Pregnant And Need Emotional Support And Help

[BellaRose]

Hey everyone,

I just want to say I have been so encouraged to have this forum,  and see there are so many out there struggling with POTS but not losing hope. you are all so compassionate and caring and that has given me strength to reach out.

I'm not the blogger type or super comfortable with sharing about my POTS,  but I really need others encouragement as I'm now around 6 months pregnant and my pots is worse. I'm so thankful I'm expecting but just hope and pray I'll get better :-). it's such an amazing blessing to hold a lil one and I thank God for this privilege! 

I've been reading all the tips on how to care for a newborn but I'm more concerned about how to play with them when they are 3-7 months old  if I can't pick them up or spend too much time sitting with them. 

just so you know a little of my daily symptoms I can't stand without feeling like I'm going to faint and I have tried to push through that but felt so much worse. I take a day or two to recover where I just have to lie down only if I do just a little too much. heart rate is really high when standing or sitting. 

I guess what I'm looking for  is encouragement from other mothers who have had babies and POTS.  I would so appreciate advice about types of things I should even register for to help me better care for my baby for the first year. also I really just need emotional support and even more so after the birth.  :-). so if there's any moms willing to just talk to me please private message me  as I'm still not super comfortable with sharing everything on the forum but I so need encouragement.

Also I really want to have a baby shower because it's one of those amazing things every first time mom looks forward to but it looks like I won't be able to because I have to be almost fully reclined and then even then I feel like so completely weak :-/. 

thank you :-D for just letting me share all that and I pray the best for all of you as we struggle with this difficult illness.

take care :-)

[Mytwogirlsrox]

Congrats!

I just wanted to encourage you with my best friends story. She's had POTS for a long time & had two beautiful and healthy babies. She is a wonderful mother, and her kids are very well adjusted. It's all possible children give us more hope than we could ever think is possible.

Maybe you'll feel better after pregnancy? I know Pre-pots and pregnant I was miserable, can't imagine having pots and being pregnant.

Congrats again on baby! What a blessing

[Wendy C.]

Hi BellaRose,

Congratulations! Don't get yourself too worried about not being able to play with the baby yet, you never know, you may feel a lot better after the birth. I had quite a lot of relief from my insanely awful symptoms about 6 weeks after my son was born. Really, even 24 hours afterwards I felt a noticeable change. When they are young, the first 6-8 months, all they do is lay or sit around since they aren't mobile, so you can lay around with him/her or sit on the couch together and play. There are lots of great toys and activity gyms that are made for the floor and you can just lay near them and interact if you aren't feeling good. There are also Exersaucers, door jumpers, Bumbos, walkers, etc that you can place the baby in and they can have so much fun while you watch them. All they really want is for Mommy to be with them and interact together, they don't care if you can't run around the house. (that comes later, when they learn to walk!) Basically, you will figure out a way to do it once it is happening - you'll find a routine that works for you and your baby and a strength and patience that you never knew you had in you. Also, the baby will nap a lot during the day and you can use that time to rest and work on yourself to hopefully find some good treatments that will help reduce your symptoms.

Regarding the baby shower, hopefully you have a couple of good girlfriends who will plan and throw one for you. Mine did, but I had to give them some specific instructions on what I could and could not handle. For example, I asked them to setup the room so that my seat would be directly in front of the window a/c unit (it was in August), I asked for no games that involved me standing up or walking, I asked if the preteen daughters of one of the shower-throwers could hand me each gift and set it aside for me after I opened it since I was so weak, and I even brought my own chair to be sure I could sit comfortably. You mentioned reclining, so maybe you can plan it to be held at someone's house (not your own, too exhausting to clean and prep for!) who has a recliner and just mention at the start of the shower to all of the guests that you are feeling so sick that you'll have to recline the whole time. You don't have to explain POTS to them if you don't want to, just say something to the effect of it being a miserable pregnancy and they'll understand. You can also ask the guests, or the young girls who may be in attendance, to get you drink or food refills, too. They will be all too happy to help you! I had stressed out and dreaded my shower for weeks in advance because I could only leave the house for doctors appointments for almost the entire pregnancy, but I actually ended up having a pretty good time! I hope the same for you.

Just try to get through each day the best you can and take it easy, ok? It will all work itself out in time. I wish you the best of luck!

Wendy

[BellaRose]

Hi :-), thank you so much both of you for replying! I'm so sorry I didn't post earlier but I just wanted to say thank you!

Wendy- I'm so encouraged by what you said about how it could better after birth :-). thsnk you for your encouragement and suggestions about how I can keep baby entertained :-).

that's so great you were able to have a baby shower, my friends want to do something for me but I just don't think I can handle it for now but isn't it so wonderful to have friends who wanted to do that for you :-), I'm so thankful for my friends just wanting to throw one for me :-).

thank you again for your encouragements! I just needed to know there are other moms that are getting through this .

Take care :-D!