Pregnancy and hypermobility type EDS

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/22/2004 12:08:18 PM Pacific Standard Time,

sandrachapman@... writes:

I'm expecting my first baby in 6 weeks time and am wondering whether my

having hypermobility type EDS is likely to cause any labour

complications. If anyone knows of an article on this subject and could

let me have the reference, I'd be very grateful. I'm hoping to have a

water birth but have a feeling the hospital won't want me to if they

think the delivery won't be straightforward.

Congratulations, ! I had both of my kids pre-diagnosis, both

homebirths in water....no problems whatsoever. If I knew now what I knew then,

maybe I

wouldn't have been so brave?

I would think if you haven't had problems with the pregnancy itself so far,

you're probably going to do just fine. My major issues back then were bad

knees and sore ankles, neither of which affected any internal organs or the

pregnancy. My 14 year old daughter however already has a tipped uterus, endo,

many

female issues and if she wants to have kids, should probably go with a high

risk OB/GYN.

What does your own doctor think?

Liza

[Guest guest]

I'm expecting my first baby in 6 weeks time and am wondering whether my

having hypermobility type EDS is likely to cause any labour

complications. If anyone knows of an article on this subject and could

let me have the reference, I'd be very grateful. I'm hoping to have a

water birth but have a feeling the hospital won't want me to if they

think the delivery won't be straightforward.

Thanks in advance,

Chapman

--

Chapman

sandrachapman@...

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/22/2004 3:08:01 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

sandrachapman@... writes:

I'm expecting my first baby in 6 weeks time and am wondering whether my

having hypermobility type EDS is likely to cause any labour

complications. If anyone knows of an article on this subject and could

let me have the reference, I'd be very grateful. I'm hoping to have a

water birth but have a feeling the hospital won't want me to if they

think the delivery won't be straightforward.

Thanks in advance,

Chapman

Hi

CONGTRATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First, I hope all goes well & that you have as easy a delivery as I did, both

times..... they were a piece of cake. Maybe with my first, there were about

15 minutes I'd like to forget & about the same with the second, but having had

major prior ortho surgery, made having children seem like a walk in the park!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I also, like Liza had my 2 children before I had the slightest clue that EDS

even existed, nor did I have any symptoms of EDS until a few years after I had

my children & I'm an RN.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And, what should have been a simple knee operation (a meniscal tear) that

later turned in to needing a total reconstruction with an ACL & MCL tear, for no

apparent reason, after a skiing accident, several years before then, in

retrospect could likely have been a major clue as to why I had so much trouble

with

early labor & so much joint pain during my pregnancies. But, who would put

one together with the other? But, they were both probably " clues " of things to

come, (both the knee problems & the pregnancies), that have happened since,

EDS wise.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've more then made up for my share of problems with EDS since then, though I

got a late start & have had tons of surgery on both shoulders, my knees,

including bilateral TKR's, my ankle & hand & a serious case of severe chronic

pain, but I'm so grateful to have my children, I would have hung from the

ceiling

the whole time, if they told me I had to!! And since you are already 34

weeks, you are long past the stage of needing to be concerned about having a

real

serious preemie, something I really had to deal with, 21 years ago, while in

labor at 23+ weeks!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To answer your question, to my knowlege, there are no articles @ this

particular issue & I guess you've done an Internet search. Often the best info,

on

stuff like this, comes from exactly what you are doing, ask on all of the EDS

group lists. You may also want to ask the same question on www.ednf.org,

Ehlers Danlos National Foundation. under one of the medical issue boards. A

lot

of people respond to those & use those sites now as well. I personally have

used them a lot & have both given & received a lot of info that way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Basically, the good news is that I got very, very lucky & have 2 beautiful,

normal, healthy, intelligent children, that DO NOT have EDS! And I'm happy to

say have had to take loans, sell my bigger house & collect some debt, putting

them through undergrad & now one heading toward grad school & the other to law

school & they help a lot too. A lot of people think that's awful, but if you

think about it, there are a lot of people with children with all different

kinds of challenges, that would love to have the chance to be in the same kind

of debt! It all depends on how you look at it..... (though I wouldn't mind

hitting the lottery & nixing the debt!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I don't know that I would have been so brave & cavalier @ having them, if I

had know beforehand. I just would have taken precautions & been a lot more

educated, if I had known (just as you are doing) & hopefully would have had the

same results. Neither my husband of 27 years, nor I, can imagine our lives

without them. Yes, they have give us the usual childhood " issues: " but that's

part of being a parent! I just always had one policy & that was never to read

any books on " How to raise kids " , etc. I just thought common sense was the

best idea & who said Dr. Spock, for example & not to pick on him, had anymore

common sense then I did?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Colic & all than.... nonsense... just be relaxed, enjoy your baby & they'll

pick up on your feelings.... Then the " terrible 2's & tantrums.... again,

nonsense. if they started tantrums & " put on a show " , I/we left the room &

didn't

say a word......... no audience, no show. The only slight challenge was

puberty. And, since our daughter was/is 3 years older then our son, he felt it

was

his responsibility to make sure, that her hormones were at their peak levels,

at all times! So that's when again, logic took hold. They learned that,

" For every action, there is an equal & opposite [and sometimes worse] reaction! "

We added in, the " and sometimes worse, part!). Being a parent, gives you a

certain " unwritten license! "

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And I know we can't tell for sure, with any type of test, if they actually

have EDS, not with the Hypermobile Type, YET, but at 21 & 24, my son, the

youngest, is a hockey player & is incredibly physically active, with things I

wouldn't even dream of letting him do, if I had the slightest inkling that he

had

it. And, our daughter, amongst multiple other things, is a professional dancer

& has been on tour both nationally & internationally & had the lead, with

extraordinary demanding physical schedules & still dances competitively for her

college & does more stuff than any non affected person that I know, could do.

They have both been seen, over the years, by Dr. McKusik at Hopkins & Dr.

Tsipouras at UConn (3 times) & basically, Petros as much as told me, that not

only

didn't they have it, but that if I ever asked him again, that he'd shoot me!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back to pregnancies (sorry) I truly dislike when people pass along any kinds

of difficult issues (horror stories) that they had during their pregnancies &

labor & I honestly don't know if these things were related, but I think I'd be

remiss if I didn't at least tell you that they occurred. The " non-biggy "

issues, are that, just as Liza did, I had more pain & instability in my joints,

especially my knees & hips, but that's about it. The only real serious

difficulties I had, were that with pregnancy #1, I went into labor at 35 weeks.

They

were able to sedate me & put me on medication & told me to just rest & at 38

weeks they took me off of the medication, but just as one could have

predicted, that little darling was so happy floating around in there, that she

managed

to hang out, until just about her exact due date. She was born the day

before, right at 40 weeks!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wasn't quite so fortunate with #2. I went in to labor at 23 + weeks. Now,

mind you we still had no clue EDS existed, so they kinda panicked, as was

appropriate & I spent the next 15 weeks on medication, on complete bed rest &

the

labor constantly stopped & started & each time it started they threw me back

in the hospital, pumped me full of drugs & kept me for @ 3-4 days & then sent

me home, back to bed! It turned out to be " much ado about nothing " . And

perhaps if nothing was ever done, the results would have been the same. I was

warned with all kinds of horror stories & being an RN, knew way too much & added

to their horror stories myself & was actually told to expect that " IF " the

child (I was so scared, I didn't even want to know the sex!) lived, that " it "

would be multiply handicapped, yadda, yadda, yadda.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The doctor, fortunately was a friend that grew up with my husband & though

just one partner of a 4 person group, he spent a million extra hours, literally

staying up nights with me, holding my hand & doing just about anything he

could, except for actually going through labor for me! And after 11 admissions,

a

lot of medication to hold the pregnancy (all of which, in retrospect I

believe I didn't even need), a lot of gray hair grown by both me & a lot of

family &

friends, we finally had a delivery at 38 weeks. The doctor was almost shot,

because he called in, every neonatology specialist on staff at the hospital,

expecting this " multiply handicapped " baby, during a terrible stormy, pouring

rain & lightening storm after 10PM one night. And, as could have been

expected, he had to wind up giving me Pitocin, to expedite the delivery because

it was

getting so late & they were all so tired & I also wanted the baby OUT! I was

an emotional wreck by that point, as you could expect. The only other reason

we wanted to speed things up, is that if he had been delivered 27 hours later

or more, it would have been my daughter's 3rd birthday! And, since my BDay

is 9/18 & my husband's coincidentally is 9/19, (though he's 2 years older), I

know how it stinks to have it be someone else's BDay at the stroke of midnight

on your BDay. So, he gave me a little bit of Pitocin (so his B Day is 8/17 &

our daughter is 819) out came a perfect 6lb. 14oz, beautiful little boy, who

will graduate this year, from the U of Conn. with @ a 3.8 average & go on to law

school!! So much for all of they gray hair!

So my dear, at already 34 weeks & apparently no problems to date, I would go

into this with a smile & a wonderful outlook, expecting only the best that

life can offer you, your family & your new bay. PLEASE be sure to let us know,

when you are able to, how everything was & all of the great details...... great

delivery, girl/boy, name, weight/size, etc., etc.

I'm sure you'll do fine & feel free to share all that you get from these

emails with your Doc's. I'm sure it may well put them at ease, as well. Oh,

one

more little thing that I recall my Doc mentioning. He wasn't sure, again in

retrospect, that he felt that at the actually delivery, due to the elasticity

of my skin, that the baby actually came out very easily & he almost didn't need

to due the episitomy that he had already done, because they usually do it.

Whether that will happen in your case, I don't know, but something to consider.

But, I surely wouldn't want you to forget about the episitomy & then have a

tear, that would surely, not be a good thing. And since I didn't have a water

birth, I really can't comment on that. The best of luck to you all. Can't

wait to hear how well you all do.

All the best,

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/22/2004 3:08:01 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

sandrachapman@... writes:

I'm expecting my first baby in 6 weeks time and am wondering whether my

having hypermobility type EDS is likely to cause any labour

complications. If anyone knows of an article on this subject and could

let me have the reference, I'd be very grateful. I'm hoping to have a

water birth but have a feeling the hospital won't want me to if they

think the delivery won't be straightforward.

Thanks in advance,

Chapman

Hi

CONGTRATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First, I hope all goes well & that you have as easy a delivery as I did, both

times..... they were a piece of cake. Maybe with my first, there were about

15 minutes I'd like to forget & about the same with the second, but having had

major prior ortho surgery, made having children seem like a walk in the park!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I also, like Liza had my 2 children before I had the slightest clue that EDS

even existed, nor did I have any symptoms of EDS until a few years after I had

my children & I'm an RN.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And, what should have been a simple knee operation (a meniscal tear) that

later turned in to needing a total reconstruction with an ACL & MCL tear, for no

apparent reason, after a skiing accident, several years before then, in

retrospect could likely have been a major clue as to why I had so much trouble

with

early labor & so much joint pain during my pregnancies. But, who would put

one together with the other? But, they were both probably " clues " of things to

come, (both the knee problems & the pregnancies), that have happened since,

EDS wise.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've more then made up for my share of problems with EDS since then, though I

got a late start & have had tons of surgery on both shoulders, my knees,

including bilateral TKR's, my ankle & hand & a serious case of severe chronic

pain, but I'm so grateful to have my children, I would have hung from the

ceiling

the whole time, if they told me I had to!! And since you are already 34

weeks, you are long past the stage of needing to be concerned about having a

real

serious preemie, something I really had to deal with, 21 years ago, while in

labor at 23+ weeks!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To answer your question, to my knowlege, there are no articles @ this

particular issue & I guess you've done an Internet search. Often the best info,

on

stuff like this, comes from exactly what you are doing, ask on all of the EDS

group lists. You may also want to ask the same question on www.ednf.org,

Ehlers Danlos National Foundation. under one of the medical issue boards. A

lot

of people respond to those & use those sites now as well. I personally have

used them a lot & have both given & received a lot of info that way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Basically, the good news is that I got very, very lucky & have 2 beautiful,

normal, healthy, intelligent children, that DO NOT have EDS! And I'm happy to

say have had to take loans, sell my bigger house & collect some debt, putting

them through undergrad & now one heading toward grad school & the other to law

school & they help a lot too. A lot of people think that's awful, but if you

think about it, there are a lot of people with children with all different

kinds of challenges, that would love to have the chance to be in the same kind

of debt! It all depends on how you look at it..... (though I wouldn't mind

hitting the lottery & nixing the debt!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I don't know that I would have been so brave & cavalier @ having them, if I

had know beforehand. I just would have taken precautions & been a lot more

educated, if I had known (just as you are doing) & hopefully would have had the

same results. Neither my husband of 27 years, nor I, can imagine our lives

without them. Yes, they have give us the usual childhood " issues: " but that's

part of being a parent! I just always had one policy & that was never to read

any books on " How to raise kids " , etc. I just thought common sense was the

best idea & who said Dr. Spock, for example & not to pick on him, had anymore

common sense then I did?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Colic & all than.... nonsense... just be relaxed, enjoy your baby & they'll

pick up on your feelings.... Then the " terrible 2's & tantrums.... again,

nonsense. if they started tantrums & " put on a show " , I/we left the room &

didn't

say a word......... no audience, no show. The only slight challenge was

puberty. And, since our daughter was/is 3 years older then our son, he felt it

was

his responsibility to make sure, that her hormones were at their peak levels,

at all times! So that's when again, logic took hold. They learned that,

" For every action, there is an equal & opposite [and sometimes worse] reaction! "

We added in, the " and sometimes worse, part!). Being a parent, gives you a

certain " unwritten license! "

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And I know we can't tell for sure, with any type of test, if they actually

have EDS, not with the Hypermobile Type, YET, but at 21 & 24, my son, the

youngest, is a hockey player & is incredibly physically active, with things I

wouldn't even dream of letting him do, if I had the slightest inkling that he

had

it. And, our daughter, amongst multiple other things, is a professional dancer

& has been on tour both nationally & internationally & had the lead, with

extraordinary demanding physical schedules & still dances competitively for her

college & does more stuff than any non affected person that I know, could do.

They have both been seen, over the years, by Dr. McKusik at Hopkins & Dr.

Tsipouras at UConn (3 times) & basically, Petros as much as told me, that not

only

didn't they have it, but that if I ever asked him again, that he'd shoot me!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back to pregnancies (sorry) I truly dislike when people pass along any kinds

of difficult issues (horror stories) that they had during their pregnancies &

labor & I honestly don't know if these things were related, but I think I'd be

remiss if I didn't at least tell you that they occurred. The " non-biggy "

issues, are that, just as Liza did, I had more pain & instability in my joints,

especially my knees & hips, but that's about it. The only real serious

difficulties I had, were that with pregnancy #1, I went into labor at 35 weeks.

They

were able to sedate me & put me on medication & told me to just rest & at 38

weeks they took me off of the medication, but just as one could have

predicted, that little darling was so happy floating around in there, that she

managed

to hang out, until just about her exact due date. She was born the day

before, right at 40 weeks!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wasn't quite so fortunate with #2. I went in to labor at 23 + weeks. Now,

mind you we still had no clue EDS existed, so they kinda panicked, as was

appropriate & I spent the next 15 weeks on medication, on complete bed rest &

the

labor constantly stopped & started & each time it started they threw me back

in the hospital, pumped me full of drugs & kept me for @ 3-4 days & then sent

me home, back to bed! It turned out to be " much ado about nothing " . And

perhaps if nothing was ever done, the results would have been the same. I was

warned with all kinds of horror stories & being an RN, knew way too much & added

to their horror stories myself & was actually told to expect that " IF " the

child (I was so scared, I didn't even want to know the sex!) lived, that " it "

would be multiply handicapped, yadda, yadda, yadda.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The doctor, fortunately was a friend that grew up with my husband & though

just one partner of a 4 person group, he spent a million extra hours, literally

staying up nights with me, holding my hand & doing just about anything he

could, except for actually going through labor for me! And after 11 admissions,

a

lot of medication to hold the pregnancy (all of which, in retrospect I

believe I didn't even need), a lot of gray hair grown by both me & a lot of

family &

friends, we finally had a delivery at 38 weeks. The doctor was almost shot,

because he called in, every neonatology specialist on staff at the hospital,

expecting this " multiply handicapped " baby, during a terrible stormy, pouring

rain & lightening storm after 10PM one night. And, as could have been

expected, he had to wind up giving me Pitocin, to expedite the delivery because

it was

getting so late & they were all so tired & I also wanted the baby OUT! I was

an emotional wreck by that point, as you could expect. The only other reason

we wanted to speed things up, is that if he had been delivered 27 hours later

or more, it would have been my daughter's 3rd birthday! And, since my BDay

is 9/18 & my husband's coincidentally is 9/19, (though he's 2 years older), I

know how it stinks to have it be someone else's BDay at the stroke of midnight

on your BDay. So, he gave me a little bit of Pitocin (so his B Day is 8/17 &

our daughter is 819) out came a perfect 6lb. 14oz, beautiful little boy, who

will graduate this year, from the U of Conn. with @ a 3.8 average & go on to law

school!! So much for all of they gray hair!

So my dear, at already 34 weeks & apparently no problems to date, I would go

into this with a smile & a wonderful outlook, expecting only the best that

life can offer you, your family & your new bay. PLEASE be sure to let us know,

when you are able to, how everything was & all of the great details...... great

delivery, girl/boy, name, weight/size, etc., etc.

I'm sure you'll do fine & feel free to share all that you get from these

emails with your Doc's. I'm sure it may well put them at ease, as well. Oh,

one

more little thing that I recall my Doc mentioning. He wasn't sure, again in

retrospect, that he felt that at the actually delivery, due to the elasticity

of my skin, that the baby actually came out very easily & he almost didn't need

to due the episitomy that he had already done, because they usually do it.

Whether that will happen in your case, I don't know, but something to consider.

But, I surely wouldn't want you to forget about the episitomy & then have a

tear, that would surely, not be a good thing. And since I didn't have a water

birth, I really can't comment on that. The best of luck to you all. Can't

wait to hear how well you all do.

All the best,

[Guest guest]

,

Awhile back I posted several medical journal abstracts on pregnancy and EDS

to our links folder.

Go to: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/ceda/links

Click the link " Medical Journal Abstracts "

Click the link " Pregnancy and Classical EDS "

-Barb

[Guest guest]

,

Awhile back I posted several medical journal abstracts on pregnancy and EDS

to our links folder.

Go to: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/ceda/links

Click the link " Medical Journal Abstracts "

Click the link " Pregnancy and Classical EDS "

-Barb

[Guest guest]

,

How are your hips? I have 2 kids,and hypermobile type. the only real problem

I had my first preg/delivery was my hips kept dislocating. Also I was

classed high risk both pregnancies, however both were uneventful. Moreso my

second. 1st delivery 16hrs labor, 1 ½ hrs pushing; 2nd 6hrs, 5-10 minutes

pushing. I would not worry much as long as you have a good dr. that is ready

for anything.

Good luck and lots of hugs,

Autumn

_____

From: Thing1973@...

Sent: Sunday, August 22, 2004 4:09 PM

To: ceda

Subject: Re: Pregnancy and hypermobility type EDS

In a message dated 8/22/2004 12:08:18 PM Pacific Standard Time,

sandrachapman@... writes:

I'm expecting my first baby in 6 weeks time and am wondering whether my

having hypermobility type EDS is likely to cause any labour

complications. If anyone knows of an article on this subject and could

let me have the reference, I'd be very grateful. I'm hoping to have a

water birth but have a feeling the hospital won't want me to if they

think the delivery won't be straightforward.

Congratulations, ! I had both of my kids pre-diagnosis, both

homebirths in water....no problems whatsoever. If I knew now what I knew

then, maybe I

wouldn't have been so brave?

I would think if you haven't had problems with the pregnancy itself so far,

you're probably going to do just fine. My major issues back then were bad

knees and sore ankles, neither of which affected any internal organs or the

pregnancy. My 14 year old daughter however already has a tipped uterus,

endo, many

female issues and if she wants to have kids, should probably go with a high

risk OB/GYN.

What does your own doctor think?

Liza

[Guest guest]

,

How are your hips? I have 2 kids,and hypermobile type. the only real problem

I had my first preg/delivery was my hips kept dislocating. Also I was

classed high risk both pregnancies, however both were uneventful. Moreso my

second. 1st delivery 16hrs labor, 1 ½ hrs pushing; 2nd 6hrs, 5-10 minutes

pushing. I would not worry much as long as you have a good dr. that is ready

for anything.

Good luck and lots of hugs,

Autumn

_____

From: Thing1973@...

Sent: Sunday, August 22, 2004 4:09 PM

To: ceda

Subject: Re: Pregnancy and hypermobility type EDS

In a message dated 8/22/2004 12:08:18 PM Pacific Standard Time,

sandrachapman@... writes:

I'm expecting my first baby in 6 weeks time and am wondering whether my

having hypermobility type EDS is likely to cause any labour

complications. If anyone knows of an article on this subject and could

let me have the reference, I'd be very grateful. I'm hoping to have a

water birth but have a feeling the hospital won't want me to if they

think the delivery won't be straightforward.

Congratulations, ! I had both of my kids pre-diagnosis, both

homebirths in water....no problems whatsoever. If I knew now what I knew

then, maybe I

wouldn't have been so brave?

I would think if you haven't had problems with the pregnancy itself so far,

you're probably going to do just fine. My major issues back then were bad

knees and sore ankles, neither of which affected any internal organs or the

pregnancy. My 14 year old daughter however already has a tipped uterus,

endo, many

female issues and if she wants to have kids, should probably go with a high

risk OB/GYN.

What does your own doctor think?

Liza

[Guest guest]

1. If you belong to EDNF - there are several threads regarding

pregnancy and EDS - plan to set aside quite awhile reading them.

2. I have hypermobile hips and 4 kids. First three in a birthing

center, last one at home.

3. The only complication type thing I had (and many many non EDS

women have this) is excess postpartum bleeding - the doctors and the

midwives all fixed this with a quick injection of oxytocin. My mom

had severe bleeding about 2 weeks after my older brother and a week

after my sister - her placenta didn't completely release and caused

the hemoraging.

4. I did tear with first child, her shoulders were huge and she came

out in a rush - scare tissue formed so I tore in the exact same place

with all the other kids. Doctors said it was better to tear a little

than to have an episiotomy - there is a volume of work out there

comparing episiotomies and tears. My tears were very small. Also,

since I don't numb, I felt the stitching up, midwives didn't bother

to give me novicaine and it actually didn't hurt as much.

5. My hips and all my joints loosened up with the pregnancies, my

hips were already pretty loose so it wasn't a huge change. I had 6

pregnancies in less than 7 years and I nursed my last kiddo for 4

years, so I had tons of relaxin in my body and I'm sure that didn't

help.

Between my grandma, mom, sister and I we have 10 kids. My mom was a

couple months early, my brother was 3 weeks early, my oldest was 1

week early - the rest have been late. My number 2 was over 3 weeks

late.

6. In my humble opinion, the less intervention, the more relaxation

the better everything will go and the better your and your babies

health will be.

7. And I almost forgot - my 3rd child had a 'growth' on her leg -

doctors were panicked - my mom wasn't - she said it was the same

thing that was on her arm and had been on my grandma's arm. We had

an MRI, the Dr wanted an additional cat scan and planned to operate

(he had an open slot in 4 weeks). Turns out it's just part of EDS

and within 6 months she had grown enough that it in comparision it

was too small to find. Sure glad we didn't operate on a 6 week old!

Wishing you all the best!

> In a message dated 8/22/2004 3:08:01 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

> sandrachapman@f... writes:

> I'm expecting my first baby in 6 weeks time and am wondering

whether my

> having hypermobility type EDS is likely to cause any labour

> complications. If anyone knows of an article on this subject and

could

> let me have the reference, I'd be very grateful. I'm hoping to have

a

> water birth but have a feeling the hospital won't want me to if they

> think the delivery won't be straightforward.

>

> Thanks in advance,

>

> Chapman

[Guest guest]

1. If you belong to EDNF - there are several threads regarding

pregnancy and EDS - plan to set aside quite awhile reading them.

2. I have hypermobile hips and 4 kids. First three in a birthing

center, last one at home.

3. The only complication type thing I had (and many many non EDS

women have this) is excess postpartum bleeding - the doctors and the

midwives all fixed this with a quick injection of oxytocin. My mom

had severe bleeding about 2 weeks after my older brother and a week

after my sister - her placenta didn't completely release and caused

the hemoraging.

4. I did tear with first child, her shoulders were huge and she came

out in a rush - scare tissue formed so I tore in the exact same place

with all the other kids. Doctors said it was better to tear a little

than to have an episiotomy - there is a volume of work out there

comparing episiotomies and tears. My tears were very small. Also,

since I don't numb, I felt the stitching up, midwives didn't bother

to give me novicaine and it actually didn't hurt as much.

5. My hips and all my joints loosened up with the pregnancies, my

hips were already pretty loose so it wasn't a huge change. I had 6

pregnancies in less than 7 years and I nursed my last kiddo for 4

years, so I had tons of relaxin in my body and I'm sure that didn't

help.

Between my grandma, mom, sister and I we have 10 kids. My mom was a

couple months early, my brother was 3 weeks early, my oldest was 1

week early - the rest have been late. My number 2 was over 3 weeks

late.

6. In my humble opinion, the less intervention, the more relaxation

the better everything will go and the better your and your babies

health will be.

7. And I almost forgot - my 3rd child had a 'growth' on her leg -

doctors were panicked - my mom wasn't - she said it was the same

thing that was on her arm and had been on my grandma's arm. We had

an MRI, the Dr wanted an additional cat scan and planned to operate

(he had an open slot in 4 weeks). Turns out it's just part of EDS

and within 6 months she had grown enough that it in comparision it

was too small to find. Sure glad we didn't operate on a 6 week old!

Wishing you all the best!

> In a message dated 8/22/2004 3:08:01 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

> sandrachapman@f... writes:

> I'm expecting my first baby in 6 weeks time and am wondering

whether my

> having hypermobility type EDS is likely to cause any labour

> complications. If anyone knows of an article on this subject and

could

> let me have the reference, I'd be very grateful. I'm hoping to have

a

> water birth but have a feeling the hospital won't want me to if they

> think the delivery won't be straightforward.

>

> Thanks in advance,

>

> Chapman