United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

please let me know if you have been pregnant with BPI...

I would really appreciate some advice.
I am 5 months preg. and have major BACK pain.

Hope to hear from any moms who can relate. Thank you in advance.

Alex
I had three children and my back was a problem during my pregnancy.
I never connected it to my arm but then again I thought I was the only one with this injury.

I realize now, my friends never had the back or leg problems I had when I was pregnant.
I still have the same girl friends and we were always pregnant at the same times.
I envied their good health when we were having babies and their ability to do things I could not due.
I seemed to be the one who always required bed rest at some point during my pregnancy.
They gained tons of weight I actually lost weight when I was pregnant.
I gained 13/14 and 17 lbs. during my pregnancies.
My babies were 8/3 -8/14- and 9 lbs. They were big and I lost double my weight gains when they were delivered.
So no one could blame my weight gain on the back aches.

We had to wear girdles when we were pregnant to support our backs and stomachs...
That was in the good old days.
My children are now 41, 40 & 35 so it's been a long time.
Maybe is was a good thing we wore those girdles.
Perhaps I would have been worse off.
I also had sciatica with all three pregnancies.

Try to take it easy and don't overdue.
I know my back muscles are weak as well as my arm and chest.
So it makes sense to me that we with obpi would have problems during pregnancy.
But that is just a guess on my part because I am not a doctor.

Congratulations let's hope you have a good pregnancy and a fine healthy baby.
Kath/robpi/adult

Alex,
I only have one child and do not remember any back pain. I got huge gaining 48 pounds.I carried the weight all in front. I do remember being off balance and when I was 7 months along people started worrying that I was going to give birth in their stores.LOL I wish I could help you with the back pain. When they do IV's make sure they use your nonbpi arm.
If you go in for a c-section make sure they pad your good arm to protect it. Any time you have surgery, the padding of your good arm should be done to protect it.
congrats on your pregnancy and keep us informed...
Judy

Hi and congratulations on your pregnancy!!

I have ROBPI and have had 2 pregnancies. I suffered terrible back pain also...and the second pregnancy was far worse than the first!
At the time (coz i was the only one in the world with a funny arm PMSL), i thought it was normal pregnancy stuff...however, only in the last year, im 35, have i found out i have 2 curvatures in my spine....so in retrospect, i guess that didnt help with the pain.

Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy and keep us posted

Not much help on the back pain issue, that was something I truly expected to have but didn't. I've had lower back pain on and off as far back as elementary school. I blame it on the way I reach for things.

Good suggestions from Judy T. I got A LOT of GREAT advice when I was pregnant and when I became a new mother from these boards. I told them no Needles or Blood Pressure in my BP arm, they had no trouble doing both in my good arm. And when I got my wisdom teeth out last week they opted for the IV in good arm and Blood Pressure cuff on my ankle. Just in case you need to know it can be done and it works just as well.

But my sister in law (non BPI person) had LOTS of back pain and went to a Chiropractor regularly to help with that. That was what I was going to do if I ran into that trouble myself.

Hope this helps some. And do take it easy!

-Traci

Special thank yous to all that took time to reply...

****Judy, Kath, Janny, and Veggiebug-****

I truly appreciate your personal experiences and advice offered. I posted on the general board also. The doctors want me to go for MRI tomorrow (safer than Xray) since I am still complaining about the pain in my back.

They want to see some other issues going on as well (fibroids, 5 of them) and a low lying placenta. then they can see if PT is possible. I will post an update asap.

Alex
I hope all goes well with your MRI. Please let us know how you make. Hope you are feeling well soon.
Kath robpi/adult

hello i have a 14 month old daughter and i have OBPI in my right arm. i have limited movement and was very scared at first that i wouldn't be able to care for my daughter due to my injuries but i found that i have functioned quite well and can keep up with her even know that she is running around everywhere! lol motherly instincts will kick in and you will just do what you have to do to take care of your little one! good luck and congratulations!

sabrina

I am sorry to hear of your back pain. I am injured and had some back pain while I was pregnant. I always just figured it was because I had a crooked spine to begin with. I didn't really do much about it. I hope yours subsides soon.

You will do well with your new baby. There are many things you can do to help you along the way. I just posted a post above about a few things I did when my daughter was younger. Feel free to ask away. Best of luck to you.

Hang in there.

Rachel

BUMPING UP FOR Courtney...YAYYYYYY!!!!!!