A POSITIVE and HAPPY Pregnancy

I am pregnant. I have a heart condition, a hostile uterus, a history of miscarriage, and sometimes both my glucose and my blood pressure drop too low.  I am completely off my heart medication because it is unsafe for my baby.  All of this combines to make a high risk patient.

High risk sounds scary.  It sounds scarier than it is, especially to my loved ones.  They hear "high risk" and  immediately think "death!"  Well no one is dying here!  Not today. Not because of this pregnancy.  Take a deep breath, people.  If your loved one is also high risk then please take a deep breath before you freak out.  High risk doesn't mean "death."  High risk really means "caution."  It means you'll have to take a few extra precautionary steps to try to make sure your baby is healthy, and you are healthy.  It's not the end of the world.

At the beginning of my pregnancy I was put on rather serious activity restrictions similar to bed rest. I couldn't get up and move around a lot because my heart beats way too fast without my medication.  My body is accustomed to the rapid heartbeat.  I've had a rapid heartbeat all my life.  My heart rate is certainly higher off my meds and it is high enough to make me uncomfortable.  But it isn't particularly dangerous to me most of the time.  However, for most of the first trimester it was dangerous for my baby.  A baby's heart doesn't develop enough to beat on its own until 5 weeks, and it doesn't stop being affected by the mother's heart rate until much later in the first trimester.  So I had to be still for several weeks so my baby's heart didn't beat too fast.

Towards the end of the first trimester my restrictions were lifted and I was told I could resume normal activity as long as I "took it easy."  I was also warned not to lift anything weighing more than 10 pounds.  To make a long story short, that precaution is in place simply because I miscarried previously.  If I lift more than 10 pounds I'm not going to die. I probably won't even go into preterm labor.  But the medical community's philosophy is better safe than sorry, and in this instance I'll err on the side of caution.

I threw up the entire first 16 weeks.  I lost 10 pounds.  I've only gained 2.5 back so far.  People are totally wigging out about that.  I was too, initially.  However, neither my amazing midwife nor my Maternal Fetal Specialist see any cause for concern just yet.  The baby is on target for growth and is just fine.  

I had my 5 month visit two days ago.  The baby's heart is beating at a perfect 140 beats per minute (completely separate from my own racing heart beat) and everything appears perfectly healthy and normal.  The only hiccup in my otherwise great exam?  I have a little bit of mild spotting.  So as a precaution against possible preterm labor I've been put back on temporary bed rest.  If all of the spotting has ceased by Monday then I can resume normal "taking it easy" activity.  The spotting has already stopped.  The continued best rest is a precaution.  People who love us are freaking out again.  There's no need to freak out.  I"m not sick. I'm pregnant.  I'm not in preterm labor--this is a precaution against preterm labor.  This happens to perfectly healthy women.  It's nothing to panic over. I'm pretty sure if I went into preterm labor I would know it. LOL!

I can see how it would be easy to get caught up in all of this high risk stuff. I can see how it would be easy to focus on all these precautions most women don't have to take and label them "negative" and "worrisome."   But please don't do that.

This is not a negative experience for myself or my husband, and we certainly don't want it to be a negative experience for anyone else.  This is a positive and happy experience for us!  This is our miracle!  We didn't think we could even get pregnant, and we certainly didn't think we could get pregnant without seeing a fertility specialist! We had even been referred to a fertility specialist to learn about IVF and had an appointment for this summer when we found out we were pregnant.  Medical science says this pregnancy shouldn't even be possible with my mushy uterus!  So this is a GOOD thing!

We are really happy.  We are not dwelling on the extra "better safe than sorry" precautions I have to take.  We're dwelling on the miracle of LIFE growing inside my womb, a LIFE that science says shouldn't even be possible.  We're dwelling on the first time I felt our baby tumble around inside my tummy.  We're dwelling on the first time Kenneth was able to feel the baby kick (2 days ago, by the way), and the joy that brought with it!

We are happy and blessed and reveling in a miracle! If you love us then you should be too.  Don't make my pregnancy and this miracle baby a negative, scary experience for yourself!  It's not negative or scary!  It's amazing and wonderful and blissful and fantastic!   So revel in the joy of this pregnancy and the new baby you'll get to meet this fall!  Focus on that because that's what really matters!