Pregnancy and having a stoma

Looks like I'm on a blogging roll, two posts in one week?! Well I do need to make up for lost time I suppose. 

I wanted to talk about the effects that pregnancy has had on my ileostomy. Although I have never been through a pregnancy without having a stoma or Ulcerative Colitis, so really have nothing to compare it with. I thought it may be helpful for others in a similar situation and sitting in anticipation not knowing how their ostomys will be affected by the little people growing inside of us. 

The first trimester

During my first trimester my pregnancy had little to no effect on my stoma whatsoever. I didn't start to show until much later on so there were no problems with bags sticking or the shape of my stomach becoming awkward when fitting my appliance. 

I was very nauseous throughout the first few months, well to be fair I've been nauseous the entire pregnancy. Vomiting and constant headaches were the main difficulties I faced during this time so my bag pretty much carried on as normal with nothing out of the ordinary to report. I enjoyed a trip to Spain during this time and only suffered leaks due to the increasing amount of fresh fruit and veg I was eating. 

The second trimester

The second trimester was what I'd call an unusual time. I had a lot of pain to the right of my stoma and I couldn't for the life of me work out what was causing it. A blockage? Nope everything was working perfectly. Pulled muscles? Couldn't be as I was only in pain when I stood up or walked around. 

I was admitted to the Maternity Assessment Unit twice for this pain and on one of those occasions the pain was so excruciating I literally couldn't walk or even put any pyjamas on over that area as it would have me crying out in agony. After a scan I was diagnosed with yet another parastomal hernia, hooray! (Not.)  I was told that my bowel shouldn't twist with this hernia as it has done previously, 5 times previously may I add, as the hernia was a lot bigger than before. Apparently bowel is more likely to get stuck and obstruct in small hernias as it's harder to get out of. 

The pain the hernia was causing was caused by bits of tissue or fat getting stuck in it, but this all eventually subsided and only caused mild discomfort from then on.

Another symptom I gained during the second trimester was the increasing amount of rectal bleeding I had. I've always suffered with this since having my large intestine removed due to the remaining Colitis left in the rectal stump. I was given prednisilone suppositories and these did help but the bleeding and discomfort still remains as there's not much else they can do until babba comes along.

Now onto the leaks, the dreaded leaks! As I was starting to show now and my baby bump was forming, the bags I had been using for months and my routine for applying them seemed to be failing. I remember counting at least 6 bag changes during one day including during the night time and those of us with bags know that the surprise leaks in the night are the absolute worst. I mean who wants to wake up covered in shit and have to change not just the bag but their clothes and the entire bedding?! If your answer to that is 'me' then I really don't want to know! 

These leaks went on for a good few weeks and I started feeling really low. My clothes were getting ruined, changing the bedding was becoming a daily occurrence and my skin was completely red raw. After trying numerous styles of bags, using paste, not using paste, adding on flange extenders etc, I FINALLY found a combination that worked for me. The first time the bag stayed on for three days I could've cried with joy!

It's safe to say the second trimester was a tricky one, but I learnt a lot of lessons along the way and feel more prepared for when we decide to give baby number 2 a go.

The third trimester

Currently sitting here at 34 weeks and 6 days into my pregnancy I am well and truly within the third trimester and only a few weeks away from being a first time mum. I'd probably say that this trimester has been the hardest of them all. I've endured a lot of pain and honestly I can't wait for it to all be over and to hold my little boy in my arms. I often feel guilty for not enjoying pregnancy and I know this sounds selfish but it is completely different to saying that I'm not happy that I'm pregnant because I'm over the moon. I think women are expected to be 'glowing' during this special time in their lives and I'm sure many are, but there are many others that just seem to suffer endlessly during at least one if not all of the three trimesters and it's something that is not spoken about as much as it should be.

Back to my symptoms during this time; I was diagnosed with Pelvic Girdle Pain or PGP for short which has given me excruciating back pain and a pain in my pelvis that literally stops me in my tracks. I was given crutches and multiple sessions of physio therapy to try and ease the symptoms. I've been told that 90% of women recover from this type of pain 3 weeks after birth so fingers crossed that'll be the same for me. It's been a nightmare not being able to stand up long enough to cook dinner or even walk the ten minute trip to the shops without having to stop and sit down because of pain.
 

The leaks also started again during this trimester, but not half as badly as last time. I find if I change my bag just before bed it'll usually last from 12 - 24 hours. I cannot wait for the 3-4 days at a time to not have to change my bag or worry about leaks!

Acid reflux is also something new within this trimester and as you can imagine, the burning pain in your stomach, chest and even throat is pretty horrible, but nothing a bit of Gaviscon cant fix.

I thought I'd save the worst for last. On December 19th 2016 at around 30 weeks pregnant my bowel kinked and got stuck within the dreaded parastomal hernia. I had a dream that I had a severe pain in my stomach, this clearly wasn't a dream as I woke up at about 3AM, but at this point the stoma still seemed to be functioning minimally. Hours past as I mainly sat up in bed awake, having little naps in between. My partner left for work at around 6.20AM as he started at 7, but by 7AM the pain had intensified and I felt like I was going to vomit, a lot. I knew this was the point I had to call 999 especially as there had been no output from my bag since I woke at 3AM earlier that morning. 

The ambulance arrived and my partner rushed back to see me vomiting into the toilet bowl. By the time we got to the Maternity Assessment Unit I was in sheer agony and the Entinox wasn't even touching the sides. The nurses, doctors and midwives were all amazing and I feel awful as I remember shouting and screaming out for them to help me, the pain was completely excruciating and I just wanted to be knocked out. Throughout all of that I could feel my baby kicking inside me which made me panic even more, I needed him to be okay more than anything. After copious amounts of vomiting, more pain than you can imagine and a lot of shouting the doctor finally got the cannula into my arm (my veins are terrible) and I was able to have 10mg of morphine. The cannula seemed to tissue so the morphine took longer to take effect than it usually would, I was still in agony, but it was miles better than what I had been dealing with before. 

I was taken down to theatre and put under a GA so they could manipulate my bowel and push it back into place. 

I was so happy when I woke up pain free (apart from the soreness from the procedure) I could've hugged the nurse looking after me on the recovery ward. After a midwife checked the baby and the doctors coming up to the ward to make sure everything was working as it should I was able to go home. I can't thank my partner enough for being so patient and lovely throughout the whole traumatic experience. Since then I've seen my surgeon and he wants to repair my hernia 2-3 months after little one makes his appearance, unless anything should go wrong again. All I can do now is keep everything crossed and hope it doesn't happen again. 

To be honest the whole thing has given me anxiety and I'm a bit of a nervous wreck whenever I feel a slight twinge of abdominal pain or if my stoma stops functioning for 30 seconds. 

Having written all this out and scrolling through it, it seems to be paragraphs upon paragraphs of what's been negative within my pregnancy. I just feel this isn't spoken about enough, especially pregnant women with stomas or IBD, and it is okay to find pregnancy hard or to not enjoy it as much as everyone tells you that you should. It doesn't make you any less of a woman and it certainly doesn't make you any less grateful for that little piece of you that you're doing such a wonderful job in growing into a beautiful baby. 

There are aspects of my pregnancy that I have enjoyed very much and am still enjoying up to this day. The scans make everything real and it's lovely bringing the scan photographs home to share with your loved ones. Shopping for baby items is very exciting and seeing everyone getting excited around you and buying little bits and bobs for the baby is amazing. My favourite part of pregnancy is feeling my son kick, it's the weirdest, most alien like feeling I have ever experienced but it's so so incredible. I love seeing my partners face when he feels him kick and the nights when he lays his head on my stomach to talk to our baby is indescribable. 

All in all I've had a pretty rough pregnancy but I wouldn't change being pregnant for anything, let's just hope the birth isn't quite so eventful! 

Apps I have found useful during my pregnancy:

 Ovia Pregnancy

Pregnancy+

Baby Centre