Kids, or no kids...?

[Laura]

I have IBS and to try to control it a little, I've left out all dairy products except butter (acupuncturist's suggestion). I have soya stuff instead, which is much healthier. So you could try replacing cream with soya cream to make your food healthier. I'm refusing to believe that chocolate has dairy in it, though, so my diet isn't going so well... O_o

Btw, I was thinking about messaging you anyway today. I've been reading a book called Disabled Woman's Guide to Pregnancy and Birth, which has been very interesting so far. Some of the advice isn't terribly applicable since I don't need to use a wheel chair (yet) but it covers all the areas normal pregnancy books cover (healthy eating, trimesters, labour, c-section, post-partum etc) but also considers difficulties that people with disabilities encounter. It is written by an American, so some of the advice doesn't really apply to us (eg medical insurance stuff) but I'm glad I bought it anyway. If you're interested, you should be able to find it on Amazon.

It would be very cool to be able to swap pregnancy stories next year.

[Tess]

Oh yeah, I didn't think of trying soya cream, I'll have to give it a go. I don't have IBS, but i do get mild symptoms from time to time, so try to eat reasonably healthy, but I'm a chocoholic too!
Thanks for that, I'll keep an eye out for that book too then - add it to my ever growing list! hehe.
Let me know how you get on with everything.

[Laura]

The What to Expect Before Expecting'and the Disabled Woman's Guide to Pregnancy and Birth are the only books I've got so far (aside from my OH's Bloke's Guide to Pregnancy), so if you come across something that you think is useful, I've be very interested to hear about it. I've got the whole of this year to do research, but I'm not always sure what kind of books would benefit me most. Also, apparently eating chocolate doesn't count as research...

I've had two classes of zumba recently (pilates class is on holiday), which is insane, I know, but it seems like such a good form of exercise that surely it would be a great help with losing weight. Sadly my joints don't seem to agree, but I think I'll keep on trying.

Oh, also, I read somewhere that apparently prenatal vitamins cause constipation. This is in addition to all my other drugs having the same side effect, so as you can probably imagine, I'm not too pleased about that. But I figured that it's a mild inconvenience compared to what pregnancy is likely to do to me so I might as well just put up with it...

[Tess]

I haven't tried Zumba, but my (non-bendy) friend loves it!
Yeah, will def let you know if i find any good pregnancy books. I have only got the 'what to expect' one at the moment - the rest of my list waiting to be read includes a Brad Tinkle book on hypermobility (just finished the Isobel Knight one), an autobiography, and a couple of whole series of books recommended by a friend! And i've just ordered the Rodney Grahame Physiotherapy one from the library, so i've got enough reading to keep me going til xmas i think! lol.

[Laura]

That's an impressive list! I've got the Hypermobility, Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain book, which was really interesting to read. It also explains an awfully lot about me...

There is also this website http://www.choicesforbirth.org/index.php that has a set of 25 leaflets about various aspects of pregnancy. I'm going to get them, but I'm holding off for the time being, in case they are updated between now and when we start trying next year.

[Laura]

Yay. I've just had a pain clinic appointment and I mentioned that we might try for a baby next year and that I was concerned about pain management. The doctor very helpfully said that I could have paracetamol if I really wanted to, but basically I should expect to be in excruciating agony for nine months. He did point out that it would only be nine months of my life, which is further proof that he is an idiot, as I think trying for the baby and breast feeding might take a bit of time too. That was definitely worth sitting in a waiting room for an hour.

[Laura]

Well, it's been pretty much exactly a year since my husband and I first talked about the possibility of having a baby, and now we're officially trying! It's been an emotional rollercoaster of a year, but I'm glad to say that I'm doing much better now than I was a year ago. Active pain management has done wonders to my pain levels and coming off my high dose of Tramadol turned out to be very easy and much quicker than I expected (I'm still on Ami, though, and have Co-Codamol for acute pain). I finished a course of physio and then continued from that to their clinical pilates course, has turned out to be great exercise despite the occasional subluxed shoulder or hip. I've also been seeing a psychologist for about 5 months now, who has helped me to work through my fears re the pregnancy and my HMS, and shown me just how hard on myself I am. She seems to have her work cut out for her, so I expect I'll keep seeing her until September.

Deciding to wait a year before trying for a baby was one of the wisest things my OH and I ever did, as I now feel physically and emotionally ready to cope with the ups and downs of pregnancy and motherhood. The main problem I have now is that I'm not very good at waiting patiently for the required time to pass before doing a pregnancy test!

Laura

[claz_b]

What a thread and very interesting some downright scary in places however, I am one of those people who try to have the ostrich effect as we call it in our house (i.e.) burying my head in the sand. With mad moments of panic in between where I think what the hell am I going to do when I have someone else to look after when (he looks more like a potential rugby player!) but stern words from the hubby remind me that we all adapt seen many tv programmes on parenting with disabilities and on one they compared parenting skills and disabled parents came out better and more consistent in discipline etc

However my husband reminds me that a baby needs to be loved by its parents formost and everything can be sorted with support from him and family and friends.

Good luck to Laura keep us posted

[Rosie]

Hi all

For those of you with children or who are pregnant or hoping to be soon, so have a look at the Disabled Parents Network as they have some good advice and ideas.

Rosie