Our Pregnancy News

I’ve been living with a Spinal Cord Injury for almost 8 years. At the start of my journey I only had one soul focus and that was to keep fighting to achieve my goal of walking again. I had little knowledge of what a SCI entailed, it was only when I started recovering I realised things wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought. Years started to fly by and even though I was improving with regaining arm movement, I was happier, I married my soulmate but for me I was still searching for more…

2018 came, and myself and my family welcomed my beautiful niece Phoebe into this world. The undying love I felt the first time I held her was something I never experienced before, looking down at this tiny human and thinking how perfect she was, was the start of my missing piece in the puzzle. This little thing won all our hearts, looking over at my mum holding Phoebe made me see the smile I once remembered and hadn’t seen for a long time and Nelly my husband couldn’t be anymore

besotted with her. It slowly started to occur to me what I was searching for and that was to have a child of our own. The trouble was we didn’t know if it was possible to have a baby. Searching the web came up with stories of Paraplegics going on to have children but there was little information about quadriplegics and babies. With having unanswered questions, we turned to my Doctor who got us in touch with an Obstetrician who arranged a meeting with us.  Nelly and I were extremely apprehensive about our first meeting with the Obstetrician. But the meeting could not have gone any better, our questions were answered and it was all very positive, I seemed to be lucky as having my accident at 22 had allowed my bones/growth of my body to develop at the right stages of puberty, so importantly my body would allow me to carry a child. A massive weight seemed to have been lifted and when the times right and we are both ready then what will be, will be.

Fast forward to September, we found out I was 8 weeks pregnant. It was for me a crazy cocktail of emotions when we found out; surprised, shocked, ecstatic, elated, disbelief and petrifying. Nelly could not be any happier, but for me I was mostly petrified as there’s like I said previously, there’s little research when it comes to a C4/C5 quadriplegic being pregnant. I wasn’t naive in thinking pregnancy was going to be easy but I wasn’t prepared for being pregnant!  We informed my Doctor who then got us in touch with the Obstetrician again. We had our first scan at 8 weeks, this was due to seeing how the foetus was developing and for our own peace of mind. The 8-week scan was very mind-blowing to see this little blob growing inside me was hard to comprehend, we just couldn’t believe it, we felt incredibly lucky to be given this chance to bring a little human into this world. After the initial scan, they wanted to closely monitor the foetus progress so I was being scanned every 2 weeks until my 20-week scan. It was amazing to see the stages of development from this foetus to seeing the shape turning into a baby that was growing inside me.

I am now 7 months pregnant and still feels very weird saying that! We are seeing the Obstetrician every month and we are still figuring out a plan for the birth, a little bit scary for me but the Obstetrician is very relaxed and calm about it all which is reassuring. We seem to have a great team behind us who have been contacting a specialist spinal team up the country for advice. We have been told that I could be induced to give birth in-between 34-37 weeks, this is all dependent on how the Obstetrician thinks the pregnancy is going as well as the growth of our baby. All of this is being monitored every month with a growth scan. It’s strange to think there could be a little us on this planet in under 2 month’s time, something I never thought I would be saying. As at 22, lying in a hospital bed only just existing I would have screamed with anger at the person telling me at 29 you would be married with a baby on the way!

I’m lucky to say overall and so far, my pregnancy hasn’t been too bad, I’ve felt sick occasionally, the hot and cold clammy sweats that comes with a SCI have gotten a little worse but I can’t really complain, as the pain I’ve dealt with physically after breaking my neck, through my recovery and the surgeries I’ve had in the past have been 10 times worse than how I feel now.

I’m very lucky to have an incredibly supportive husband, friends and family around me, they were all extremely happy to hear our amazing news.

Deciding to have a child wasn’t an overnight decision, it was something I mentally battled with for a while. But being able to hold my niece, feed her with a bottle and interact with her helped me make my mind up. Yes, we’re going to come across many challenges, struggles and frustrating situations BUT they will always be outweighed by the greatest gift of them all my unconditional love for our child.

Carly W —TCC Client

I attended a round table event at the Law Society on 27th February 2019. This was organised by Brian 0’Shea of the Spinal Injuries Association (SIA) and was focused on a discussion as to whether individuals with a complete Spinal Cord Injury above level C6 should automatically be presumed to meet the eligibility criteria for Continuing Healthcare (CHC) funding.

A range of experts were present including representatives of the Department of Health and Social Care. There was a widespread understanding that the present system failed some individuals currently. This was largely due to the process not being applied correctly.

It was recognised that it could have a detrimental impact upon those who were denied access but some members raised concerns that setting thresholds might exclude other individuals.

All parties agreed that individuals presenting with the needs in accordance with an injury of that level of need should meet the eligibility criteria. A range of advocacy groups along with the SIA are actively supporting individuals faced with that situation.

Reg Perrins – Commercial Director

Happy New Year everybody! So I am getting married this May (sounds scary saying that)! So I thought I would write a bit about my experience with relationships and how I felt about relationships, being paralysed since I was 18 months old, my struggles, and how I feel now.

Growing up paralysed from the neck down around kids the same age as me I feel was beneficial because, like me, they didn’t know any different; I was never seen as being different to them. I had my first boyfriend when I was 9 years old and we were together for 4 years. Then I started getting thoughts of “why does he want to be with me? I can’t even cope with this every day so how can I expect somebody else to?” So all through my teens/early 20s I wasn’t interested at all. I used to wear pads for bladder function etc. I was ok but I’d get low moods quite a lot. Sometimes I’d go on chat rooms online just for the chat and company, but I still thought I can’t do that to someone (because I always put others before myself). I then had an operation on my bladder called a Mitrofanoff which meant I wouldn’t need to wear pads anymore.  When I had the operation it resulted in quite serious complications, which meant I spent the majority of 2 years off and on in my (then) spinal unit, and at one point my family were told to prepare for the worst.

I had a lot of time to think in there and I’d hear patients who were newly injured saying things like “what if I get stared at?” and it inspired me to want to do more. After being in hospital that long, when I finally went h

As I endeavour to improve my health and fitness I thought I would share my journey with you all, and on the way maybe encourage a few of you to join in on this new quest of mine to get healthy and live a better life.

As a certain age approaches, an age that I will not mention, you start to notice your joints hurt a bit more, you breathe a little harder, and when your four year old decides to go running away in the supermarket and you can’t catch her – then you say to yourself “yep it’s time to do something” Not because society says you need to be a certain way, but because your body says ‘hey you have treated me unkindly’ Also when you look in the mirror and think ‘oh wow when did all this weight build up’ – for me that is when it is time to take action

So on my quest I have decided to go to the gym three days a week and hydrotherapy one day a week.  My quest is to lose 100lbs.  Yes that’s a lot of weight to lose. (I may not manage it all, but it’s a goal to try to achieve).  It will take a while to lose because I did not gain all the weight at one go, it kind of sneaked up on me! You don’t realise how much weight you can gain, but when you become inactive and eat a lot of comfort food the weight really does build up

So why am I sharing my quest to the world? Because a wise old lady (my Grandma, may she rest in peace) once said “if you want to get motivated to do something and to stick at it; then tell the universe, put it out into the universe and it will come to fruition”

I am on my third week of going to the gym and hydro, and it is not easy.  I have to motivate myself and even when it’s cold and I really don’t want to go; I am determined to go.

Since I have been doing this, I have to say that I am always tired and my body aches and I am waiting for the endorphins to kick in! I am still waiting for this great abundance of energy that everyone has been telling me will happen… I am sitting here laughing as I write these words!

But all jokes aside I will state that I am sleeping much better these days and I do feel a little better within myself.  I may be tired and aching, but I find that I smile a lot more; so who knows maybe a little of the endorphins are kicking in after all.  So won’t you all join me on my quest to better health and fitness?

When you see me for training, or if I visit, please let me know how and what you are doing to trying to live a healthier life style. Obviously don’t forget to tell me that “I HAVE LOST WEIGHT” with a big Cheeky Smile!!

Sophia Wilson Clinical Nurse