I’m happy to announce that baby Barney FINALLY arrived five weeks ago. I say finally as he was fifteen days overdue (!) in the end and arrived by emergency c-section as he flatly refused to be born! 😀

I still can’t believe I have a baby boy after years of fertility struggles owing to severe endometriosis and adenomyosis. It’s really surreal but I don’t take a moment for granted, even in the most sleep deprived moments.

I thought I’d give a little overview of my pregnancy and labour journey on here as I never see much written about this online with regards to endometriosis and adenomyosis. I imagine my experience is pretty individual though as these diseases tend to affect us all so differently, but thought it might be useful to share anyway.

Pregnancy
Aside from morning sickness that lasted for seven months I was actually in a moderate to severe amount of pain at times throughout my pregnancy. This felt like a stretching and ripping pain which I attributed to my adenomyosis and adhesions having to stretch despite not being made of the most stretchy substances. The worst part was you can’t  take any heavy duty pain killers in pregnancy so I just had to just grit my teeth and get through it. It felt quite alarming at times but my medical team never really seemed concerned, and all was well with myself and the baby throughout the pregnancy thankfully.

Birth
I never went into labour naturally. When I was fifteen days overdue things were getting slightly ridiculous and the baby was getting distressed so I agreed to be medically induced. This kind of broke my heart as I was hoping for a natural birth but accept that these things happen. My induction failed however as I did not dilate past 2 cm- hence the emergency c section! (FYI- Being awake for major surgery is CRAZY! Not sure I’m keen to repeat that in a hurry.) Lots of guess work here but I wonder to what extent having a uterus riddled with adenomyosis affected it’s ability to contract and dilate. I imagine it didn’t help. Not sure why I didn’t go into labour in the first place though- stress perhaps?

Ultimately, although I didn’t have the birth I imagined I am just thankful beyond words that Barney is here and we are both safe. Recovering from a c-section is proving to be tough for me (currently on my second post-op infection- yay!) but I am just trying to look after myself and take things one day at a time for now.

I spent so many years thinking having a baby would never be possible for somebody like me with severe endometriosis and adenomyosis who had been trying for years without success. I don’t really believe in miracles or fate or anything but I’d like to offer some hope to other women in my situation that things can work out and that you never know what’s going to happen in the future.

I’d love to hear your fertility/ pregnancy/ birth experiences with endometriosis and adenomyosis. Do you feel these conditions affected your plans for a family? 

With love,
Claire
xxx