pregnant after MVR

[Tgamble]

Hello my name is Terressa, I came through valve replacement a couple of times to see what you guys were talking about. I just want to say I love this site. I had my mitral valve replace in 2001with a st jude mechnical valve at the age of 21. Well the reason I want to be more involve with you guys is because I'm also 20 weeks pregnant, and so far everything is going super well. I don't want to jinks it, but so far so good. I get my INR level check every week to make sure I'm in range and I go to my OB doctors every 2 weeks for treatment. I already had more sonograms then a normal pregnant women would probably have, to make sure the baby is ok. I had some genetic testing done to make sure the baby is ok. I been on coumadin throughout my pregnancy, but at 36 weeks the doctors are going to switch me to herpin shots, which I'm freaking about. But anyway, I'm just looking for some friends who can relate to me and my situation. Alot of pregnant women and regular people just can't get what i'm saying to them, when it comes to my heart condition and coumadin, you know. It was nice to get this information off my back, nice talking to you guys.

 

[Mary]

Congratulations on your pregnancy. We've had another member who gave birth after having a valve replaced with a mechanical and did well. I wish the same for you.

 

[ruth]

CONGRATULATIONS!

No experience here to offer (other than being a mommy to 2 boys pre-surgery) but I wish you the very best.

Glad you found us
Ruth

 

[hensylee]

Welcome to VR. I hope some of the mommies will come on in and give you their experiences. I believe we've had a few. Joy had two children but am not sure if she had already had her surgery. Anyone know? If so, then we'll ask her to stop by.

 

[WayneGM]

Welcome to the VR community, Terressa. I can't share any first hand experiences, but just wanted to welcome you and offer my congratulations! Best wishes.

 

[Karen7]

Hi Terressa,

Congratulations on your pregnancy!

I had a baby 13 months after AVR with a mechanical valve. Did someone ask if OHS caused early menopause because I had the opposite experience... It was more like getting a new engine.

Artificial aortic valves do not pose as high a risk for clots as artificial mitral valves do. For that reason, I was on heparin shots the whole nine months! You have nothing to fear there. You'll be so glad by the end and so eager to do whatever it takes to get that baby out in good health that the shots will probably not be a big deal.

Feel free to email me offline if you like.

Karen

 

[Sherry]

Wow, Teressa, best of luck to you as you go through your pregnancy. Will look forward to seeing pics of your new bundle.

Karen7, so glad to hear from you. I went back and reviewed some of your old posts announcing the birth. I had thought of you wondering how you were doing. Glad to hear everything went well.

 

[Elcarim]

Hi Teressa,
Congratulations on your pregnancy I hope everything goes well for you. I will be watching your progress with interest, as I have been advised not to have any more babies now that I have a mechanical aortic valve, mainly because of the risk of warfarin embryopathy. I have read that if you are on a low dose of Coumadin the risks are fairly low, though.
I had my two boys after my first AVR, which was with a tissue valve. That valve only lasted for 5 years and then I had the mechanical valve put in. Sometimes I think it would be nice to try for a girl, but I have pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I will not have any more children. Although hearing stories like yours always makes me think 'maybe'...

 

[lev]

Hi Terressa,

Welcome to vr.com, it's a great source of information.
Congratulations ! I wish you continued health and a healthy baby!!
I had a mitral valve replacement - St Jude's mechanical at the age of 19. It's
really encouraging to hear someone experience a successful pregnancy, as I'd like to start a family in the near future too!!
Please keep us updated. Is it alright if I send you a private message for more info?

Wishing you lots of luck,

 

[Tgamble]

Thanks for all your support guys ! I will keep you updated on my pregnancy. It's so nice to know I got people to support me and also to talk with about my valve problems. I also found out that I'm having a little boy, so I just wanted to share that with you guys. Keep me and baby boy in your prays.
Talk 2 u later!

 

[jenlynn72]

Hi Terressa

Hi Terressa

Hi Terressa,

My name is Jen and I am a 35 year old that has had OHS three times. My last was in 2004 with replacement of my old mechanical mitral valve with a new St. Jude's mitral valve. I haven't been on the site in a few months, but now I am doing some research. My husband and I have been married ten years and are now interested in having a baby. My doctors are nervous about it, they say that it would be very high risk and need a lot of monitoring since they would take me off of coumadin and put me on Lopressor shots thru the whole pregnancy.
So I read with interest your thread! I am really happy to see that you also have had mitral valve replacement and are able to carry a baby! You give me hope! How has the pregnancy been for you? How has the monitoring been? Have you had the baby yet? How did that go? Anything I should be concerned about? It is so nice to know there are other women out there that can relate to what we are going thru! I hope you are doing well and look forward to talking with you further! God bless you and your little boy!
Thanks!

 

[Karlynn]

Hi, I'm not Terressa, but I think you are referring to Lovenox shots. From what I've read, and from previous experiences of members here, you are put on Lovenox for the first 3 mo. and then again at the end of the pregnancy. Most women are switched to Coumadin for the middle trimester. The reason for the Lovenox is that Coumadin can be toxic for a new fetus and cause birth defects. This is one of the reasons that they say a pregnancy should be carefully planned.

If you are thinking of doing this I would highly recommend finding both a cardiologist and an obstetrician that has experience in this type of pregnancy. But I think the fact that you've had 3 OHS and 2 valve replacements makes you even higher risk than the "regular" high risk of pregnancy with a mechanical valve. I'm not telling you that it shouldn't be done - I don't know. Just make sure you are consulting with the best experts available in this area.

 

[MikeHeim]

Karlynn is correct in that pregnancy after valve surgery is a very serious matter and one that you absolutely need to consult with the best specialists available prior to undertaking. From my recollection, there have been people on this site that have done relatively well, and others that have had some serious complications. Don't know if you've seen them, but here are a couple threads I found:

http://www.valvereplacement.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16186
http://www.valvereplacement.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18513

Best wishes going forward.

 

[jenlynn72]

Thanks for your replies and the links. Karlynn you are right, Lovenox not Lopressor! Mike, those links are really good. I need to read the good and the bad before we make any decisions. If it is too risky we may just look into adopting. I know there are a lot of children out there that need a loving home.

 

[Tgamble]

baby news

baby news

Hi everybody, It's me Terressa. So far everything is going well. I am so ready to have this baby. I went from 125 pounds to 184 pounds. I only have 4 1/2 weeks to go. The doctors decided with my past history with lovenox shot that they would put me on a heripin IV. So basically I would go in the hospital a couple days early before my inducement to get off the coumadin, and I would stay a couple days longer, than the nomal women who gave birth to get back on comadin. I think I had a good pregnancy, no problems really, I did have to go to labor and delivery a couple times for chest pain, but you all know, that's a little because of my heart problem. But as far as that ,It was a good pregnancy. I did coumadin thoughtout and got prenatal testing for every kind of disease that might affect the baby. I did so much research and talk to so many doctors before deciding to go through with pregnancy. I mean even now, I don't have just one or two doctors working with me, I have a team of doctors working with me at John hopkins hospital, I would say about 9 to 10 doctors are working with me. So if you are a women thinking about having a child with a mvr, consider it to be your other job intill you have the baby. Every since I found out that I was pregnant and that was at 5 weeks, I been going to the doctors every 2 weeks, but as I got in my 7th month, I had to start going every week and those are just clinic appointments, that does not include the appointments to ultrasound, fetal testing, coumadin clinic INR testing and most of all the heart related appointments too. So I can say I go to the doctors about 3 to 4 times a week now. So if you plan on having a baby with our high risk condition then be willing to commit yourself for the next 10 months. But at the end it will be all worth it, when you see that little baby.

 

[geebee]

Good to hear from you and that all is going well. We look forward to those first pictures.

 

[Phyllis]

So glad to hear that things are going so well and look forward to hearing all about the birth of your beautiful child.

 

[WayneGM]

Thanks for the update, Terressa. Best wishes continuing.....

 

[Karlynn]

Really happy to read your update. So glad to see that things are going well and wishing you the very best.