for the women who have kids

i am currently 27 weeks pregnant and one of the lucky ones where my UC doesnt bug me during pregnancy. have any of you gotten a flare up after giving birth? ive heard alot of people do.

I was also in remission when pregnant. I had a flare when my first was 8 months that lasted 6 months until I got pregnant with #2. Then I flared when he was 6 weeks old. Both flares were managed with Lialda and Rowasa. Luckily I've been able to stay away from the harsher meds. Try not to worry about it though and just enjoy every healthy moment with them.

My UC began shortly after my son was born.

I'm the same; my UC started after the birth of my second child.

mhm let's see...as you can see from my signature below i too developed UC after i gave birth to my son (who is now almost 1 yr old).
Now havign aid that i remember all too well how i struggled with diarrhoea and some blood in the first trimester which then resolved on its own (thank God) and by the time i got to my GI apptmnt i was well again so she thought it was just 'hormones'.

Also, before getting prego i remmeber seeing blood in the stool sometimes and having urgency and somewhat looser BMs for a couple of years but that was in the morning only then after i go to the loo im fine till the next day and i go dashing to the toilet. I didn't know that i had an problem since it wasn't impacting my life (just the first hour of my mornings) and i just thought i had a sensitive gut.

Now im thinking of ttc for #2 but i dunno if im prepared for what might happen :|

I had a different experience with each pregnancy.

Pregnancy #1: I had a wonderful pregnancy full of energy and felt amazing. After giving birth to my son I had urgency issues. As soon as I would start breastfeeding him each morning I had the urge to go. I had fully formed BMs but I would literally have to stop breastfeeding, pass my son to my hubbie and run for the bathroom. I had a colonoscopy and everything was great! My GI thought that it was just a hormonal thing with 'let down' when I was breastfeeding. It only happened first thing in the morning. After 3 months everything was fine and I did not have to take any meds at all. I successfully breastfed him until he self-weaned at 15 months.

Pregnancy #2: I had terrible mourning sickness for the first 18 weeks. The last 2 months of pregnancy I started noticing more mucous in my stool and my GI suggested using Cortifoam. As soon as I gave birth to my daughter all my UC symptoms disappeared! I was doing very well until I switched to a generic brand of Colazal when my daughter was 8 months old and slowly but surely my symptoms came back with a vengence. I waited too long to see my GI and by Jan 2012 I was in a full flare taking prednisone. I had to stop breastfeeding overnight when she was 10 months old and the emotional and physical pain of that was almost as bad as my flare. I had 25+ bloody diarrhea a day with lower back pain. I am still recovering from this flare and taking prednisone and rectal meds.

Every pregnancy is different just like every child. Try not to focus on the UC and look forward to the birth of your baby. Talk to your OB about possible suggestions if your UC starts to act up if this will ease your anxiety. If you have no symptoms now then there is a good chance you will be fine for the pregnancy and birth. It is a special time in your life and don't let UC rain on your parade.

Good luck to you and keep us posted :)

I follow the same pattern as many women on here, flared during one pregnancy, fine in another but I did start to flare about 4-6 months postpartum with both of my kids.

I'd be curious if those who breastfed their babies tended to flare more or not, I did BF both kids before and during flares.

I won't lie, it was brutal both times, stopped nursing one baby at 8 months to go on Imuran, with my 2nd child stopped nursing at 10 months b/c I was so sick I lost a bunch of weight and barely had any milk to give her anyway.

Truly hope your pregnancy goes well and you are healthy postpartum!