Maxwell John Cunningham
After another very trialing pregnancy, our sweet boy is here. For those who don't know, my pregnancies are tough. I have what is known as Graves Disease. It is a disease that goes along with my Hyperthyroid. I have sort of an interesting twist on the disease compared to most women. My Graves disease tends to act up whenever I am pregnant while most women it seems to get better for them while pregnant. When I am not pregnant, my disease gets better. If you are questioning what Graves Disease is, here you go in a nutshell: it basically shuts down my immune system. Yes, you know, the system that is a very vital part of living. During my first trimester with all my babies, I lose about 20 lbs. Trust me, I know....not good and NO this is not a healthy way to lose weight. I do not recommend it. Please don't tell me I am lucky. It is weird, but I get that a lot. I physically can not function most of the time. I get extremely weak, very tired, will have no appetite, nauseated, faint, no energy, etc, etc, etc....you can look it up if you want more of a list. Plus, on top of all that, I also deal with morning sickness. It is kind of like an excelled morning sickness.
The other day, Geoff and I were talking about me and my pregnancies and he made a comment(like he has many times) that it scares him when I get pregnant. He admitted to me that there were a few times he was afraid of losing me. That would be extremely hard to be a single dad with 3 kids. I am grateful that things worked out.
With all this being said and done, I do have to say one thing: For the first time in my life, I am THANKFUL for my Graves Disease. I never thought I would say that, ever. Let me explain why. I have to have C-sections with all my kids and because of that, I have to have my C-sections scheduled typically about a week early. My Doctor would prefer for me to not labor. I went in for my very last Doctor appt, which was one week before my scheduled surgery. On my way to my appt I was starting to feel very faint. Being faint and weak multiple times a day had been becoming a normal thing for me and was just increasing. My heart would race while I would be trying to fall asleep. Geoff had called me on my way to my appt because he was already there waiting for me. I told him I was not doing very well and that I really would rather not go and just lie down but of course I was still going to go. In the waiting room, I got worse. I could tell my heart was starting to race once again. I decided to check it so I could at least know how bad it was getting. I could not keep up with it this time. That was weird. It was acting funny too...not normal patterns. The word I would use to describe it would be fluttery. I had Geoff check it. He agreed but was able to keep up with it better than I. His guess was that it was close to or around 160 beats per minute.
I knew I needed to lie down and had him ask the ladies there if they had an empty room I could lie down in while we waited. They got me back right away and the nurse began checking things. My blood pressure was high, my pulse was over 140, I was getting extremely weak, very faint, nauseous, etc. My nurse became concerned right away and got my Doctor. Basically, I was having what is called a Thyroid Storm which equals= Not Good. My Doctor began talking about how I was 38 weeks along and the baby's lungs have already formed so it wouldn't be a problem to just get him out and that it would be in the best interest for baby and me to do so. I was kind of thinking that he was just going to re-schedule my C-section for just a few days earlier until I heard him say, "So we can probably have this baby in about an hour and a half.".
They wheeled me down to the surgery prep room, let me say goodbye to my girls, and began prep. Well, as the Doctor pulled sweet baby Max out, he discovered that Max had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck THREE times. That is the reason I am very grateful for my Graves Disease. If it wasn't for that then we would not have realized he had the cord wrapped around that many times and we fear that if he would have been born on the original scheduled day, a week later, that the outcome may not have been a good one. A lot can happen in a week, especially with the cord like that.
So there is my LONG story of why for the first time in my life I am extremely thankful that I have thyroid problems and of course, now that I am not pregnant, I am fine.....which I am also extremely grateful for. :)
After another very trialing pregnancy, our sweet boy is here. For those who don't know, my pregnancies are tough. I have what is known as Graves Disease. It is a disease that goes along with my Hyperthyroid. I have sort of an interesting twist on the disease compared to most women. My Graves disease tends to act up whenever I am pregnant while most women it seems to get better for them while pregnant. When I am not pregnant, my disease gets better. If you are questioning what Graves Disease is, here you go in a nutshell: it basically shuts down my immune system. Yes, you know, the system that is a very vital part of living. During my first trimester with all my babies, I lose about 20 lbs. Trust me, I know....not good and NO this is not a healthy way to lose weight. I do not recommend it. Please don't tell me I am lucky. It is weird, but I get that a lot. I physically can not function most of the time. I get extremely weak, very tired, will have no appetite, nauseated, faint, no energy, etc, etc, etc....you can look it up if you want more of a list. Plus, on top of all that, I also deal with morning sickness. It is kind of like an excelled morning sickness.
The other day, Geoff and I were talking about me and my pregnancies and he made a comment(like he has many times) that it scares him when I get pregnant. He admitted to me that there were a few times he was afraid of losing me. That would be extremely hard to be a single dad with 3 kids. I am grateful that things worked out.
With all this being said and done, I do have to say one thing: For the first time in my life, I am THANKFUL for my Graves Disease. I never thought I would say that, ever. Let me explain why. I have to have C-sections with all my kids and because of that, I have to have my C-sections scheduled typically about a week early. My Doctor would prefer for me to not labor. I went in for my very last Doctor appt, which was one week before my scheduled surgery. On my way to my appt I was starting to feel very faint. Being faint and weak multiple times a day had been becoming a normal thing for me and was just increasing. My heart would race while I would be trying to fall asleep. Geoff had called me on my way to my appt because he was already there waiting for me. I told him I was not doing very well and that I really would rather not go and just lie down but of course I was still going to go. In the waiting room, I got worse. I could tell my heart was starting to race once again. I decided to check it so I could at least know how bad it was getting. I could not keep up with it this time. That was weird. It was acting funny too...not normal patterns. The word I would use to describe it would be fluttery. I had Geoff check it. He agreed but was able to keep up with it better than I. His guess was that it was close to or around 160 beats per minute.
I knew I needed to lie down and had him ask the ladies there if they had an empty room I could lie down in while we waited. They got me back right away and the nurse began checking things. My blood pressure was high, my pulse was over 140, I was getting extremely weak, very faint, nauseous, etc. My nurse became concerned right away and got my Doctor. Basically, I was having what is called a Thyroid Storm which equals= Not Good. My Doctor began talking about how I was 38 weeks along and the baby's lungs have already formed so it wouldn't be a problem to just get him out and that it would be in the best interest for baby and me to do so. I was kind of thinking that he was just going to re-schedule my C-section for just a few days earlier until I heard him say, "So we can probably have this baby in about an hour and a half.".
They wheeled me down to the surgery prep room, let me say goodbye to my girls, and began prep. Well, as the Doctor pulled sweet baby Max out, he discovered that Max had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck THREE times. That is the reason I am very grateful for my Graves Disease. If it wasn't for that then we would not have realized he had the cord wrapped around that many times and we fear that if he would have been born on the original scheduled day, a week later, that the outcome may not have been a good one. A lot can happen in a week, especially with the cord like that.
So there is my LONG story of why for the first time in my life I am extremely thankful that I have thyroid problems and of course, now that I am not pregnant, I am fine.....which I am also extremely grateful for. :)
2 comments:
OH MY GOSH! I am thankful for your graves right now too. So so scary! I am so glad everything turned out okay! He is gorgeous! Take care!
I am so happy to hear that everyone is well. What a scary moment- to realize that your baby is in trouble and there was nothing you could have done had you not been in trouble yourself. I am extra happy everyone is doing well :)
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