Pregnancy and Hypermobility

I have Hypermobility Syndrome (HMS), HEDS or EDS3 depending on which specialist you speak to. I was initially diagnosed at 19 after a lifetime of hip difficulties that up until I was 18 were easily solved by a course of anti-inflamitories, it was always referred to as growing pains, though mum did mention an occasion when it was suggested to be infantile arthritis, extensive tests at 18 ruled out arthritis of any kind.

Once I was finally diagnosed (by a Rheumatoid Specialist who was quite upset hat I'd seemingly been hiding my condition from my doctors up until this point) I spent 3 years on various cocktails of medication to get my pain and joints in general back under control. I have good days and bad days (and sometimes bad months) but it's been a long while since I've tried to get out of bed and found that my hips can't take my weight, since my ever patient partner has had to carry me to the bathroom because I can't physically get there, and I just about manage to maintain a retail job on shop floor.

Pregnancy however means that I can't take any of my medication, and I have to control the condition pretty much entirely by being careful. When I was pregnant with Boo my symptoms actually improved substantially, I was bendy, but otherwise almost normal, it's unusual but not unheard of.

This time has been a lot more difficult, not least because I'm chasing a two year old round, and I started to suffer with SPD fairly early on. I work weekends, so Mondays are pretty much written off, if a family member can't be around to look after Boo on Monday she and I have a PJ day on the sofa with plenty of TV and food that I can easily prepare from packets without having to be on my feet too long.

Because the condition is genetic, it could be passed onto my children, we won't know for certain until they're bigger, but Boo is definitely 'bendier' than the other toddlers we know.

But what does HMS mean for pregnancy besides this?

Well firstly the condition is thought to potentially effect the cervix, I could go into labour early, though with Boo my cervix refused to dilate when I was induced despite some pretty cracking contractions and then changed it's mind, going from 1cm to 10cm in the time it took someone to run me a bath. This could have just been my bodies reaction to being induced or a one off, but like a lot of things, we won't know until I have this baby, so everyone is on standby to drop everything and get me to the hospital the second twinges start if I'm not induced, after all wandering round the hospital whilst everything's closed in the dead of night seems preferable to giving birth in the car on the way there because we've left it too long.

Next with HMS anaesthetics don't necessarily play nicely, they can be slow to take effect, not work or run out quicker. I had an anaesthetic review to discuss this this time round, but last time it was scheduled for after my rather sudden induction, so we avoided anaesthetics all together to avoid the situation. We have a plan this time for the order we'll try things in dependant on whether I have a vaginal birth or a c-section, but we do know that I have no unusual interactions with general anaesthetic courtesy of an operation I had in my teens.

Because there is an effect on tissue, specifically with regards to labour on tissue healing, stitches need to be deeper than normal and stay in longer, which means things get a bit interesting with c-sections and episiotomies once I'm numbed down or knocked out for the procedure to happen.

it's also even more essential that people with my condition do their pelvic floor exercises to avoid prolapse and all the other fun things that result from weak pelvic floors, I completely failed at this after Boo's birth, and my pelvic floor has pretty much packed up and moved out this pregnancy, liners are my friend!

Post birth with Boo my symptoms got very bad very quickly, once I stopped breast feeding I went back onto Tramadol for the pain, and I needed all the family support I could get as I had more than my share of fatigue.

All in all HMS can make pregnancy and birth that little bit more fun, but knowing your body and your limits is key, and there's no replacement for hands on friends and family.

#Pregnancy #HMS #HEDS #EDS3 #HypermobilitySyndrome