High Risk Pregnancy ~ General Discussion and Support

[crumpet]

wooo hooo for 12 weeks, it is a fabulous milestone!! for a short cervix but great that the stitch will be going in soon, when mine was 2.2cm my OB said between 12-14 weeks, but after my MC finished it relengthened again, so we are going with the fortnightly scans, and hopefully we can keep it above 2.5cm, as I am nervous about getting a stitch done so late.

I have added in IC at the top of the page and also what all the acronyms mean, SPD means Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction, my physio referred to it as Pelvic Instability, I just found this description of it:

The two halves of your pelvis are connected at the front by a stiff joint called the symphysis pubis. This joint is strengthened by a dense network of tough, flexible tissues, called ligaments. To help your baby pass through your pelvis as easily as possible, your body produces a hormone called relaxin, which softens the ligaments. As a result, these joints move more during and just after pregnancy (Kristiansson 1997; Bjorkland et al 1999; Bjorkland et al 2000), causing inflammation and pain, known as symphysis pubis dysfunction or SPD.

In other words it hurts, I had it worse with DD, this time I have only had to wear the belt a couple of times, which holds everything together better

thanks hun, it was a bit exciting!!!!

when i was preg with Gus we were on fortnightly scans, then i had my 20w one all look ok, as it can with a 2.5cm cervix then a week later the ***** hit the fan, my poor OB he was stunned i felt sorry for him... u coukd see how shocked he was when it happened so quick, hence his reason to go straght for a stitch this time


oh yep i have herd of that..... i had a fewe issues with my hips with Gus and my osteo thought i might have been heading down that path but nothing seemed to happen....
it sounds sooo painful! i hope it doesnt get to bad for u girls, just what u need one more big ache!

[black_rose]

I think my biggest hurdle will be these next few weeks, if I get to 36 weeks I will be happy. A big one I am facing this week is my ob and gp are both away, and it would be just my luck to go into labour when they aren't around. I know I the midwives would be great, but the ob who takes over from mine is against VBAC's and he may push for a c sect. Not that anything will happen but its just another one of those things to overcome.

It doesn't help that the BH are increasing again. It seems to happen at the end of each week, they kept me awake last night.

Hope everyone else is ok.

[crumpet]

ive got my fingers crossed for u hun, rest up and hopefully those BH will stay away for a bit and let u keep bub in for a few more weeks.....

i had my appt with my OB yesterday and as usual there is always a story and some minor drama!

the good news is all of our downs risks and what not are really good so he was happy with that, and he is rapt my cervix is 2.9cm instead of 2.5cm....

so the main thing is he is ready to go for the stitch BUT his assistant who he will only do stitches with is on holidays my OB calls this assistant his 3rd and 4th arms becasue when they do stitches together they are always great with no issues, yet when he has used other assistants he has had dramas..... so he didnt book me in and said he would try and get the assistant to come in just for our op and he would call me back last night......
turns out the assistant is away on holidays and cant come in, fair enough i rekon!!
so we are booked in for the 12th of july, which is 3 monday away, just over 2 weeks.
a bit longer than he wanted to leave it but as he says he would rather wait and monitor me and do a amazing stitch rather than aa cr@pp one with issues, sounds fine to me.....
so in the mean time i have to rest, which i do all day everyday anway, and have a scan in 10days to see what my cervix is doing, if its not coming to the party and shortening we have to find a plan B, and ill go on full bed rest at 14weeks for the stitch to go in at 14w5d.......

so thats where im at!!

hope everyone else is doing well!!

[csab]

Hi Beema, I thought I would crash your thread lol. This will be my 4th High risk pgcy. The first was due to multpile m/c's, the second was the same but also due to the previous c/s, the 3rd Little V age came a problem as well as previous c/s's and finding out the reason I have had to be on Aspirin for the previous two pgcys. I am ANA positive. Also V had a high risk of DS, which you already know and had several u/s's to check on her heart etc.
Now comes to this one, still high risk, age, previous c/s's ANA positive, on Aspirin, maybe changed to clexane this pgcy due to Little V being so small full term as well as I have been told frequent u/s's to check on how bubs is doing, likely to be every month. Still not sure if that will be the case, as the Baby Dr's at the hospital havent said this yet, but the physcians have.
Im also not allowed to go into labour naturally, yet I would hope they will let me, but highly doubt it. They are worried about rupturing.
So here I am, have had the NT scan which almost wasnt a great result, but thankfully turned around, and now waiting for the 18wk scan to see how bub is doing.
So thats it for me atm, hopefully I get to enjoy the rest of this pgcy.

[~mamaspice~]

Black_Rose. No labour vibes for you hun. Keep that little one in there for a few more weeks yet. Rest up okay!

Crumpet, woohoo on the cervix. I hope it keeps behaving for you and you get to have3 your stitch in 3 weeks time when the "good" assistant is back

Csab, wow, you've certainly had your fair share of things to deal with. this is an uneventful pregnancy for you.

How are you doing Beema?

AFM, I had some acupuncture and moxibustion this morning. mainly to see if it helps bub to turn but also I have a pinched nerve above my left buttock and sometimes it pinches really bad and stops me in my tracks. I'm going to have it every 2 weeks from now on and I'm also hoping the acupuncture helps with keeping my Bp at bay too.

[*Beema*]

Great news on the cervix length Crumpet!!! I gained some length betwen 12-16 weeks, then two big loses after that, another smaller loss and sitting jsut over 3.0cm atm with my next scan on Tuesday, so crossing my fingers we haven't lost any more length

Welcome csab more than welcome to "crash", the more the merrier, and the greater understanding we all get Hopefully everything goes smoothly for you this time around, you deserve a stress free pregnancy!!!

How are the BH's today Black_Rose? No labour vibes coming your way

Yay for the Chinese Medicine MamaSpice I found the Moxa and the Accupunture really relaxing I recommend doing some inversions as well, I really think they helped in turning Flicker, I hope it helps keep your BP undercontrol as well, is there anything else that you can do to control your BP?

AFM having confident and not so confident days, I think it gets worse as I approach each scan, and after I have done a few things around the hosue I then worry should I have not done that..... sigh....

[crumpet]

Hi Beema, I thought I would crash your thread lol. This will be my 4th High risk pgcy. The first was due to multpile m/c's, the second was the same but also due to the previous c/s, the 3rd Little V age came a problem as well as previous c/s's and finding out the reason I have had to be on Aspirin for the previous two pgcys. I am ANA positive. Also V had a high risk of DS, which you already know and had several u/s's to check on her heart etc.
Now comes to this one, still high risk, age, previous c/s's ANA positive, on Aspirin, maybe changed to clexane this pgcy due to Little V being so small full term as well as I have been told frequent u/s's to check on how bubs is doing, likely to be every month. Still not sure if that will be the case, as the Baby Dr's at the hospital havent said this yet, but the physcians have.
Im also not allowed to go into labour naturally, yet I would hope they will let me, but highly doubt it. They are worried about rupturing.
So here I am, have had the NT scan which almost wasnt a great result, but thankfully turned around, and now waiting for the 18wk scan to see how bub is doing.
So thats it for me atm, hopefully I get to enjoy the rest of this pgcy.

csab!! welcome here hun!!

u know what, i think the only perk to a high risk preg is the amount of scans we get!!! i love it, means we can see wormette regulary and i can relax knowing all is travelling along as well as we can expect!!!

Crumpet, woohoo on the cervix. I hope it keeps behaving for you and you get to have3 your stitch in 3 weeks time when the "good" assistant is back
AFM, I had some acupuncture and moxibustion this morning. mainly to see if it helps bub to turn but also I have a pinched nerve above my left buttock and sometimes it pinches really bad and stops me in my tracks. I'm going to have it every 2 weeks from now on and I'm also hoping the acupuncture helps with keeping my Bp at bay too.

thansk hun, im taking it easy so fingers crossed i keep some length in there to make my OBs job that little bit easier!!

ouch!! u poor thing!! i get that here and there and its sooo painful!! lucky we have a good friend who is a osteo so i call on her when im desperate to be able to move properly!! lol......
hope bub turns soon....

u have probably already herd about it but a lot of ppl recommend the spinning babies web site, personally ive never looked at it and havnt needed it, i delivered Gus breech, but im not sure it would be helpful for u??

Great news on the cervix length Crumpet!!! I gained some length betwen 12-16 weeks, then two big loses after that, another smaller loss and sitting jsut over 3.0cm atm with my next scan on Tuesday, so crossing my fingers we haven't lost any more length
AFM having confident and not so confident days, I think it gets worse as I approach each scan, and after I have done a few things around the hosue I then worry should I have not done that..... sigh....

thanks hun!!!
last preg i had a length increase while i was on rest during the 12-14 week mark so hopefully it either stays the same or grows a little bit more.....
oohh ill be thinking of u tuesday!!
my OB was telling me the general rule for IC is if anything is going to happen it will happen between 18-23 weeks, not sure if its true but hopefully thats the case and u are over that hurdle in the next week or so!!!

its such a hard ride a high risk preg..... i know what u mean about the confident and not so confident days, im feeling good atm, ask me again in 2 weeks before im in hospy and it might be a whole different story!!
and having a little person in the house would make it harder to rest, i honestly dont know hoe i would cope with all the resting if i had a child already......

AFM: am starting to adjust my life to rest more than i already do...
my OB is happy im home resting everyday, but ideally would like me to cull ad much actitity as possible over the next few weeks, which means even more for Dh to worry about which = me feeling guilty.....
so ive ordered my groceried online to be delivered, then DH doesnt have to do it after work and i dont have to wander the supermarket....
and ive planned my dinners to make sure its as little standing as possible, things like bologniase in the slow cooker, rissoles i can make sitting down, all that sort of stuff.....
then i only have to go to appts or the chemist for my usual million things!!

hope u have all had a great and un-eventful weekend!

[glamachic]

hi ladies,

im quite new "posting" around here, although i have been reading lots of the information on this FANTASTIC website.

i just wanted to ask a question in relation to this high-risk business.

how did our parents and grand parents do it? i know my mum didnt have any ultrasounds throught both her pregnancies, and she was over weight!!

why is it all of a sudden that we have the bmi (fat) issue and blood pressure issue.

my mum was overweight and gave birth to both me and my brother with a naturopath in 1978 and 1981.

i am just on 14 weeks pregnant, and i have been told by my doctor that i have to lose weight but not from strict dieting, just have to watch what i eat and do some walking daily, and that i am prone to high blood pressure.

how does this make me different from my mum? was blood pressure different back then? or was fat different?

i dont get it!

help!

[Sally2]

Ooooh, great thread idea Beema!

We have been on bed rest from 24 weeks to 30 weeks in Melbourne due to a shortened cervix ( 1.7cm at 24 weeks down to 0.7 at 26 weeks ) and previous pre term labour DS born at 28 weeks.
It's been a hell of a long road, we are at quite a comfortable 33 weeks now, but have been seperated from each other and DS for the last ten weeks, with Sal ( tummy mummy ) in hospital or living in a caravan as she is only allowed to be 15 mins from a tertiary care hospital until this baby is born. Our home town doesn't even have a birthing facilities at the hospital and the nearest bigger hopsital is 45 mins away so going home wasn't a good option.
In hopsital, she was on lots of drugs to try and hold off labour, progesterone & Nifedipine, plus blood thinning drugs to prevent blood clots from not being allowed to walk around, vitamin D because of no sunlight and sleeping tablets, cause sharing a room with ante nates for 6 weeks with crying newborns makes sleeping hard!! Since coming out at 30 weeks, she has been weaned off all of them, with the result that she has been having contractions for nearly FOUR weeks!!! Only last night, we were in the birthing suite because they thought this baby was coming soon!
The contractions have been getting stronger and more regular, when we went in to our appointment last Tuesday she was 1cm dilated with a 'sloppy' cervix, no change for the next few days but increasing intensity with contractions. On Sunday night in ED when they checked, she was 3cm with bulging membranes so they put her in overnight. Contractions all night, irrregular but strong so not much sleep to be had. From 1pm yesterday afternoon, she had regular 3 & 4 minute contractions, quite intense but not so bad she couldn't manage without drugs ( though my wife has an incredible pain threshold ) but as they didn't stop, they moved her to birth suite about 6.30pm saying they would do an internal down there. She was in quite a bit of pain by this stage but confined to bed because of the monitors and given panadeine forte to try and take the edge off and we were just waiting it out to see when this little man was making his appearance.
They didn't do an internal until 11.30pm, even though we'd asked for one before we were moved to birth suite, and found it to be EXACTLY THE SAME! 3cm, bulging membranes. I know it's crazy, as we are still 7 weeks early, but we were soooo upset that this wasn't going to happen in the near future. Our whole lives have been flipped upside down for the last 10 weeks, our son is at home being cared for by his Nana at the moment, we don't get to see him more than once a week as I can't leave Sal alone for any length of time and Nana can't drive in Melbourne so I drive back up there, pick them both up, they stay in the caravan for a couple of days and then I take them back again. It's been really, really hard and as much as we would have loved our full term take home bubba, we made our peace with not being able to have that a long time ago. What we want is two healthy little boys at home and if both our kids have to journey through NICU or special care to get there, then thats how it is. At the moment though, our 19 month old is missing out on both of his Mum's and his little brother should be just fine being born at 33 weeks with no other problems such as IUGR. Sal has been soo strong through this whole thing, making such a huge sacrifice to get our baby boy to this point, where if he's born, he will be okay, and we just want it to be over.

Thanks for reading girls, just really needed to vent to people who don't take it for granted that all pregnancies are straightforward affairs & that everyone gets a take home baby.

Looking forward to following your journeys

[NaeNae]

Just subscribing to this thread will be back later to read properly

[JennaJayen]

Hi guys, I just found this thread.

I'm 7wk 1d preg with Bub #2, and classed as High Risk due to previous C-Sec with my DS, previous early losses (all before 8 weeks), my weight (somewhat overweight... BMI says I'm obese but I don't look it lol) and an issue with my pelvis (I forget the medical name for it) where the lower part of my pelvis is smaller than the upper part (basically meaning the openings that bub's head has to go through) which means that there is approx an 80%+ chance that an average sized bub can't fit it's head out.

I'm aiming for a VBAC this time, but as I was in labour for a total of 41 1/2 hours with DS before he finally came out there is a good chance I'll end up needing another emergency C-Sec.

I look forward to getting to know you all

[natwantsababy]

Hi, I can sympathise with you completely! I am 14weeks and have to go in for surgery in about 3 weeks and have been in and out of hospital for months. I have a tumor on my right ovary, tests have been done for cancer etc and some have come back positive. They have given my baby a 50% chance of survival and i am soo scared! Im angry and concerned and just confused! I cant crawl up in a little ball and cry until i fall asleep as i have a beautiful little boy who needs me and a husband who is trying to support our family both mentally and financially! I need to be strong for this other little bubba inside me who i am not going to give up without a massive fight! You need to stay strong for your sake and your baby's sake!!

As for how i get through each day or week - I cant really tell you an exact answer to that one! I break down from time to time and have a bit of a pitty party and get so angry. I feel so sorry for my poor husband who has to cop the brunt of my out bursts! I think that if you surround yourself with people who are going to put positivity into your life and support you through your worst and rock bottom days that will help you emensely! Unfortunately though some days you will find (well i do at least) that nothing or no one can help you or say anything to make it better! Some days you just need to say 'you know what! this is crap! and i hate this!' and thats ok! Dont feel like you are a failure or any less of a mother, wife, friend or woman if you have a down time/day! Its totally understandable and expected!
Have you thought about seeing someone? Are you seeing the hospital for your care? if so, they have some really good people to talk to that will talk you through it all from both a supportive counsellor stand point and also the medical side of it which can really help sometimes. Sometimes all you need is for someone to be real and drop all the bull! I find sometimes that when people constantly say to me it will get better and its all going to be fine i get so crabby!!! And you know what sometimes you are going to feel like its not getting better and its not going to end but you need to affirm to yourself that hey, it might not get better anytime soon or it may not look that hopefull at the moment but no matter what happens and how things turn out you will get through it!
Sorry if thats a bit full on or direct but its just how i feel and i thought it might help....Maybe.

If it helps also i am a christian woman and i try to draw strength from god and his word. Leaning on that helps emensley! Even if your not really a religious person you may find that just having a few power scriptures will help you and give you peace. let me know if you would like any.

I hope all goes well for you and your bubba and you have a great pregnancy and a healthy little baby!

Best of luck.

xx

[ButterflyForever]

hi all,

thanks ladies for all the well wishes,

crumpet - great news on the scan, 34 weeks is a great gestation to get to. As for the steroids, prepare for a sore butt, biy does that injection hurt, and for several hours after as well.

csab - thanks, scar isn't reguarly measured in people after a section, it's just that I lost my daughter last year to a uterine rupture, so they are being hyper vigilant. My problems at the moment with the scar, are due to imcomplete patching me up after the Op and some of the uterine linng hasn't got adequate blood supply so has thinned out. Glad all going well for you.

Skybie - sorry to hear about all the stress and pregnancy problems you are encountering. It does come as a shock doesn't it, when other pregs have all been good. But I'msure they will do the best by but and you are getting well informed, which is forearmed as they say. Sending hugs.

Jenna - congrats on your little girl.

Beema - thanks for popping in, it is great to hear from you.
My daughter has hypermobility as well, any info you need just pm me.

afm - I'm still bored Tring to rest up but they have major hospital renovations going on, I have a crane, diggers, electric saw and jack hammer outside my window as we speak, joy! Just waiting for the weather to warm up a bit, the workmen might take their shirts off then, the scenery may improve
Had scan yesterday, no real change from the previous week, just taking a weeks at a time.
My friend just had her bub this week, she was admitted the same day as me, into this hospital, after bubs wasn't moving as much and the ctg trace wasn't great. So she had a emergency c-section at 33 weeks. Bubs, a boy, is now in NICU and doing really well, so I popped down yesterday to check him out, awww, so cute. Helped me to see the NICU again before i will be in again with this bub, as her little boy was in the same bay as my daughter that died last year, so needed to get over that hurdle. Happy I can deal with it now.

Take care all