Pregnancy

[Guest guest]

I had 4 children . My first pregnancy was what I believed to be normal. I went

into labor 6 weeks early and delivered after 48 hours in labor. My second child

came 10 months later and was not a bad pregnancy or delivery. My third

pregnancy was very bad. I was ill all the way thru it and I had a very, very

difficult delivery. He was born and soon diagnosed with CP (which was much

later changed to Mito). My fourth pregnancy was another difficult one with

" morning sickness " all the way to the last day and in the end, both mother and

daugher almost died. I was kept in the hospital for 10 days after the last

pregnancy as I was too ill and too weak to hold the baby or turn on my side.

All I did was sleep (and be sick). The doctor said I must have caught a virus

or something which caused me to go into labor. Today, I question what that

really was. I lost at least 50 lbs with each pregnancy (this is from my

original weigh in) and the doctors then determined that pregnancy was the only

time that my metabolism was normal. When I had the fourth child, which had to

be done by emergency C Section, I had a tubaligation done at the same time. I

had hoped for 6 children. Four was enough.

Alice

[Guest guest]

Malisa,

I want to be sure to say that if I had it to do over again, I would without

question. My feelings are that every step we take in life is a chance. Had I

not gone had my children - regardless of whether I knew about the disease or not

- I would have missed a very special part of my life. When was born, he

was a challenge from the first day on.

was a sickly child but a wonderful little girl who has grown into a

beautiful and loving wife and mother. She is now working on her PhD and will

very likely one day be working with Mito diseases.

Larry presented with some issues but not any that could not be handled. He and

his wife have a wonderful marriage with 7 beautiful children. He has a natural

ability with computer technology and has astounded many with his skills. He

founded one of the very first bulletin boards that evolved into listservs like

this one.

was a child that required 24/7, only slept every other night and was

total care and still is. He is our angel for he can do no wrong. There's a

special place reserved for him. There was no other member of our family that

taught us more than . My other children grew up with hardships but they

learned pure love and true compassion because their brother was .

When I found myself pregnant with Cindy, the doctors were very concerned that

she would be another child much like . As they said, the chances were very

high. At that time, there was no way to test to see if she could be. They

advised me to have an abortion. I refused. I have made a few good decisions in

my life but that one was probably the best one. The joy that she brought me

after cannot be measured. She still brings great joy not only to me but

to the rest of her family. Her ability to handle tough situations has made me

very proud. I simply can't imagine my life without all four of them.

I'm not trying to confuse you. I just want you to know all my feelings. This

is very important to me. I'm sure you'll do what's right for you both physically

and mentally. There are many very precious children out there who need good

parents. Good luck with this very hard decision.

Alice

These are hard questions that I am not sure we will ever know the answers to,

but I feel like discussing it now helps us plan wisely for our options in the

future. Malisa

[Guest guest]

Dear Malisa

I have had five pregnancies, but then three miscarriages.

I felt absolutely WONDERFUL during my pregnancies, because my severe

migraine headaches disappeared. In the last pregnancy I started to get

headaches in the second trimester. Then they discovered that the baby

had died. I was devastated.

With my second daughter, , I started to experience hearing loss a

few weeks after her delivery. It was a very difficult deliverey---she

had dystocia, when the baby's shoulders get stuck. She weighed 11.5 lbs.

I think it was a miracle she survived. I only had gained 25lbs.

Her first Apgar scores were in the cellar. They could not get her to

breathe.

However, she was always an honor student, and graduated from college

summa cum laude.

Miracles do happen.

Best of luck.

[Guest guest]

What a blessing it was to read this. Thank you,

Smiles to you,

Re: pregnancy

> Malisa,

>

> I want to be sure to say that if I had it to do over again, I would

without question. My feelings are that every step we take in life is a

chance. Had I not gone had my children - regardless of whether I knew about

the disease or not - I would have missed a very special part of my life.

When was born, he was a challenge from the first day on.

>

> was a sickly child but a wonderful little girl who has grown into a

beautiful and loving wife and mother. She is now working on her PhD and

will very likely one day be working with Mito diseases.

>

> Larry presented with some issues but not any that could not be handled.

He and his wife have a wonderful marriage with 7 beautiful children. He has

a natural ability with computer technology and has astounded many with his

skills. He founded one of the very first bulletin boards that evolved into

listservs like this one.

>

> was a child that required 24/7, only slept every other night and

was total care and still is. He is our angel for he can do no wrong.

There's a special place reserved for him. There was no other member of our

family that taught us more than . My other children grew up with

hardships but they learned pure love and true compassion because their

brother was .

>

> When I found myself pregnant with Cindy, the doctors were very concerned

that she would be another child much like . As they said, the chances

were very high. At that time, there was no way to test to see if she could

be. They advised me to have an abortion. I refused. I have made a few good

decisions in my life but that one was probably the best one. The joy that

she brought me after cannot be measured. She still brings great joy

not only to me but to the rest of her family. Her ability to handle tough

situations has made me very proud. I simply can't imagine my life without

all four of them.

>

> I'm not trying to confuse you. I just want you to know all my feelings.

This is very important to me. I'm sure you'll do what's right for you both

physically and mentally. There are many very precious children out there

who need good parents. Good luck with this very hard decision.

>

> Alice

> These are hard questions that I am not sure we will ever know the

answers to, but I feel like discussing it now helps us plan wisely for our

options in the future. Malisa

>

>

>

>

>