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February 2012 Moms
NatesLady1309
member
Those who had a tough pregnancy, please come in. (long)
NatesLady1309
member
I consider myself to have had a rough pregnancy. I'm sure there are some on here who had it even worse than I did though. Starting at 4 weeks, I was super nauseous. At 5 weeks the vomiting began. And never stopped. For a couple of months I was throwing up sometimes 6 or 8 times a day. I could keep NOTHING down. Absolutely nothing. I tried every "trick" that people and doctors suggested- the saltines, the eating every hour, every half hour, the ginger everything, drinking a ton of water, the works. One day I decided to drink only water, eating or drinking nothing else. I still threw up multiple times, just the water and bile. I was in the bed for a couple of months because if I moved I would vomit instantly. I tried the drugs- first an OTC motion sickness medicine, then Phenergan, then Zofran, then Reglan. All of them affected me about as much as taking sugar pills, except the Reglan, which I only took once because it gave me the worse case of anxiousness I have ever had in my life. I was pacing the room shaking and hyperventilating for hours from just one pill. I landed on the Zofran for the longest so I could feel like I was at least trying to do all I could for myself even though it didn't really help anything. The next step the doctors were trying to do for me was to get me a port/pump that would deliver the medicine directly into my bloodstream in hopes that it would be more effective that way. By the time they were going to actually put it in though, it had been so many months that I was starting to get on the upside where I was no longer nauseous and not throwing up nearly as many times a day, so I never got it. I was in the hospital 3 times for fluids, once overnight.
When I got pregnant I was around 130 lbs. By sometime in my 2nd tri I was 104 at my lowest. Sometime in the 2nd tri, the nauseousness finally let up which was such a relief. But the vomiting remained, though a little less often (still often multiple times a day though for a while).
I had friends drive me to my OB appointments until I hit 3rd tri because I would no longer allow myself to drive for fear that I would start vomiting. Once I knew I was going to be sick, it would come up within a few seconds and I'd be heaving for a while so I knew it wasn't safe to drive like that since I likely wouldn't have a chance to pull over in time. I once I threw up in my friend's car and ON a stranger's car (red ICEE so it looked like blood, that was pretty awesome lol) all in one day. Even at 9 months pregnant, I would still throw up at least once a week. From the day she was born though, I have never thrown up again. At first I would still feel like I was going to on occasion but it never actually happened. What relief!
Additionally at around 6 weeks, I started bleeding a bit and went to the ER. I was told there was a sort of "blood bubble" between the sac and the wall of my uterus (there was a technical name for it but I don't remember at the moment). I was given a 50-50 chance by the doctor I saw that the baby would make it. That was so scary.
I write this because I am so, so scared to ever be pregnant again because of all that pregnancy does to my body. We have always talked about adopting, and after going through a pregnancy and knowing how my body reacts, that's looking like more and more of a reality for me than another pregnancy. DH would like me to have another baby naturally at some point. He saw what I endured and he was as helpful as possible, with housework and with getting me any food or drink that I wanted to at least try to stomach, and just generally supporting me. I don't think he really gets it though. He doesn't understand what it's like to be that sick, and for so long. To be in the bed pretty much all day and all night for the first few months. He says he would be willing to once again do everything that he could to help me through it.
Amber31288's pregnancy announcement got me thinking about it again because I was thinking how jealous I was that she didn't even know she was pregnant until a guess of 16 weeks. My OB told me during my 6 week PP visit that if I were to get pregnant again, it would likely be worse the 2nd time around. That scared me so much. But it also confused me because I have heard some moms of 2+ say that the 2nd and onward pregnancies were easier. I know no one can predict the future either way though.
I know I can't live in fear of getting pregnant again because even though we are preventing right now, if God wants us to have another child, we will still have another child (this is my belief at least). Each Feb. mom who gets pregnant again has been a reminder for me that I may never get to experience another pregnancy. It was such a blessing to carry that little life inside of me, I would love to be able to do it again one day but I just don't know if that's reasonably an option for me.
I'd like to hear from any of you who had hard pregnancies, whether you had not as hard of a time as I did or even worse, and not just with hyperemesis gravidarum (the technical name for what I had), also doctor-ordered bedrest, extreme GD, IUGR, and the myriad of other complications I know there can be. What was your experience and has it impacted your plan for future pregnancies at all?
(Side note- I found this article while I was pregnant and reread it so many times. I felt like no one else understood what I was going through for a long time because they thought it was just "typical" morning sickness. I later met a woman in my church who has had HG for each of her pregnancies. She is currently pregnant for the 3rd time and has a pump. She is either amazing or crazy. Or both. https://www.babble.com/pregnancy/pregnancy-health/hyperemesis-gravidarum-pregnancy-morning-sickness/ )
When I got pregnant I was around 130 lbs. By sometime in my 2nd tri I was 104 at my lowest. Sometime in the 2nd tri, the nauseousness finally let up which was such a relief. But the vomiting remained, though a little less often (still often multiple times a day though for a while).
I had friends drive me to my OB appointments until I hit 3rd tri because I would no longer allow myself to drive for fear that I would start vomiting. Once I knew I was going to be sick, it would come up within a few seconds and I'd be heaving for a while so I knew it wasn't safe to drive like that since I likely wouldn't have a chance to pull over in time. I once I threw up in my friend's car and ON a stranger's car (red ICEE so it looked like blood, that was pretty awesome lol) all in one day. Even at 9 months pregnant, I would still throw up at least once a week. From the day she was born though, I have never thrown up again. At first I would still feel like I was going to on occasion but it never actually happened. What relief!
Additionally at around 6 weeks, I started bleeding a bit and went to the ER. I was told there was a sort of "blood bubble" between the sac and the wall of my uterus (there was a technical name for it but I don't remember at the moment). I was given a 50-50 chance by the doctor I saw that the baby would make it. That was so scary.
I write this because I am so, so scared to ever be pregnant again because of all that pregnancy does to my body. We have always talked about adopting, and after going through a pregnancy and knowing how my body reacts, that's looking like more and more of a reality for me than another pregnancy. DH would like me to have another baby naturally at some point. He saw what I endured and he was as helpful as possible, with housework and with getting me any food or drink that I wanted to at least try to stomach, and just generally supporting me. I don't think he really gets it though. He doesn't understand what it's like to be that sick, and for so long. To be in the bed pretty much all day and all night for the first few months. He says he would be willing to once again do everything that he could to help me through it.
Amber31288's pregnancy announcement got me thinking about it again because I was thinking how jealous I was that she didn't even know she was pregnant until a guess of 16 weeks. My OB told me during my 6 week PP visit that if I were to get pregnant again, it would likely be worse the 2nd time around. That scared me so much. But it also confused me because I have heard some moms of 2+ say that the 2nd and onward pregnancies were easier. I know no one can predict the future either way though.
I know I can't live in fear of getting pregnant again because even though we are preventing right now, if God wants us to have another child, we will still have another child (this is my belief at least). Each Feb. mom who gets pregnant again has been a reminder for me that I may never get to experience another pregnancy. It was such a blessing to carry that little life inside of me, I would love to be able to do it again one day but I just don't know if that's reasonably an option for me.
I'd like to hear from any of you who had hard pregnancies, whether you had not as hard of a time as I did or even worse, and not just with hyperemesis gravidarum (the technical name for what I had), also doctor-ordered bedrest, extreme GD, IUGR, and the myriad of other complications I know there can be. What was your experience and has it impacted your plan for future pregnancies at all?
(Side note- I found this article while I was pregnant and reread it so many times. I felt like no one else understood what I was going through for a long time because they thought it was just "typical" morning sickness. I later met a woman in my church who has had HG for each of her pregnancies. She is currently pregnant for the 3rd time and has a pump. She is either amazing or crazy. Or both. https://www.babble.com/pregnancy/pregnancy-health/hyperemesis-gravidarum-pregnancy-morning-sickness/ )
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Those who had a tough pregnancy, please come in. (long)
I was somewhat ill and vomited on occasion but I'm not afraid of that. This is what I experienced:
I was diagnosed with GD and had to prick my fingers 4 times a day to check blood sugar. Then at 31 weeks I went into premature labor and spent 2 days in the hospital getting steroid injections and being terrified. Then at 37 weeks it was determined I had IUGR and that he had stopped growing at 34 weeks so they did a c-section the very next morning. Everything turned out ok and I am grateful. Logan was completely healthy and spent no time in the NICU. He was small but I think having the steroid injections to stop labor early on worked out for us when the IUGR situation presented itself. But yes, I am still scared to be pregnant again! However, it has not changed my decision to be pregnant again.
I actually feel better knowing what can happen and being more prepared the next time around. I know that I will be seeing a high risk doctor right away next time and will be watched much more closely. More ultra-sounds, stressed tests, etc... At least this is what they told me. All of that actually makes me feel better.
I'm so sorry that was your experience. I may get booted off this thread but I'm terrified for the second pregnancy for the complete opposite reason. I had the easiest pregnancy ever. No morning sickness, no sore boobs, nothing but being a little more tired than normal. Even labor wasn't too bad...looking back I can see that I was the reason it lasted as long as it did, because I was putting off pushing and not really trying 100%!
But now that we are thinking about #2, I'm worried that karma will rear her ugly head and it will be a very different experience. So while my first was great, I'm pretty terrified for my second.
I had a fairly uneventful pregnancy, although I did have early bleeding that freaked me out. My advice to you is to make sure that you are using an IUD or doing a mini pill + condoms, so that you can be absolutely sure that you are doing your part to not get pregnant again until you are 100% sure you are ready. Yes, occassionally babies are born while people are "preventing," but God has given scientists the mental abilities to create really great birth control methods, so God doesn't (in my opinion) mind if you take advantage of these methods to ensure that you are in a good place to be a great mom the next time around.
Also, while it is great that your husband is so supportive, he can't really make this decision for you. It really is your body--and now you are going to have a toddler that is going to be competing for your attention all the time that you are pregnant. Unless he can stay home from his job for the first several months, you will be with your daughter all day and trying to entertain her while dealing with your second pregnancy. Now, it very well could be better the second time around--but I think you have to go into it with the understanding that it could also be the same or worse than last time. Do you have a contingency plan in place for if you have to get in bed and stay there again during several months of another pregnancy? Could you send your daughter to day care every day or have a family member move in to your house to take care of your daughter while you are in bed? Does your husband realize that in offering to take on the responsibilities, that he can't really solve the problems of what the last pregnancy did to your overall health and he can't really solve the fact that you might be really checked out health-wise for months at a time when your daughter needs you?
I think this is a decision that only you can make. Please don't be pressured into a decision by your husband, when he just can't even begin to understand what the last pregnancy felt like to you or how harmful another pregnancy might be to your physical health. I would recommend talking to your doctor and gettting second opinions and really laying all your options out on the table--and in the meantime, ensure that you are doing everything you can to avoid an unplanned pregnancy, which would almost certainly be even tougher to deal with, since you wouldn't have all your ducks in a row from the beginning and be eagerly anticipating it. Be careful and remember that you are the one who should be making this decision--and that it is not selfish to be concerned about your own physical health, since your daughter relies on you to be there for her as she grows up!
Each of my pregnancies has been different.
The 1st one I was teaching HS, up at 5:30am and never got sick. There were a few evenings I did not feel that great but it seemed to be more when I was tired.
The 2nd pregnancy was awful!! My 1st son was just over a year and I was sooo sick and tired. And it lasted the whole time...I felt better 2 days before he was born and I told my husband I was going to go into labor soon b/c I felt "normal". I swore I would never have another baby, there was no way I could deal with that again.....
And it took 5 years for me to dare to even think about having another one but I held on to the hope that it would not be as bad as my 2nd son.
And the 3rd one literally split the middle of the last two. I never got sick but I felt awful all day every day from about 7 weeks until around 21 weeks.
So you never know
My 3rd wasn't too bad. Just a little nausea and I hurt a lot towards the end. But I worked until the day before she was born.
So you never know. But i agree with Sooner. You need to be totally on board. Its 10 times harder when you already have a lo at home.
My LONG story:
I found out I was pregnant (tested) because I was SO tired. Then my boobs hurt so bad that it was hard to sleep. I never had much vomiting but I would get a lot of nausea. My gag reflex was really bad, so I had a really hard time brushing my teeth. I would gag and hack and sometimes throw up.
When we went for our 1st ultrasound, around 7 weeks, the u/s tech never said one word to me or showed me anything on the screen, turned the machine off, and said the doctor will come talk to you. I knew something had to be wrong and started crying. The Dr. said "you either had a miscarriage or you are earlier along then we thought". So I went for blood work, bawling my eyes out, and cried for 24hrs until the results came back looking good. Went for an u/s the next week and there was a HB.
Went for the 12 week NT scan and they said I had a fibroid and the baby had VSD (a hole in his heart). More freaking out. Went for a Fetal Echo the next week and the hole was closed, but still worried about where the placenta would attach, because if it attached over the fibroid, it could cause the placenta to detach from my uterus and kill the baby. From this point through the rest of the pregnancy, I had an u/s at least every 4 weeks.
16 week ultrasound. Dr said baby was growing small, and they believe he had a SUA (single umbilical artery), would double check at anatomy scan.
20 week ultrasound. Dr. said baby definitely had SUA and was growing small, his belly was 6%. He wanted (either this u/s or the next, I forget) to do another specialized u/s and an amnio to see if baby's growth problems were due to the SUA or other birth defects. I said yes to u/s and no to amnio (because of chance of miscarriage). The placenta formed on the anterior wall (opposite from my fibroid, so yay!) but this also meant I couldn't feel him move much, which later led to NSTs.
Every u/s was a rollercoaster. 24wk- he had a growth spurt, doing better. 28wk- he didn't grow much, we're getting worried again... and repeat... DH took a job out-of-state at this point (in Oct) because we decided to move there (I wouldn't move until after baby was born, so I stayed in our former state alone- no family).
The last two months I had NSTs 1x and then 2x a week because I really could not feel movement. At 38wks I got a fever and ended up going to the hospital because the baby's HB spiked to 200. Got the HB down and send home.
At my NST at 39wks, the HB didn't sound right as soon as the nurse hooked me up, another nurse came and tried, then the Dr. came in and looked at the machine and told the nurses "call 911, we need an ambulance!". The baby's HB was ~60. DH was 3 states/16hr drive away. Dr. said I was having this baby today, so I called DH and told him to get on a plane. Called my boss and said I wouldn't be returning to work that day & starting Maternity Leave. Called MIL, who came into town 3 days before, to meet me at hospital. Firefighters came, put me in ambulance, and took me to the 1 hospital I did NOT want to deliver at because it was closest. Didn't know if I would make it to the hospital in time to save baby...
Had emergency c-section at hospital. LO was fine! Turns out DS was head-down on top of the umbilical cord and I would have had to have a c-section no matter what. DH missed the birth... he got there 5hrs later. DS' size was fine. His heart was fine. All good.
I think I got everything in there. It didn't affect my wish to have more children at all but I sure hope the next pregnancy is less eventful.
The nausea was at least twice as awful as the vomiting itself. At least. So I feel for ya.
I didn't enjoy my pregnancy one bit and it makes me THRILLED that I had two and don't have to go through it again (not that I would have to anyway, but we wanted two).
I found out around 4-5 weeks because I had only had spotting and not a full-blown period. Was all excited, then 2 days later had bright red spotting for 2 days. Had betas done and the first one was low (I think 27?) and then they doubled, but just barely and the nurses who I spoke to at my practice weren't optimistic. Had an u/s and they said there were 2 heartbeats, but they scheduled another one for 2 weeks later and on the paperwork wrote "to rule out a twin pregnancy", so I spent 2 weeks freaking out that I could have twins and freaking out that I could lose one.
The second trimester was pretty uneventful, but I was pulled out of work between 26-27 weeks for a shortened cervix (which was at 2) and 2 weeks later it was down to 1. I spent almost 10 weeks on super strict bed rest. Between 33-34 weeks my BP started to spike and I had to spend all day, every day laying only on my left side until I delivered at 36 weeks. The babies were doing perfectly fine inside of me but my BP was too high so I had to deliver, and then they spent 9 days in the NICU. I felt an immense amount of guilt for not being able to carry them longer and spare them the NICU.
The whole experience was just not enjoyable. We had always said 2 kids, but when I found out we were having twin girls I said to H that if we were able to buy a house soon maybe we'd have another and see if we had a boy. After going through the experience from 27 weeks on, no way, no how. I would LOVE to experience what a singleton pregnancy is like but I'm terrified that I would have twins again or have the same complications (even though the feel the complications were the result of the twins pregnancy). The only way that I would consider it now is if we a) had a house b) H had a job where he made WAY more (I make more money then him now) and c) we could afford for me not to work my entire pregnancy and have a nanny/housekeeper/cook come every day to help while I was pregnant and for the first 3 months. I can safely say that none of those will happen anytime soon.
I had a pretty easy pregnancy the first time around. Just a little nausea here and there. I was not worried about getting pregnant again. That saud, I guess its still kind of ridiculous I didn't know I was pregnant sooner this time around. I feel like I'm having the moment in the show I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant where they discuss all the pregnancy symptoms and how they thought they were due to other things. I have felt extremely fatigued but thought that was due to DD1 and her lack of STTN. I also had some nausea in late summer but blamed it on migraines. Granted, I've obviously still had any easier time than you.
I hope if you ever get pregnant again that its a breeze for you! Sounds like you deserve it. FWIW, I've considered being a surrogate once I'm done having my own children because I know I am lucky that I can carry a baby without any complications knock on wood.