I have fibromyalgia / TMJ / neck and shoulder problems. I've had them for about 8-9 years; my first daughter was born 5+ years ago, and the fibromyalgia symptoms have gotten worse since then.
I went to 42 weeks and then the OB had them break my water at the hospital with the first (I was dilated to 9 cm when I went in). The labor started so painfully and so intensely right away that I went for pain medication much, much sooner than I thought I'd ever want to. I was thinking that I'd try not to. There were also some situational things that contributed to my not feeling a ton of "ownership" of the birth experience (family dynamics) so I think I caved a little bit because of that too... Anyway, I got an epidural and then labor slowed waaay down. Then more meds and pushing for 2 hours.. I started to get a fever before I started pushing, and ended up with a fever -- of 107 degrees F! The baby had a fever of 105 - there were a few intense minutes after she was born when they were checking to see if she was ok, and she was. In fact they saw no adverse effects in her and mine were only mild (too much bleeding afterward, feeling really awful for a while in the aftermath of the fever, and the worst coldsore I've ever had in my life), but they gave us both IV antibiotics, and kept her in the NICU part-time for 3 days. Basically, the kind of medical-intervention cascade that I learned about in my women's studies "health & your body" class.
It only just occurred to me that maybe the reason labor came on so intensely for me is that I have fibro. If, as at least one theory has it, fibro amplifies the pain signals in a person's body, so that less-intense pain actually feels way more intense than it is physiologically warranted to.
So.... now I am 20 weeks pregnant with baby girl #2, and am feeling the fibro worse than I was back then. The family dynamics involved last time won't be an issue this time (because that person won't be here, and I am more assertive than I was back then). There are still some stressors making it hard for me to really rest and relax (no money, working full time and dissertating, husband struggling with illness, a 5-year-old), although the pregnancy is going fine. (I was feeling sort of "disconnected" from the baby only a week ago but am feeling pretty good about it now - having an ultrasound helped.)
But now I'm worried about labor. I really don't want to have the epidural and the possibility of that bad of a fever again. But the more I think about it, the more worried I am that I won't be able to get through labor without pain relief. I am going to a midwives' clinic this time instead of to an OB, (with whom I never clicked the first time, and who was only there for 15 minutes anyway) so that might help some. I'm a little nervous about how supportive my husband will be able to be if he's still feeling so ill (he also has a chronic disease with intermittent flareups). I'm not very physically fit - wasn't really before I got pregnant, especially in the last couple of years - and am overweight. What if I can't do it?
I guess I just want to see if anyone has had good experiences with fibromyalgia and birth, or ideas about planning / preparing for the birth to make it the most positive experience I can. Sorry for the venting - I think there's more angst built up around this issue than I realized!
I went to 42 weeks and then the OB had them break my water at the hospital with the first (I was dilated to 9 cm when I went in). The labor started so painfully and so intensely right away that I went for pain medication much, much sooner than I thought I'd ever want to. I was thinking that I'd try not to. There were also some situational things that contributed to my not feeling a ton of "ownership" of the birth experience (family dynamics) so I think I caved a little bit because of that too... Anyway, I got an epidural and then labor slowed waaay down. Then more meds and pushing for 2 hours.. I started to get a fever before I started pushing, and ended up with a fever -- of 107 degrees F! The baby had a fever of 105 - there were a few intense minutes after she was born when they were checking to see if she was ok, and she was. In fact they saw no adverse effects in her and mine were only mild (too much bleeding afterward, feeling really awful for a while in the aftermath of the fever, and the worst coldsore I've ever had in my life), but they gave us both IV antibiotics, and kept her in the NICU part-time for 3 days. Basically, the kind of medical-intervention cascade that I learned about in my women's studies "health & your body" class.
It only just occurred to me that maybe the reason labor came on so intensely for me is that I have fibro. If, as at least one theory has it, fibro amplifies the pain signals in a person's body, so that less-intense pain actually feels way more intense than it is physiologically warranted to.
So.... now I am 20 weeks pregnant with baby girl #2, and am feeling the fibro worse than I was back then. The family dynamics involved last time won't be an issue this time (because that person won't be here, and I am more assertive than I was back then). There are still some stressors making it hard for me to really rest and relax (no money, working full time and dissertating, husband struggling with illness, a 5-year-old), although the pregnancy is going fine. (I was feeling sort of "disconnected" from the baby only a week ago but am feeling pretty good about it now - having an ultrasound helped.)
But now I'm worried about labor. I really don't want to have the epidural and the possibility of that bad of a fever again. But the more I think about it, the more worried I am that I won't be able to get through labor without pain relief. I am going to a midwives' clinic this time instead of to an OB, (with whom I never clicked the first time, and who was only there for 15 minutes anyway) so that might help some. I'm a little nervous about how supportive my husband will be able to be if he's still feeling so ill (he also has a chronic disease with intermittent flareups). I'm not very physically fit - wasn't really before I got pregnant, especially in the last couple of years - and am overweight. What if I can't do it?
I guess I just want to see if anyone has had good experiences with fibromyalgia and birth, or ideas about planning / preparing for the birth to make it the most positive experience I can. Sorry for the venting - I think there's more angst built up around this issue than I realized!
