Questions about your post partum life....

First let me start with the fact that my babies are GREAT! They were born at 37 weeks 5 days and had been scheduled to be delivered only 2 days later. They were really big and healthy little boys with Baby A, Ethan, weighing 6 lbs. 13 oz & Baby B, Ian, weighing 7 lbs 10 oz. Looking at them now I can't even believe that they fit inside my belly!! :FIFblush:

Anyway, the tough part for me is not with the babies, but with my physical recovery. I went into labor and my water broke at home (1 hour from our hospital). I had planned a c-section since my first was a c-section and I guess it is a good thing since Ian decided to turn once Ethan got further down in the birth canal. Anyway, my daughter was an emergency c-section and I got an epidural but this time they gave me a spinal since they knew we were going to have a section this time. It took them 7 times to get the spinal in.... I think that in the process they may have damaged some nerves in my back.

Currently, I sleep about 2 hours a day not because of the babies, but becuase of the pain I am in every second of the day. Basically I have pain going from just above the small of my back all the way up to my shoulder blades down my shoulders and to thetips of my fingers. Mt doctor is saying it is carpal tunnel and some other condition that I can't remember the name of. He said it is odd that I did not have this during my pregnancy. He thinks that it is caused by the extreeme swelling I have been experiencing since they were born, but my gut tells me that it was the spinal...

In addition, I have as I said had extreem swelling in my legs, feet and hands. Although I have just started getting joint pain in my knees, toes and feet in general it is soo different from the pain in my hands, arms and back.

I just wanted to know if anyone else had this or if anyone has heard of this before. I love having my babies here, and my daughter is doing so well as a big sister, but I am just in soooooo much pain. At this point with my daughter I was off the narcotic pain meds and just taking the Ibuprophen, but this time I am afraid to run out of meds because every day the pain seems worse than the day before...

Any suggestions would be great.

 

Wow! I don't have any experience with this, but wanted to offer a :hug99: I hope things get better for you soon!

 

I am so sorry you are going through this...please please please seek the assistance of an Orthopedic Dr. they would be able to help you rule out Carple Tunnle Syndrome. If you see one that specializes in the spine...they would be able to help you in that area as well. It doesn't sound like CTS to me at all.

Please see someone to help you and disreguard what you have been told so far. This isn't normal at all.


Missy

 

I would see your regular doctor for that pain.

I had the spinal (which didn't work that well for me) and just had a lingering headache from it (excruciating in the hospital, but gradually got better), my sister got the spinal headache with her second and was flat out for a week.

The carpal tunnel is usually only in the arms (from what I have heard). My sil got it with each of her pregnancies and it never went away after the last one. She ended up having surgery in both wrists last week.

Call your primary care doc or as pp suggested, see an orthopedic doctor. They will be better able to determine what it is and perhaps have you go to physical therapy or a chiropractor.

 

I agree with pp, call your primary doctor. I had a spinal and it took several sticks for them to do it (ouch) and I had pain in my lower back and tingling in my shoulder blades for awhile- still get the tingling now at 8 months pp, but I think its from picking up big babies

Your primary can help rule out if this is not pp stuff, normal after a spinal, ortho pain, rheumatologic pain, etc. If I'm reading your ticker right, your babies are only a week old. I was still taking pain meds around the clock until they were 4 weeks old (orders from my doctor 'don't be a hero. take the meds because they will help you heal.').

GL, feel better and congrats on your big boys!!! -Leighann

 

Yes, like the pp said, definitely make an appointment with a specialist.

I still had extreme swelling one week post-partum. Shrek 3 had just come out and I said it looked like I had Ogre feet! I also remember having pain in my ankles and feet. But it did go down...one late night towards the second week home I realized it had just disappeared.

I also had terrible, terrible back pain up until a few weeks ago. I would wake up and feel like I couldn't move. It was awful. I attributed it to the 10 weeks of bedrest and inactivity, plus my hormones being out of whack. I had a spinal as well and they had some difficulty with mine because I had swelling in my back.

I took the Rx painkillers from the doctor for about 4 weeks I think. They had given me a 2 week supply when I left the hospital, but I asked the doctor for another refill because of terrible incision and back pain. Definitely take the meds while you have them. Advil worked for me after that, along with hot baths once the doctor gave me the ok. I also used some ben-gay type stuff and a heating pad.

Good luck and let us know how you are doing.

 

It does take time for your body to readjust after having a baby, but these don't sound like typical symptoms to me. I've had two epidurals with no problems, but when they gave me the spinal block when I had the twins, it didn't take and I had to be under general anesthesia. So, I'm not qualified to tell you if it's from that or not...though, my guess is that it is. I can't believe they poked at you so much!

My back is still killing me, but gradually gets better each day. I've had no swelling and haven't had to take pain meds since after the first week (mostly because I was having hallucinations, so I just stuck to ibuprofen instead). I definitely recommend getting in to see your doctor about the pain, but do keep in mind that you've been through major surgery and it will take about a year for you to feel 100% again.

I hope you get some answers and feel better soon!

 

Definitely got good advice already. I had (what I thought) was bad swelling while pregnant(was on diuretics most of my pregnancy)...little did I know it would get worse after I had the boys. I was so swollen I thought my skin was going to split...lasted about 3 weeks pp and then it was gone. I had pregnancy related carpal tunnel in both wrists/hands and I still have it in the left hand. My doc just told me it can take a while to go away or that it may never go away. Great.

I definitely hope you see your doc and figure this out but do remember you are still early in the pp recovery period. It's just plain hard on your body!

 

I got the swelling - horribly. My OB had me on water pills for 2 weeks trying to get the swelling down. And they also told me to be on the look out for all the Pre-E signs (never even knew you could get that PP, until she said something) for 6 weeks after delivery......

The swelling started going down around week 3 or 4 I wanna say. I never had much trouble until LATER from the spinal (now have lower back pain) but had trouble walking straight up for a few weeks. Get a PP belly band (forget what they're called) It will help with that aspect of it anyways..... The swelling will subside it just may take awhile.

 

I would definitly get a dr suggestions on this. it doesn't sound right. It will take a while for you to get better, but it does seem a little extreme. I had no complications from my spinal. I did have lots of swelling and my dr put me on a mild blood pressure medicine & water pill. It took the swelling a good two weeks to go away. Good luck and hope you get better.

Missy

 

I just read your post and I totally feel for you. I had a really hard time after my section. The part about the swelling really caught my attention though. After I got home from the hospital (about 10 days after my surgery) I noticed that my swelling was just not going down at all, it may have even been getting worse. I ended up feeling very short of breath and so I went to the hospital and ended up with fluid induced congestive heart failure. I was so overloaded with fluid that my body just couldn't get rid of it. I ended up on diuretics for a couple weeks and everything is fine now but it could have been worse. I also had really bad sciatic nerve problems in the hospital post-partum (I got stuck bent over and had to call a nurse) all which ended up going away when the swelling went down. All of that swelling could be putting pressure on nerves. Anyway take care of yourself and if you don't feel right just go to the doctor immediately. Hang in there, I started feeling a lot better at the 3 week mark.

 

QUOTE(moski @ Nov 14 2007, 07:44 AM) [snapback]495058[/snapback]
I would see your regular doctor for that pain.

I had the spinal (which didn't work that well for me) and just had a lingering headache from it (excruciating in the hospital, but gradually got better), my sister got the spinal headache with her second and was flat out for a week.

The carpal tunnel is usually only in the arms (from what I have heard). My sil got it with each of her pregnancies and it never went away after the last one. She ended up having surgery in both wrists last week.


Call your primary care doc or as pp suggested, see an orthopedic doctor. They will be better able to determine what it is and perhaps have you go to physical therapy or a chiropractor.


Thanks... I thought that it was a little strange that it would go from my back to y arms and also that I didn't have it until after the babies were born... I just got a referral to an orthopedic doctor and I am hoping that this will be helpful.

I really hope that whatever it is goes away because it is really hard to even pick up an hold my babies with this.... All I want to do is cuddle and hold them, but it is just so painful to hold them for more than a few minutes

 

QUOTE(Leighann @ Nov 14 2007, 08:18 AM) [snapback]495098[/snapback]
I agree with pp, call your primary doctor. I had a spinal and it took several sticks for them to do it (ouch) and I had pain in my lower back and tingling in my shoulder blades for awhile- still get the tingling now at 8 months pp, but I think its from picking up big babies

Your primary can help rule out if this is not pp stuff, normal after a spinal, ortho pain, rheumatologic pain, etc. If I'm reading your ticker right, your babies are only a week old. I was still taking pain meds around the clock until they were 4 weeks old (orders from my doctor 'don't be a hero. take the meds because they will help you heal.').

GL, feel better and congrats on your big boys!!! -Leighann


Thank you! I am definately taking the meds, but I am running out fast... They only gave me 30 of the narcotic ones which I understand since they are adictive and people do abuse them, but I have been using them sparingly to make them last... Taking 1 instead of two ect... I also have the 600 Ibuprophen which seems to work a little, but not well on it's own. I just get a little discouraged because by this time with my daugther (also a c-section) I was off the meds except non prescription ibuprophen and able to move around a lot more... At this point I still can't sleep in our bed and am sleeping in the recliner that my parents bought me 4 days before they were born (Thank God!). With my daughter I was sleeping in our bed and I think that helped a lot because I was able to get a better night's sleep.

 

QUOTE(****mws**** @ Nov 14 2007, 09:38 AM) [snapback]495221[/snapback]
i had a spinal headache that nocked me on mybutt .. they didnt want to let me out of the hospital.. i couldnt lift my head above 2inches .

what your discribing is serious.. please get some help.. make someone listen to you..

m


Thank you... I feel like when I have talked to my doctor and the nurses in the office about it they make it seem like no big deal... The nurse actually asked me if I was sleeping and waking up sweating. I told her I didn't sleep... When she asked me if it was becuse of the babies IA said no, they sleep great (wake every 3-4 hours for feeding) I don't sleep because of the pain. She asked if it was tingling... I said I wish all it was was tingling, but it is so much more than that...

My hisband was afraid that I might have PPD, but that is not it at all... I am not depressed at all. I am so thrilled with my babies! It is just hard not to be able to cuddle and hold them as much as I want to because it hurts so much.

I am going to see an Orthopedic doctor soon, I was able to get a referral. I have to say, the epidural with my daughter's c-section was sooo much easier!

 

I had a friend with a very similar story. She actually couldn't walk for a week after her baby was born because of the pain in her back. She felt like people were not taking her seriously as well. verrrry frustrating. Make sure you really get after those doctors to figure out what's wrong. I hope you get some answers and relief soon!

Reyna

 

I don't have any experience with that kind of pain and discomfort but I do feel that in today's world there are few circumstances where it is necessary to be in constant pain. If I were you I'd see a second doctor to see if she/he can offer any insight into why you're feeling what you're feeling and how you might start to feel better. I have had success with accupunture, massage, and chiropractic care myself, even though I thought they were hooey before I began treatment. Gosh, I really feel for you and I am sending lots of sympathy your way. Having a difficult recovery from the birth experience puts you at higher risk for PPD than the average person, as does being a new mom of multiples, so please have your close family keep an eye on you.

 

First of all - I am so sorry to hear that you are going through this!

I had the swelling and numbness in my hands and fingers immediately after the twins were born. I don't understand how they say it is carpal tunnel when I hadn't even held the babies yet?!?! It even kind of felt like it was burning a little while I was still in the hospital. I had a spinal, but I don't know if that has anything to do with it. I had an epidural with 1st DD.

I love my OB, but I was not pleased with the "it will go away after the swelling goes down" answer. Two weeks after going home, my hands and fingers were still numb even after a lot of the swelling had gone down. So, I decided to seek to try something else because I didn't want to pop another pill. Plus, I was getting frustrated that it took me forever to dress the babies because I couldn't feel the snaps on the onesies! And I had the same problem, it hurt to hold the babies while nursing!

I tried acupuncture.
He treated me for circulation and also asked me if I also had extreme temperatur regulation problems, which I did!
And he knew this from looking at my tongue and feeling my pulse?

After 5 treatments and taking these herbal pills for 5 weeks, the numbness was gone.
My insurance didn't cover it, but it was well worth it. ($65 per visit)

Something to consider - good luck and I hope you get relief soon!!! You do not deserve to be in this much pain and you DEFINITELY deserve to hold those babies!

 

Oh my goodness! I think you've already gotten good advice so far. I just wanted to say that you have my respect for dealing with this all so gracefully! :bow2: I hope you find a solution quickly and recover soon! :hug99:

 

That sounds awful -- I'm glad you're seeing another doc.

I had the extreme swelling after my section, too, plus crazy high blood pressure -- I was in such bad shape that the OB put me on bedrest. I also needed a diuretic to get rid of the swelling -- it just wasn't going away on its own. And, I'm still on blood pressure meds, much to my dismay.

I have to admit, the C-section really knocked me on my butt -- the delivery was horrible. I have an older child almost the same age as yours, but had a vaginal delivery with her -- no comparison! It wasn't until about 4 months post-partum this time that I started feeling somewhat normal again.....still, what you're experiencing just doesn't sound right. I hope you can get some answers soon.

:hug99: