-Second Pregnancy-

Common side effects from pregnancy are stretch marks. Both pregnancies I was lucky enough to escape those however I managed to gain a few others. Some I didn’t even know were a thing that could be related to pregnancy.

-Miss A’s Pregnancy-

Varicose veins were my biggest issue. Looking back on her pregnancy now I laugh and think what the hell was I complaining about?? I had a couple in my calf and one in my groin that was rather uncomfortable. Otherwise I had a smooth sailing pregnancy and was classified as low risk. I had a ‘shortish’ labour and was able to do it drug free. I ended up with a second degree tear in my perineum and 2 others that weren’t as bad internally.  At about 2-3 weeks postpartum I discovered I had a mild prolapse. This was very uncomfortable and took about 7 months to recover from and feel normal again. It also caused some lower back pain. All in all I consider myself pretty lucky with the side effects from pregnancy/labour/birth.

-Miss C’s Pregnancy-

• Varicose veins
• Spider veins
• Ankle swelling
• Perineum Cyst (bartholin gland cyst)
• Pyogenic Granuloma on my chin

Varicose veins- As mentioned above when pregnant with Miss A I complained about the look and discomfort of my varicose veins. I didn’t mention them to the midwife with Miss A till 28 weeks! Second time around I noticed them pop out in my legs at 4-6 weeks pregnant before I even got a positive pregnancy test result! Started out with just a couple in my inner calf muscles on both legs. As the weeks went by they became worse and worse and I gained loads more of them. By the end of pregnancy I had them from my ankles to my groin and on my Labia. UNCOMFORTABLE was an understatement. I am very thankful they have gone down a lot after giving birth!

The swelling and colouring that came with them was terrible. I hated the look of them and they caused a lot of pain through the pregnancy. I had to wear compression stockings as much as I could throughout the pregnancy to manage the discomfort that came with the swelling. Thankfully that has disappeared after giving birth!

Spider veins and bruising type colouring around my ankles especially my right ankle was a big issue. Wearing socks, shoes etc was uncomfortable as they cut into my fat ankle. Thankful they have just about disappeared now.

Perineum Cyst (bartholin gland cyst)– I discovered this at 15 weeks when I had a look to see if I had gained varicose veins in that area due to some discomfort I was beginning to feel. When I took a look I got a huge shock to find a round lump looking back at me! At first I thought my goodness my prolapse is back except it was different in colour. Off to my gynecologist I went to suss out what this thing was. She told me it was a cyst and it would be fine to leave it as it was. Did I really have to give birth with that in the way?  Apparently it was my safest option as removing it could have caused infection which would have been a risk for the baby. She told me it would likely just burst as I gave birth. I did not like the sound of that at all.

I got a second opinion when I went to the hospital for the first time to see the midwife. They told me they would check it out closer to my due date and make a call on what to do then. At my 34 week appointment the midwife took a look at it. She got a senior midwife to come and look at it and then the doctor came to have a look at it, requesting to take a photo to show the senior doctor. They really are super professional about things like this aren’t they? Here I was feeling awkward as hell and they just get on with it and do their job.

I was told that the cyst had probably occurred after giving birth to Miss A and I just hadn’t discovered it yet as it would have been smaller before pregnancy putting pressure down there and causing it to grow. After I tore and got stitched up the cyst could have grown due to the way I healed. Interesting! Again I was told that the best option was to leave it there and see what happens during labour. I wasn’t 100% comfortable with this option but after so many similar opinions I had to trust their professional advice. I can thankfully say the cyst is gone as it must have burst during labour! hooray!

Pyogenic Granuloma- what an earth is it? I had never heard of such a thing, nor did I know something so simple as a pimple on your chin could turn into such an ugly growth. All I know is it started as a pimple, when I bumped it, it would bleed for AGES! It bubbled over when it would heal and never healed properly. The more times it bleed the bigger the lump became. I saw the chemist, my doctor and finally my skin doctor about it finally getting the diagnosis and proper treatment plan. I was approximately 36-37 weeks pregnant when I got it check and he advised leaving treatment till after the baby was born. As much as I hate it I was happy to wait just in case. I am getting it cut out end of August and will require a couple of stitches.

Update: I have been back to the top skin doctor in the place we go and had it removed. Hooray!!! No more ugly chin! Such a simple process in the end. Anesthetic injection into my chin to numb it. Scrap out the collection of blood vessels that was protruding from my chin, burn it to stop the bleeding and put a band-aid on to cover it. Too easy. Now we wait and see how well it heals. He did mention that it may return but hopefully not. Otherwise if it does I just need to return and get it removed again. Fingers crossed it doesn’t.

 

Did you have any side effects from pregnancy or childbirth?

 

By Clare at Relaxed Parenting