New mom to be here. . . .

Hello everyone! Back in Jan. 2007 I had a pacer implant, got married in Dec. 2007 and now are expecting in Oct. 2008...just curious for moms out there who have pacers or what not and have raised little ones. I don't really know why I am nervous but I just am. Both my cardiologist and OB decided it would be safest for me to do a c-section. Would just be nice to hear from someone who's had children with a heart condition.

Best of luck to you all, hope everyone is enjoying their summers!!

7 Comments

Congrats!

by mgweaver - 2008-07-31 01:07:37

First of all congrats on both the marriage and the baby on the way! I have an ICD and just had a baby one year ago (yesterday was his 1st b-day, tear :( ). We tried a vaginal birth but ultimately ended up with an emergency c-section. Now with my heart condition, LQTS, I had to have my ICD turned off during the c-section so that I didn't get shocked (heart rate could have gone up while under the meds). They just laid a large magnet (so primitive if you ask me) over my ICD and that was it. Everything turned out just fine. No issues. One thing I did notice after having the baby was that he tended to favor laying on my left side but that got painful sometimes if he was pushing on my ICD. You will find what works for you and the baby. Best of luck to you! Stay in the air conditioning (I remember the pregnant summer days)! :) :)

congatulations!

by Shell - 2008-07-31 02:07:55

Congratulations on the wedding and baby news. I have 2 boys (8 and an almost 11 yr old) I had them before my pm but I've had a complete heart block since I was born. When I gave birth my hr was around 45 (and didn't go any higher, no matter what I did) with my first pregnancy my cardiologist wanted to see the doctors in the practice. (I usually see the nurse mid-wifes. They all deliver in the hospital but I liked them better) I gave birth vaginally but it was reccomended I have an epidural so I wouldn't place too much strain on my heart. (no problem with that) With my second pregnancy I stayed with the mid wifes since I hadno problems the first time and I was still giving birth at the hospital. The only problem with that one is the epidural started wearing off and the anesthegiologist was busy somewhere else so I felt it a little more. The nurses will be more worried because not too many people with pm give birth. Mine couldn't believe how relaxed I was about it.(well, as relaxed as you can be in labor) My mother was a little worried too. Good Luck!

Congratulations!

by maryanne - 2008-07-31 05:07:54

I had my first PM implanted when I was 23. I did not know at the time I was pregnant. My doctor suggested I deliver at Women's hospital where if necessary I would have everything available to me. Yes they did monitor me closely during my pregnancy. C-section was never mentioned it was always the intent to have a vaginal delivery. Everything went smoothly....I did end up getting an epidural only because they didn't want my body to be in to much stress. I went on to have two more children all vaginal deliveries. My last child I didn't even go to Women's hospital and didn't have an epidural, everything went well. I am not sure why they are suggesting a C-section for you and if I were you I would explore this more, find out their rationale. The purpose of your PM's is to help us lead normal lives.

One thing they did do was to give me prophilatic antibiotics, the reasons for this is because the PM is a forgein object in our body and with increased bleeding as in child birthing we are more prone to the possibility of infection.

Best of luck and enjoy your pregnancy!

Thank You All!!!

by amyboldt - 2008-08-01 04:08:55

I wanted to thank you for your input. The pregnancy itself has been going decently smooth. I am starting to get very curious about the c-section vs. vaginal. The past year and 1/2 has been a lot of surgeries and complete lifestyle changes with my heart. Luckily, my husband now still wanted to marry me then and helped me every second. (What I did to deserve him I will never know!) I feel over paranoid that something is going to go wrong. Which from what I hear most new moms go through that anyhow. This baby is going to be such a blessing though!! Some of the medications they had me on were damaging my ovaries and they were starting to think that pregnancy would never be an option...little did they know! I'm only 21 I am still pretty feisty and did not want to hear that! Thanks to the pregnancy I am off all of my meds too!!

Sorry, I babbled for a bit to long! Again, thank you all!

Hi....

by Bionic Beat - 2008-08-01 12:08:19

Congratulations all around!

I had a baby after being diagnosed with arrythmias and MVP.

No pacemaker at the time, but I was the only person to have a baby on beta blockers at the time.

I was quite concerned about the drug effects on the embryo....although was prepared to deal with whatever came along.

The docs tried to persuade me to have an abortion, but it fell on deaf ears.

My daughter was a very high risk pregnancy, the OB said he'd make the vaginal delivery painless and quick.....lol

I sailed through the pregnancy, my cardiologist suggested that I stay pregnant as I had NO cardiac problems during the 9 months. Didn't take that advice....

My daughter was delivered by C-section, as her heart rate was dropping. (I was 2 weeks overdue)

I loved the whole experience, she was beautiful and perfect....still is for that matter. ;)

May you have an easy pregnancy, a quick and easy delivery (either way) and a beautiful, healthy baby.

Keep us updated and best wishes.


Bionic Beat


congratulations!!!!!!

by Tracey_E - 2008-08-02 03:08:49

Oh, just ignore those doctors and their statistics!!! :o) I love reading about those of you who've defied the odds. They know a lot but they don't know everything, and none of us knows what God has planned for us. I wasn't supposed to be able to conceive either, for several reasons aside from my heart problems, and I have two children. My "babies" are 10 and 11 now, and I had them both with a pacemaker. My ob was a little worried until the cardiologist told him that the pm fixes my problems and there was nothing to worry about.

I had two completely ordinary vaginal deliveries. I was on a heart monitor in the hospital, prophylactic antibiotics in my iv, and my cardiologist was available by phone. Other than that, I was no different from anyone else delivering, they even let me in the birth suites instead of the regular maternity wing. I was told that if things did not go quickly and easily I would have a c-section, but everything was smooth sailing.

I'm chuckling over Maryanne's reasons for having an epidural. I did NOT have one because of my heart- it can lower bp and hr. It was my choice, I could have had it if I wanted it but I was more worried about the side effects than the pain. I react to aspirin so I'm paranoid about taking anything.

Congratulations!!

by PacerMom27 - 2008-08-16 04:08:06

Hello, I'm a 27 year old mommy to 4 and I had my newest baby just 10 weeks ago. I didn't find out about my heart condition until I was about 7 months pregnant with my last baby and I didn't have my PM yet but here is my experience.... I had the first 3 naturally with no epidural and no problems however with baby #4 it was a whole new ball game! Because of my condition they were afraid to let me carry full term so I was scheduled for a c-section 3 weeks early. Over all it wasn't as bad as I had expected. The c-section itself only lasted 22 minutes and the only discomfort was the nausea from the spinal (and the catheter! ugghhh). I didn't even realize they had my baby out until I heard him cry. I did have to spend the whole first day in ICU because my heart rate and blood pressure dropped very low....that was the worst part because I didn't get to see my baby the first day. Also the recovery is a lot more painful than having a natural birth. If you have the option I would recommend going natural but don't be afraid if you have to have a c-section because it really seems a lot scarier than it is. Don't worry you will do great either way and soon you will have that precious baby in your arms and it will all just be a memory. Congratulations and good luck!
....and if you have any questions I might be able to help with or you just want to talk feel free to message me! :)

You know you're wired when...

Your favorite poem is “Ode to a Cardiac Node”.

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A pacemaker completely solved my problem. In fact, it was implanted just 7 weeks ago and I ran a race today, placed first in my age group.