IC and Pregnancy

Hey there faithful readers! Sorry about my absence lately… there’s been lots of other stuff going on in my world besides IC, believe it or not!

However… today I woke up flaring really bad so I got straight into the shower and my Mom brought me my sweet 10 month old son so I could feed him. After he enjoyed a lovely, farm fresh breakfast he sat up and burped satisfyingly. Then he sat on my legs and played in the shower stream. I handed him his baby tooth brush and then he grabbed mine off the little ledge in the bath where I keep it. He banged them together, stuck them in his mouth, some times both at once, and he just had a jolly time!

This morning in the shower with Mommy!

While he played in the shower with me I couldn’t help but reflect on where I was a year ago… so I wanted to share my IC and Pregnancy journey.

I was having one of the worst flares in my life, I was having cramps that brought me to my knees and the IC pain was raging. I didn’t know what was going on but thought maybe, just maybe I was pregnant and it was wrecking havoc on my IC. As the sun rose on Sunday January 16^th, I woke Zach up and told him I was going to go to the emergency room. He convinced me to take a pregnancy test before we made the trek, just in case.

I was shaking as I sat on the toilet and managed to push out a few measly drops of urine onto the stick. We waited the instructed 5 minutes and then finally we both looked at the test and there were two faint lines. We didn’t know what to think… we quickly googled and it said if there is any presence of a second line, no matter how faint, it was a positive.

Zach, of course, didn’t believe it and being the scientific guy he is… he wanted a control. So he peed on one of the left over tests. There was only one single line without even a shadow of a second. We stared at each other and at the two tests completely mesmerized. I started crying and jumping up and down with excitement. I was still in tons of pain but at least it was for a purpose!

My positive on top and Zachs... negative... on the bottom

The next few weeks went by slowly as the cramps and IC pain took over my body as this new human attached and grew inside of me. At times I was convinced I was losing the baby but the severe nausea, several positive blood tests, and an ultrasound confirmed the baby was growing stronger every day.

Finally when I hit the second trimester the cramps and massive flare eased… I was still having overwhelming nausea and vomiting but at least my IC was okay. Then as the weeks went by I started realizing not only was my IC okay… it was much better… maybe even gone!

My second trimester had some serious ups and downs but none of it was caused by my IC and I was so thankful that my bladder was getting a chance to have a break and heal. That is… until the massive baby in my body decided to use it as a trampoline.

I had just found out the baby was a boy and this boy was busy! Every time I got an ultrasound they were shocked by his activities and movements in the confines of my uterus. I, on the other hand, was not because I could feel every summersault and soccer kick.

The IC pain started slowly coming back as the extracurricular activities in my Uterus Community Center increased. He was a funny little guy to have living inside of me. He would shift all his weight to one side so I had a crooked tummy most of the time. He flipped head up to head down all day long. The pressure of his jubilation was a lot for my very fragile bladder to handle.

I, of course, had to urinate more but just small amounts of dribble came out every time which caused that familiar burning. Overall though, it was not too bad! I took lukewarm baths and floated in the pool a lot when the pain worsened.

So fun floating with my big tummy! 

As we got closer to my due date the Braxton hicks were my main concern… my OB was convinced that the pain was so intense because my abdominal muscles are unordinary tight from all the chronic pain I has warded off for the past 10 years. I used a heating pad on low but nothing helped the pain that ripped through my abdomen the last 3 weeks of my pregnancy.

I was anxious for it all to be over so I could meet this new little love of my life but now looking back I wish I would have enjoyed the simplicity of it all. Yes, I was in quite a bit of pain and sore all the time but how amazing to be able to keep him safe, warm, and fed all tucked in inside of me. I envy kangaroos that they get to keep their joeys safe and sound in their pouch while also seeing the little guy they love so much. I’m sure they don’t even realize their fortune. (Have I mentioned my husband’s obsession with wallaby’s? He wants one… he wants one real bad.)  

My stellar team of doctors decided a scheduled c section was the best route to go to keep my interstims safe and to not risk further damage to my sensitive lady bits. We set the date, September 12, 2011 and all we had to do was keep him in there until then and wait. Lots of waiting.

Bigger than a watermelon the day before I had Titus! 

 It came faster than it seemed at the time and next thing I knew I was meeting this tiny 7 lb 12 oz baby, Titus James Jovanovich, who had been wreaking havoc on my body. At that moment, I didn’t care. I didn’t care what had happened in my life or whatever else would happen from that point on. I was a mommy to a beautiful baby boy that had my heart the second I heard his cry.

First time holding Titus!

Things went pretty well after the c-section. Urinating was pretty painful due to the catheter but that passed and I was so happy it barely fazed me… or maybe that was just from the sheer exhaustion of having a newborn. Either way…

A couple weeks after Titus was born I turned my interstims on and promptly turned them off because I could feel the wires had moved dramatically. I suffered through a couple months without them on and finally went to see my urologist. She had warned me that this could happen during pregnancy so I was a little apprehensive to prove her right but she was sweet as could be after she saw those sweet baby blues that Titus presents unabashedly.

We scheduled an interstim revision and I had relatively major surgery with my precious 2 month old snuggled at home with Grandma. I had restrictions to not do too much for 6 weeks post- op but of course that didn’t happen and the wires didn’t stay in place for long… 5 months later I was back in for the same thing.

Overall I would say my IC was really tolerable during my pregnancy… I have heard different extremes from other Moms with IC but mine was kind of in the middle. There were definitely times with little to no pain that I rejoiced in but there were times when it was as extreme as ever.

All together it was a long 9 months but it was more than worth it and let’s be honest… I’ll probably do it again so Titus can have a brother or sister. People ask me why I had a baby if it caused me so much pain and is so hard to parent with IC. It's simple. All I have ever wanted was to be a Mom, IC has robbed me of so much in my life but not that. I have commitmented to Titus to be the best Mom I can be. Period. Not just the best Mom I can be with IC. My IC is not his fault. 

Being pregnant with IC is much easier than being a Mom with IC so if you are thinking about having a baby don’t just consider the 9 months… consider the rest of your life having to put some one else before your IC. It is a struggle every day. Today I will miss out on a lot because of this flare but I get to raise this little boy with the help of my family. Yesterday he said Mama for the first time and no matter what else happens in my life, that’s all that matters. I am his Mama before any thing else!

Titus and me on the 4th of July!