Hello folks!
I would love to get any feedback at all regarding anyone who had to resort to an emergency c-section as a result of MS symptoms / damage.
I’m currently 32 weeks pregnant and at the point of having to think about a birth plan, not that any medical bods have spoken to me about this, they seem far too chilled and laid back to have not even discussed it considering how far gone I am.
And I have some concerns that will affect my choice… but am getting mixed information from everyone about these, if they can be bothered to take me seriously at all that is.
Believe it or not, I’m totally chilled about the whole birth thing, it’ll come out one way or another and the chances are it’ll be fine… but if I don’t at least consider the situation sensibly and do what I can to help my baby come out ok, I also know I’ll never forgive myself.
So, my RRMS is largely under control and inactive… however I still have damage may never now repair, and because I have heat sensitivity, even now, past damage shows up at the slightest increase in temperature.
My current ongoing issues that I worry about affecting a ‘natural’ vaginal birth:
Massive fatigue - if I can stay awake for three hours at a go without needing a brain restart it’s an exceptional day. - Yet the active part of labor is an average of eight hours. I am concerned that even with ‘management’ during labor, I am currently not in a fit state to consider it.
Lack of signal reaching bowels / reduced sensitivity to genitals / abdomen - It’s all very well saying (Like one nurse recently did) that labor is a primeval, natural response, but so is pooping, and I can’t manage that. Even with a cabbage / sprout / fibre and water rich diet, it’s rare that I can go without using a suppository or softener. I’m not being daft, I wait for days for something to happen naturally before reaching for the assistance; and even then, they aren’t guaranteed to do much if anything at tall. Whilst my bowels aren’t my uterus, I can’t help but be concerned that I won’t be able to do without issue, what would be needed, I don’t feel much in that area nowadays at all.
Temperature changes - When I get warm, I get issues. It doesn’t take much, menstrual periods set me off, a slightly warm day, a too hot shower. I get more stressed / anxious / emotional. The signal from my eyes seem to reach my brain at a different speeds, leaving me ‘seeing’ but unable to translate what I’m seeing until my brain can adjust - this can take a long while to level out. I get cognitive issues, speech, thought, language, understanding. I get foot drop, and all sorts of other wonderful things like swallowing fun. On the reverse side of this, I also have Raynauds, which since pregnant has leapt in severity, so I also can’t get too cold, which can cause birth complications in it’s own right.
I spent 20 years desperate for kids, and whilst, Yay!, Boo, because I’m a lot older now and at 40 have added risks there.
When I’ve tried to voice these concerns to all of the medical people, they’ve just dismissed them. “Oh, MS doesn’t affect pregnancy” Well, no, it’s not the MS itself, but the damaged body that MS has left me with. Or, “As an MS nurse, I’ve never come across anyone who had to have an emergency c-section because of MS” …
Well, being one of the worlds social recluses, I have no friends and the smallest group of acquaintances that it’s possible to get, AND YET the partner of one of these few individuals, has MS and had to have an emergency C-Section because of fatigue, so it’s far from something that NEVER happens.
I’m just looking for some personal experiences, did you have similar symptoms and cope with natural birth fine? Did you have to have an emergency c-section?
At the moment, with the remarkable lack of information other than personal opinion, I have no idea what I should be looking at.
With many thanks, good health and love to all,
Genna