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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 3/5/2009 10:50 PM (GMT 0)
Hey everyone!

So I am now 37 weeks pregnant (yay!!) and am so excited for the little one to arrive. Everything has been going great so far, no issues with the Crohn's and our baby boy is doing wonderful. I just wanted to see if anyone on here who has had children could let me know what everything was like for them. My doctor has told me several times that a lot of people will have a flare-up right with delivery or soon after which is obviously a concern for me. I did just have a pretty big surgery (bowel resection) about 1 1/2 years ago so I'd like to think that that would help my circumstances but you just never know.

My other concern is knowing the difference between labor pains, contractions, and what could be Crohn's issues. To me they seem so similar and when I've had flare-ups in the past I've had every pain in the book. So now I have this fear of not knowing whether or not I'm having contractions or if something with the Crohn's is going on. So if anyone could give me some insight on what has happened with them I would greatly appreciate it!!! Thanks!

~Katie
Posted 3/5/2009 11:17 PM (GMT 0)
WOW, This is so exciting - I remember it all so well. I became pregnant 1 year after my resection. I had a perfect pregnancy, no problems, and continued to work until the day I went into labor. I remained in remission the entire pregnancy although I was very anxious. I also continued taking pentasa the entire time. I had a very large baby boy - 9 lbs. 1 oz. after a difficult delivery, but delivered vaginally. I had a lot of tearing and stuff but everything healed well and I experienced no flares post partum. I went on the become pregnant three more times, suffered 1 early miscarriage after my first child, unrelated to my illness, and then delivered 2 more healthy babies vaginally!! So, now I have three children ages 14 (boy), 11 (boy), and 6 (finally, a girl, after I was feeling so blessed to have had the two boys and convinced I would not conceive again!!). I have been so blessed, I can't even tell ya.....

Labor, for me, was WAY different than symptoms from my disease!! No doubt, you will be able to tell. It's more like menstrual cramps in the beginning that just keep getting stronger, often in your back. With my first, I lost my mucus plug first so I knew it was coming. The second my water broke so I had to go to the hospital. Third was induced because I had such large babies full term, so it seemed like I was always being monitored by someone. D is common towards the end of your pregnancy and throughout labor.

I would be glad to keep in touch with you throughout this wonderful time and answer any questions you may have. God Bless....

Kim
Posted 3/5/2009 11:31 PM (GMT 0)
During my pregnancy I felt better than I think I ever have in my life since symptoms first started showing themselves! I went completely off of my meds and was in remission. After I gave birth to my daughter, I stayed off of my meds while I breastfed. I didn't have any problems until I started to split time between breastfeeding and formula; apparently my body was no longer making enough hormones to keep me in remission since I wasn't exclusively breastfeeding anymore. So I then went entirely to formula and started meds again. Unfortunately by then I was too far gone for them to put me back into remission and I ended up having surgery when my daughter was 8 months old.
So I guess to give you a summary - pregnancy was the best medicine ever for my Crohn's, as was breastfeeding afterward; but as soon as your body starts to let you know that it isn't feeling well, make sure you listen to it!
Good luck to you!!
Posted 3/5/2009 11:33 PM (GMT 0)
Wow that is so wonderful to hear! I love going on the forums and talking to other people but half the time it's wonderful stories like yours and the other half are sometimes quite scary! That is so great that you had such successful pregnancies. I really hope to be the same. I like to consider myself pretty mild when it comes to my Crohn's. I typically flare up every 3-5 years which I think is great and the only reason I had major problems with some flares was because of having clueless doctors who made bad decisions or simply made no decisions at all! But that's another story...

Anyways everything this pregnancy has been great. I'm just on Pentasa and Azathioprine right now and nothing has bothered me this entire time. It's funny that you had a large baby- seems like I'm expecting a big baby as well! I went in last week for an ultrasound and they guessed his weight at 7 lbs 6 oz in which I was like wow hopefully he comes a little earlier! He's perfectly healthy which is a great relief but I worry about delivery with a big baby. And in terms of pain I just feel like such an idiot and that I'm super confused! Recently I've had sharp pains (not excruciating but definitely noticeable) in my abdomen and back and sometimes I have pain very low in my pelvis like a cramp. It's not constant but I just worry about what is going on. Like I said, I feel like I've had every pain in the book. I also have been waking up in the morning for the past few days and feel completely overheated and dizzy and have to immediately sit on the couch for 15-20 min. It feels like dehydration and as soon as I sit for a few minutes and drink some fluids, the feeling goes away and I feel great the rest of the day. So I just don't know! I go in tomorrow to see my OB and see what they say. I'm just hoping my little guy decides to come out soon!
Posted 3/6/2009 12:23 AM (GMT 0)
Congrats on the upcoming birth!!

I have a 6 month old daughter (and 3 1/2 yr old daughter) and this forum was awesome for me!! I had my resection 6 months before I got pregnant. Without the resection I would not have been able to have another baby -- well that and remicade. My pregnancy was normal throughout with no issues. I delivered a 6lbs 15oz baby girl vaginally with no issues. I am having a flare right now and it has been going on for about 2 1/2 months. I just saw my GI today and will be starting a series of tests on Monday to check my gall bladder and to see if I have inflammation at the resection site (or anywhere else). Flaring after delivery because of the shift in hormones is normal so just be alert to signs and be sure to take the best possible care of yourself after the baby comes. It's easy to put yourself on the back burner when you have a little one to take care of. As for labor pains, I agree CDfreesince93 that it's completely different than Crohn's pain. I think you will know the difference!

GOODLUCK and Best wishes!
Posted 3/6/2009 3:00 AM (GMT 0)
I also have a 6mo old daughter. I was induced, so couldn't tell you if the early pains are different. I went the full 42 weeks. So much for the increased risk of early babies, huhn? My labor was fast and easy. I had the tears and things, but recovery and the after pain was very manageable w/ only tylenol (b/c of the NSAID ban, make sure to remind your OB/Gyn of that). My only (possibly) CD-related thing was that I ended up having my BP drop a lot after and they put me on a catheter. Likely extra dehydrated + loss of blood, but it was odd and the docs never really said.

My daughter was born vaginally and was perfect 7lbs 8oz. I was in remission the whole preg and miss being preg. Still in remission, but I had two "blips" where I had some symptoms but it never turned into a flare. The second one was around the time your pregnancy hormones drop. I've been on Pentasa the whole time. I stopped just before my first "blip" because I was worried about the med and breastfeeding. Went back on (1250 mg/day) and am still exclusively breastfeeding with no problems.

Enjoy the last few weeks of being pregnant and enjoy that new baby. It really is the best thing in the world. We're already talking about #2.

Oh, and my daughter is named Katie. :)
Posted 3/6/2009 2:01 PM (GMT 0)
Oh Katie - you will TOTALLY know the difference between contractions and abdominal cramps. :) It's all in your uterus and starts by feeling like bad period cramps and builds up to something WAY stronger and there is no doubt in my mind you'll just know.

As for me I've had 3 c-sections, but I only flared after baby #1 was born. I was great after #2, and #3 is 2 months old and so far I feel pretty good. I wish you the very best!!!! Keep us posted on your little guy's arrival!
Posted 3/6/2009 4:30 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, congrats on your baby boy !!! Hope it all goes smooth and easy for you !

Don´t worry, you cannot mistake birth contractions for anything else, at least not for long ! You wrote you are experiencing some cramps, might be the Braxton-Hicks, yout uterus is training for labour. The labour is like that, only waaaay stronger and the intervals between contractions are getting smaller.

I gave birth to our baby boy 3yrs 9months ago and had wonderful smooth labour, no cuts, tears, it was all quick and great. After that, my Crohn went quite bad, had severe D., joint pains etc., but I had been diagnosed with CD only at 32. week of pregnancy and I wasn´t on any meds yet, so that might be why. Couldn ´t breastfeed as I didn´t have much milk because I felt really poor and had to start Pentasa and Prednisone

Right now I´m at the end of my second pregnancy, am 39+5 weeks now and only yesterday doc estimated weight of our baby girl fot 8lb. shocked ! Was quite shocked as my son was a small baby, 6lbs.Really hope she will come out soon rolleyes !!!

Good luck to you and your little one, hope the illness will stay away.
Posted 3/8/2009 5:22 AM (GMT 0)
exciting times for you!! you will definately know the difference between labor pains and crohn's pains. ;)

i was on asacol and 6-MP during my pregnancy. for 8 years i was in remission and my pregnancy was fantastic. i quit the 6-MP so i could breastfeed. about 8 months after i gave birth i had a flare up and took prednisone for a bit (and continued to breastfeed). i think between nursing and having crohn's my baby weight disappeared quick (but too quick - 10 lbs less than pre-pregnancy). when my baby was 13 months i had another major flare and now i'm on pentasa and remicade now.

we are excited to start trying for baby #2 soon and my dr's want me to stay on remicade. i will stop in order to breastfeed again. i worry that i'll flare again but it's important to me.

get your sleep now!
Posted 3/8/2009 6:18 PM (GMT 0)
Aidy, check out Dr. Hale's site. I think Remicade is fine for breast feeding.
Posted 3/8/2009 6:29 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you all so much for writing on here!! It's helped my confidence a bit but of course I still worry! Any pain, cramp, or twinge I feel makes me question what's going on in there. And for me I've had cramps with the Crohn's in the lower abdomen and I've had pain in my back and around my stomach. So to me, whenever people say what their contractions felt like I can say yeah, that's exactly how my Crohn's felt. So ahhh, lol makes me a bit nervous! I'm trying to stay as calm and stress-free as I can since my body gets run down quite easily. I just hope he comes soon! I've now been having awful heartburn that makes me feel so sick to my stomach and every morning I wake up feeling dizzy and dehydrated. I have to sit on the couch for 15-20 minutes drinking water and then after I get over that hurdle I am fine the rest of the day. Did anyone else have a problem with this? I know I get dehydrated very easily but I don't know how much more water I can drink! Even throughout the night getting up to go to the bathroom, I come back to bed and drink some more water. Soooo in summary I'm a mess! Just can't wait for baby to get here. Any other advice or opinions would be greatly appreciated!!
Posted 3/9/2009 12:15 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Katie how far are you from the hospital? When I was getting to the end of my term I went off and stayed with my teens Dad's family for a few days and I remember starting off with a good emptying of the bowels I guess look for little pains that come and go every ten minutes or so.. much better to go to the hospital even if you are not going to deliver if you think it is the baby coming.. one old wives tale I heard of was wiping the breast with a face cloth and that helps bring women into labour.. who knew.. wishing you all the best ..I delivered in 2 hours from the time I landed at the hospital.. and went about a hour after I started getting cramps and they were mild at that time.. lol gail
Posted 3/9/2009 12:40 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Gail,
Luckily I am literally up the street from the hospital; don't even have to go on a major road to get there which is quite great to know. As of now still no developments really. I mean I know something is going on because the pressure is a lot greater, I feel lots of "twinges" (I guess you could call them) and I have contractions on and off, but not true labor yet :-( I started feeling the contractions Thursday night and had my appointment with my OB Friday and they did an exam and no progress yet which I was a bit disappointed to hear. I know everyone says enjoy the last few weeks but I feel miserable and just can't wait to hold my baby in my arms and know he's ok. Plus the dehydrated feeling concerns me so I am just drinking water like there's no tomorrow. So we'll see how things go and hopefully he will arrive soon!!
Posted 3/9/2009 1:55 AM (GMT 0)
Hi You are so right it is so special to see them for the first time and I can remember how nice it was to know her cry when she was in the nursery.. bet the hubby is walking on air by now.. lol gail
Posted 3/9/2009 2:48 AM (GMT 0)
Whenever you do end up going to the hospital let them know you've been feeling dehydrated. If you are going to have an iv (I don't know how natural you are going to be), they can keep you well hydrated. I could have used more fluids than they gave me, so it will be good to tell them.

Take care. I'm sure it is hard to enjoy the last few days/weeks, but try to just enjoy the feeling of him moving. I actually have dreams I am still pregnant and can feel my daughter moving. I get sad when I wake up and I'm not pregnant. Still that doesn't compare to holding the little one.
Posted 3/9/2009 10:56 PM (GMT 0)
Hey everyone. So I wanted to write an update for what's been going on with me. As I've said, anything I feel worries me because I really just don't know. Still having the dehydrated feeling which I definitely will be addressing with my doctor when I see her this week. But this is the issue that is concerning me. On and off since Thursday I have been getting these severe cramps like low in the groin area. Sometimes I have to go to the bathroom and there is some relief with that but sometimes I don't have to go at all, just the feeling is there. But this pain is quite extreme. So much that I am in tears and cannot walk. Then it goes away and I'm fine for however many hours. I just don't know what is going on in there and I worry since I'm not in true labor yet I'm having such painful cramps. Please if anyone could let me know what they think about this; I'm quite concerned!!!
Posted 3/10/2009 12:20 AM (GMT 0)
Hi You could skip down to the hospital and see if you are dilated..that might be the reason wouldn't hurt to get checked.. lol gail
Posted 3/10/2009 1:24 PM (GMT 0)
At the end of my first pregnancy I was much like you, I couldn't get enough to drink and of course I couldn't really go anywhere because I couldn't stay out of the bathroom long enough to get some place because I had to pee so often. I think your body is just getting ready for the delivery and you probably don't have much longer to go. I was like you for like the last 2 weeks.

With my third baby, I would have terrible cramps if I moved too quickly in one direction or the other. Never knew what caused that, I just think it was the postion the baby was in.

I agree with gachrons, if the pain gets too bad maybe you should contact your doc or go to the hospital to get things checked out.

Good luck,
Gail *Nanners*
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