Hi, sory to butt in here, my local lab now uses pediatric needles on me for blood draws and dosnt use elastic straps directly on my arms to turnique, but uses a strap over material instead to cut off b lood flow before taking blood. It is far less painful and far less invasive.

be well,
Sandra

(RSD all 4 limbs)

That covers it. Sorry I was having a hard time typing, and wanted to make it short.

Thank you all so much. Part of the reason I really don't want to have another one is because we are financially struggling, have no car, and now we are being told that our 5 yr old son might have autisim. I was just curious about it. Its my hubby that wants to have another child not me, and until things straighten out, it will remain that way.

Hi there

I've posted my story a few times, it should come up in the searches if you search for pregnancy, or alternatively you can look at my blog www.thesixofus.wordpress.com and go into the "RSD/CRPS Info" link at the top of the page. My story is at the bottom of that.

But basically, I've had two pregnancies post rsd, and two before. Both post rsd pregnancies were very different- with my rsd calming right down during my first, and it coming back and being worse in my second. With both though, the newborn stage was worse than the pregnancy. I had to bottle feed so I could take my meds and not have the baby lie on my bad arm during feeding, I had trouble holding the baby/picking up/bathing/changing etc, plus being tired and in pain and having a screaming baby.

It's very hard to hold a baby when you're on crutches, or when you can't use one arm!

It's not easy, its a lot worse than a non-rsd woman would have to deal with, but of course it is worth it in the long run. When my first post-rsd baby was about 1 (he's my third child, I also had a 3 year old and a 5 year old daughter at that time), my husband had to stop work and stay home full time as carer to me and the kids.

He now works two days a week, but I haven't been able to deal with everything physically enough for him to go back to full time work, so its 5 years now that we've been like this. It's great having him home, but financially its tough.

Anyway, hope that helps a little. Have a look at my blog if you like. It goes way back to when my two year old was a jellybean in my tummy!

x Kate

Oh, and I should add that I had a c/section with my last baby. I had a spinal block which was amazing, stopped all my rsd pain in my arm and leg too. With my son I just had a normal birth, with the allowances and adjustments that others mentioned- no stirrups, butterfly needle if ivs were needed, etc etc. That one was hard, and the rsd came back within hours. So my rsd dr and my gynae reckoned that a c/section would be best, with a spinal block

Yeah I know how hard it is to take care of a baby with only one arm. My daughter was only 4 months old when I was injured at work, she is now 10 months old. I injured my right wrist at work and was diagnosed with RSD like a month and a half later.