My clot was found at 34 weeks pregnancy. Prior to it being found I’d had leg cramping my community midwife had passed off as “normal pregnancy pains” and I’d had chest pains that were investigated with no known cause.
I worked in a very busy retail store and I’d got two days off, so the evening of my working day we decided to get the shopping done which meant I could enjoy two full days off (one being my birthday)!
I felt a bit bleh. Not sick, just a bit lightheaded and weird - not right. We went to the supermarket’s baby event as we hadn’t got much time left and I remember looking up at the top shelf and lights; my husband said he was talking to me but I wasn’t there and I was just leaning on the trolley. I felt a strange sensation inside my right chest and back and just said, “Can we go to the hospital, I think I’ve got a clot in my lung,”
He took me straight to A&E.
When I was examined my d-dimer was slightly raised which they said can happen in pregnancy and one calf was only about 1cm bigger than the other, not red or painful. I didn’t feel sick or have a cough. However, thankfully the doctor said he didn’t feel right letting me leave the hospital and asked me to stay despite it being bed blocked.
I napped on the waiting room chairs, and then had a few days of tests (ultrasound on my leg, chest x Ray, VQ scan) when blood clots were confirmed.
I began six months of injections twice a day. It felt frightening when my birth plan changed yet the hospital I was meant to be going to told me to just rock up when I was in labour. Thankfully the hospital sorting my clot was astounded and asked if I could transfer to them so they could take proper care of me... ..which I did straight away.
They planned induction on my due date (in fact I didn’t need as my waters broke minutes before!) and they then managed/planned my injections so I could have anaesthetic if needed. I did end up needing a ‘C’ section though, but they’d planned for me to stop injecting the day before so I could have a spinal anaesthetic and be awake for the whole thing.
I’m still currently wearing my stockings and I go get checked if I have any symptoms again. I’m cautious and keep mobile and hydrated. I now know I’ll be high risk next time and need anticoagulants through the next pregnancy. I have been told that my daughter is also apparently at risk, so we will both need to be careful and avoid the pill.
They didn’t actually tell me what they thought brought it on other than pregnancy. I had been on the pill to correct my periods for around seven-eight years and at NO point did they think of taking me off it, which I believe was a risk factor. Now I’m always keen to keep an eye on pregnant friends too, just to be safe.
Since I have kept a blog: https://dorothydynamite.wordpress.com/2019/05/20/seriously-youre-not-well to share not only my clot story but also how it affected my pregnancy (so many crazy things I didn’t realise such as anticoagulants and anaesthetics not mixing well that I felt needed to share.