i'm pregnant...now what?!

Hi Shelly.. congratulations on expecting!! That's really great!! I too have IBS-D. I've had 2 babies since my IBS-D started. My diarrhea actually got better while I was pregnant, but after the babies came it came back. After my last son was born about 6 months ago, it has been a little better, but it's definitely not gone.

I think everyone's body is different and will react in different ways. I've heard of some women who have worse diarrhea during pregnancy. I really think it just depends on the person. Just stick it out, try not to get too stressed out and enjoy being pregnant!!

Best Wishes to you!!
Cathy

From what I have heard on here, it seems that most women who already have IBS symptoms when they get pregnant actually get better. Women who don't have IBS going into it sometimes develop IBS during pregnancy and sometimes continue to have it afterwards.

Make sure that you clear EVERYTHING you take for IBS with your doctor--including calcium supplements, probiotics and imodium. Also make sure you know how much you are allowed to take (you many not be able to take the full dose). And let your obstitrician know that you have IBS-D because he may adjust what vitamins he gives you, or may even change his expectations for weight gain (harder to gain when you have D). You don't want to scare your doctor into thinking there's something wrong with you and/or the baby when your problems can be discounted due to your pre-existing IBS.

I hope you are one of the lucky ones who has an IBS-free pregnancy. I don't think that the D you've been having over the past week is any indication of what's going to happen a few months down the road. Of course you're excited and nervous and that will upset your guts, not to mention the sudden shifting of gears in terms of hormones. I bet once you get used to the idea of being pregnant (and your body gets used to it as well), you'll balance out.

Do I remember correctly that you were wanting to/trying to get pregnant some time ago?

Congratulations! With my first pregnancy I felt terrific. I also have IBS-D and I was actually constipated for a while. I couldn't believe it! I did have times where I was crampy and had diarrhea, but not to often. I could eat anything I wanted to and still felt good. My 2nd pregnancy was totally opposite. I had diarrhea often, it would sometimes wake me up at night and go on for hours. My IBS was NOT good then. I couldn't wait for my baby to be born. But can assure you I had no trouble gaining weight, although it was all gained in the last 2 months of the pregnancy.
I was unmedicated with both pregnancies, (and for a year after so I could breastfeed with both babies) only took immodium when I needed it. Even when I felt terrible the 2nd time around, my Drs weren't concerned. I took all the vitamins and tried not to eat trigger foods.
There is a plus side to having IBS and being pregnant (did I really just say that???)......
labor pains feel alot like IBS cramps, so you'll be used to that feeling.
Good luck and I hope your diarrhea gets better soon!
-Kim

I bet boys give you the runs, LOL.

Actually, the mother's body does respond differently when it is carrying a boy than a girl. Something about the fact that there are these Y chromosomes flotaing around in there, her reproductive organs have to work harder to keep her body from attacking the fetus as a foreign object. Also, during times of extreme stress for the mother--such as living through a war--fewer baby boys are born. They have linked this not to a drop in Y chromosomes in men, but as natural abortion in women. Women are just more prone to miscarry boys during that time. From a natural selection stand point, you need more women than men to keep the species going, so the woman's body may interpret extreme stress as a survival problem and abort her boy babies so that she can spend more time having girls. So it may be a good thing that in some cultures a woman goes into seclusion in her house during her pregnancy and is waited on by her family so that she is kept quiet and stress free. Something else that's new, is the study that the more boys a woman bears, the more likely the younger ones will be gay. They were able to discount environment: an only-child boy raised with older stepbrothers or adopted brothers has no additional risk of being gay, and yet a subsequent boy (boy number 2, 3, 4, etc.) raised as an only-child had a higher risk. A boy born after a string of sisters has no additional risk of being gay. There is no correlation at all between birth order and homosexuality in girls. Scientists are kind of scratching their heads over that one. The only thing they can figure out is that a woman's body becomes increasingly hostile to male fetuses and ends up doing something to them that makes them more likely to be gay. Does a woman's body figure so many boys are unnecessary and start taking some of them out of the gene pool?

Some pretty weird stuff goes on when you have a baby. With all the timing issues and hormone changes so the body won't reject the baby and everything, it's really amazing we're all here!