in my blood (Lovenox/ asprin) during the delivery
• If I go into labor before they induce, an emergency c-section would be very dangerous, and I would not have the option of an epidural
• For 6 weeks after having the baby, I myself will be at a high risk for clots. So, I will continue to give myself injections for 6 weeks after the birth to prevent one.
  

I see my hematologist next week and will be able to make sure he is on the same page as my OB.

Please pray as we begin this journey. Dh and I are comforted that we know the One who is in control of all of this, and that He already knows our future!