It’s taken a while, seven weeks to be precise, but it is time to share a brief account of my third birth story while living with fibromyalgia.
If you have followed any of this pregnancy journey (my third), you will know that this has been a much better pregnancy despite severe pelvis issues and it is all thanks to low dose naltrexone. You can check out my Pregnancy and Fibromyalgia playlist on YouTube for my honest pregnancy updates.
Early labour
In the closing days of October (2018) I began to experience pre labour pains. I spent the weekend with period like pains which turned into mild, irregular contractions. During this time I read and ate and relaxed, knowing full well it might be a long journey to getting baby. On the Monday things escalated and I knew I couldn’t safely drive my children or look after them well, so I asked my husband to stay home from work. By that evening the contractions were getting closer together and more painful but I was coping well using my breath and heat pack.
At 3am I thought I had lasted til nearly the end and called my midwife. I was 3cm. Sigh. After a few more hours the contractions were still manageable but the pelvis pains were not, I began to panic with each contraction due to the low back and front of my pelvis feeling like they were being ripped apart.
We went to the hospital with the plan to get some rest with pain relief while my midwife got some sleep after an overnight delivery. By the time the hospital midwife examined me I was in active labour (4cm) so they gave me gas and left me to it for some time. At 11am I begged for the epidural to give me a break from the pelvis pain. Unfortunately it didn’t cover the pelvis pain at all. So every three minutes I continued to feel the excruciating pain.
Thinking that it would be some time yet, I sent my husband off to get some lunch so my midwife could place the catheter and check my progress. The second she tried to get in there my body began to push explosively. I had no control. Suddenly I was fully dilated and pushing. My midwife called my husband. I desperately sucked on the gas for some relief from the pelvis feeling like it was being wrenched apart.
24 minutes of pushing and just over two hours of active labour produced my precious baby boy. He was born so fast he was a bit shocked upon arrival and needed a little air to remind his lungs to breathe. Within minutes he was on my chest and not long after that he was nursing.
It was amazing!
He arrived…
Nathaniel Joseph was born weighing a healthy 3.76kg.
I was so happy that it hadn’t taken anywhere near as long as with my other two sons. It made the world of difference for recovery. So did going home that evening. I got to sleep in my own bed (well, nurse) and eat my own food and drink copious amounts of Milo. For some reason when I am low on energy I crave Milo. It’s probably the iron and other vitamins as well as the sugar.
Our nursing journey will fill a whole other post, but the short version is that we tackled cracked and bleeding nipples, thrush, mastitis and many growth spurts in order to achieve my longest breastfeeding journey. We are still going! I am pretty proud of myself. I do have to say that I wouldn’t be nursing if it wasn’t for my husband. In those first weeks he cooked, cleaned and did the lion’s share of care for my older two boys. Nursing may be reliant upon the mama, but mama wouldn’t have survived without dada. We also have had a lot of help, especially with the older boys. There haven’t been too many days where I have been alone the whole day with all three, which has really helped as Nathaniel doesn’t nap much in his bed and gets quite bad wind.
I am so blessed.
For more about pregnancy, parenting and nursing with fibromyalgia:
Nursing with Fibromyalgia: My Experience and Some Research
Early Pregnancy Symptoms and Fibromyalgia (2018 Edition)
Healthy Practices I’m Doing with Three Tiny Ones and a Chronic Illness