Our little angle came into the world Dec 29, exactly
9 months after receiving full medical approval for pregnancy. He was 6 pounds
10 ounces, perfectly healthy, and incredibly handsome!
Specific to CP
There were no cerebral palsy related complications or “other
disability” related complications with labor and delivery, at all.
Adherence to Birth Plan/ Labor
Story
If you remember from my earlier posts I was fairly open ended
with my birth plan and had only come to two major determinations, that I would
not take Pitocin and that I would have an epidural to reduce spasticity in my
lower body. I felt that both of these choices would serve to reduce distress on
my baby. What actually happened was fairly interesting.
If you read my last post, you learned that my OB suggested an induction to
help resolve my severe pain and mobility issues. That really got the cogs
turning in our heads and “induced” several serious conversations between us.
Ultimately we decided that we would try it.
Surprisingly and to my great relief the Pitocin had no apparent
negative effect on my labor, however interestingly enough, the epidural did. My
blood pressure dropped, my contractions became weak and the baby’s vital signs
dropped soon after its insertion. After a few hours of stalled progress with my
labor and the nurse constantly repositioning my body to see if it would improve
the baby’s heart rate, I had them turn off my epidural. In very little time the
baby’s and my vital signs improved and my contractions returned with intensity.
The nurse was fairly surprised at how little time it took to
progress from the “3” I had continuously been since entering the hospital to a “10”
and she left to call the doctor. Also, at this point I requested my epidural
back on to reduce both my potential spasticity and pain at delivery. When the nurse returned she had me get into position
and to try a few “practice pushes” a few pushes later the baby’s head crowned,
she told me not to push and ran to call the doctor again. I didn’t time it but
after the doctor arrived I’m sure he was out in less than 20 minutes. My
beautiful son was in my arms and I was a mother.
The One Complication
Because my little man came out so quickly, some of my
internal vaginal blood vessels were torn and I lost a lot of blood. I was
completely oblivious to this though (thanks to my epidural) until I noticed
that my doctor was stitching me up. I was so elated about becoming a mother her
explanation about what had happened didn’t phase me at all, and other pleasant conversation
topics followed.
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At this time, it is hard to pinpoint any long term effects
of pregnancy on my CP, only time will tell. I can tell you though that I feel
fairly back to normal as far as my CP is concerned. Within 2 or 3 days of delivery
my mobility was back to normal and the weight related leg and joint pain were
gone.
Now that this journey is over and I can look back on all our experience, I’m so glad that my husband and I made the choices that we did. That we moved forward cautiously and carefully but always continued to move forward. It has been a year of miracles for us, and we are so happy.
