1st 2nd Trimester Appointments

Doc said that I had to start taking a low dose aspirin everyday to prevent a blood clot. I'm kinda scared because you here all this crap about baby + aspirin = NOT GOOD. But obviously, I'm going to go ahead and trust whatever McKernan says, because he's the doc. I did however, go online and do a little bit of research on the web, and I feel better because everything that I've been reading says that a LOW DOSE apspirin regiment during pregnancy is thought to be safe. Yay!

Everything else appears to be normal and the heartbeat was 158bpm. AMAZING. It took everything I had not to cry. I love hearing the heartbeat and it only gets better everytime I hear it. :) He perscribed me some more Ambien so that I can actually sleep during the night and also, some antinausea medicine (that I'm actually going to use for my flight on Friday- supposedly it will make me VERY drowsy and therefore I can't have a panic attack).

McKernan is also sending me over to a High Risk speciality doc to find out if I need to go on a Coumadin or Heprin regiment. I will apparently see this specialist in 2 weeks or so. So, basically, when I get back from Indy. Sweet. Not. I'm pretty sure that once the doc finds out the specifics on my situation and that I was 18 when the PE ocurred and that I was on birth control, he'll say that I'll be fine. I'm praying.

Well that's about it. My next appointment is on Halloween and then two weeks after that we can find out the SEX!!! Woot! John still thinks it's a boy, but McKernan and I think it's a girl. I hope it's a girl. My little baby girl. How wonderful that sounds.

Anyhow, here's a brief little bit of info I found on low dose aspirin:

In certain situations, your caregiver may advise you to start taking a small dose of aspirin each day, usually similar to the amount in one baby aspirin. Most experts believe low-dose aspirin therapy is safe during pregnancy.

For example, some experts recommend that pregnant women with a condition called antiphospholipid syndrome take a low dose of aspirin in addition to a drug called heparin. Antiphospholipid syndrome is diagnosed in women who have certain antibodies in their blood and who also have a history of blood clots or some types of pregnancy problems.

Some research shows that certain women at high risk for preeclampsia (including women with chronic hypertension, severe diabetes, or kidney disease, or who had severe preeclampsia in a prior pregnancy) may benefit from low-dose aspirin therapy, although not everyone agrees on who is a good candidate for this treatment, when it should begin, and what the optimal dose is.

So unless your healthcare provider prescribes it, you should avoid taking aspirin altogether, as well as other NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), naproxen sodium (Aleve), and ketoprofen (Orudis), which can have similar effects.