Story submitted by Cheryl Overly on November 16, 1999 at 13:44:30:
Cheryl Overly is 29, from Lancaster, Ohio.
Family:husband Bruce, 3 yr old Hannah
Our story is very similar to those I have been reading about. My first child weighed 9lbs 3oz after being induced a week and one half early. After 8 hrs of labor she was delivered c-section. With the birth of my second child Abbigail, I was very skeptical of delivering vaginally, but with the advice of my doctor I gave it a try. I was induced one week early. The labor went fine, I pushed for about 20 minutes and then her shoulders became stuck. In short, Abbi has erbs palsy. We were not told what was wrong with her arm, only that it would probably get better. After doing some research on the internet, we diagnosed her ourselves. She was born on Sept 22, 1999 and we were not able to begin therapy until one month later. (supposedly this was the soonest we could get in) We are doing exercises daily and she does seem to be doing a little better. My main concern is that we will not see a specialist until December 8th. What if that is too late? It seems like the cart is in front of the horse! I try not to blame myself but feel that if I would have had another c-section this might not have happened.
©Copyright 1997 Erbs Palsy Information & Resource Group.