Now that it’s been a little more than a week since we found out about the baby, we’ve come to accept what happened and started to look toward the future. We want to try again, but for us it isn’t as simple as just trying again. As Dr. Hirisk told us, “Heather’s medical history is significant,” and that means there’s no guarantee things will work out next time. Thankfully, a game plan is coming into place that will give us the best chance possible.

The first thing we have to do is wait out a couple of Heather’s cycles. Dr. Hirisk said Heather’s uterine lining needs time to build up again – if it is weak when she becomes pregnant, other problems can arise. Obviously, as Dr. Hirisk pointed out, we don’t want to get pregnant and then run into trouble for a reason totally separate from our already existing issues.

Once we’re able to start trying to conceive, Dr. Hirisk wants Heather to take baby aspirin every day. This will help thin Heather’s blood and hopefully minimize the possibility that Heather’s blood clotting disorder (Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome) will rear its ugly head.

In addition to having Heather take baby aspirin while trying to get pregnant, Dr. Hirisk wants Heather to start injecting Lovenox as soon as she gets a positive pregnancy test. This is a change from her last two pregnancies, when Heather only started to inject herself with Lovenox after we saw the heartbeat for the first time. Dr. Hirisk hesitates to prescribe Lovenox so early in a pregnancy because it is a very serious medication (one which can lead to dangerous complications if you get cut or injured), but considering the problems Heather’s had he thinks being aggressive next time is best.

Long before we get to that point though we will have our appointment with our obstetrician to discuss the results of the chromosome testing. We will either learn the pregnancy failed because of chromosomal abnormalities (the cause of most miscarriages), or for other reasons (most likely related to Heather’s clotting disorder). Knowing which of these is responsible for the miscarriage will help guide our doctors’ decisions in our next pregnancy.

None of this is going to stop us from being very nervous when Heather does get pregnant again (and we’ll likely stay that way throughout the entirety of the pregnancy), but it does give us a little comfort to know there’s a plan and that Dr. Hirisk will soon get more information about our situation. It’s not much, but it’s something, and right now I’m going to cling to any positives I can get.