One major consequence of having lupus related to my decision not to breastfeed. How has lupus affected your life as a new mother? My lupus symptoms are still in remission, although just recently starting to come back but not nearly as bad. Afterward, my recovery went smoothly.Įverything else has gone great. Also, I lost more blood than normal and ended up on the high-risk post-partum floor. I couldn’t get the epidural until about 9:30am, later than I wanted it. I began pushing at 12pm on Saturday and had Rylan an hour later. But contractions started and I only made it to 3 doses- then I dilated from less than 1 cm to 5 in 1.5 hours. The plan was to take 7 or more doses of Cytotec before starting Pitocin. My labor went much faster than anticipated by me or the doctors. I went into the hospital at 1pm on Friday and was told it would take until Sunday afternoon. The plan was to start with a pill delivered every 4 hours to ripen my cervix and then administering Pitocin to start the contractions. Eventually, it was safer to deliver than continue the pregnancy.
My amniotic fluid levels were dropping every time I went in. How was your birth experience?Īt my 37 week checkup, they decided to have me check into the hospital to be induced. I would my levels checked every 3-4 weeks and increased the dose as necessary. The other issue I did not anticipate was the complications with my seizures due to lupus.Įven though my seizures have been under control for years with the same medication, my dose would need to steadily increase during my pregnancy so that my levels stayed the same. I was told that whether or not there were complications yet I would probably be induced around 39 weeks if I had not already given birth due to the potential complications. They were also checking more often because my placenta was covering my cervix but that was not due to lupus. The risks associated with lupus were developing preeclampsia, issues with the placenta that would prevent the baby from receiving enough nutrients and oxygen, and low levels of amniotic fluid. This was definitely annoying but made me feel more secure that they were being cautious. Starting at 32 weeks I would go in twice weekly, once for a NST (neonatal stress test) and once for an ultrasound. Since my pregnancy was considered high risk, I had many more doctors appointments than I would have normally. I did not realize that I would be considered high risk and that there would be risks to the baby. Were there any complications during your pregnancy with lupus?īefore getting pregnant I had focused more on the fear of lupus affecting my fertility and then my excitement of going into remission. However, once I was pregnant I was very happy to be off medication and feeling better. I did have to go off of my of my medications while I was trying to get pregnant and therefore my symptoms were worse during this time. I was VERY happy when I found that I felt much better during pregnancy than I had previously! Of course, I had pregnancy symptoms but I found those much easier to deal with than my symptoms before pregnancy. I ended up not having issues getting pregnant (it took about 3 months). He explained that many women with lupus go into remission during pregnancy. I heard conflicting opinions among doctors on whether lupus would affect my fertility. Initially, I was also concerned with how my pregnancy would be affected.Īfter speaking with my rheumatologist I was more hopeful. I was definitely concerned about lupus affecting my ability to get pregnant.
How was the beginning of your pregnancy journey? I do not currently know any other mothers or potential mothers with lupus. Despite how common it is, the disease is unpredictable and poorly understood. It affects 5 million people around the world, with 16,000 new cases reported each year. Lupus is an autoimmune disease, meaning your immune system attacks your own tissues and organs. In this post, Haley tells us about her experience with lupus during pregnancy and after her daughter’s birth. But having lupus further heightens Haley’s challenges. The intense and exhausting challenges of raising a newborn are, of course, difficult for all parents. Haley Dorfman is a new mother to a beautiful little girl.
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