He's Here!

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.

36 weeks 4 days

Monday was my 36 week appointment, I’ll be going in weekly now. If things are interesting I will blog after each appointment. For this post there is good news, bad news and good news again. The first bit of good news is that as of my appointment I was dilated to a “one” ooowe :)

Specific to CP

The bad news is though that my adductors (thigh muscles) apparently were tight and my OB was concerned that they would be to tight to allow the baby though. It is true though my legs were tighter that day than usual due to needing to go up and down stairs. She then asked me if I thought an epidural would loosen my muscles—I had no idea. Then we started to discuss having a C-section, not my favorite idea because I would like to be pregnant again before the recommended recovery time of 18-23 months. She wanted my adductors evaluated, so the next day I went into the physical therapy clinic to get everything measured. I avoided stairs prior to the appointment but avoided any other special preparation so the measurement would be accurate. The final good news is that the physical therapist’s report stated that he didn’t think I would have a problem opening my legs. He didn’t have an answer about the epidural but that’s okay, no one seems too.

Those of you that read the post concerning my birth plan know that an epidural isn’t my favorite idea because I am fairly prideful about my pain tolerance. I think I’m tougher than most and could cite dozens of reasons why—it’s a bit of a problem. I think though that I will take the epidural on the off chance that it will loosen my muscles and make birthing easier. Even if it doesn’t loosen muscles it may well help avoid additional constriction of my muscles that might be brought on by the inevitable pain. Since I really want to avoid a C-section I don’t want to have any regrets about what I could have done to (potentially) prevent it.

I should mention before I close this post that I am experiencing considerable pain in my hip, knee, and ankle joints. I feel like I’m ripping them apart every time I need to stand or walk up stairs, and I feel that I am crushing them in unnatural directions when I put weight on them. I hope that these things do not cause permanent damage, but what will be, will be.  I’m not scared at this point of another pregnancy, I definitely want to have at least two children. Like I said before siblinghood is very important to me. I however feel that it is necessary to be as honest as possible in expressing my experience. These last few weeks have been very hard on my body.     

26 weeks, 4 days--Q&A

You seem to have had a successful experience falling in love; do you have any dating advice for people with Cerebral Palsy?

Wow, what an intimidating question! As you may be able to tell I’ve been putting off creating a generalized answer that I could post here on the blog. However, this just might be my most popular question, so here is my attempt. Please remember that I am not an expert.

My first bit of advice is to get out of the house and go to where single people are. I know we all have different ability levels and this will be more difficult for some than for others, but when it comes to meeting new people--usually this means getting out of the house. Most of my dating and socializing as a single person came from two sources; church and college. These are two great places to meet eligible and datable people, both with and without disabilities. On top of dating I believe that church and college will foster one’s self identity and progression through life. So even if you don’t meet someone I think you will be a happier person for participating. If church or school are not your “thing” I would recommend joining a organization of “do gooders” and perform service for others—it’s a great place to meet the right sort of person to date and serving next to people helps build relationships and helps people see past your disabilities.

Another big issue with dating is transportation, I have heard people of all ability levels complain that they cannot date because they have no car or cannot drive. To this I can tell you that Matt and I had a 100% “Car-less Courtship” and about 8 months of our 2 year marriage have been car-less as well. I know that public transit isn’t ideal but it is something, don’t discount it.

 Here are another few pointers: 

• When socializing try not to complain about your disabilities; negativity and complaining aren't very attractive. If you need to mention something say that you would have difficulty with this or that activity, and try to say it with a smile on your face. 
• I think that is excellent to expect high standards from the people you date but also set high standards for yourself too. Be a person you would want to date. 
• And finally remember that it’s okay to be single, you can be very happy as a single person. Don’t settle for dating someone that demeans your ability level just because you don’t want to be alone. Besides being a happy single person is very attractive.

Do you have a birth plan?

Yes and no. There is a lot in how CP will affect my delivery that I don’t know, so I need to be flexible. Here are some of my thoughts. 

“Ideally” I’d like to deliver this baby naturally, aka no pain meds. I know this might be nothing but vanity on my part but after 6 osteotomies (where your bone is sawn in half and rotated) I figure that I can handle pain just fine. Pain tolerance is simply part of my identity so I don’t want to feel weak. Also of course, I have the same arguments against epidurals many other women have. I don’t want to give myself unnecessary medication and put the child in danger or distress. My doctor has suggested, though, that an epidural may reduce my spasticity. I’ve heard of woman with CP in labor for hours (30 hrs plus) and not being able to deliver due to spasticity, resulting in emergencies. If an epidural really would loosen my muscles and make delivery less dangerous I cannot let my pride get in the way. For now though I’m not convinced it really would loosen my muscles—if any of you have had an experience related to this, please let me know.

I would prefer to not have a C-section but I am not opposed either, under the right circumstances. If we decide that my pelvis is too tight to deliver, I am in favor of a planned C-section and avoiding any distress to the baby. Since I want to deliver vaginally so much the doctor has suggested that we could try and deliver vaginally but have a shorter time limit before moving to the operating room. I am most comfortable with this suggestion.

I am VERY opposed to an induction with my CP. Pitocin will increase distress on my baby and my tight pelvis will too. I will NOT put my child in that situation. If there is any suggestion of it I will schedule a C-section and skip all the inevitable trauma to my child.

So those are my thoughts so far—but admittedly I still have a lot to learn.