Category: Fibro Mama Pregnancy Book

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Fibro Parents Survey Results & Big News about Pregnancy and Fibromyalgia Book

As I have indicated earlier, I didn’t quite feel like I had finished with the release of my book Fibro Mama Pregnancy and Fibromyalgia. There were some chapters missing. So I did some research and added a few extra chapters like Pain Management for Fibromyalgia in Pregnancy, Fertility and Fibromyalgia and Labour and Fibromyalgia. I also felt like we needed to hear from other parents who have done this journey, so I created a second survey Fibro Parents Pregnancy and Fibromyalgia Survey 2018.
Affiliate notice: Please note that some of my links are affiliate links, I may make a small commission if you make a purchase at no extra cost to you.
call for info
I sent it out to my social media networks and received 20 amazing responses. Here is a summary (the rest is included in the updated edition of Fibro Mama Pregnancy and Fibromyalgia, more information about that below).

Responses

100% of respondents had Fibromyalgia. 70% found their pain worse during pregnancy. 35% took no medication during pregnancy, 25% took paracetamol/acetaminophen, 20% took medicines not directly related to Fibromyalgia, 10% took Gabapentin, 5% took an antidepressant and 5% took anti nausea medicine.
The most popular natural pain relief mechanism was heat: warm showers/baths and heat packs, with rest a close second. Epsom salts, chiropractic care, massage, ice pack and essential oils all received mentions too.
Now we got some amazing advice from these fibro parents, I include most of them in the book and three below:

Caroline’s advice

How did you manage your pain/fatigue during pregnancy?
Showers, massage, physical therapy, rest
How did you manage in those early weeks with baby?
Lots of help, showers
Do you have any advice for other fibro parents about parenting with fibromyalgia?
Pay attention to the weather as it greatly affects fibro. Watch your diet, plan your days according to the weather, how much sleep you got, and what you eat. Nap at least once a day with your little ones.

Elizabeth’s advice

How did you manage your pain/fatigue during pregnancy?
I survived 3 pregnancies through pure determination, lots of essential oils, rest and help from friends and family. Finding a good doctor that understands that a chronic pain body’s endorphins do not actually help with the pain is paramount. (This can be frustrating and difficult). Make sure you don’t give into your cravings because often they will make your fibro flare.
How did you manage in those early weeks with baby?
Casseroles and family. Accept all the help that is offered and if you need more, ask! Most people don’t want to step on toes but are more than happy to help, especially if there’s a new baby. 🙂 It’s ok if your house isn’t spick and span. If the laundry is washed, that can be good enough. Use paper plates to cut down on dishes. Be nice to yourself!! Cut yourself extra slack.
Do you have any advice for other fibro parents about parenting with fibromyalgia?
Teach your children to be super helpers!

Hannah’s advice

How did you manage your pain/fatigue during pregnancy?
Chiropractor, massage, acupuncture, and sleep/rest
How did you manage in those early weeks with baby?
Lots of help from family and husband, found breastfeeding very tiring and strain on neck and back so had to use support aids or lay in bed to feed. Naps when baby napped were crucial. Treated myself to dark chocolate or some snack as often as possible while feeding baby so I was doing self-care. Gentle walks and yoga were good too.
Do you have any advice for other fibro parents about parenting with fibromyalgia?
You can’t pour from an empty cup but with fibromyalgia you almost always feel empty, but you can do this. Remember self-care is taking care of your baby in long run and that you know what works and is right for you so please take all advice on board but don’t think it’s the law and has to be used. Also mother groups it’s okay to not like them I hated them or didn’t find the right mums doesn’t mean you’re alone though we fibromyalgia are probably all just online so talk to us! I also think this time round I’m writing a list of helpful jobs people can do for me with as I found it difficult asking for help and people may not know what to offer and you might be so tired in pain you can’t properly communicate. So I’m hoping just having a help task list might be a good compromise. It also something my husband a toddler can learn to look at together on weekends maybe.
I can’t thank the people who took the time to respond to the survey enough for their time and answers.

Big Announcement

definitive edition pregnancy and fibro.png
It’s time to announce that my extended edition of Pregnancy and Fibromyalgia is now live! It includes everything from before (with extra content) plus the additional THREE chapters (one of these is a big chapter on pain management) and the results of this survey with the case studies from other fibro parents. I have also added to the list of natural pain relief mechanisms significantly. You can head on over to Amazon and order it now! For this week it will be on special (it depends on your currency, so head on over to check out the price for where you are). From April 7 the new price come into effect.
There, I feel content. If I never write another word about pregnancy and Fibromyalgia again, I feel satisfied I have told you all I can.

 

For more information:

Take the learning further with my course, available for free with the option to buy the workbook and/or Pregnancy and Fibromyalgia book!

Pregnancy and Fibro eCourse

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Precious Knowledge for other Fibro Parents

In my quest to unearth further information and present it to those of us who need it, I am gathering a survey of fibro parents about pregnancy and early parenting for inclusion in my updated book and on the blog. 

Pregnancy and Fibro
My first book is available on Amazon now
I thought my mission would be complete upon the publication of my book Fibro Mama Pregnancy and Fibromyalgia last November and the eCourse of the same name. But, alas, there is more information needed and I have taken the call to seek it out. Particularly in the areas of fertility, pain relief, labour and the fourth trimester (early months).
 
I’d be super grateful if you wanted to share your hard earned knowledge about pregnancy, nursing and parenting with fibromyalgia. This survey is just nine questions on areas we desperately need information on. Of particular importance are the three questions where you can give a paragraph on what you’d tell another fibro parent just starting their journey on the areas of pregnancy, the early weeks and parenting.
There are also a couple of questions about pain management mechanisms you enacted.
 
Every drop of information counts for those of us fighting to live as well as possible while pregnant and parenting with Fibromyalgia.
 
Please feel free to share this to get this spread as wide as possible. The more respondents, the more information we receive!
 
Click to take the survey here.
call for info.jpgThank you in advance for contributing to the mission, I will let you know the results of the survey.

For more information about pregnancy and Fibromyalgia:

Find my pregnancy diaries from my second pregnancy, in 2016.
Find my book Fibro Mama Pregnancy and Fibromyalgia AVAILABLE HERE

For access to my free resource page, sign up here. This includes templates, reports and my free microcourse Pregnancy and Fibromyalgia: Arm Yourself with Knowledge will be up there shortly.
Enroll in my eCourse Pregnancy with Fibromyalgia here.
Join the group Pregnancy and Fibromyalgia on Facebook, we chat about pregnancy, nursing and parenting with Fibromyalgia.

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Fibro Mama Pregnancy and Fibromyalgia is on Sale! One Week Special

Just a quick note to let you know that my book, Fibro Mama Pregnancy and Fibromyalgia is on special starting today at just .99 cents! And it will slowly return to normal price in increments until the 12th of January. So get in quick!
Pregnancy and Fibro
On Sale on Amazon now!

So if you were curious about what pregnancy might be like with Fibromyalgia, how nursing might go and wanted some tips about each trimester of pregnancy, the first six weeks, nursing, and parenting then head on over to Amazon. My book is only one of two books about this, so I’m really proud to provide some information in an otherwise nearly blank space.

Don’t forget to check out my Pregnancy Diaries page for all of my pregnancy diaries from when I was pregnant with Wyatt last year. I also include the birth story and a diary entry from the first month.

I also provide free resources on my page of the same name – eResources that I have made for you, some key chronic illness blogs and my favourite books (these links are to Goodreads).

May I ask you a favour? After you’ve read my book could you please leave a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads? This way we can ensure more people who are fighting Fibromyalgia and pregnancy can find some information.

To stay up to date and receive a free copy of my eBook Fibro Mama Tips for Managing Early Pregnancy Symptoms – sign up here.

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2017 – Melissa vs Fibromyalgia in Review

What a year! My second baby has been in this first year, learning to roll, crawl and, now, trying to walk. My first has been in this third year, learning and growing so fast.

I’m in a period of healing, that phase where you feel like things could get better. The low dose naltrexone (LDN) seems to be helping with stamina, pain and fatigue. I’m not sure how far it will go, but I am grateful for a renewed sense of hope.

Despite extended sleep deprivation due to the baby with reflux, I have coped excessively well. I’ve also had a separate health issue that drained on me for more than two months and I managed to cope and keep going forward despite it.

New Medicine

I began low dose naltrexone in April. After nine months and many dose varieties, I am holding at 4mg with improved stamina, slightly reduced fatigue and a slight difference in pain levels. I look forward to further improvements.

Supplements

MSM supplement has been a useful addition to my arsenal. It is supposed to help with muscle, tendon and ligament pain in addition to healing the gut.

Magnesium oil right before bed around my neck and shoulders. I’ve taken magnesium for a long time, and it’s nice to not have to take it in tablet form.

Moringa powder provides 18/20 amino acids in addition to being a good source of iron and other nutrients. I am not very good at remembering to take it as it’s best taken with juice or in a smoothie – I dislike juice and I usually share smoothies within my three year old.

Exercise

After dealing with symphisis pubis disorder for several months after having Wyatt last December, I am pleased to be walking 20-30 minutes a few times a week (it’s a time thing with two small children, I’d love to do it more). I’m also back to my sun salutation sequence whenever I can.

Work

I’m looking at going back to work and am trying to find something that won’t demand too many hours, too much energy. I am looking forward to it.

A life goal
I accomplished a life goal when I published my book Fibro Mama: Pregnancy and Fibromyalgia. Since I was a young teenager, I have loved writing. When I wrote my life goal list up in my early twenties (doesn’t everyone do this, write it up physically?), publishing a book was on there. As I researched and shared my journey with pregnancy for the past four years, my mission became to help even one person not feel so alone in this vulnerable time. Now that I’ve felt some concrete results of the past several of real work on my health – I’ve compiled a large list of things I do to manage my illness, and I will be writing about this in a book due out early next year, Melissa vs Fibromyalgia: My Journey Fighting Chronic Pain, Chronic Fatigue & Insomnia 

 

It’s very exciting, I’m so glad to be able to share this journey with you.

I hope you have a restful and lovely Christmas holiday period and a happy New Year.

To stay up to date and receive access to my free resource page – sign up here.

 

Some of my links are affiliate links, I receive compensation at no extra cost to you if you purchase using these links. I never promote anything I don’t 100% support myself.

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Pregnancy & Fibromyalgia The Results of the Survey

To supplement the existing research and my own experiences, when writing my book Fibro Mama Pregnancy and Fibromyalgia, I conducted a survey. The results of the survey were so interesting (and I don’t think that’s just me as a research nerd!). 

Pregnancy and Fibro
On Sale on Amazon now!

I sent out the link to my social media networks and received 22 responses. There were nine questions, including a free text box for any comments about pregnancy with Fibromyalgia and/or any advice for other mamas.

It was 50/50 for whether the women surveyed experienced a worsening or a betterment of their symptoms while pregnant.

I was less surprised to find that 70% of respondents experienced a severe flare up after the birth of their baby.

A whopping 70% stated that their number one coping mechanism during pregnancy was resting/napping. 25% said heat pack. Ordinarily I would have agreed with the heat pack, but for pregnancy my number one coping mechanism was rest in the form of meditation.

The most surprising response for me was the spread of answers to the nursing question. 40% managed for 12 months or more! 20% last for six months or 12 months respectively. 15% didn’t manage to nurse. 5% expressed exclusively.

As I shared in my post about Nursing with Fibromyalgia, I managed eight weeks of exclusive expressing with Noah before I had to give up. It was an awful, pressured time. I hated it. With Wyatt I managed to get through the first few weeks and get into the groove before he developed reflux. He just couldn’t keep my milk down. Thankfully I knew it wasn’t all or nothing and managed to mix feed with thickened formula until my supply completely dried up at 12 weeks. This was a far more positive experience. Though it was very draining for me both times.

These results confirm the (little) research I found – the experience of pregnancy and nursing with Fibromyalgia is as diverse as people’s general experience with Fibromyalgia.

You can’t guarantee pregnancy will make you better or worse. You can’t know if nursing will work out for you. But you can arm yourself with as much knowledge as possible to support yourself. This is why I have written this blog and my book. To try to help fill this knowledge gap.

Some comments from mamas for you:

“Don’t push yourself too hard! Listen to your body!!” Jennifer
“One of the hardest 9 months of my life but another reason now to keep going and fight!” Mindy
“1. My son is 10 months and we are still breast feeding, hoping to go long term.2. The two hardest things for me have been lack of sleep, and being forced to sit in the same position for long periods of time while nursing, or while my son slept. I kept five different pillows on the couch, and used them to prop myself and him up at every angle. Really helped.” Megan
“My advice to any fibromite who wants to have a baby…stay active, eat healthy, and follow your providers instruction to a T. Get plenty of rest. Have a nest you can go to, with all of your comfort items, so you can hibernate when necessary. I hope your pregnancy is wonderful, but if it isnt, you will have an adorable little one to help you through life.” Catherine
“Make sure you have a support team because after the baby your body will be in a flare up from the birth, hormones, lack of sleep and stress. It can last a short time or a long time. My flare up lasted almost 2 years.” Sabrina
“Don’t let fibro hold you back from being a mother! Take one day at a time, be kind to yourself and look after yourself too.” Kelly
“I wish I had known about epsom salts when I was pg. Nursing helped me fall asleep more quickly- I think it is oxytocin related. I wish I had asked for more help- more specific ways that someone could help. Laundry, folding, shopping for groceries, more frozen meals. Looking back, I was so scared of letting Fibro “win” I didn’t take enough time to truly take care of myself (easier said than done with a newborn).” Christine
“go into pregnancy with as much information as you can, and make sure you have as much support as you can, if i did it over i would make sure i had as much help in place as i was able.” Patricia

My book, Fibro Mama Pregnancy and Fibromyalgia is available now in paperback and eBook.

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Fibro Mama Pregnancy & Fibromyalgia Book

Are you wondering if your symptoms will be better or worse during pregnancy? If you’ll experience a flare up after delivery? What nursing with Fibromyalgia might be like? Have you thought about what coping mechanisms you’ll utilise during pregnancy? 
Melissa shares what the research says, what she experienced in her two pregnancies and what other women shared in a survey. 

After being disappointed at the lack of information about pregnancy with Fibromyalgia when I had Noah four years ago, I set about writing up my experiences and researching as new information became available.Pregnancy and Fibro

On my Fibro Mama Pregnancy Diaries page, I include my journals from my pregnancy with Wyatt last year, which I edited and posted over this past year.

Recently, I told you I was writing a book about pregnancy and Fibromyalgia with my research, my experiences and the results of a survey I took.

The results of the survey were so interesting (and I don’t think that’s just me as a research nerd!) that I’ll write a post about them. It was nearly 50/50 for whether the women surveyed experienced a worsening or a betterment of their symptoms while pregnant. A whopping 70% stated that their number one coping mechanism during pregnancy was resting/napping (I wholeheartedly concur, though my resting takes the form of meditation).

I have finished my book! It’s a little exciting for me as it’s one of my life goals to publish a book.

So Fibro Mama Pregnancy and Fibromyalgia is available on Amazon now.

I’ve written chapters on the existing literature, about each trimester, nursing, being a fibro mama to a tiny baby and toddlers and include some advice for midwives and fathers.

I’d be so grateful if you supported me by purchasing it and leaving a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads.

I’d also love to hear your top tips for surviving pregnancy with Fibromyalgia because sharing knowledge is so necessary when so little literature exists.

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Pregnancy & Fibromyalgia Survey, Book & Page

Fibro Mama Tools for Managing Early PregnancyAfter being disappointed at the lack of information about pregnancy with Fibromyalgia when I had Nu four years ago, I set about writing up my experiences and researching as new information became available.

On my Fibro Mama Pregnancy Diaries page I include my journals from my second pregnancy last year, which I edited and posted over this past year.

Now I’m writing a book!
On my new Fibro Mama Pregnancy & Fibromyalgia page I include the links to the ebook I’m writing as I publish the posts. When it is complete (and edited) it will be available for purchase, with extra content.
For now, could I ask you a favour?
Would you fill in a survey so I can add to the research available (limited) and my experience (two pregnancies makes me an expert in my experience not collective experience)? Screenshot_20171117-092641
If you’re interested in following my progress in writing the book, or supporting me by purchasing it when I’m finished, please feel free to follow this blog and tell anyone who could benefit by this information.
Please feel free to comment about anything further you’re curious about and I’ll do my best to research it.