Leann Poultney
My husband and I had been trying for a baby for years, all the pregnancies apart from one all ended with miscarriages. I have had 6 pregnancies
all together. 5 miscarriages and I now have a healthy baby boy with the help of many consultants, who I can not thank enough.
My story started when I was 26 years old, I found out I was pregnant, but this ended in a miscarriage when I was 7 weeks. 6 months later the same thing
happened again but this time I made it to 12 weeks, but this time an ultra sound scan showed that I had a nice healthy sack but with nothing in the sack.
The nurses at the early pregnancy unit at our local hospital in Swindon were fantastic they thought that there must be something wrong a young healthy
woman can’t be having these problems. When this happened to me the second time I could just not believe it, I felt as if it was happening to someone
else, I kept asking myself why me, what have I done, al I want is a baby, what am I doing wrong?
My husband and I had blood tests done over a period of 6 months, the results showed the I have Hughes Syndrome/ Sticky Blood. It was a relief to me to
find out I just had the blood problem which could be treated during pregnancy with a 75mg aspirin a day to help keep my blood thin. But once again pregnancy
number 3 ended with a miscarriage at 12 weeks.
When I found out I was pregnant for the 4th time, my consultant had me on aspirin and low dose heparin 2’5000 units a day, and unfortunately I miscarried
once again. This time my consultant did some more blood tests on me, and found out that as well as Hughes Syndrome/Sticky blood I also have Factor Five
Leiden. When I was told this I thought that I honestly had no chance of having a baby of my own, that I would never experience being pregnant or giving
birth everything that a woman does naturally. But my consultant said that she was going top write to the Lupus Clinic at St Thomas Hospital to see if they
had any ideas, and that next time I was pregnant she was going to up the dosage of Heparin. The 5th pregnancy ended in miscarriage very early on in the
pregnancy at about 6 weeks.
Last October I found out I was pregnant once again, I started on the 5’0000 units of Heparin plus the aspirin daily, was cared for by my consultant
at the Great Western Hospital and also the consultants at the Lupus Clinic at St Thomas Hospital, and now 9 months on I have a gorgeous baby boy, and looking
for to trying for baby number 2. I can’t thank the consultants enough for their help and think that they do such a wonderful job. If it wasn’t
for their care I would not have my baby today, when I through that I would never have a child of my own these consultants always looked on the bright side
and said we have another trick up our sleeve that might work, with there help and my husband encouragement and support it gave me the strength to carry
on trying.
I have written my story to help give other women the strength to keep on trying don’t give up, women with this blood problem can have children, I
have a double whammy with my blood condition and I also managed to have a wonderful pregnancy and now have the long awaited baby that I have always dreamed
of having, and what a wonderful experience it is being pregnant and experiencing the labour is out of this world.
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