Re: Pain during pregnancy?
From: Rose (tibbett24@aol.com)
Wed Mar 20 13:45:35 2002
At Wed, 20 Mar 2002, cathy:- wrote:
>
>Well the short answer is absolutely yes. The rate of adhesion formation
>after c-sections is estimated by various sources to be between 50% and
>100%. Even if it is "only" 50% that means that there are a LOT of
>pregnant women out there who have pelvises that look like an explosion
>in the glue factory.
>
>It's a pretty good bet that another c-section will make your adhesion
>problems worse, so getting pregnant means that you are taking the risk
>of needing another c-section. It's definitely something to think about.
>The probability of having a repeat c vs a vbac is surely affected by the
>opinions and attitudes of your caregivers -- compare a midwife or ob
>with a strong committment to vbacs to an ob who thinks you are cute and
>delusional for wanting one and will circle vulture-like just waiting for
>an excuse to do another c-section.
>
>As for specific things that can physically go wrong with a pregnancy or
>labor because of adhesions, there I only have my own opinions. With my
>vbac I had a grueling 52-hour non-progressing back labor because my
>daughter was "sunnyside up." The "right" position for labor is not only
>head down, but with the baby facing your spine. (Actually, the ideal
>position is turned slightly to one side, I don't remember which) The way
>that the baby gets into this position is that the uterus has a
>particular shape and the baby fits best in that particular spot. If the
>uterus' shape is not right, then the baby can be more or less out of the
>best position, and the labor contractions do not put the maximum force
>in exacty the right spot and the right direction in order to work most
>efficiently in getting the cervix to dilate. There are a whole bunch of
>"tricks" that some midwifes and very few doctors know that will help to
>get a posterior baby to turn, which I found a good year after my
>daughter was born. In my case an epidural administered 48 hours after I
>started labor weakened the contractions enough to let the baby back up a
>bit and she turned as she came back down and I went from 5.5 to 10 cm in
>basically one contraction. I was unusually lucky, though. What usually
>happens when the baby is wedged in there like that is that they give you
>pitocin and the baby has no chance to move at all and after the labor
>stalls for awhile then they move you to the OR and give you a fresh
>batch of adhesions to go with your new baby...
>
>My first child was NOT sunnyside up -- my membranes ruptured before my
>cervix was ready to dilate and after 24 hours the doc declared "times
>up" and I went to the OR. I have no proof, but I believe that the
>adhesions from the c-section pulled my uterus out of shape and caused my
>2nd child to be posterior. And I was just really lucky that the
>epidural had the effect it did, because after 48 hours of labor,
>delirious from the pain from about hour 42 to hour 48, I was definitely
>on the c-section fast-track, and that was really my last shot.
>
>So I would say that yes, there is a good chance that another pregnancy
>will be complicated by your adhesions, but on the other hand there are
>millions of women out there every year who are pregnant, with severe
>adhesions, and they do just fine and go on to have uncomplicated vaginal
>deliveries. Your odds are not as good as the mom with no adhesions, but
>they aren't bad odds, either.
>
>At Wed, 20 Mar 2002, Rose wrote:
>>
>>If you could please respond to my one question I have? Women who have
>>mild or severe pelvic adhesions, can they carry a fetus to full term and
>>if so could it be painful during the pregnancy or cause more adhesions
>>if a cesarean is performd?
>>I'm 24 and had a cesarean with my daughter four years ago and had a
>>revision done on my incision (to heal inside out), that's when my
>>problems started with adhesions. They did laparoscopic surgery and
>>diagnosed me with mild pelvic adhesion disease. The pain came back much
>>worse within six months. Today my pain is getting the best of me. I
>>would like to have another chid but am afraid of the pain I may have
>>during or after the pregnancy. If you have the time to respond I would
>>greatly appreciate your opinion.
>>
>>With great thanks,
>>Rose
>
>--
>cathy :-)
Cathy,
Thank you for your time and opinion. I will be reading into more
message boards for more information. Looks like I have a lot of
decisions to make. First step is to find a good Doc. Again, please
know how much I appreciate your response.
With great thanks,
Rose
>