United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I haven't posted in a while cause I've been kind of discouraged. I had an EMG done and the dr basically said that I had nothing to worry about that i was unlikely I would suffer any continued weakness or such. So my drs. are basically doing nothing for me and I really can't go to a specialist as there are none near me and I would have to have a referal from my dr who won't give me one.

But now I'm pg with twins and I have no idea what I'm going to do. I'm worried aobut how my arm will handle the stress and such of trying to take care of 2 babies at the same time. I still suffer from pain and weakness in my affected arm. My unaffected arm hasn't been bothering me much but then I'm not allowed to do much because of my pregnancy so I'm really not using it much more. I'm not sure if there is anything that can be done.

I have robpi. I have 4 year old twin daughters. I am unable to lift my right arm at all. I always figured out a way to take care of my twins. I never had any problems with them and I was at home with them alone most of the time. You will find a way to take of your newborn babies with God's help.

Heather

Congratulations first of all! What a blessing! Check this out - it's a tummy tub. I got one for my daughter and then I noticed that people on here posted about it as being a great helper if the mom had a bpi.
http://www.naturebaby.co.nz/organic_bab ... y_tub.html
I never used it on my daughter because she was so big and I was worried about getting her out with her bpi arm and all and I just put her in the regular bathtub on my lap. But I think this might help you.
Good luck and have a great pregnancy!

Christina
Congratulation how wonderful.
I have three children my first two were 14 months apart. I am not saying that is the same as twins but it was hectic but I managed very well.
I am sure you will be able to take care of them and will do a great job.
We find lots of ways of doing things. I never bathed my children in a bathtub but always in the kitchen sink because I could reach better and it did save my back.
I hope you have a happy and healthy pregnancy.
Kath

Congrats on the twins! I hope your pregancy goes good, take care of yourself. I cant give you any advice on HOW to do things when the babies come, but, you could probably ask your family and friends to help out some, and dont hesitste to take them up on it if they ask. Im sure you will be a great mom to them! ? Why wont your Dr. Give you a referral to see a specialist? Im sure all your going through right now must be tough, but the main thing now is to take care of yourself and the babies. I hope you feel better soon.

Congratulations! Now I don't have a brachial plexus injury (my daughter does), so I'm posting as a mother. I used a sling made by Sling Ezee to carry my daughter around in just because it was so easy to use and secure. I could even let go of it and use BOTH HANDS because my daughter was so secure in it. You may want to look into this so that you could have an unhappy baby still close by you but still have your good arm free. Worth looking into. I believe the site was www.parentingconcepts.com.

Good luck.

Tanya in NY

Thank you ladies. Everything is kind of overwhelming right now. While like you said, I've always found ways of doing things for myself, I feel like it's a whole other ball game when doing for my children. I guess also being a first time mommy there are just so many unknowns. I'll definitely look into the products you reccomended.

Prisilla...the reason my dr. won't refer me out is because the dr. who did my EMG recently said there was no chance for the condition to worsen. Basically saying all the new stuff was in my head. I'm not sure how knowledgable he was on the subject of OBPI but he kept comparing it to a polio injury.

Did you ask your doctor how much experience he has had with OBPI? You have a right to seek specialists when it comes to your arms since he does not know the answers. If you have problems who is he to deny that they exist! When I was 32 a doctor did this to me and I never asked a doctor again about my arm. That was wrong on my part but I felt like such a fool and this doctor made me feel so ungrateful for all I had gained. Now I would love to have a sit down with him and let hin know how wrong he was.

Check with your insurance and see if he is even allowed to refuse to send you to a bpi specialist.
I can't believe that he can keep you from getting an expert medical opinion.

Don't worry about how you will care for the babies you will find a way to do everything. I hope you have someone to help you not because you can't do it alone but because you will have two babies at one time. Even parents with two good arms need support with one new baby never mind two.

Keep us posted and don't give up trying to get to a specialist. You are young and treatment for obpi has come a long way just in the last 5 years. Unless your doctor is keeping up with current medical data on bpi he many not be aware of improved prospects for OBPI/adults.

Kath

Kisseygoose, Im no expert by no means, but, I dont see how your Dr. can deny you a referral to a specialist. And I dont mean to put down your Dr. and please dont take offense to this, but could it be that he just dont want to admit to you that he really doesnt know alot about your injury and/or he just doesnt want to take the time to seek out a specialist for you?? You might be in the same position as some of the others including myself, (my son is TBPI) youll have to seek out a specialist on your own, and if you still need a referral, be prepared to give your Dr. proof that you can possibly be helped, althouhg you shouldnt have to do this in the first place, and if that still dont work, try to find a Dr. that will referr you. I know its very time consuming and a huge headache, but I wish you the best, we were in a similar situation. It took us 4 months after my sons injury to find a specilaist for him and we had to do it on our own, and see a few Drs. that would give us a referral for insurance purposes.

I know my GP doesn't have any experience with BPI because when I went to her she was at a loss with what to do. So she consulted a neurologist (the one who did the emg and kept comparing it to polio injury) but when he said things were ok she went with that. I really don't know how much experience the neurologist had but from the way he talked he may have known about bpi in the fact that it existed and it's basic makeup but not in any of the newer information or studies. My GP's only other suggestion was to do Therapy though she wasn't certain what kind or what it would help. I know the PT's around here don't know didly about BPI because I went to them with a problem connected to it and they were clueless. I'm not even sure my insurance will cover a specialist with a referal to tell the truth. With our new house and the twins on the way we can't afford it otherwise. Talk about a mess. I really wish I had learned all of this years ago.