[Texas-T]

It's been a while since I've posted an update and I wanted to fill you in on the latest... my pain mgmt doctor's warning that things would get much worse in the end has come back to haunt me. I'm now 37 weeks along and considered full-term, but it hasn't been easy getting here. Around 26 weeks my horrible hip pain (caused by the hormone Relaxin) came back with a vengeance and as I started arching my back more it become more difficult to walk and stand. I had steroid shots in my hips and back at 27 weeks which provided a little relief but had to start taking more vicodin at this point to get through the days.

Getting up out of chairs become much harder and sitting the whole day at work almost unbearable, so I asked and my boss agreed, to allow me to work part-time. This kept me working from 27 weeks - 32 weeks which was a big help psychology. I was also able to continue my aquatic therapy until about 31 weeks until it hurt more than it helped.

At 32 weeks it took me so long to walk to the bathroom at work that I almost didn't make it a few times and the pain was just too distracting so I went on partial bed-rest and disability. At first being able to lay down more helped and I was able to get by with less medication, but as my tummy expanded just sitting and standing has gotten harder and my mobility has steadily digressed. At about 33 weeks my husband bought me a cane to use because I started having weakness in my legs and was falling periodically. It's gotten to the point now where I must use the cane at all times. Getting out of bed without help is hard too. I had another round of steroid shots at 35 weeks, but it didn't help much. (however my husband now thinks our baby will have super powers from the steroids)

When I first went on disability my husband and I would go on short walks each night to keep me moving, now I simply can't do it. It seems like my biggest issue is that my hips are unstable which is causing the weakness in my legs along with not being able to arch my back. When I stand or walk I feel like my stomach is thrown forward and my head tilted up, it strains so much that my upper back starts to spaz out and I usually don't get very far. Also, it feels like my tailbone is being pulled apart into two pieces (think of a wishbone being pulled apart) most of the time. My pain mgmt. doctor said the tailbone pain is normal in pregnancy, however it's very severe (lidoderm patches help with this). So I'm miserable right now...

Thankfully the baby is still healthy and strong. In a strange twist of good luck she is stuck laying in the horizontal position with her head on my left side and butt on my right. My pain mgmt. doctor believes this has eased some of the back strain. Normally baby's move into the head-down position by 28 weeks which strains your low back more. BTW even if she wasn't in the wrong position my OB agreed that there is no way I could have endured a natural labor given all the problems. I did have high blood pressure at one of my recent check-ups b/c of the pain, but it went right back down, otherwise the stress of it all hasn't seemed to affect the baby.

Because of all the pain and mobility issues, my OB offered to bump up my c-section to 37 weeks (this Friday 7/8), however the baby's lungs might not be ready and we risk having more problems by going earlier. It's tempting to say yes and just get this over with, but I think it's best to wait till I'm 39 weeks along and stick with our original date of July 18th, unless the baby decides to come on her own. At this point I'm taking 3 vicodin at most (5/500mgs) per day. My OB doesn't think this will cause the baby to go through withdraw at birth, however if I must increase my dosage to 4 pills a day they want me to go ahead and have the c-section rather than take the risk. So now I'm just waiting and trying to manage the pain with the least amount of drugs. Only 11 more days... I can do this.

I spoke with the head of anesthesiology at the hospital and they are willing to try a lumbar epidural administered via a catheter for the birth so I may be awake for the big event. (this is better than the usual spinal block b/c it will allow them to give me more medication if needed during the surgery. Also, due to all my scar tissue from the back surgery they expect the actual c-section to last about 30 minutes longer than the usual 90 minutes) My OB believes they will be able to re-use my back surgery scar (I had a Maylard incision) which is also great.

I'll be sure to let you know how everything goes with the delivery and after. I know reading this it probably sounds like pregnancy after ADR can be horrible / scary / awful... I'd be lying if I didn't admit that at times it has been pretty bad... but it's worth it, and for me the pain hasn't been nearly as bad as it was before my ADR. I'm really happy and excited about our daughter and knowing what I know now, I'd still do it again. I suppose my best advise is to expect the worst, prepare for it, but hope for the best and stay positive if things start going badly. Get in excellent shape before you get pregnant, stay in shape during your pregnancy and get a good team of doctors both OB's, PT's and Pain Mgmt. to work together to help you. Have a support system in place in case you must go on bedrest and remind yourself that all of this pain is temporary and at the end you'll have an adorable baby.

Tricia