Did it change the way you approached the whole situation? Were you more hesitant to get pregnant, or more anxious about what would happen once you did get pregnant? What did you do to prepare emotionally/physically?

I have a genetic blood clotting disorder, which can lead to thrombophilia, the formation of abnormal blood clots. It's kind of hard to explain, but basically, when the coagulation process is activated somewhere in my body, it goes overboard and coagulates too much.

This was passed on from my dad, who has had multiple DVTs in his legs, as well as double pulmonary embolisms. It's scary stuff.

In my life so far, it's just meant that I can't take hormonal birth control, since that also increases the chances of developing a blood clot. It's also meant avoiding long periods of immobility, since pooling blood would increase the chances of a clot. When I take long car or plane rides, I'm supposed to get up and walk around every so often or wear compression stockings to promote circulation.

But, the genetic disorder coupled with pregnancy would increase my chances of developing a blood clot 7x. And that's with a non-complicated pregnancy. If you throw in any type of bed rest (immobility), surgery (c-section), or hemorrhaging, I could be in real trouble. The disorder has also been linked to recurring miscarriages (specifically miscarriages after 10 weeks) due to tiny clots blocking the flow of nutrients to the placenta.

Since I've already been diagnosed with the disorder, I've discussed my approach to TTC with doctors, none of whom have discouraged me from pregnancy. It will be a matter of working with a hematologist and perinatologist to closely monitor by clotting factors and take measures to keep them in balance.

Even though my doctors are confident that pregnancy won't be life-threatening or anything, I'm still scared! Not scared enough to forgo having biological children, but definitely anxious.

I'm trying to do all my research and prepare myself as best as I can.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? How did you overcome/manage your anxiety?