I had a PE in 2009 due to birth control. When I got pregnant in Jan 2011, I was immediately started on daily Lovenox injections and continued them into the 6 week post partum period. They are totally safe during pregnancy and I had no issues what so ever. The only issue I had is that I was planning on an epidural, so because the lovenox needed to be out of my system for 24-48 hrs prior to that, I was scheduled to be induced. However, I went into labor 2 weeks early (a few days before induction) and I could not have an epidural. I had to delivery with NO pain meds. But, it was worth it to have a healthy baby and no fear of clots.

I haven't been pregnant, but my OB/GYN told me basically what helerown told you. She said I'd have to do the shots literally "from the moment of conception." You do them all the way through pregnancy and then for a few weeks afterwards. A lot of docs will consider this a high-risk pregnancy but if you have an OB/GYN familiar with the situation, I think it should be pretty routine.

It is totally do-able and has been done many times with many good results.

BTW... there have been other threads on this topic in the past, so you might run a quick search and see if you can pull those up for more stories.

I was told by my OBGYN that I would have to be on lovenox from before conception until after I would have the baby. I have also had a few specialists tell me I shouldn't get pregnant-I am assumin it is because I have 2 blood clotting disorders and my age. I have had successful pregnancies before I knew I had the clotting disorders but they are saying this would be different. It is all confusing and really is just up to you-how much you are willing to risk.

Yeah I was told by my doctor it will be shots for me whenever I decide to get pregnant.

Thank you for the replies. I've been given the run down from my drs about it being safe and doable but I was looking for more of a first hand sort of experience about how things actually went. Helerown, thank you for sharing your experience with me. So glad to know you were able to have a vaginal delivery. My two girls were med free deliveries so I *think* I can handle one more lol. We're they worried about bleeding with a vaginal delivery?

They were not at all worried about the bleeding, as the lovenox dose was more of preventative dose, not a therapeutic dose to actually thin my blood. The only concern was the epidural, as if the lovenox is in the system, it can lead to clots in the spine for some reason. But other than that, the really only annoying thing was doing the injections every night. Wasn't exactly the most comfortable thing, especially when my belly got bigger. I did do them in my thighs at times, but found it hurt more.

They were not at all worried about the bleeding, as the lovenox dose was more of preventative dose, not a therapeutic dose to actually thin my blood. The only concern was the epidural, as if the lovenox is in the system, it can lead to clots in the spine for some reason. But other than that, the really only annoying thing was doing the injections every night. Wasn't exactly the most comfortable thing, especially when my belly got bigger. I did do them in my thighs at times, but found it hurt more.

My PE was postpartum also. I do not plan on having any other children, but was told IF I planned on doing so, that I would just be on lovenox the entire pregnancy and then for 6 weeks postpartum.

I have had a friend who had PE's during her first pregnancy and went on to have 3 more healthy pregnancies.

I think it can absolutely be managed and as long as you are on the lovenox, it shouldn't be a problem at all. Good luck!

I'm still on the fence about getting pregnant again. My husband and I keep tossing around the idea of having a 3rd baby as it was always our dream to have 3 but then after talking about it we always come back down to the dreaded "what ifs". This question was sparked as I have an appointment with my coming up to figure out birth control methods for me until hubby can get snipped.

My DVT/multiple PEs were diagnosed in Jan 2009 and five months ago I had a healthy baby after five miscarriages (not thought to be a clotting problem but immune system related so don't worry this will happen to you). Every time I was pregnant I was on heparin until six weeks after. With my successful pregnancy I was on a very high dose of heparin as well as aspirin (and some other stuff) but everything went very smoothly. I injected twice a day but as you will surely know it becomes second nature. I was surprised that I was able to inject into my belly right up until the end.
My pregnancy could not have been more textbook!
In the end, with everything I had been through previously, my consultant decided to deliver at 38 weeks. I had the choice between induction and planned c-section. My consultant felt that a planned section would be less risky and more manageable in terms of my heparin (since I was on that very high dose) and we were happy to go with that. I stopped the injections 48 hours before (with the normal dose it is 12 hours, I believe), had a spinal, had the baby (yeah!), a bit of blood loss (not noticeable to me), and then went straight back on the injections about six hours after the section. I continued to inject in my belly for six weeks post-partum and that was it :D It was great!

Since I had all the pregnancy problems before I was on a slightly different dosage to most. With me, rather than a weight-based preventative dose my specialist decided to have me within a target range so I had my anti-Xa levels tested regularly throughout the pregnancy and the heparin dose was adjusted upwards accordingly. In most cases, I think they give you the standard preventative dose and only adjust it upwards if your weight increase puts you into the next weight bracket.

I suggest that if you are worried you could contact your DVT team to discuss their procedures and also their experience. My team told me that at any one given time they have four women who are pregnant and on heparin. I was the only one who ever had complications. That was very reassuring to know!

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!