Should I or shouldn't I?

elizab · Jul 17, 2008

Hi Sweetie,

It's a difficult question and it's great that you're taking the time to consider all the issues.
I am now 37 weeks pregnant and my FEV1 was about 60ish% when we got pregnant (after IVF treatment, a long road!) Currently it is in the low 50s, I did IVs a couple of times while pregnant.
I think the numbers are less important that your day-to-day health and how well controlled your CF is. While I get regular chest infections and treat them with IV antibiotics I have never had an infection get out of control or been really ill. My weight is good but I do have pancreatic insufficiency and occasional stomach problems and like nearly everyone on the site have struggled to gain the recommended pregnancy weight gain, I have gained about 7-8 kilos while pregnant.
I think one of the most important considerations is support - thru a pregnancy and afterwards will you have a lot of support from your partner and family / friends because that is what will get you through and ensure that you can maintain your own health while caring for your baby.

And all the logical side apart, as Patti says you have to follow your heart - is this something that you and your fiance really really want despite the obstacles.

Best of luck with your decision,

Elizab x

elizab · Jul 17, 2008

Hi Sweetie,

It's a difficult question and it's great that you're taking the time to consider all the issues.
I am now 37 weeks pregnant and my FEV1 was about 60ish% when we got pregnant (after IVF treatment, a long road!) Currently it is in the low 50s, I did IVs a couple of times while pregnant.
I think the numbers are less important that your day-to-day health and how well controlled your CF is. While I get regular chest infections and treat them with IV antibiotics I have never had an infection get out of control or been really ill. My weight is good but I do have pancreatic insufficiency and occasional stomach problems and like nearly everyone on the site have struggled to gain the recommended pregnancy weight gain, I have gained about 7-8 kilos while pregnant.
I think one of the most important considerations is support - thru a pregnancy and afterwards will you have a lot of support from your partner and family / friends because that is what will get you through and ensure that you can maintain your own health while caring for your baby.

And all the logical side apart, as Patti says you have to follow your heart - is this something that you and your fiance really really want despite the obstacles.

Best of luck with your decision,

Elizab x

elizab · Jul 17, 2008

Hi Sweetie,

It's a difficult question and it's great that you're taking the time to consider all the issues.
I am now 37 weeks pregnant and my FEV1 was about 60ish% when we got pregnant (after IVF treatment, a long road!) Currently it is in the low 50s, I did IVs a couple of times while pregnant.
I think the numbers are less important that your day-to-day health and how well controlled your CF is. While I get regular chest infections and treat them with IV antibiotics I have never had an infection get out of control or been really ill. My weight is good but I do have pancreatic insufficiency and occasional stomach problems and like nearly everyone on the site have struggled to gain the recommended pregnancy weight gain, I have gained about 7-8 kilos while pregnant.
I think one of the most important considerations is support - thru a pregnancy and afterwards will you have a lot of support from your partner and family / friends because that is what will get you through and ensure that you can maintain your own health while caring for your baby.

And all the logical side apart, as Patti says you have to follow your heart - is this something that you and your fiance really really want despite the obstacles.

Best of luck with your decision,

Elizab x

elizab · Jul 17, 2008

Hi Sweetie,

It's a difficult question and it's great that you're taking the time to consider all the issues.
I am now 37 weeks pregnant and my FEV1 was about 60ish% when we got pregnant (after IVF treatment, a long road!) Currently it is in the low 50s, I did IVs a couple of times while pregnant.
I think the numbers are less important that your day-to-day health and how well controlled your CF is. While I get regular chest infections and treat them with IV antibiotics I have never had an infection get out of control or been really ill. My weight is good but I do have pancreatic insufficiency and occasional stomach problems and like nearly everyone on the site have struggled to gain the recommended pregnancy weight gain, I have gained about 7-8 kilos while pregnant.
I think one of the most important considerations is support - thru a pregnancy and afterwards will you have a lot of support from your partner and family / friends because that is what will get you through and ensure that you can maintain your own health while caring for your baby.

And all the logical side apart, as Patti says you have to follow your heart - is this something that you and your fiance really really want despite the obstacles.

Best of luck with your decision,

Elizab x

elizab · Jul 17, 2008

Hi Sweetie,
 
 It's a difficult question and it's great that you're taking the time to consider all the issues.
 I am now 37 weeks pregnant and my FEV1 was about 60ish% when we got pregnant (after IVF treatment, a long road!) Currently it is in the low 50s, I did IVs a couple of times while pregnant.
 I think the numbers are less important that your day-to-day health and how well controlled your CF is. While I get regular chest infections and treat them with IV antibiotics I have never had an infection get out of control or been really ill. My weight is good but I do have pancreatic insufficiency and occasional stomach problems and like nearly everyone on the site have struggled to gain the recommended pregnancy weight gain, I have gained about 7-8 kilos while pregnant.
 I think one of the most important considerations is support - thru a pregnancy and afterwards will you have a lot of support from your partner and family / friends because that is what will get you through and ensure that you can maintain your own health while caring for your baby.
 
 And all the logical side apart, as Patti says you have to follow your heart - is this something that you and your fiance really really want despite the obstacles.
 
 Best of luck with your decision,
 
 Elizab x

Transplantmommy · Jul 17, 2008

Thanks!

As for the questions....yes I did have trouble with GI issues pre-pregnancy. They were not always that bad but I did have a bowel obstruction a few times but only one waranted being hospitalized when I was 6. I have ahd a struggle with weight all my life. I am tall (used to be 5'10" before the osteo kicked in) and the most I have ever weighed was 145 pounds...and then I only gained 10 pounds when I was pregnant with Brady. When I got really sick, I dropped down to 113 pounds. Since the transplants, I am back up to 145!!!

The pregnancy in general was great for me. I went 9 weeks without knowing that I was pregnant because it was normal for me to have irregular and missed periods and I had no morning sickness at all. I still got my lung infections and had to be treated for them. I ended up in the hospital a couple of times for them to monitor me and Brady. When I was about 27 weeks along, they put me in the hospital for good and told me that they would most likely not let me go past 34 weeks with the pregnancy but they would take him sooner if they had to. I went into the hospital on December 5, 2005, Brady was born on January 10,2006, and I was released on the 14th after I had healed a little from the c-section. Brady stayed in that hospital (an hour away from me) for 4 days and then was moved to our hometown hospital (3 mins away) 4 days later (Jan 18). He was able to finally come home on Valentine's day!

Taking care of him when he came home was rather hard as the months went on. It was okay at first. I did have a lot of help from my husband. We had to get up every three hours to feed Brady....he would take the first shift and I would take the second so we could both get some sleep. Brady had never slept in our room....he has always slept in his crib. I didn't want to keep waking him up with my coughing because a coughing Mommy and a waking up cranky baby is not a good match! LOL! When the summer of '06 came around, my cousin came out and stayed at our house so that I could have help with Brady during the day while Nate worked. It did get hard for me to take care of Brady. I would start feeding him his bottle and then have to have someone else take over because of the coughing fits that I would have. It got to where I couldn't give him a bath because our bathtub sits rather low and one time when I was bent over to clean Brady, I started coughing up blood. I still did stuff with Brady, but it was just harder than a mother without CF, to do it.

I was hospitalized in Cleveland for 63 days from Sept to Dec 2006 and only saw Brady occasionally when someone could bring him to me (I live 6 hours from Cleveland). I got to come home and spend the holidays at home and was even home for Brady's first b-day (even felt well enough to throw him a party). Shorlty after is when I coughed up a LOT of blood and ended up back in the hospital again. I was transferred to Cleveland on Jan 27, 2007 and got the transplants 4 days later!!

Since then, other than my colon issues and the surgery to have it removed, I have been home with Brady 24/7 and am loving every minute of motherhood! I would absolutely do all of this over again if I had to!! And yes, if I had listened to the doctors, my perfectly healthy little boy would not be here today and I might not have fought as hard as I did for the transplants!

Transplantmommy · Jul 17, 2008

Thanks!

As for the questions....yes I did have trouble with GI issues pre-pregnancy. They were not always that bad but I did have a bowel obstruction a few times but only one waranted being hospitalized when I was 6. I have ahd a struggle with weight all my life. I am tall (used to be 5'10" before the osteo kicked in) and the most I have ever weighed was 145 pounds...and then I only gained 10 pounds when I was pregnant with Brady. When I got really sick, I dropped down to 113 pounds. Since the transplants, I am back up to 145!!!

The pregnancy in general was great for me. I went 9 weeks without knowing that I was pregnant because it was normal for me to have irregular and missed periods and I had no morning sickness at all. I still got my lung infections and had to be treated for them. I ended up in the hospital a couple of times for them to monitor me and Brady. When I was about 27 weeks along, they put me in the hospital for good and told me that they would most likely not let me go past 34 weeks with the pregnancy but they would take him sooner if they had to. I went into the hospital on December 5, 2005, Brady was born on January 10,2006, and I was released on the 14th after I had healed a little from the c-section. Brady stayed in that hospital (an hour away from me) for 4 days and then was moved to our hometown hospital (3 mins away) 4 days later (Jan 18). He was able to finally come home on Valentine's day!

Taking care of him when he came home was rather hard as the months went on. It was okay at first. I did have a lot of help from my husband. We had to get up every three hours to feed Brady....he would take the first shift and I would take the second so we could both get some sleep. Brady had never slept in our room....he has always slept in his crib. I didn't want to keep waking him up with my coughing because a coughing Mommy and a waking up cranky baby is not a good match! LOL! When the summer of '06 came around, my cousin came out and stayed at our house so that I could have help with Brady during the day while Nate worked. It did get hard for me to take care of Brady. I would start feeding him his bottle and then have to have someone else take over because of the coughing fits that I would have. It got to where I couldn't give him a bath because our bathtub sits rather low and one time when I was bent over to clean Brady, I started coughing up blood. I still did stuff with Brady, but it was just harder than a mother without CF, to do it.

I was hospitalized in Cleveland for 63 days from Sept to Dec 2006 and only saw Brady occasionally when someone could bring him to me (I live 6 hours from Cleveland). I got to come home and spend the holidays at home and was even home for Brady's first b-day (even felt well enough to throw him a party). Shorlty after is when I coughed up a LOT of blood and ended up back in the hospital again. I was transferred to Cleveland on Jan 27, 2007 and got the transplants 4 days later!!

Since then, other than my colon issues and the surgery to have it removed, I have been home with Brady 24/7 and am loving every minute of motherhood! I would absolutely do all of this over again if I had to!! And yes, if I had listened to the doctors, my perfectly healthy little boy would not be here today and I might not have fought as hard as I did for the transplants!

Transplantmommy · Jul 17, 2008

Thanks!

As for the questions....yes I did have trouble with GI issues pre-pregnancy. They were not always that bad but I did have a bowel obstruction a few times but only one waranted being hospitalized when I was 6. I have ahd a struggle with weight all my life. I am tall (used to be 5'10" before the osteo kicked in) and the most I have ever weighed was 145 pounds...and then I only gained 10 pounds when I was pregnant with Brady. When I got really sick, I dropped down to 113 pounds. Since the transplants, I am back up to 145!!!

The pregnancy in general was great for me. I went 9 weeks without knowing that I was pregnant because it was normal for me to have irregular and missed periods and I had no morning sickness at all. I still got my lung infections and had to be treated for them. I ended up in the hospital a couple of times for them to monitor me and Brady. When I was about 27 weeks along, they put me in the hospital for good and told me that they would most likely not let me go past 34 weeks with the pregnancy but they would take him sooner if they had to. I went into the hospital on December 5, 2005, Brady was born on January 10,2006, and I was released on the 14th after I had healed a little from the c-section. Brady stayed in that hospital (an hour away from me) for 4 days and then was moved to our hometown hospital (3 mins away) 4 days later (Jan 18). He was able to finally come home on Valentine's day!

Taking care of him when he came home was rather hard as the months went on. It was okay at first. I did have a lot of help from my husband. We had to get up every three hours to feed Brady....he would take the first shift and I would take the second so we could both get some sleep. Brady had never slept in our room....he has always slept in his crib. I didn't want to keep waking him up with my coughing because a coughing Mommy and a waking up cranky baby is not a good match! LOL! When the summer of '06 came around, my cousin came out and stayed at our house so that I could have help with Brady during the day while Nate worked. It did get hard for me to take care of Brady. I would start feeding him his bottle and then have to have someone else take over because of the coughing fits that I would have. It got to where I couldn't give him a bath because our bathtub sits rather low and one time when I was bent over to clean Brady, I started coughing up blood. I still did stuff with Brady, but it was just harder than a mother without CF, to do it.

I was hospitalized in Cleveland for 63 days from Sept to Dec 2006 and only saw Brady occasionally when someone could bring him to me (I live 6 hours from Cleveland). I got to come home and spend the holidays at home and was even home for Brady's first b-day (even felt well enough to throw him a party). Shorlty after is when I coughed up a LOT of blood and ended up back in the hospital again. I was transferred to Cleveland on Jan 27, 2007 and got the transplants 4 days later!!

Since then, other than my colon issues and the surgery to have it removed, I have been home with Brady 24/7 and am loving every minute of motherhood! I would absolutely do all of this over again if I had to!! And yes, if I had listened to the doctors, my perfectly healthy little boy would not be here today and I might not have fought as hard as I did for the transplants!

Transplantmommy · Jul 17, 2008

Thanks!

As for the questions....yes I did have trouble with GI issues pre-pregnancy. They were not always that bad but I did have a bowel obstruction a few times but only one waranted being hospitalized when I was 6. I have ahd a struggle with weight all my life. I am tall (used to be 5'10" before the osteo kicked in) and the most I have ever weighed was 145 pounds...and then I only gained 10 pounds when I was pregnant with Brady. When I got really sick, I dropped down to 113 pounds. Since the transplants, I am back up to 145!!!

The pregnancy in general was great for me. I went 9 weeks without knowing that I was pregnant because it was normal for me to have irregular and missed periods and I had no morning sickness at all. I still got my lung infections and had to be treated for them. I ended up in the hospital a couple of times for them to monitor me and Brady. When I was about 27 weeks along, they put me in the hospital for good and told me that they would most likely not let me go past 34 weeks with the pregnancy but they would take him sooner if they had to. I went into the hospital on December 5, 2005, Brady was born on January 10,2006, and I was released on the 14th after I had healed a little from the c-section. Brady stayed in that hospital (an hour away from me) for 4 days and then was moved to our hometown hospital (3 mins away) 4 days later (Jan 18). He was able to finally come home on Valentine's day!

Taking care of him when he came home was rather hard as the months went on. It was okay at first. I did have a lot of help from my husband. We had to get up every three hours to feed Brady....he would take the first shift and I would take the second so we could both get some sleep. Brady had never slept in our room....he has always slept in his crib. I didn't want to keep waking him up with my coughing because a coughing Mommy and a waking up cranky baby is not a good match! LOL! When the summer of '06 came around, my cousin came out and stayed at our house so that I could have help with Brady during the day while Nate worked. It did get hard for me to take care of Brady. I would start feeding him his bottle and then have to have someone else take over because of the coughing fits that I would have. It got to where I couldn't give him a bath because our bathtub sits rather low and one time when I was bent over to clean Brady, I started coughing up blood. I still did stuff with Brady, but it was just harder than a mother without CF, to do it.

I was hospitalized in Cleveland for 63 days from Sept to Dec 2006 and only saw Brady occasionally when someone could bring him to me (I live 6 hours from Cleveland). I got to come home and spend the holidays at home and was even home for Brady's first b-day (even felt well enough to throw him a party). Shorlty after is when I coughed up a LOT of blood and ended up back in the hospital again. I was transferred to Cleveland on Jan 27, 2007 and got the transplants 4 days later!!

Since then, other than my colon issues and the surgery to have it removed, I have been home with Brady 24/7 and am loving every minute of motherhood! I would absolutely do all of this over again if I had to!! And yes, if I had listened to the doctors, my perfectly healthy little boy would not be here today and I might not have fought as hard as I did for the transplants!

Transplantmommy · Jul 17, 2008

Thanks!
 
 As for the questions....yes I did have trouble with GI issues pre-pregnancy. They were not always that bad but I did have a bowel obstruction a few times but only one waranted being hospitalized when I was 6. I have ahd a struggle with weight all my life. I am tall (used to be 5'10" before the osteo kicked in) and the most I have ever weighed was 145 pounds...and then I only gained 10 pounds when I was pregnant with Brady. When I got really sick, I dropped down to 113 pounds. Since the transplants, I am back up to 145!!!
 
 The pregnancy in general was great for me. I went 9 weeks without knowing that I was pregnant because it was normal for me to have irregular and missed periods and I had no morning sickness at all. I still got my lung infections and had to be treated for them. I ended up in the hospital a couple of times for them to monitor me and Brady. When I was about 27 weeks along, they put me in the hospital for good and told me that they would most likely not let me go past 34 weeks with the pregnancy but they would take him sooner if they had to. I went into the hospital on December 5, 2005, Brady was born on January 10,2006, and I was released on the 14th after I had healed a little from the c-section. Brady stayed in that hospital (an hour away from me) for 4 days and then was moved to our hometown hospital (3 mins away) 4 days later (Jan 18). He was able to finally come home on Valentine's day!
 
 Taking care of him when he came home was rather hard as the months went on. It was okay at first. I did have a lot of help from my husband. We had to get up every three hours to feed Brady....he would take the first shift and I would take the second so we could both get some sleep. Brady had never slept in our room....he has always slept in his crib. I didn't want to keep waking him up with my coughing because a coughing Mommy and a waking up cranky baby is not a good match! LOL! When the summer of '06 came around, my cousin came out and stayed at our house so that I could have help with Brady during the day while Nate worked. It did get hard for me to take care of Brady. I would start feeding him his bottle and then have to have someone else take over because of the coughing fits that I would have. It got to where I couldn't give him a bath because our bathtub sits rather low and one time when I was bent over to clean Brady, I started coughing up blood. I still did stuff with Brady, but it was just harder than a mother without CF, to do it.
 
 I was hospitalized in Cleveland for 63 days from Sept to Dec 2006 and only saw Brady occasionally when someone could bring him to me (I live 6 hours from Cleveland). I got to come home and spend the holidays at home and was even home for Brady's first b-day (even felt well enough to throw him a party). Shorlty after is when I coughed up a LOT of blood and ended up back in the hospital again. I was transferred to Cleveland on Jan 27, 2007 and got the transplants 4 days later!!
 
 Since then, other than my colon issues and the surgery to have it removed, I have been home with Brady 24/7 and am loving every minute of motherhood! I would absolutely do all of this over again if I had to!! And yes, if I had listened to the doctors, my perfectly healthy little boy would not be here today and I might not have fought as hard as I did for the transplants!

Keepercjr · Jul 17, 2008

Patti - what a journey you went through w/ your son. I'm so glad everything worked out! You saying that you had your son sleep in another room because you didn't want to wake him w/ your coughing made me chuckle a little bit - my son has always slept next to me in bed and for the first year and a half I also held him or napped w/ him on the bed while he napped. Anyway, he never once woke from my coughing and still doesn't to this day. Pregnancy really aggravates my asthma and I've coughed A LOT over the last few months and he and my husband will sleep through it like nothing ever happened. I figure he spent 9 months inside me while I coughed my head off so he was used to it. But I still have no idea how anyone sleeps through it sometimes <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

Keepercjr · Jul 17, 2008

Patti - what a journey you went through w/ your son. I'm so glad everything worked out! You saying that you had your son sleep in another room because you didn't want to wake him w/ your coughing made me chuckle a little bit - my son has always slept next to me in bed and for the first year and a half I also held him or napped w/ him on the bed while he napped. Anyway, he never once woke from my coughing and still doesn't to this day. Pregnancy really aggravates my asthma and I've coughed A LOT over the last few months and he and my husband will sleep through it like nothing ever happened. I figure he spent 9 months inside me while I coughed my head off so he was used to it. But I still have no idea how anyone sleeps through it sometimes <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

Keepercjr · Jul 17, 2008

Patti - what a journey you went through w/ your son. I'm so glad everything worked out! You saying that you had your son sleep in another room because you didn't want to wake him w/ your coughing made me chuckle a little bit - my son has always slept next to me in bed and for the first year and a half I also held him or napped w/ him on the bed while he napped. Anyway, he never once woke from my coughing and still doesn't to this day. Pregnancy really aggravates my asthma and I've coughed A LOT over the last few months and he and my husband will sleep through it like nothing ever happened. I figure he spent 9 months inside me while I coughed my head off so he was used to it. But I still have no idea how anyone sleeps through it sometimes <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

Keepercjr · Jul 17, 2008

Patti - what a journey you went through w/ your son. I'm so glad everything worked out! You saying that you had your son sleep in another room because you didn't want to wake him w/ your coughing made me chuckle a little bit - my son has always slept next to me in bed and for the first year and a half I also held him or napped w/ him on the bed while he napped. Anyway, he never once woke from my coughing and still doesn't to this day. Pregnancy really aggravates my asthma and I've coughed A LOT over the last few months and he and my husband will sleep through it like nothing ever happened. I figure he spent 9 months inside me while I coughed my head off so he was used to it. But I still have no idea how anyone sleeps through it sometimes <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

Keepercjr · Jul 17, 2008

Patti - what a journey you went through w/ your son. I'm so glad everything worked out! You saying that you had your son sleep in another room because you didn't want to wake him w/ your coughing made me chuckle a little bit - my son has always slept next to me in bed and for the first year and a half I also held him or napped w/ him on the bed while he napped. Anyway, he never once woke from my coughing and still doesn't to this day. Pregnancy really aggravates my asthma and I've coughed A LOT over the last few months and he and my husband will sleep through it like nothing ever happened. I figure he spent 9 months inside me while I coughed my head off so he was used to it. But I still have no idea how anyone sleeps through it sometimes <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

Should I or shouldn't I?

elizab

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