Cf Women Who Have Been Pregnant

[Asexyblond23]

Hey everyone,

My husband and I are going to start the IUI process in Jan. Has has been tested and is not a carrier (whooo hooo). What I have been researching is the effect of pregnancy on women with CF. What I am worried about is if it will hurt my PFT. All the studies I have seen have no link between pregnacy and your pft's going down. So I am trying to find out how other women who have been pregnant have done. This is the part that I am the most nervous about, really nervous. My Pft's have been doing pretty good. I am at my best right now that I have been in over 10 years, I can mantain weight no problem so I think I am doing pretty good and ready to start. I guess I am just nervouse about it making my CF worse. I guess I just wanted to hear from other women with CF who have had kids. You know where they are at now with there PFT's and health and how they did during pregnancy or how they are doing during it. Thanks so much ladies!!!

 

[lightNlife]

Here's my experience with CF and pregnancy...<br>
<br>
The first time I was pregnant, my health suffered a lot because I
found out I was pregnant about the same time as when I usually
started heading downhill health-wise anyway. My PFTs declined
largely because I was unable to take my usual meds, particularly
the IV "tuneup" stuff that I was ready to have. What
further compromised my lung function was that I had to be put under
general anesthesia in order to undergo a D&C when the pregnancy
ended in a miscarriage.<br>
<br>
My second pregnancy started out way better. In fact, I felt
FABULOUS--high energy, good PFTs, good weight etc. That pregnancy
also ended in miscarriage.<br>
<br>
However, my experience is probably not the norm. The scientific
papers I have read regarding CF and pregnancy have said that if
your lung function is higher than %75, then being pregnant is
unlikely to cause harm. Generally, PFTs are affected most during
the pregnancy because of the obvious--there's a tiny little life in
there that starts taking up room, pushing your diaphragm upward.
This in turn presses on your lungs and makes you short of
breath.<br>
<br>
According to an article published in "The Family
Physician", there is no evidence that pregnancy accelerates
decline in lung function. That study was published in 2002, and
since the CF Foundation reports that things have really improved in
terms of longevity for us in just the last 4 years, I think it is
reasonable to safely assume that you will do fine so long as you
keep up with treatments.<br>
<br>
A more recent study's findings, published in "Gynecology and
Obstetrics)" in 2005 demonstrated that FEV1 decreased a bit
throughout the pregnancy, but later rebounded post-partum.<br>
<br>
<br>
I hope that is helpful to you. If you would like me to send you
more of what I have available regarding the 2005 study, let me
know, as I have the full text of the report which is very inclusive
of a lot of the issues that are part of being pregnant as a CF
patient. <br>
<br>
<br>
Best wishes for a safe pregnancy with a happy result. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

 

[JazzysMom]

SO many people are different, but here is my story. I neglected my health for years. I didnt do treatments & the extent of caring for myself was going into the hospital when my flareups got out of control. When I met my new husband & got pregnant I hadnt been to my CF clinic in....welll seems like forever. As a matter of fact it had been so long that the doctors changes & I didnt know it. Anyway.....so I go there pregnant & we prepared a plan with the new doctor. I worked fulltime during my whole pregnancy. I had a lot of stress from my Mom, but outside of developing gestational diabetes which I controlled with insulin I felt great & looked great. In my 8th month I started having hemoptysis. This isnt unusual since I do have a long history of it. I was surprised it took so long to rear its ugly head. Mind you I didnt not do treatments during my pregnancy just like pre pregnancy. I did take oral meds tho. I ended up going in for a cleanout because of the hemoptysis (which wouldnt have worried me if I hadnt been pregnant) & while there it was decided that I deliver 4 weeks early by c section as a precaution to me. They wanted to avoid my going thru labor & the last month of pregnancy. I delivered a healthy little girl with no problems. I had no problems until she was about 18 months. At that point I was working full time again, my husband worked far away from home & I felt like a single Mom. I still wasnt doing my treatments & everything just took its toll on me. I stopped working & have been fighting to maintain my health since. Good/bad days, but overall ok. Statistically if I had done my treatments I would have did better for a longer period, but overall I had minimal problems. Now there are other CFers that had problems from the get go. Much depends on your health status at the time of conceiving as well as your care of yourself etc. Sadly there is no way to know how each person (CF or not) will respond to a pregnancy. Even my sister (No CF) had 3 different pregnancies & each one was completely different! Thats my story & my opinion~!

 

[LouLou]

Alisha, I a starting to try to get pregnant in October. I am curious if you have been trying and this is why you are going to IUI or is it for someother reason. If this is too personal to share, please do not respond. I'll understand. Thank you. Lauren

 

[lovingBenandCambree]

Most of my story on pregnancy is in my first blog entry. You can look that up for further details if you wish. I do however want to say that My PFTS had been on the decline when I got pregnant. I had been in the hospital 3 times that year due to stress from my job. I then went in a 4th time while pregnant and decided it was time to quite my job. I did IV antibiotics twice during my pregnancy and my baby is doing great. My PFTs are actually back to where they were when I got pregnant and I am more stable than I have been in 4 years with only 2 hospitializations this past year. IF you have any questions please feel free to ask, or PM me. I am more than willing to talk with you about it.

 

[Asexyblond23]

WOW thank you all for sharing your personal stories. Yuo have really reassured me. I read that it didnt really hurt you but I guess hearing it from real people that I can talk to ment a whole lot more!!! Really thank you so much! And in the near future I will prob be messaging you all to ask questions <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">


LouLou ~ My hubby and I have been trying for over a year the natural way. I have been tested at the fertility clinic and everything is normal and working with both of us. The reason we are doing IUI ( which is not expensive at all compared to an IVF) is due to the fact that the doctors have told me that I have ALOT of muscus around and on my cervix. So since its very hard for his sperm to swim thru my mucus we are going to do an IUI where they take a catherder and place the sperm up into the cervix. Hopefully getting the little guys closer to the eggs and that way they bypass alot of my mucus. We are hoping that this will be an easier way for the little guys to reach where they need to get to!

 

[ladybug]

With an IUI, are you risking having multiples just as you are with IVF? Just curious. I was told any assisted reproduction is risky for CFers cause of the risk of multiple births and that can put a greater strain on health. Just curious what everyone else has heard about multiples AND whether IUI has less of a chance of this than other methods?

Thanks,

 

[anonymous]

Hi, I just wanted to share my experience with my baby, I had a pretty good 9mths i was hospitalized once due to the fact you can't take inhaled tobi, otherwise i did great. I gained a good amount of weight about the average 30-40lbs. I was 132 and delivered at 176lbs. During the end was harder to breath and move and I was so tired the entire time, I left work about a mth before she was due just to rest, (thank god my work is understanding some bosses don't care and I am sorry for whoever has to deal with bad bosses.) My delivery went great, I didn't need stiches at all, and she came very smoothly, I started at 1pm and had her at 10:15pm. I hope all goes well with you and just make sure you take of yourself, and of course its best to be healthly. Good luck and i'll keep praying for you. Also she doesn't have CF just a carrier. thank god.

 

[lovingBenandCambree]

Alisha,
I do hope that you went and read my blog. My pregnancy was in no way easy and the comeback was something fierce and by the grace of God I was blessed to be able to get off oxygen in the process. I just hope that you know that things can go wrong and that it isnt always an easy road. Not trying to scare you or anything. Just thought that my other post seemed all roses which it was far from due to complications that arose.

 

[mtmonroe]

Hi Alisha
My pregnancy went very well. I think I took better care of myself when I was prgnant. I had gestational diabetes(That was hard for me)Now I have CFRD.
As with any pergnant women I did get short of breath towards the end. It is an awsome expierience. I had my daughter naturally(I did have pain medicine).
Good luck My prayers are with you.
My daughter Madilyn Faith is 5 years old

 

[julie]

Alisha,

Here's a website from another woman with CF and her pregnancy and childbirth experience. She also has success stories from other CF women with children. <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.geocities.com/murrensnaturemama/index.html
">http://www.geocities.com/murrensnaturemama/index.html
</a>
My husband and I did IVF for male factor infertility (he has CF) and I'd LOVE to share with you two things I did to help improve my chances of implantation, they have been proven in studies to work for IUI the same as IVF. I'll only share if you are willing though, don't want to give unsolicited advice so let me know if you are interested.



Sonia,

Some women do "natural" IUI and some women do medicated IUI with something like clomid.

Since IUI is fairly inexpensive, some women want to try "natural" IUI first. Natural IUI is timed around when you ovulate and uses the egg (or sometimes eggs if you are genetically prone to fraternal twins) that your body releases.

If natural IUI doesn't work (some women give 2 tries) many go on to use some egg stimulating medication, like clomid. The risks of multiples with an IUI and egg stimulating medication is dependent upon your response to the medication. It's somewhat complicated. With IVF, you know exactly how many embryos you are putting back so unless something splits (like in our case) the most kids you will have is the max. embryos you put back. With IUI and an egg stimulating medication, your body can produce 2, 3, 5, 7 eggs (even closley monitored, depends on how you respond to the medication) and when the sperm is put up into your uterus with a catheder, ALL of them have the potential to fertilize.

On the otherhand, you may only produce 1 or 2 eggs, and then your chances of multiples are less. In the end, IVF is more controlled if you use an egg stimulating medication.

Mark and I also talked about selective reduction. Something any couple who's doing any sort of fertility treatments should discuss.

 

[lovingBenandCambree]

I also wanted to respond to the anon that said you can't take inhaled Tobi, that isnt necessarily true, it is unknown the effects, but due to it going directly into the lungs, it is thought to be safe. I did it my whole pregnancy. You can not however do IV tobramyacin, it has been found to cause deafness in the fetus.