My Experience with TM and Pregnancy
Cossy Hough

One of my first questions when I was diagnosed with TM in January of 2000 was, “how will this affect my ability to have a baby?”  I have wanted to have a child my entire life.  I couldn’t imagine not having a family. My TM symptoms are much more mild than a lot of people with TM.  I could walk again with a cane within a couple weeks of being diagnosed. I have had periods when I cannot walk due to weakness after an illness or when I get too tired and I developed some fairly severe hip pain after a couple years of having TM.  Otherwise, I do fairly well.

Even with my strong desire to have a child, it took my husband and I a few years of questions and research before we were comfortable with the idea. Would my TM symptoms get worse? When I was having trouble with my symptoms and not able to walk, how would we care for the baby? Was TM a genetic disorder that I could pass on? Once we had enough information, we decided to try and get pregnant. I have to admit, I was still a little scared, but we felt as prepared as we could be.

My TM symptoms were quite persistent during my first two trimesters. I was exhausted and had nasty morning sickness and a lot of trouble with weakness and numbness.  It seemed to get worse and worse. I was on the cane and walker a lot. Then, in my third trimester, my symptoms vastly improved. I went through the duration of the pregnancy with no significant weakness at all.

My delivery was a small nightmare. Our baby was born a month early by emergency C-section after I spent a few days in abdominal pain.  It was discovered that my appendix had ruptured during the C-section. I was fairly ill for awhile after delivery and ran fevers on and off for a couple of weeks. Normally, this would have made my TM symptoms go crazy, but it didn’t.

This is my report at six months post-partum. I have been through illness, sleep deprivation and a ton of stress. The only symptoms I’ve had, though, have been some toe numbness and that nagging hip pain. I haven’t used any adaptive equipment since my last trimester of pregnancy. I try and take good care of myself. I don’t push it. I try not to get too hot and rest when I need to.  I avoid illness as best I can.

For a long time, I tried to not even talk about the improvement in my symptoms for fear of changing my luck. Now, I am cautiously hopeful that there has been a change, and that my TM symptoms aren’t as prone to flare up to various stimuli. I know only time will tell. I have become quite superstitious and am knocking on wood even as I write this.

Of course, I got the absolute best luck in the end; a gorgeous, healthy, sweet daughter named Lily. I am thankful to her for bringing so much joy and fun in my life.  My husband and I have decided to stop with one child, not wanting to press our luck and wanting to make sure we can give Lily all the energy she deserves.  It was a thoughtful and weighted decision for us to go ahead and have a family. It required some creative thinking and flexibility.  It required an amazing support system and a husband who never falters in his dedication to our little girl or me.  And it was the best decision we’ve ever made.