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I Just Gave Birth!

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 11/18/2009 6:47 PM (GMT 0)

Last night our family welcomed a new member to the family...

After much moaning and groaning and pain so intense I felt like throwing up, I finally gave birth to, what felt like, a 6 lb 2 oz baby. It crawled through my severely sore colon and it must have had fingernails.

I felt weak and had chills all night. I'm resting today and feeling a little better but my colon is still sore. The afterbirth is about all out.

 

I worked out with weights a few hours yesterday evening and I started taking Citrucel the day before. I bought it thinking it would work the same as Metamucil but I don't believe it's a good product for me. I will get Metamucil.

 

I've asked the doctor for a prescription for VSL#3 and I'm waiting for the Imuran to kick in. I'm trying to lower my prednisone from 60 mg as well.

 

I started this flare a couple months ago after a 3 year, symptom free remission. I was put in remission with 100 mg Imuran but brought in down to 50 mg after 1.5 years. I went on for another 1.5 years then Bam!

 

I'm a man but last night I believe I got a taste what my wife would have gone through had she not had the epidurals.

Post Edited (Burli) : 11/18/2009 12:00:42 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 11/18/2009 6:55 PM (GMT 0)
Well, from a womans stand point, giving birth naturally was nothing at ALL like have a big old hard to get out bowel movement...and as far as the the afterbirth, my colon wasn't sore nor was my anus but my baby-hole sure was...sorry, not even close to the same in my experiances...mind you both my babies were huge, 8lbs,150z and 8lbs,3oz.

:)
Posted 11/18/2009 7:39 PM (GMT 0)
Congratulations. Have you named the little stinker yet?
Posted 11/18/2009 7:53 PM (GMT 0)
LOL....
Posted 11/18/2009 7:56 PM (GMT 0)
Until you have stitches "down there," from a big ole BM, you can't even begin to say it's like giving birth. Sorry!
Posted 11/18/2009 8:06 PM (GMT 0)
Congrats!! Was it a boy or a girl?

Like my mom, I had big babies (8 and 10 lbs) and easy deliveries. I didn't even need to be medicated. But I did find giving birth to be the most painful experience, although having a severe ear infection or sinus infection comes close. I don't find colitis to be painful, although I know for some people it is.

The good part about giving birth is that it was over in some two to five hours. A short-term pain for a life-long joy.

Again, congratulations! And have you decided on a name yet?
Posted 11/18/2009 8:15 PM (GMT 0)
Ha, I'd say it's all perspective, for some women in hours of painful labor it's quite a big deal, my first baby was 16hrs of labor, my second was 45 minutes....life long joy until they hit teenaged yrs and then maybe again once they've passed teenaged yrs. Had stitches with the first but due to the natural stretching from the first baby and the fact the second was a few ounces smaller never needed stitches the second time around. My deliveries were easy too, but they still hurt more than any BM I've ever had and I've had plenty of painful BM's.


:)
Posted 11/18/2009 8:22 PM (GMT 0)
Yah. I'm one of those women who felt healthier, stronger, and happier when I was pregnant and had easy deliveries. I feel like my body was made for making babies. I have a very small waist and very large hips. Plus, my body is very flexible and my joints are very lubricated. I always find it surprising when women talk about the pain they had in pregnancy and in giving birth.

For me, the hardest part of being a mom is when my girls have significant others. My older one is married, and my younger one is living with her boyfriend. I always worry about their relationship, about their breaking up. My older one has a step-son. That makes him my step-grandson. I feel hesitant to become too attached. What if the married doesn't last? Marriages don't always last nowadays. And then the younger one is on her second-live-in boyfriend. I felt so sorry for the first one when she broke up with him. It really tore my heart. Now, I'm scared to get too attached to the second one, although I do feel he is more suitable for her.

But that doesn't come for many, many years. Congrats!
Posted 11/18/2009 8:44 PM (GMT 0)
I'm small framed period, I'm 5'5" and have always been lean but the body is suppose to know what to do during pregnancy...hips/pelvis will naturally (for most women) spread in order to prepare for the baby to come out naturally, it doesn't happen for all women, one of my sisters had to have C-sections both of her times cuz her pelvis didn't spread enough.

I had my girl first, don't care much for her current boyfriend but I'm sure she could have done worse, she certainly has been chased after by many guys, my other is a boy and I have to worry about girls attacking him.

:)
Posted 11/18/2009 8:55 PM (GMT 0)

pb4 said...
one of my sisters had to have C-sections both of her times cuz her pelvis didn't spread enough.

I didn't know that could happen. I was advised to have a C-section for my second, because she was so big. But I was confident I wouldn't have any problem. My sister was 12 pounds. If my mom could have a 12-pound baby naturally, I was sure I wouldn't have any problem. And I was right.
Posted 11/18/2009 8:57 PM (GMT 0)
It probably ripped flesh in my colon; I believe that caused the weakness and chills I experienced. That's happened to me on several occasions when either I've had severe pain during a BM or if I've ever tried to hold something in to tightly (so as not to have an accident). Also, no life long joy raising the little rascal, just flush and she was gone.
Posted 11/18/2009 9:30 PM (GMT 0)
Well i gotta say, i never had any UC pain that was anything like having a baby! Plus, when you have a baby, it only lasts for so long, in may case, about 7 hours, two hours of pushing, and some cutting going on down there (AND OUCH!!!) but at least at the end of that i had a baby! I never got anything out of hte pain from UC. Honestly, to me, the pain after having the baby was worse, esp while it was healing down there. Oh a sneeze or cough was horrible,lol.
Posted 11/18/2009 9:43 PM (GMT 0)
It is strange that it happend to my oldest sister, my brother (born before my oldest sister) was humongous, he was 14lbs and 23" long and my mom gave natural child birth to him, he's 60yrs old and this was back in Hungary, no epidural, pain meds, nothing (made the rest of us a piece of cake) and my oldest sister was only 5lbs...I was 8lbs (the last one born out of 6 all together)....my brother being so big and apparently did some damage to my mom so her doc told her that she'd likely never be able have anymore kids...boy was he wrong...my mom got pregnant with me while on the pill and continuing on it for 4 months before she even knew she was pregnant (she continued having periods all 4 of those months too). My mom was the same build as me, tiny so for her to have such a whopper of a kid the first time around it's amazing she was able to have anymore.

:)
Posted 11/18/2009 9:50 PM (GMT 0)
I had back labor, which was just horrific. I don't know what regular labor feels like, because I didn't feel contractions in my stomach, but "everyone" (not sure who "everyone" is, however!) says that back labor is more painful. All I know is that it felt like I had big ole' knives stuck in my back, and when a contraction would hit, the knives all twisted. I put up with it for a couple of hours, and tried walking, a jacuzzi tub, and multiple different positions, and nothing helped. Then I decided it was stupid to hurt that bad, and got an epidural. The epi allowed everything to relax, and my son was born not long after. I only had a 1st degree tear, which isn't too bad. My son was only 7lb3oz, but he was three weeks early! And, even though he's consistently been in the 50th percentile for height and weight, his head is off the charts it's so big!

And as for pain after delivery, yeah, that hurts, too!  My Bartholin glad cyst hurt worse than that, though.  Anyway, I was stupid enough to grab a mirror and check out the girlie bits a day after delivery.  Yikes!!!!!

Posted 11/18/2009 10:28 PM (GMT 0)

Burli said...
It probably ripped flesh in my colon; I believe that caused the weakness and chills I experienced. That's happened to me on several occasions when either I've had severe pain during a BM or if I've ever tried to hold something in to tightly (so as not to have an accident). Also, no life long joy raising the little rascal, just flush and she was gone.

Lol turn
Posted 11/18/2009 10:32 PM (GMT 0)
i feel you burli. not sure if its like childbirth because i wont experience that officially until may.
but i always have those bm's.
its nothing new to me. they feel like a massive fist sized rock covered in broken glass and it scrapes painfully thru my colon and when it hits rectum area, i actually do puke. everytime. gotta have those plastic baggies next to all toilets.
the pain is excrutiating and the only thing that might have hurt almost as bad was the gallstones. that was pretty painful.
ill let you know if the bm pain is anythign like childbirth in a few months.
but i'd listen to the ladies above!
childbirth is supposedly the most painful thing you can thru.
yikes! im a bit scared now!!!!
Posted 11/19/2009 12:24 AM (GMT 0)
Let me use this revised hospital reference for pain to explain how bad it hurt...

1. soap in eyes
2. stub toe in middle of night
3. lack of caffeine headache
4. hit funny bone hard
5. sun burn
6. migraine headache
7. child birth
8. cluster headache
9. 3rd degree burn
10. Pain felt by Burli during last night's BM

Post Edited (Burli) : 11/18/2009 5:38:41 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 11/19/2009 1:01 AM (GMT 0)
Congratulations!!

Citrucel has citric acid in it, don't use that!!
Posted 11/19/2009 1:15 AM (GMT 0)
My first blame was the Citrucel. I was still in a bad flare but I was starting to get stronger from last Friday and through the weekend. Monday evening I started the Citrucel. I'm in so much worse shape now...it's amazing how rapidly I can fall. I so much want to be healthy for Thanksgiving.

Thank you.

Posted 11/19/2009 3:57 AM (GMT 0)
Fruitgirl-when i had my son, he tried to come out early, and the first time the contractions where in the front, and they werent strong but theydid hurt, but i didnt know thats what it was.
But when i went in to have him, he had turned so i had back labor, PLUS i was induced which i have heard makes it worse. But the back labor was much worse than the regular kind. I went about an hour without the epi, and then said, why on earth am i doing this, bring me the drugs! LOL
Posted 11/19/2009 9:02 AM (GMT 0)
Well, Burli, I hate to burst your bubble...but, my first child was over 9 lbs., 23 in. long and had a 15" head circumference.  Dr. told me the avg. baby's head is 12".  I'm only 5' 2" and small boned.  I labored over 17 hrs. and have never to this day had such pain.  I've had bones broken, steam burns where I saw the skin melt.....and I will tell you that the closest I've ever come to having a similar pain was when I had kidney stones.  It felt exactly like back labor to me.  So, sorry.  But, your wife's labor still trumps your UC.

I couldn't understand why I had such a large baby until my hubby told me he had weighed over 10 lbs. at birth.   Needless to say, I chose to have my second baby by C-section 2 weeks before my due date...and he weighed in at 8 lbs. 11 oz.  And, that was a piece of cake!

I'll tell you a Mommy secret, though.  Buy some "Baby Lax" in the little one-use bulbs. (Or a glycerin suppository).  When you feel a painful BM coming on, use a Baby-Lax and it helps lubricate and you might not tear.  It just makes it more comfortable to pass and doesn't contain a stimulent.   If I hadn't had children, I wouldn't know about these.  But, they help a little bit. 

Posted 3/7/2015 2:00 PM (GMT 0)
@fruitgirl: you had a baby on 3/2013 - was it as painful as my description above? Congratulations! My kids were stressfull at the ages you have them mainly because I tried to do too much. I should have just set work aside (both remodeling and job growth) because they leave the nest quickly (once drivers they're pretty much no longer taking so much time and I want to read bedtime stories and play - ya know?
@kazygirl: sorry if I got you scared when you were expecting - how is the little one?
@Lou95: big head; might have me beat. Who r u now? - thanks
@journey2health: how r u? I see you "Flared 2014 for 2 weeks and rode it out" anything you take special for it to go away and what do you believe caused it/how bad are your flares? (Mine would take me into the ground if left unchecked) - thanks
@pb4: I am feeling the stress of the teenage years now (19 and 17 yr old girls);
@subdued; how is FMT going for you?
others don't seem to be around but, if so, please also update (thank you!)

You women are heroes for having child birth and I didn't intend to take away from it.

This was obviously a joke after being not in right mind so I hate now to read back that I probably insulted many women (I was on about 80 mg prednisone at this time and in the most ill time and entered hospital one month after posting this (all well now). Thanks for taking it so well (funny joke Dr. A)

To all who come to this post expecting, well, to learn about 'expecting' (as in childbirth related to UC) I just beg forgiveness and wanted to ask (above) progress if you care to share (no worries if you want to let this thread die).

Thanks!
Posted 3/7/2015 6:51 PM (GMT 0)
Burli,

Since this post, my kids are now 25 and 22 years old and I now have a 2 yr old granddaughter from my daughter...I've come to realize that no matter how old they get, they are stressful and now with a grandchild added to the mix, as much as I love her to my very core all I do is stress over all these kids.

Don't feel bad about your post, it was cheeky and even back then I took it that way I knew you weren't in any way trying to insult natural childbirth, from my perspective (especially with all the constipation issues I've been having for quite some time now) trying to push out anything that doesn't want to come out easily is not fun and even if it's suppose to be a "joy" like in the form of a child, there's still long term stress that comes with it. Far as I'm concerned both my kids were turds and still are lol!
Posted 3/7/2015 10:29 PM (GMT 0)
For the longest time, pb4, I didn't realize you even had kids. Salute to all those who, like you, raised little 'turds' (like that) and have chronic illnesses. I might be in a sweet spot where my kids are driving themselves (no longer do spend time at all those lessons, games, performances, competition and tournaments - glad I did it but it worn me down).
I miss the little turds (word is growing on me) being away but battling a disease and being a parent one puts kids first; I have more time for me. 'Grandkids' - oh my (son in laws concern me more).
Thanks for responding; I had meant to say something above after my semicolon (I cut and forgot to paste it)
Always felt for you having Crohn's AND Colitis; you stayed off prescription drugs for quite a long time I recall. Glad you're in remission
Posted 3/8/2015 2:36 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks Burli,

It's nice to know others can relate (just to clarify I have crohn's affecting my colon which they refer to it as crohn's affecting the colon, a rare % of patients have both diseases UC and CD)...No son-in-law he committed suicide before he found out my daughter was pregnant they were in a relationship for a short time actually....she ended up having to move back home with us during her pregnancy and then a little over a year after granddaughter was born (on her dad's birthday which was freaky) so needless to say. My son got a DUI almost 2 yrs ago and had his drivers licence taken away so mostly my hubby has had to courier him around to work, lawyer meetings, court etc. but it's still a huge strain on us both having to drive him, luckily son and hubby both work with the same electrical company.
This is why I refer to my kids as turds lol cuz no matter how old they get, they seem to behave worse and worse stressing the heck out of me and my GI tells me to get the stress out of my life would pretty much mean getting my family out of my life, like that's possible....lose-lose situation.

Thanks, I'm glad to be in remission too, I just felt like it was a remission cuz this ridiculous IBS is also giving me a run for my money, just can't win.
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