Hi all,

I'm not actually pregnant yet, but planning ahead for the future, and have a silly question...

I know I've got 3.5 years battery life left on my current pacemaker, and the technician told me at my last appointment (last month) that they would probably change it when there's about 6 months left on it.

I know this sounds daft, but I'm guessing this means I need to have HAD a baby before the pm hits the six-month mark, or else wait until I get a new pm and it's well settled in? Am I right in thinking it wouldn't be the most sensible thing to be undergoing a replacement op whilst pregnant?

Anyone have any experience of this sort of thing/similar situation?

Thanks in advance! :)
Kelly

 

 

I had a similar worry. I was in a situation where I had an unexpected pregnancy and my battery had less than 9 months left. My drs were not worried about it, two of them shrugged and said we'd replace it if we had to. It can be done under a local which will not hurt the baby.

It's great that they plan to do it with 6 mos left, you have a nice cushion to work with. I've done it that way each time but once (lead went bad and the battery drained super quickly), I had a 3-6 month window that I could pick a convenient time to get it switched out. I'm on my 4th now, btw. And just because you get to the end of that 6 month mark doesn't mean the battery will just stop. They have a mode called ERI, elective replacement, which usually lasts 3 months, and after that is EOL, end of life, which also lasts approx 3 months. So, that 6 mos possibly could be stretched to a year.

Babies come when they want to come! No matter how well you try to plan it you can't pick the day you're going to get pregnant and things have a way of working out regardless of our schedule and how much we stress over it. You can start trying today but not find yourself expecting for another year; you can plan to start trying next year but find yourself with two blue lines next week. My oldest was the result of a lot of months of fertility drugs, my youngest was (supposedly lol) medically impossible so it was quite a shock when I found out my "flu" had a heartbeat. Don't stress yourself trying to time something that's more than three years away. When the time is right and you're ready, go for it and let the rest work itself out. Good luck!

 

I also had a similar issue. But what the doctors didn't tell me was that as a nursing mom I would be in extreme pain for weeks. So if you are planning on replacing after having a baby I would highly recommend not nursing. It was horrible. it took 3 times as long to recover. I also have found that being pregnant can drain some of the life on your battery, because it has to work harder.

Planning is really difficult... but I would not wait because your situation may change and your heart might not be able to handle pregnancy in the future.

I only have the 1 child and after having her the doctors told me it was to stressful for my heart and I should not have another one. Just be cautious becasue children can do a number on your body. I made sure that I had all my ducks in a row before I started (doctors, cardiologist, OB)

Good Luck!!