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My name is Tiffany and I'm new to the site.  I am 23 years old and just got married in July of 2008.  I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis in 2004.  I'm currently taking Lialda which is really not working.  It is so devastating to be diagnosed with something that I have never heard of. Everytime I use the restroom, I have sharp pains, stomach rumbling, diahrea and occassionally a bllody stool sometimes I just feel like I am helpless. In the near future my husband and I would like to have children.  I would really like to know if any women had any complications having children while being diagnosed with UC.  If so, please explain.  Just give me some kind of hope

 Reply posted for durango18.

I had one child before and one child after my UC diagnosis.  The main thing I was told was to make sure I was in remission before I got pregnant because if you have a flare before or during pregnancy it's almost impossible to get rid of it during the pregnancy.  I was lucky and did not have a flare during or after my pregnancy.  I was, however, very worried about possibly having a flare and that in itself almost caused me to have one.   I would have to say that I didn't feel as well during my second pregnancy as I did my first, but again, some of that was caused by worry.  I as taking asacol at the time and was on the highest dosage throughout my pregnancy.  My GI and OB watched things for me, but I didn't feel like I was treated more high risk than I was for my first pregnancy.  Being high risk just means that you might come in a few more times for appointments to see how you and the baby are doing.  I can't answer if it was harder to concieve after having UC because I had fertility problems before UC was even in the picture.  Good luck to all of you and I hope you will go on to have very healthy pregnancies.

 Reply posted for durango18.

Hi,

I am 26 years old and I was diagonosed with Crohn's 5 years ago.  I gave birth to twins in August of 2007.  As you read this, I want you to keep in mind that every case is different, so it will be hard for anyone to know how your body will respond.  Prior to my pregnancy I was taking Remicade and I was doing fine. My doctors decided that it was not healthy for the babies for me to use the meds that I was using so I did not take any meds during my pregnancy and I will tell you that it was not a good preganancy.  Now, keep in mind that I was having twins, so a lot of the doctors and people I know that have had twins said that that was a factor. I don't know if it was the twins or the Crohn's, but I was not able to eat anything the entire preganancy.  I had to get a PIC line, which is an I.V. that stayed in my arm all the time and I had to hookup a bag of solution that contained all the nutrition that I needed for 12 hours a day.  I had a nurse that came to my house once a week to take blood samples and I had a total of 6 hospital stays.  I gave birth at 34 weeks and the babies were fine.  I am not telling you this to scare you, I just wanted you to know what could happen but like I said there is no way for you to know until it happens.  I will tell you this, there is nothing I would do differently.  They are such a joy.  Every minute of the preganancy was worth it

 Reply posted for durango18.

Thanks for the reply, after reading your comments-I feel like I have some kind of hope.  When and if I do get pregnant and I'm going to put my trust and faith in the Lord.  Have any one with Ulcerative Colitis had an issue with conceiving?

 Reply posted for durango18.

I have also wondered about future pregnancy and my UC. I'm 22 and was diagnosed in 2005. From what I've been told, if you are in remission when you get pregnant, you tend to stay in remission. If you are in a flare while you get pregnant, you tend to stay in the flare during the pregnancy. So make sure you're stabalized and in remission before you try to conceive!

There are a lot of women out there that go through their pregnancy without any complications at all. You will be automatically considered a "high risk pregnancy", but that may actually be a blessing because you'll be monitored more closely.

 Reply posted for durango18.

i'm 23, too, and i got married almost 2 years ago. i recently talked to my obgyn about what i would need to do when we decided to have kids (besides get into remission with my crohn's first for once!) she told me that i would be a high-risk case (duh) and i would basically be watched every second by my team of doctors (my obgyn, my gastroenterolgist, my hematologist, and primary care physician) to keep tabs on all of my stats. she said there were a couple important vitamins to take prior to conception (of course i can't remember them right now!) to keep some levels higher to reduce the risk of holes in the baby's spinal cord (which is a normal thing to watch out for, i guess). i was also told by a couple people that i'd probably end up in bed for the last month or so of the pregnancy, but i'm not sure if they were kidding or not.

my issue is going to be keeping my vitamin and mineral levels normal and constant, because i have really poor absorption due to my crohn's. that, and actually being in remission for the first time since i was diagnosed when i was 17! i plan on starting to work out to get into really good physical shape prior to having kids, too, just to get my body as ready as i can possibly be.

i hope some of this helped! talk to your doctors about it all. i know that supposedly being on humira during pregnancy is ok (which is what i'm currently on), but that steroids are a no-no.

 Reply posted for durango18.

hey i dont have any kids yet but i have UC and im 23 as well

my dr says it will be fine . although i have read personal stories of women saying they were just really uncomfortable n had alot of pain an more flares during pregenacy ....

but i believe if its well controled by drugs u will be fine some meds are even safe to take during pregenacy. goood luck!!!