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My synopsis of Trimesters 1 & 2
I started this community to help future expectant moms on WeAreFibro. When I was trying to get pregnant I discovered that there has been VERY little formal research done on how pregnancy affects fibromyalgia and vice versa.
25 months ago
While the fibromyalgia community is vast, I was not able to find more than 3 people on various networking/forum sites who had fibromyalgia BEFORE they got pregnant. I think this is because there are so many women who are not diagnosed or who experience severe symptoms of FM until they are in their forties or fifties. For patients like me, who have had it since they were teenagers or young adults, we are getting hard hit with severe pain and fatigue now in our thirties. I waited a long time to have children, in fact spent years thinking I was not strong enough to have them because of my condition.
Trimester 1 synopsis
I was lucky to get pregnant after years of infertiliy via IVF (in vitro fertilization). I had no problems on any of the fertility medications. In fact, I was on a steroid during ovarian stimulation which helped both my pain and fatigue by about 25%.
I met with OB 3 weeks after learning I was pregnant. I was 6 weeks along at that point. He was familiar with FM and CFS and had no theories on the cause of our conditions. He said that I may feel better while pregnant because I would be so happy to be pregnant. Again, this is a mind-over-body thing that works for some people and not everyone. I remained optomistic and did have a few days where I was so overjoyed about the life inside me that it eased pain and I had more productive days. I slept about 10 hours a night (fibro-sleep mind you, I did not get restorative sleep and was up several times a night changing position and woke up still very tired). I napped every day for 2-3 hours. I was able to make my own dinner about 2 nights a week and go shopping about once a week. I did not have morning sickness and gained 6lbs. I definitely did not have an increase in pain. It was exactly the same (level 6 on a typical day) and reached 8 as usual when I didn't get enough sleep, it rained or I pushed myself too hard. My blood pressure remained normal (120/70) and I had no health problems (other than FM, asthma and fatigue).
Trimester 2
I had a bit more energy (was able go most days without a nap after 12 hours of non-restorative sleep) and pain remained level 6-8 daily.
I gained a decent amount of weight unfortunately, by the end I had gained 23lbs since finding out I was pregnant.
I had no health problems other than FM, asthma and fatigue. I did not experience depression.
Baby kicking does not hurt, as I thought it might because of FM. I like it very much and feel very connected to him.
I did experience uninary incontinence for about 2 weeks, around weeks 16-18. I think this was because of the baby's position or changes that were happening structurally to me.
I got headaches every day that were relieved by 1 regular strength Tylenol. This went on for about 3 weeks, week 21-24.
I am a few days away from my 3rd Trimester. I have to say that FM and pregnancy do not seem to butt heads and I am thankful for that. We'll see how the next few weeks go (13 to be exact) and if FM has any effect on labor and delivery.
I do think the hardest part is yet to come and that the demands of raising a child will be very hard on my body.
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