Baby News

"Can I still have children?"

It's been 13 years since my accident. Back then, on February 3rd, 2008 at around 9:15 a.m., I broke my sixth cervical vertebra in a fall while snowboarding and have been paraplegic since then. I am quadriplegic. Which means a high level of paraplegia in the area of ​​the cervical spine. Most of my body is affected. Legs, torso, arms, fingers, breathing, digestion, temperature regulation, pain perception, blood pressure... A long list.

"Can I still have children?" was pretty much the first question I asked the doctors back when I woke up in the ICU and was told my diagnosis. I was 21 years young at that point. From one moment to the next everything changed. Life turned upside down. The long list of quadriplegia has been part of my life ever since.

And it's a good life. A life with ups and downs – just like any other person. I've learned to deal with it. The beautiful, the positive and the happy make me stronger. I let gray days, storms and thunderstorms pass, knowing that the sun will come out again at some point.

I haven't changed since my accident. I just learned a lot. About me, my body and life. The last 13 years have made me strong. Braver, calmer and happier.

Good conditions for everything that may come. Because yes, I can still have children. A little miracle is growing inside me and I couldn't be happier.

There are not many mothers with a high level of paraplegia. That's why I want to write my story here on my blog and maybe encourage other women, give them confidence and also do educational work.

The little person under my heart is about the size of a pear. I am in the 15th week of pregnancy. The baby is already sucking his thumb, tastes the food through the umbilical cord and the first hairs are growing. It's incredible, a true miracle. I can already perceive the first movements and my emotional life cannot be put into words.

My emotions took a rollercoaster ride when I found out I was pregnant. A mixture of fear, joy, panic, happiness and bewilderment.

As a paraplegic woman, you can get pregnant in a completely natural way. It's also not a high-risk pregnancy. Nevertheless, it was initially challenging for me to allow myself to be really happy about this news. But now there is only love. And confidence.

I did a lot of research on the internet about pregnancy and paraplegia. I now know what to look out for, what could be and am in contact with other wheelchair moms. This helps.

And I am fine. My pregnancy is uncomplicated. Now and then I feel nauseous, I have very strange cravings and my circulation is not super fit, but that's it. And so it should go on. Our baby will probably be born towards the end of the year. By cesarean section. And then I'm curious if I'll have to share my studio in the future.