Med and Pregnancy

I don't know about birth defects or anything, but you should be fine to take folic acid/prenatals with it at least.

Congratulations on the birth of your baby! I am sorry you have had such an ordeal.

As another person had indicated, giving your body time to heal after a cesarean is a good thing. Personally, I think trying to avoid major surgery the second time by trying a VBAC might be in your best interest health wise. Pregnancy is hard on your body, add major abdominal surgery to it than you are increasing your risks. Being pregnant, you have increased risks of venous thromboembolism compared to a non pregnant women even without a history of blood clots. Women who undergo repeat cesareans are at an even greater risk of thromboembolisms.

If you are wanting to space your children close together because you are choosing to have a large family know that there are limit to the number of cesareans that you can have. Each cesarean carries increased risks. The first one is not so risky. Later ones are incredibly risky particularly for the mother. The greater the number of cesareans the greater amount of scar tissue. This can lead to placental problems which can affect your future pregnancies and your baby's health.

If you are considering a VBAC with the second, some research indicates that a time frame between 19 and 24 months between births (depending upon the research) is enough time for your body to heal to decrease the chances of uterine rupture.

If you want more information on Cesarean recovery or VBAC support, check out the International Cesarean Awareness Network webite - www.ican-online.org/. There are local chapters in St. Louis and Kansas City.

From a parenting standpoint, I had my children 19 months apart; cesarean with first; VBAC with second. This was incredibly hard the first couple of years but got better as they got older (2 1/2 and 4) and learned to play well together. Obviously the choices each person makes should be what is right for their individual family situation. I was older when I had my children - 37 with my first, 39 with my VBAC, so I didn't want to wait too long. Had I been younger I would have spaced my children a little differently. You may have family issues which necessitate close spacing as well.

Another resource is the March of Dimes http://www.marchofdimes.com; they may have some information on the affects of warfarin on pregnancy.

Best of luck with all your decisions.

Warfarin is not safe during pregnancy!!!!!! It is pregnancy category X which means highly unsafe. I am sure your doctor will tell you this if you ask....I would wait at least a month off the med before attempting to conceive, and would take whatever measures needed to make sure there are no OOPS while you are on the drug.

My friend had a large blood clot in her leg during her pregnancy and had to be on Lovenox injections while pregnant and then was switched to heparin injections as her due date got closer because it's quicker to reverse if she bled a lot during labor.

Then after she delivered, she was switched to Coumadin/Warfarin. So I'm assuming since she had to give herself SHOTS twice a day when she was pregnant, that the less invasive pill was not safe for the baby. So if you need to stay on a blood thinner, you could ask your Dr about getting the Lovenox shots to give yourself. I heard they are very expensive though.

Good luck

patience is the key! Allow yourself a few months...med-free & time to fully heal ....before trying for conception.

From a timeline standpoint, if you're on Warfarin for another 3-4 months....then add on another 3 months to cleanse your body - that would put you at the beginning of next year, with delivery in September/October. That's only 18 months between children!

Not bad timing....& allows for that special bonding time between you & your firstborn. On another thought, will he require surgery - will it be only one - & will you have time for two babies so close together? Lots of things to think about! I wish you Peace.

I would give yourself some time after you get off the warfarin before you try getting pregnant. Give your body time to get the meds out before trying to get preggers again. It can take a while for some of those meds to get completely out of your system. On the safe side I would wait a few months after stopping the med before I would try to get preggers. Good luck in the future!

I have a blood clotting disorder and my dr. put me on heparin injections for the full term of my pregnancy. I just gave myself injections twice daily - It was easy and safe for the baby... You should ask if that would be a possibility for you instead of the warfarin, which I think is a much more potent drug...

First of all, please talk to your OB before starting to try for baby #2. I think pretty much all OBs will tell you to wait for at least 1 year to 18 months before trying for another baby after a c-section. Even after a vaginal birth most doctors recommend waiting 1 year. The toll pregnancy and delivery takes on your body is great, not to mention the extra healing time a c-section requires.

I don't have any experience with that medication, so I can't comment on that. However, I'd recommend talking to your doctor about this too. I know I wouldn't want to take that risk.

I would wait at least a year after c-section to try for another baby. That will give you more time to heal and more time with your new baby. I had 3 c-sections and have a lot of scar tissue and adhesions that are still quite painful and youngest is 9 years old now. I know my body can't handle having more children. oldest 2 are 3 years apart, miscarried next one which would have been 3 years from the 2nd and was blessed with our last child which is 5 years younger than 2nd baby. As for the meds you are taking you need to ask your doctor as I have no advice for you there.
My niece and nephew are 15 months apart and feel the oldest got cheated out of her special baby years and had to grow up fast as the 2nd child had a lot of medical problems and was in and out of the hospital a lot his first 4 years so she was at the hospital a lot sitting in waiting rooms and not being home a lot. My sis-in-law was also very tired and cranky with the 2nd pregnancy so she didn't have the energy to spend special time with the oldest as she had to take more naps.

Hi Susan,

Congratulations on the birth of your son! They are such a joy, as you know.
Regarding the blood clot, were you tested for the many blood clotting disorders (such as Factor V Leiden, APCr, prothrombin mutation, hyperhomocysteinemia, and others)? If you have one, then you probably would be seen by a high-risk doctor and given anticoagulants (likely heparin or lovenox) during pregnancy and for at least 6 weeks after delivery. They will not want you to be on warfarin during pregnancy. I have Factor V Leiden (my first was stillborn at 38 weeks) and took heparin or lovenox in subsequent pregnancies, which were successful. If you have not been tested, I would strongly encourage you to ask your doctor to test you. If you are interested in more information, there's a group called "Factor V Leiden and Pregnancy Issues" at http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/FVL-PG/ . This group is for people with any kind of thrombophilia as it relates to pregnancy issues. You are free to join and just lurk, or ask questions. There are currently over 2800 members. I started this group 10 years ago.
Good luck to you and your family. Feel free to email me directly if you think I can help in any way.

-K.

I wouldn't try getting pregnant while taking this medication,make sure that you are well and are able to carry another child so close after just having a baby in March.I would wait a yr or more till I have another one your body needs time to heal all your organs mental health and hormones need to go back I wouldn't say normal but give your body some time off.Some women do get prenant after or before their 6 week check up and go on to have a healthy prenancy.

DO NOT get pregnant or have unprotected sex while taking warfarin. The same thing happened to me - had daughter via c-section and had a blood clot in my lung. I was on blood thinners for 6 months. My OB/GYN will not recommend this med while pregnant - it does cause birth defects. Be safe - discuss w/ your doctor but take it slow - you just had a baby. Get off the meds and then start.

I found out with my 2nd baby that I have a blood clotting disorder. With #3, we went through all the possibilities and options because I didn't want to have to give myself shots. My SILs both have problems with clots as well so there is a lot of stories in our family. This is what I learned. The clotting disorder that I have is basically a B vitamin defiency. The body does not absorb the vitamins properly which can increase your chances of clots. There is a simple blood test that they can do to check your Homocistine(sp) level which will tell the Dr how your body is absorbing things. When I had the blood test done, I was told that the shots were not necessary because my levels were normal even though I had the clotting disorder. However, if you have already had one clot, then your doctors will DEFINATELY want you on blood thinners while you are pregnant. Most doctors will put you on a high dose of folic acid and blood thinners. While you are pregnant, you cannot take an oral blood thinner because of the possible side effects to the baby. Your doctor will probably recommend either Heparin or Lovenox. Insist on the Lovenox. It is only one shot a day compared to two which means less bruising and soreness, and it is a pre-filled syring so you do not have to do any of the measureing, less risk of overdosing. There have been lots of problems with Heparin in the past couple of years for lots of reasons. So much so that some doctors have stopped prescribing it all together. The shots aren't nearly as bad as you might think. It is a diebetic needle so it is tiny. They will teach you how to do the injections and you will learn by trial and error where to do it so that you don't bruise as bad.
I have to agree with the other mom who said you probably should wait a while to get pregnant again. Your doctor will tell you this too, I'm sure and it has nothing to do with the blood clot. The problem is that after a c-section, your uterus needs lots of time to heal. The scar on the outside heals a lot faster then the one on the inside. When you get pregnant again, you will automatically start putting lots of pressure on the inside scar and if it has not had suffient time to heal, you increase your risk of your uterus rupturing which is very dangerous for not only the baby but you as well and could make it so that you can't have any more babies. If you have healed properly, there is no reason way you can't try to have the next baby naturally, ie. VBAC. A lot of doctors will push for a repeat c-section but there is no reason you can't try a VBAC. You will have to be your own advocate about it probably but it is worth it.

If you have any questions, please ask.