Hi. I'm starting to think about having our second child and am really feeling quite anxious about going through another pregnancy again. My first pregnancy with my Son was awful. I had 3 things wrong with me, which in my head I've rolled into one and am scared about going through it all again.
Firstly, at 16 weeks I got a UTI and had to take antibiotics which was pretty painful. After 2 rounds of antibiotics which didn't clear it up, my GP insisted on prescribing me penicillin, which I said I was allergic to. He convinced me it was the only safe antibiotic to take whilst pregnant. So, secondly, I had a severe allergic reaction and ended up going to hospital in an ambulance.
I developed a bright red rash and most of my skin came off. I was put on steroids through an IV drip and almost went to theatre to have a line put in my neck because the medics tried all day to get a vein and couldn't find one (I swelled up like a massive red tomato you see!) For 2 weeks my face was so red and skin was falling off it that I feared I'd be scarred for life and never be pretty again. I couldn't take painkillers for the pain whilst pregnant, so the whole experience was dreadful. Fortunately I made a normal recovery and you'd never know it had happened to me. To recover from the allergic reaction to Penicillin though I had to take steroids for 4 weeks, which made me want to eat loads of sweet stuff. I put on a stone in a month and it mucked up my blood sugars.
The whole experience made me want to get rid of the baby for a short while, as I thought that the pregnancy was all doomed.
Thirdly, just a couple of weeks after I'd finally recovered from the penicillin reaction, I was 26 weeks pregnant and had to take a Glucose Tolerance Test for gestational diabetes. My twin brother has type 1 diabetes so I was checked automatically. I tested positive for it and over the last trimester, had to go for the fortnightly clinic appointments at the diabetes clinic where they put me on a diet of restricted carbs and then eventually I ended up on Metformin tablets then having to inject insulin for the last 5 weeks. I just remember having diarrhoea from the Metformin tablets for about 2 months and being really hungry most of the last trimester but not being able to eat much, in order to keep my blood sugars stable.
I said to myself at the time that I'd never go through another pregnancy again. I just felt so low and wanted it all to be over with. However, now I see my 2 year old boy playing and I think I'd quite like to give him a sibling. I'm a twin and my husband is one of 3 boys all close in age, so we both want for him what we had. I just don't think I have the nerve to go through a second pregnancy. I'm 38 and don't have much time to deliberate over this, so I guess my question to the other Mumsnetters is 'Have you had a horrendous pregnancy first time around then managed to summon up the courage to have a second child?' If so, how did you find the courage / strength to go through it again?
I was told by the Diabetic team that I'd more than likely get Gestational Diabetes again with another pregnancy so I'm bracing myself for it to happen with a future pregnancy.