I’ve made it through my first trimester and now feel comfortable sharing with the world that I am finally pregnant. It’s been a long road just to get here, more than two years of “trying” and hundreds of dollars on ovulation and pregnancy tests that I was sure were faulty! But, I guess it was all worth the struggle, because now we are finally into that wild and scary new place, the world of eventual parenthood.

Funny thing is that everyone assumed our challenges getting pregnant were because of me and my disability. Actually, we finally discovered that I was not the problem, but rather that my husband was the one with the issues. Don’t worry, he is a strong man and can handle that I just “outed” his fertility issues to the whole world!

This is our first pregnancy. I have been a T5/6 complete paraplegic for more than 19 years. I’m 35 and have always been very active and athletic. I was a member of two Paralympic Alpine ski teams, have traveled around the world and lived a fun and full life. But now I am entering a world of the unknown and for the life of me, I have not been able to find much good, reliable information about being disabled and pregnant. The one book I have found, The Disabled Women’s Guide to Pregnancy and Birth by Judith Rogers, is pretty informative and a good resource, but unless your disability is exactly like the women featured in the book, there are lots of questions that still go unanswered.

The best resources I have found are my fellow disabled girlfriends who have been there before, who have already had to problem solve things like how to find a crib and changing table that will enable me to safely handle the baby from my wheelchair. It has been these girlfriends who have shared with me the ups and downs of being pregnant and disabled and helped me to prepare and know what to expect in the upcoming months and years.

I guess I should be thankful, because if I hadn’t had a doctor confirm to me that I was actually pregnant, I would have never known. I suppose the extreme fatigue - some days I could barely get myself out of bed - should have told me something was up, but I just figured I was being lazy or that my body was just really tired, which it was!

Thankfully, I never had any morning sickness, perhaps a little queasiness a couple of times, but never anything that had me rolling to the bathroom as fast as possible. Other than the extreme fatigue, which lasted the first two months, I really had no indication that I was actually pregnant. But right about at two months, my leg spasms, which are generally pretty strong, became insane. Not all the time, but once they did start, it was just ‘hold on for the ride.’ One time I was rolling into the kitchen to put down a plate and my hips spasmed so forcefully I almost fell out of my wheelchair. I was lucky to catch the plate before it crashed to the ground.

This being the case, my doctor decided to leave me on my baclofan throughout the pregnancy. My doctor’s take on the situation is that while the baclofan cannot be stopped cold turkey (which means that the baby, once born, will have to be weaned off the medication), it shouldn’t cause any harm to the baby. But, if I were to go off the baclofan now, my spasms could get much worse and cause more harm to me and the baby if they were to make me to fall out of my wheelchair. So for now, I am on all my same medications: baclofan, macrodantin, and ditropan. I have tried to get better about my stretching and yoga, but I am by no means doing it regularly.

So far I’ve gained three pounds, which I guess is right on track. Let’s hope that continues, but somehow I doubt it; I’m just starting to get various cravings which I will write about next week.

I hope all you who have “been through it” or are hoping to “be there someday” will join me and share your experiences, your challenges, your hopes, and successes. I know we have much to share!

I am starting a weekly column throughout the rest of my pregnancy to share my experiences, questions, and excitement and to increase the information out there about disability and pregnancy.

Knowing there are many more of you girlfriends and out there on Disaboom, I thought wouldn’t it be cool to have a column where we can share experiences of being pregnant and disabled. Where we can share our hopes and our fears and help each other through this new and uncharted territory. Where the experts are the ones who have “been there and done that” and we can ask you for insight, support and resources. This is a place where we can all share, learn, and enjoy the exciting experience of becoming a parent.

It is my hope that those of you who have been through a pregnancy, even raising kids, will share your experiences here and we can all start a great conversation and learning process. I know there are thousands of women with disabilities out there who have been down this road and have much information to share, not just with me, but with any others who might be or hope to one day become a parent.

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Disability and Pregnancy, Part 2—Week 15

Disability and Pregnancy, Part 3—Week 16

For more information about Muffy Davis, visit Muffy's Disaboom member profile.