High-Risk Pregnancy

New here/intro, pre-planning before TTC

Hi all <3  I have 2 medical conditions that will automatically put me in the high-risk category if I am lucky enough to conceive: Chiari malformation type I and Pseudotumor Cerebri.  Both of these are neurological issues and are not a reason for me NOT to conceive.  In my case, my main issues are going to be which medicines can I still take safely and can I emotionally deal with the fact that I'll have no choice but a c-section due to the Chiari malformation.  *for those who don't know what that is, it means basically that part of my brain has been forced down towards the base of my skull where my spinal chord enters the skull and in the case of pregnancy the added pressure of natural birth would be strong enough to force my brain further down :( *  

As long as I have a healthy baby I don't care what I have to put up with but at the same time the idea of being awake while hearing/smelling a c-section scares me.  I've been through multiple surgeries in my life and surgery itself doesn't scare me as much and I don't want to be completely knocked out for this.  But I'm super-crazy squeamish about certain smells/sounds, especially in hospitals.  I'm so afraid my anxiety will spike and make it unsafe for me to be awake or something.  I'm already bummed that I don't get to choice to experience natural birth, the idea of not being awake at all when I give birth someday just tears me up somehow.  I don't know if that sounds strange or not.  I realize I'm not pregnant yet and it's going to take at least another month or two before we're going to be able to start trying *I have most of the doctor's appts. scheduled already but I also have to gain some weight and stop taking my BC pills etc*.  I'm probably rambling. LOL  I just keep coming back to that and the fear that I won't be able to handle that part of it.  I'm a tough girl, I like to think I can handle anything, but I'm so afraid I'd fail at that most important moment.  

Also, what do you do when you're allergic to the 'cillians?  Whenever I get a UTI or anything like that all I can take for it is Cipro which I'm pretty sure you can't take when you're pregnant?  I'm so sorry to ask these questions, I know my doc can answer them but I can't ask for another week at least and when you're used to being able to find the information and can't it bugs you ^^;.  

Forgive the complete randomness of this post, I promise I'll be less scattered after next week.  

Re: New here/intro, pre-planning before TTC

  • All I can say about my own csection experience is that I never noticed any smells, and I don't know that I remember any sounds other than the doctor talking (she was complaining about the next patient wanting local anesthesia for her csection on twins). The csection isn't too bad. It's definitely painful afterwards, but it was my first surgery. I was told at 5 weeks because of the shape of my uterus that baby would probably be breech, and I would likely have a csection. That was sad for me that I'd never get to experience a vaginal birth, but I was so glad she said that early, so I could get used to the idea ahead of time.
  • Thank you so much for replying!  I'm used to post-op pain thanks to my crazy medical history, so your words about not noticing things during the c-section itself make me feel a lot less worried.  I've known since my teens that c-section would most likely be my only option if I wanted to be as safe as possible for my future health but now that we're getting closer to the TTC point its starting to ache in my heart a bit.  It'll be worth anything in the end though right ^-^.
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