rubyroselee
New member
Hey Sarah,
Well, I didn't even know a woman could have a baby with CF when I first started researching. My ideas on that were still from back in the 80's when I was a kid and it was so rare for a CF woman to have children back then...and for some reason I thought that was still the situation. Silly me!! After finding this forum I found out that people with CF have babies all the time! But I will give you my situation on my pregnancy...
I am also DDF508, PI, and my PFT's were around 90% when I got pregnant. I was also nice and plump with my weight around 184 lbs (5'8"). Even with all of these things on my side, my doctor warned me that a CF woman is not the ideal body for a pregnancy. There are many risks involved. I had to worry about the possibility that I might need antibiotics while pregnant and how that would affect the baby. I also had to worry about keeping my weight up. I did have an exacerbation during the pregnancy, but that was luckily taken care of with inhaled colistin and I felt comfortable taking inhaled antibiotics while pregnant. My weight became a slight issue in that I lost a lot of weight in the beginning because of morning sickness, but in the end I gained about 12 lbs total. So overall, the pregnancy was wonderful!
The hard part came afterwards. After I had the baby, I lost almost 30 lbs, down to 167 lbs. Also, because I pretty mich had a 4th degree tear from the birth, it was almost impossible for me to cough with the pain for a few days. I got very congested and sick afterwards. And of course, the exhaustion from having a colicky baby got to me and my PFT's plummeted down to 62%. All I can remember, even to this day, is the exhaustion!!! And it was like that for many many months afterwards. So the problem really wasn't during the pregnancy at all, it was afterwards that took a toll on my health.
But on a positive note, my PFT's have since gone back up to 100% (even higher than pre-pregnancy) and my weight is back up to 180 lbs. My boys keep me so busy now that I get my exercise in with them in no time!
So my thoughts on pregnancy are this...if you and your doctor think it's an option, then you just have to weigh the risks and benefits and see if it's worth it to you. Talk to your husband about the "what if's". That's the most important part.
I was absolutely terrified when I was thinking about getting pregnant (which is why I didn't carry my first son). I just didn't want to risk my health. But once I realized that I could do it and that I would be under good care from my doctors, I went ahead. I figured that I only live once and I had to follow my dreams. And just as Christian said, there are people with lower PFT's that do quite well while higher PFT's don't do as well, and vice versa.
Well, I didn't even know a woman could have a baby with CF when I first started researching. My ideas on that were still from back in the 80's when I was a kid and it was so rare for a CF woman to have children back then...and for some reason I thought that was still the situation. Silly me!! After finding this forum I found out that people with CF have babies all the time! But I will give you my situation on my pregnancy...
I am also DDF508, PI, and my PFT's were around 90% when I got pregnant. I was also nice and plump with my weight around 184 lbs (5'8"). Even with all of these things on my side, my doctor warned me that a CF woman is not the ideal body for a pregnancy. There are many risks involved. I had to worry about the possibility that I might need antibiotics while pregnant and how that would affect the baby. I also had to worry about keeping my weight up. I did have an exacerbation during the pregnancy, but that was luckily taken care of with inhaled colistin and I felt comfortable taking inhaled antibiotics while pregnant. My weight became a slight issue in that I lost a lot of weight in the beginning because of morning sickness, but in the end I gained about 12 lbs total. So overall, the pregnancy was wonderful!
The hard part came afterwards. After I had the baby, I lost almost 30 lbs, down to 167 lbs. Also, because I pretty mich had a 4th degree tear from the birth, it was almost impossible for me to cough with the pain for a few days. I got very congested and sick afterwards. And of course, the exhaustion from having a colicky baby got to me and my PFT's plummeted down to 62%. All I can remember, even to this day, is the exhaustion!!! And it was like that for many many months afterwards. So the problem really wasn't during the pregnancy at all, it was afterwards that took a toll on my health.
But on a positive note, my PFT's have since gone back up to 100% (even higher than pre-pregnancy) and my weight is back up to 180 lbs. My boys keep me so busy now that I get my exercise in with them in no time!
So my thoughts on pregnancy are this...if you and your doctor think it's an option, then you just have to weigh the risks and benefits and see if it's worth it to you. Talk to your husband about the "what if's". That's the most important part.
I was absolutely terrified when I was thinking about getting pregnant (which is why I didn't carry my first son). I just didn't want to risk my health. But once I realized that I could do it and that I would be under good care from my doctors, I went ahead. I figured that I only live once and I had to follow my dreams. And just as Christian said, there are people with lower PFT's that do quite well while higher PFT's don't do as well, and vice versa.