24 weeks 4 days

Well I am 6 months pregnant and still going strong! The baby as far as we can tell is healthy and strong, I’m healthy and the pregnancy seems to be progressing without a hitch. I'm feeling the baby move now which is very exciting :)

My OB has been a little concerned about my delivery.  I went yesterday to “delivery counseling” at a specialized hospital in regard to my heart. I had told her prior to this that my cardiologist had already cleared me for delivery and I had released those records to her—but a second opinion is always good. So, it wasn’t a surprise when this doctor told me that my PFO should not interfere with delivering vaginally. Of course CP could make delivery very difficult and I may end up with a C-section any way, but let’s take things one at a time.

Specific to CP

I am still active and mobile although I am exhausted ALL the time. I still am walking 2.5 miles every morning, although, by October I plan on cutting back. Someday's I do very well and others are complete torture—I don’t want to hurt myself, I am going to try and make prudent choices regarding my exercise. I’m really surprised I’ve made it this far and I believe that my walks are the number one reason I am still able to walk at this later stage in pregnancy.

My ankles are doing better and have stopped hurting and giving out. I did choose to stop physical therapy due to both the cost and quality of care that I was receiving. I am grateful for the tools and exercises received on my first visit, though, and credit that in part  for my current success.

A moderately boring post I know… but the good news is that, that is good news! I’m an exhausted woman with CP carrying a pregnancy better than expected. I hope that my boring posts can give HOPE to other woman with CP curious about pregnancy.

---

Next time I’ll have a Q&A post where I will answer a question about dating (the last Q&A brought about several questions on this subject) and I will be discussing my “birthing plan.”  Remember you can contact me at IhaveCP@gmail.com.

14 weeks- Q&A

Since becoming public with this blog I have received a number of emails with questions and comments.  I have been able to write everyone back personally—but I thought it would be good to address common questions here.

Q: What are your pregnancy symptoms like? (unrelated to your CP)

A:  I decided from the beginning of this project to avoid making comments on my everyday symptoms because I did not want to detract from the main purpose of this blog; to explore the affects of pregnancy and CP on each other.

My mornings are my best time of day, from 6am-10am I try to accomplish as much as possible, including my morning walks. Starting 10:30 or 11:00 I start to feel queasy and exhausted and this escalates throughout the day. While making dinner I am probably the most unhappy. I am very unsteady, sick and easily confused.  I have developed a very strong aversion to meat, cooking and preparing it can be miserable. I am probably worst off after dinner—eating it makes me sick.  I’ve stopped doing the dishes at night because all my energy is spent, I have less coordination, and I get very dizzy. I usually go to bed by 9:30 pm.

I have not vomited, although sometimes wish I would.

Once every week or so I have a good day where I have energy and I don’t feel sick at all.

Q:  How do you manage to walk so far with CP

A:  I owe this to several things.  I was very dedicated in preparing/strengthening my legs for pregnancy.  I started 9 months before becoming pregnant.  The increase of the hormone relaxin in my body (this is a natural side effect of pregnancy) reduces the spasticity of my muscles.  This decreases my typical chronic pain.  Finally, there is my mother-in-law, she walks with me and interesting conversation really helps.  

I will point out though that prior to pregnancy I don’t think I would have been able to walk 1 mile without being in agony afterwards. The relaxin is a tremendous help and I will miss its effects. We’ve decided that 4 miles causes to much pain and to long of a recovery time so we have capped out walks at 2.5 miles.   

Keep the questions coming!  I will do Q&A sessions as long as there is interest. 

13 weeks + some

This is a break from the norm because I haven’t had a prenatal appointment. I just wanted to tell you about my daily walks. Before getting pregnant I exercised regularly on either a stationary bike or an elliptical machine; some days for 30 min and other days for 3 or 4 hours.  After becoming pregnant though, I found that I couldn’t use these machines for more than 20 min without becoming sick or dizzy.  I had to find a new method of keeping my legs strong.

In May we moved near my husband’s parents and I started doing daily walks (5 days a week) with my mother-in-law. We started out pretty slow, probably going only 1/3 of a mile but now we are approaching 4 miles.  My mother in law has lost 20+ lbs, I’ve of course only been gaining weight but my legs are becoming stronger and leaner.  I really hope that I can keep this up into the fall. 

I’m beginning to wonder though if I am pushing myself to hard, it can take the full day for my legs and back to recuperate. I keep my heart rate at a good place and my breathing never gets too heavy so I don’t think it is bad for the baby—or for my body in general.  My legs and back are just not enjoying the extra weight gain. If I don’t exercise now I worry that postpartum rehabilitation will be very difficult.  When it comes to my mobility I need to “use it or loose it”