Me and Pregnancy.

Salam Ramadhan.

The autumn school term starts today after a long summer break. Kids had been looking forward to return to school to their new class. Azrai is now Year 6(Y6), Khairie (Y4) and Yasmin (Y1). OMG... my kids are so growing up now ...!Esp the lil one is now in Year 1. She is very2 happy to wait for the moment (leaving the Foundation) marking that she is now a big girl.

Today I would like to write a bit about Lupus and pregnancy. As we know, pregnancy is a blessing in woman's life. It is something we die for. Many years ago, Lupus patient were not advised to get their own baby due to complication that might arise; such as illness flare-up, miscarriage, small size of the newborn and other post-natal complication. From what my doctor said.;' It is one of the high risk pregnancy'. But nowadays, it is no more impossible for the us to have our own baby as along as we do the precautions (early planning) and follow the advises.

Let me share my experience.;;
Before I got married (at 24 yrs), I had have already have Lupus. I never feel that I can't get pregnant, eventho there were docs said that we(my husb n I) were only entitled to get adoption, not from my womb! As I am stubborn head;what ever they said , it was just like gone with the wind. I know my self better than anyone, and that made our life as normal as others. Plus, I got full support from my consultant telling that i f I wanted to go on, so she will refer my case to Obstectric & Gyneacology(O&G) Consultant to follow my case thruout the pregnancy. Others were; I can't stop my medications. And also, all the follow ups,consultations and treatments hatta delivery must be done at General Hospital. That mean I was not allowed to go to private.

When I asked them why can't I go to private hospital to deliver my baby, they said for the high risk pregnancy it is most advisable to come to general hospital. One of them even said, ' If you were my wife, I will never let you go to private'.

My first pregnancy when I was 25, in the final stage of my thesis writing-up. The first trimester was invisible. Nothing happened, no headache, no morning sickness. Then, the second trimester came, and everything turned upside down. Erghhh...like never ending headache. Gosok gigi=muntah. Makan= muntah. Dan muntah darah tu yg tak tahan, arrghh sakit anak tekak. Baring=pening. At 6th month, sleepless. Can't sleep like normal anymore. Can't lay back, rasa nak muntah jer. So, I had to have sit- back -sleep.Tidur menyandar to prevent angin dari perut melalui ke throat. Gastric??..In simple words, my weight gained just 5-6 kg only. Bulan ke 5 baru ada yg perasaan saya mengandung. Perut kecik sbb tak retain food. Keadaan tidak berubah sehingga ke labour room..

Dan sepanjang mengandung, saya tetap hadir ke appointment utk Lupus, O & G dan ke klinik daerah. Ubat juga dimakan spt biasa. Ada waktunya doctor menambah dos ubat sbg precaution utk mengelakkan sbrg risiko. Memang la penat sbb terpaksa ke sana sini jumpa doctor utk monitor kandungan. Asik amik 3hrs leave jer. Sampai boss dah buhsan nak sign application form. wat ever..Alhamdulillah, semua ok. Saya kira bertuah krn ke tiga2 baby ingin keluar segera menjenguk dunia. Tiba sj minggu ke 36, I got water broke dan selamat bersalin normal. Olh krn baby yg kecil (2.20,2.26 n 2.60kg), maka tiada masalah sukar ketika brsalin.

Pada saya tiada bezanya daripada ibu2 yg lain. Penat tu iya, but I took it easy and I believe that everything will be fine when I see the reward, the most blessing reward. My own flesh and blood. Memang betul, bila tiba saat kepala baby keluar jer, hilang segala kesakitan ..! It is the most magical thing in my life. Subhanallah.

Saya ada terbaca di satu artikel bhw pengambilan steroid dlm jangka masa pjg boleh menyebabkan anak lahir lbh awal dari expected due date. Yer,..in my case, kesemua lahir hari pertama minggu ke 36 ..! Malah, di waktu kandungan anak nombor dua(I was at 27) berusia 34 minggu , saya mengalami tumpah darah(bleeding). Dah ada rs contraction tp blom ada bukaan. Para doc juga tidak dpt mengenalpasti apa puncanya. So, sy diberi ubat utk menghentikan contraction krn baby still kecik lagi dan alhamdulillah, water broke pd minggu ke 36. Empat tahun kemudian, sy mengandung lagi anak yg ke 3. Keadaan nya serupa, bulan ke 3 baru lah start morning sickness sehingga bersalin. Yg ini, selain dari morning sickness sy mengalami batuk2 yg teruk di final stage sehingga terpaksa di beri ubat. Kandungan kali ini baby girl, lain sikit ragamnya :) Malah babygirl ni lah yg paling besar berbanding abang2nya..iaitu 2.60kg :D

Sewaktu saya masih dlm rawatn kemo, doc ada menerangkan bhw sy dikehendaki tunggu sehingga 2 tahun selepas selesai rwtn kemo, barulah dibenarkan mengandung. Walaubagaimanapon utk lain2 kes, tempoh 2 thn itu bergantung kpd jenis ubat2an dlm kemo yg digunakan. Perkara sebegini amat perlu dibincangkan dgn doc yg merawat kita.

Pergnancy tidak lah mustahil kpd pesakit Lupus, dgn syarat hendaklah mematuhi nasihat dan arahan doktor. Saya bersyukur krn kental menghadpi cabaran ketika mengandung, dan yg penting sy optimis utk mendpt zuriat sendiri. Berdoalah kpd Allah. We do the best, Allah will do the rest. Saya sgt bersyukur w'pon dgn kelamahan yg ada, saya dianugerahi nikmat menjadi ibu..kpd 3 org zuriat ini. Terasa malu kpd Allah s.w.t krn terlalu meminta2, walhal diri tidaklah sempurna spt insan lain. Dgn rendah diri saya sentiasa bersyukur yg teramat sgt,.. Sungguh tidak layak utk sy mengeluh terhdp takdir yg telah Dia aturkan, walau apa pon samada baik atau sebaliknya..hendaklah sentiasa syukur dan redha.
Teringat slh seorg kwn (pesakit lupus) yg patah semangat dan bertindak utk hidup solo seumur hidup krn bimbang tidak dapat memenuhi impian bakal suaminya. Bkn 'kesuburan' yg menjd isu, ttp proses mengandung itu sendiri ialah salah satu factor trigger Lupus. Jd, ada konflik di situ, krn ini mungkin bakal menggugat kesihatan dan nyawa si ibu.

Till we meet again, see you soon very very soon.