They were fine about it actually. I thought they would really veto it. I thought they would be, “Oh that is a really silly thing to do.” I think some one muttered something about well methotrexate doesn't work very well the second time around. And it didn't. But that is fine, you know, it is manageable. There are other options aren't they. No they were, they good. And I don't know because of where I live but the care I had from the obstetrician, the gynae, what am I on about. What am I trying to say, the prenatal care I had was fantastic. Yes, a lot of liaising between the hospital, the rheumatology and obstetrician. That worked really well. I had fantastic care then.
Can you tell me a little bit about that?
It just seemed to work, you know, I got referred up there because I was, they call it Silver Star, you get special treatment and you get seen regularly by one of the Professors, one of the consultants, you get seen each time by the midwife. I think it is about every two months or so, if not a bit more. You know, regular blood tests. We have all the sort of physical side of you know monitoring. But also you have that time to talk to someone about your concerns. That is really, really important. And that worked out really, really well. Because I found that obviously the rheumatologist had had experience of women being pregnant, but probably not hands on, because everything got referred to, you know, the obstetrician. So I actually found it really a sort of strangely comforting time, because I felt very supported, able to ask anything and I remember really wanting a water birth, and you know, this is, it is going to be, can I have a water birth and they were fine about that, you know, that understood that was the right option for me, and they were trying to, they were helping me along with the, try and keep as active as you can during your pregnancy, that was important and I did. I kept very active, and you know, trying to, trying not to lie down too much when you are giving birth and all this stuff. So it was actually a very positive experience actually. And in the end I didn't have the water birth, I nearly had my baby in the car park because I left it so late. [laughs] Before going up to the hospital. But it was a very holistic experience which I can't really say, that is the first time I have come across a holistic experience. They wee great. Really, really good. Very positive.
And how did they manage your rheumatoid at that time? Did you have I don't know, more tests?
They just kept an eye on obviously my, you know, my CRPs and my ESRs and my joints and whatever. And as I say I wasn't in remission, so I was quite sore. But I remember cycling up there, cycling up to the hospital. And the husband went, “Oh you can't cycle up there, ra ra ra ra.” I was pregnant. I wasn't ill and it is quite good exercise.
They monitored me for my rheumatoid from the point of view, up at the maternity hospital. But they kind of, knew what to look out for, I had a few incidences where I thought my hip was going to fall off, because I had such horrendous, tender pain and I was like oh my God it is sceptic arthritis blah blah blah blah. And I got seen immediately and that's, I kind of think why can't it be like that, why do I just have to have a baby in order to get this level of care. I felt very supported. So, yes, it worked really, really well. |
