Being Pregnant with Factor V Leiden

Let me be specific I only have one gene of Factor V Leiden. (Factor V Leiden is a mutation of one of the clotting factors in the blood called factor V.) I have no history of blood clots or anything like that. I do take a baby aspirin a day to be on the safe side.  My Dad on the other hand has both genes of Factor V, has had blood clots and is on blood thinners. Both my parents and my husband were a little concerned with me being pregnant because we had no idea what having one gene of Factor V meant. Should we be concerned? Is it nothing? Before I was pregnant I told my ob/gyn about my Factor V and he seemed aware of what it was and said when I get pregnant then he would refer me to a specialist, and that he would consider me high risk. So fast forward a few months, I’m pregnant go to the consultant. It went something like this:

Yesterday had a consultation with a Dr at Loyola Hospital. Once we found the area the lady behind the counter asked the basic questions about insurance and then we sat and waited. We didn’t wait long at all before my name was called. The nurse took my weight, height, pee and other basic things. I weighed 176lbs (according to their scale, I mean I had my shoes on….and yea know a baby growing in me…whatever) Oh on my way to pee I heard the nurse saying something about oh hope your baby has red hair and Andy was like yeah…it’s fake…that comes up again later…so then we were off to a room where we were going to see a Dr that would talk to us about Factor V and some precautions I may want to take because of it. My husband and I were thrown off a little by the doctor’s appearance. She was (I’m bad at age) early 40’s?? had a dress on with high sweater type boots and torn leggings, a nose ring and short strawberry blonde hair. I was expecting foreign older man in lab coat with too much hair coming out of his nose and/or ears. She explained to us that when woman are pregnant they have a higher risk for blood clots and with the factor V blood that risk is even higher. She asked me a bunch of questions about my dad and his situations with factor v. She then suggested that I take give myself a shot of lovenox which is a blood thinner once a day. She said that a side effect from taking lovenox or any blood thinner is that the placenta may separate from the uterus. Which I guess is not necessarily fatal but sounds horrible. (She also said that redheads bleed more during pregnancy than other woman, which was kinda awkward cause all I could think was NOT A RED HEAD, and I was waiting for my husband to say something but he didn’t so I just went with it…)We took the information from her and told her that we would talk it over with my current Doctor then come to a decision. On the drive home we were talking about it, and my first reaction to it all is that I don’t feel like I need it. I haven’t had any blood clots or any signs from the factor V at all ever. There is not a history of miscarriages in my family. I just don’t think it’s necessary. I called my mom on the way home and told her about it my husband thought that she would suggest that I take the shots but she was not for it either, she said why risk it, it didn’t sound necessary. I believe we have decided to not go with the shots.

So week 30 of my pregnancy came and Dr asked if my husband and I had considered me taking blood thinners. I told him that we hadn’t completely decided yet.  My Dad had talked to his blood Dr about it and since I showed no history of problems then I shouldn’t worry about it. The Dr said that I may just want to take some blood thinners after the baby is born when I’m not as active. So we decided to go with no blood thinners but my husband wanted to meet with my Dad’s blood doctor just to be safe. At the Drs appointment He told us that the lovenox was not necessary and to not worry during the pregnancy. He did suggest that I get a shot of lovenox after I have the kid because I will be less active. 

So basically I wanted to explain why I was considered high risk. I really wasn’t actually high risk. Having the one gene of Factor V did not affect my pregnancy at all. Although it was really nice getting all those ultrasounds because I was considered high risk.

About a year ago...

The first time I thought about starting a blog was when I was about to travel with my 9 month old and I couldn't find any information out there that told me everything I wanted to know about traveling with said 9 month old. I've been keeping a Livejournal for years so a blog shouldn't be too far from my comfort zone. I figured I would start from about a year ago and hopefully make it to the present time where my son is now almost 1.  It may take me a while to get into this regularly but some planned topics I want to write about will be my son's birth story, suggestions that I have to those of you soon to be mothers, cloth diapers: why they are awesome, Feeding from the breast is not your only option when it comes to breast feeding: How I pumped/suppliment for 7months, and also Flying to NOLA with a 9month old.

Now...A little bit about me a year ago...

It was about this time last year when I stopped working my full time job. I was as big as a house and missed wearing whatever socks I wanted, my ankles, and being able to bend over and tie my shoes easily. I worked as long as I could at my full time job because well...money. Most people I worked with didn't think I'd last the whole last week, but I just kept plugging along...day by day. After the baby I would just work my part time job at Waubonsee as a Biology Tutor and that wouldn't start until August so I wanted to take advantage of the full time job while I could. When the time came for me to stop I was kinda ready. I think if I really had too I could have kept going, but it was two weeks before my due date and I didn't really want to go into labor on the shop floor or in a cab or something...also I was tired. Having a human growing inside you means that you go to the bathroom, often...like three times a night near the end. It also means that you are supposed to sleep on your side, specifically the left. Which if you are a back sleeper is kind of uncomfortable. So I wasn't getting as much sleep as I was used to. The counter offices were up quite a few stairs.  Now that I think of it I was more than kind of ready...I was ready. I was ready to go through labor. I remember when this pregnancy thing started I was scared of labor. A baby coming out of me?! How much is that going to hurt? Should I get drugs? What if he get's stuck? I really just didn't let myself think about it. I figured why bother. It's going to happen. Baby's going to come out eventually. I'll deal with it when it comes. So by the end of the 9th month I was ready for labor whatever labor meant. I wanted to meet my child and get on with my new life as a Mom and try and get back to my old body.