Thinking about getting pregnant

[rubyroselee]

Hi everyone,

I am brand new to this website and though I'd ask you girls with CF about pregnancy. I am 26 years old and have been thinking about carrying a child and wanted some of your input. I have done really well with my CF so far and feel that I'd be able to carry a child with the approval of my doctor. If there is anyone who would like to share their story with me about their pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum that would be great.

- Was it easy for you to get pregnant?
- How were your PFT's before getting pregnant?
- Did you get sick during your pregnancy? Did you have to go on IV's during youre pregnancy?
- Were you able to take all your medications while pregnant? If not, which ones did you have to stop taking?
- Did your health/PFT's worsen while pregnant?
- How was your delivery? Did you have to do anything special while you were in labor?
- How was your health after having the baby?

Anything else you can tell me would also be appreciated. I am nervous and excited all at the same time. I've come to realize that there are a lot of CF women who have had children and continue to do well with their health. It gives me a lot of hope that I'll be able to carry a child for my family.

Thanks for your stories!
Leah

 

[rubyroselee]

Hi everyone,

I am brand new to this website and though I'd ask you girls with CF about pregnancy. I am 26 years old and have been thinking about carrying a child and wanted some of your input. I have done really well with my CF so far and feel that I'd be able to carry a child with the approval of my doctor. If there is anyone who would like to share their story with me about their pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum that would be great.

- Was it easy for you to get pregnant?
- How were your PFT's before getting pregnant?
- Did you get sick during your pregnancy? Did you have to go on IV's during youre pregnancy?
- Were you able to take all your medications while pregnant? If not, which ones did you have to stop taking?
- Did your health/PFT's worsen while pregnant?
- How was your delivery? Did you have to do anything special while you were in labor?
- How was your health after having the baby?

Anything else you can tell me would also be appreciated. I am nervous and excited all at the same time. I've come to realize that there are a lot of CF women who have had children and continue to do well with their health. It gives me a lot of hope that I'll be able to carry a child for my family.

Thanks for your stories!
Leah

 

[rubyroselee]

Hi everyone,

I am brand new to this website and though I'd ask you girls with CF about pregnancy. I am 26 years old and have been thinking about carrying a child and wanted some of your input. I have done really well with my CF so far and feel that I'd be able to carry a child with the approval of my doctor. If there is anyone who would like to share their story with me about their pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum that would be great.

- Was it easy for you to get pregnant?
- How were your PFT's before getting pregnant?
- Did you get sick during your pregnancy? Did you have to go on IV's during youre pregnancy?
- Were you able to take all your medications while pregnant? If not, which ones did you have to stop taking?
- Did your health/PFT's worsen while pregnant?
- How was your delivery? Did you have to do anything special while you were in labor?
- How was your health after having the baby?

Anything else you can tell me would also be appreciated. I am nervous and excited all at the same time. I've come to realize that there are a lot of CF women who have had children and continue to do well with their health. It gives me a lot of hope that I'll be able to carry a child for my family.

Thanks for your stories!
Leah

 

[MamatoAlexa]

Welcome Leah! I am happy to see you made it here.
Hang tight, you will get responses to your questions!
While you wait scroll back and read other posts. There is a ton of great info and personal experiences here.

 

[MamatoAlexa]

Welcome Leah! I am happy to see you made it here.
Hang tight, you will get responses to your questions!
While you wait scroll back and read other posts. There is a ton of great info and personal experiences here.

 

[MamatoAlexa]

Welcome Leah! I am happy to see you made it here.
Hang tight, you will get responses to your questions!
While you wait scroll back and read other posts. There is a ton of great info and personal experiences here.

 

[LouLou]

Welcome Leah! I'm 30 wks pregnant with my first child so I wil answer the questions that are applicable.

- Was it easy for you to get pregnant?
Yes, I got off birth control for 6 months and practiced natural family planning while watching my cycle all the while through basal temps, cervical mucus analyzation and cycle tracking on mymonthlycycle.com. After 6 months we decided my cycle looked regular enough to go ahead and try. We got pregnant the first month.

- How were your PFT's before getting pregnant?
FEV1 66% for the year prior to conception.

- Did you get sick during your pregnancy? Did you have to go on IV's during youre pregnancy?
One cold in first trimester - very short and barely entered my lungs. Another cold in 3rd tri. and it was only two days...suspect it was actually allergies. I've been very healthy (((KNOCKS LOUDLY ON WOOD))) and haven't had any IVs.

- Were you able to take all your medications while pregnant? If not, which ones did you have to stop taking?
I take all my medicines - I did switch some. Here's what I take:
Pulmozyme
Hypertonic Saline
TOBI
Singulair
Advair
Zyrtec
Zithromax
Bactrim DS
Mepthyon
Flonase

- Did your health/PFT's worsen while pregnant?
My lungs in the 6 months prior to conception had been improving. They continued to improve until around the middle of the 2nd trimester when I saw a slight drop. Remember even non-CF mom's see a dip in pft's because of the pressure of the baby on the lungs.

My numbers are like this:
10 weeks pregnant - FVC 74% and FEV1 66% and FEF 25-75% was 50%
18 weeks pregnant - FVC 82% and FEV1 67% and FEF 25-75% was 41%
26 weeks pregnant - FVC 72% and FEV1 61% and FEF 25-75% was 40%

- How was your delivery? Did you have to do anything special while you were in labor?
I haven't delivered yet but I am opting not to have an epidural because I suffer from hemoptysis. Although hemoptysis isn't a side effect of epidural administration or the actual narcotic I worry that I won't be mobile enough and unable to maintain positions to avoide hemoptysis. Laying down or reclined brings on a bleed for me.

- How was your health after having the baby?
TBD

Hope this helps!

 

[LouLou]

Welcome Leah! I'm 30 wks pregnant with my first child so I wil answer the questions that are applicable.

- Was it easy for you to get pregnant?
Yes, I got off birth control for 6 months and practiced natural family planning while watching my cycle all the while through basal temps, cervical mucus analyzation and cycle tracking on mymonthlycycle.com. After 6 months we decided my cycle looked regular enough to go ahead and try. We got pregnant the first month.

- How were your PFT's before getting pregnant?
FEV1 66% for the year prior to conception.

- Did you get sick during your pregnancy? Did you have to go on IV's during youre pregnancy?
One cold in first trimester - very short and barely entered my lungs. Another cold in 3rd tri. and it was only two days...suspect it was actually allergies. I've been very healthy (((KNOCKS LOUDLY ON WOOD))) and haven't had any IVs.

- Were you able to take all your medications while pregnant? If not, which ones did you have to stop taking?
I take all my medicines - I did switch some. Here's what I take:
Pulmozyme
Hypertonic Saline
TOBI
Singulair
Advair
Zyrtec
Zithromax
Bactrim DS
Mepthyon
Flonase

- Did your health/PFT's worsen while pregnant?
My lungs in the 6 months prior to conception had been improving. They continued to improve until around the middle of the 2nd trimester when I saw a slight drop. Remember even non-CF mom's see a dip in pft's because of the pressure of the baby on the lungs.

My numbers are like this:
10 weeks pregnant - FVC 74% and FEV1 66% and FEF 25-75% was 50%
18 weeks pregnant - FVC 82% and FEV1 67% and FEF 25-75% was 41%
26 weeks pregnant - FVC 72% and FEV1 61% and FEF 25-75% was 40%

- How was your delivery? Did you have to do anything special while you were in labor?
I haven't delivered yet but I am opting not to have an epidural because I suffer from hemoptysis. Although hemoptysis isn't a side effect of epidural administration or the actual narcotic I worry that I won't be mobile enough and unable to maintain positions to avoide hemoptysis. Laying down or reclined brings on a bleed for me.

- How was your health after having the baby?
TBD

Hope this helps!

 

[LouLou]

Welcome Leah! I'm 30 wks pregnant with my first child so I wil answer the questions that are applicable.

- Was it easy for you to get pregnant?
Yes, I got off birth control for 6 months and practiced natural family planning while watching my cycle all the while through basal temps, cervical mucus analyzation and cycle tracking on mymonthlycycle.com. After 6 months we decided my cycle looked regular enough to go ahead and try. We got pregnant the first month.

- How were your PFT's before getting pregnant?
FEV1 66% for the year prior to conception.

- Did you get sick during your pregnancy? Did you have to go on IV's during youre pregnancy?
One cold in first trimester - very short and barely entered my lungs. Another cold in 3rd tri. and it was only two days...suspect it was actually allergies. I've been very healthy (((KNOCKS LOUDLY ON WOOD))) and haven't had any IVs.

- Were you able to take all your medications while pregnant? If not, which ones did you have to stop taking?
I take all my medicines - I did switch some. Here's what I take:
Pulmozyme
Hypertonic Saline
TOBI
Singulair
Advair
Zyrtec
Zithromax
Bactrim DS
Mepthyon
Flonase

- Did your health/PFT's worsen while pregnant?
My lungs in the 6 months prior to conception had been improving. They continued to improve until around the middle of the 2nd trimester when I saw a slight drop. Remember even non-CF mom's see a dip in pft's because of the pressure of the baby on the lungs.

My numbers are like this:
10 weeks pregnant - FVC 74% and FEV1 66% and FEF 25-75% was 50%
18 weeks pregnant - FVC 82% and FEV1 67% and FEF 25-75% was 41%
26 weeks pregnant - FVC 72% and FEV1 61% and FEF 25-75% was 40%

- How was your delivery? Did you have to do anything special while you were in labor?
I haven't delivered yet but I am opting not to have an epidural because I suffer from hemoptysis. Although hemoptysis isn't a side effect of epidural administration or the actual narcotic I worry that I won't be mobile enough and unable to maintain positions to avoide hemoptysis. Laying down or reclined brings on a bleed for me.

- How was your health after having the baby?
TBD

Hope this helps!

 

[rubyroselee]

Lauren,

Thank you so much for your response. It sounds like your pregnancy is going great! I'll be excited to hear about the rest of your labor and your delivery. Please keep me posted.

Do you know the sex? Do you have a name picked out?

It's just so amazing to me that so many CF women can have children. I think the first CF woman to have a child happened when I was a kid and I remember reading about it in the paper and feeling excited that I might some day be able to have children of my own.

Hearing your story (and hopefully others to come) has given me a lot of hope for myself to carry a child.

Take care and good luck!
Leah

 

[rubyroselee]

Lauren,

Thank you so much for your response. It sounds like your pregnancy is going great! I'll be excited to hear about the rest of your labor and your delivery. Please keep me posted.

Do you know the sex? Do you have a name picked out?

It's just so amazing to me that so many CF women can have children. I think the first CF woman to have a child happened when I was a kid and I remember reading about it in the paper and feeling excited that I might some day be able to have children of my own.

Hearing your story (and hopefully others to come) has given me a lot of hope for myself to carry a child.

Take care and good luck!
Leah

 

[rubyroselee]

Lauren,

Thank you so much for your response. It sounds like your pregnancy is going great! I'll be excited to hear about the rest of your labor and your delivery. Please keep me posted.

Do you know the sex? Do you have a name picked out?

It's just so amazing to me that so many CF women can have children. I think the first CF woman to have a child happened when I was a kid and I remember reading about it in the paper and feeling excited that I might some day be able to have children of my own.

Hearing your story (and hopefully others to come) has given me a lot of hope for myself to carry a child.

Take care and good luck!
Leah

 

[tara]

Hi Leah,

My name is Tara. I'm 31. I got pregnant with twins via IVF when I was 28 years old. I'll try and answer your questions.

- Was it easy for you to get pregnant?
No. We ttc'd for 12 months using, Robitussin, OPKs, bbt's and CM for one year. My cycles were very irregular. I was referred to a reproductive endocrinologist after 1 year. Turns out I had stage IV endometriosis. I had laporoscopy to zap all the endo. But it returned after just 3 months. We did 3 IUI's during this time. No luck. IVF was our next aggressive option. We paid out of pocket, $15K and 26 months after beginning our ttc journey we were pregnant with twins.

- How were your PFT's before getting pregnant?
Stable in the mid 50's for several years before getting pregnant.

- Did you get sick during your pregnancy?
Yes. By 20 weeks I had a terrible lung infection that brought my FEV1 down to the upper 40's. We handled it with inhaled Aztreonam. It worked great. I inhaled the IV version of the drug (not yet approved by the FDA) for 30 days on/30 days off for the rest of the pg.

Did you have to go on IV's during youre pregnancy?
No.

- Were you able to take all your medications while pregnant? If not, which ones did you have to stop taking?
I was able to take all my meds.

- Did your health/PFT's worsen while pregnant?
My PFTs went up. By the time I delivered at full term (38 weeks, elective c-section) my PFT's were higher than they had been in 5 years. They were in the upper 60's.

- How was your delivery? Did you have to do anything special while you were in labor?
I never went into labor. My delivery was smooth, planned production. I would have an elective c-section again if I ever got pg again. Though it is not my intention to have more children.

- How was your health after having the baby?
My health slowly declined after the first six month of having the twins. My PFTs became stable around 48% from 2005 to present. I have had two bouts of pneumonia in the last 5 months which landed me in the hospital for 10 days each time. My twins are 2.5 years old now.

Feel free to ask any more questions. I'm an open book. I know some CFers are discouraged from breastfeeding. I didn't find this true at my clinic. I breastfed my twins for 6 months. I wasn't super keen on it, it was ok, but I was happy to finish when they were six months old. Also, during pregnancy I became CFRD insulin dependent immediately after conception. It did go away after delivery, however I am now severly borderline and check my sugars everyday. No insulin yet though.

Tara

 

[tara]

Hi Leah,

My name is Tara. I'm 31. I got pregnant with twins via IVF when I was 28 years old. I'll try and answer your questions.

- Was it easy for you to get pregnant?
No. We ttc'd for 12 months using, Robitussin, OPKs, bbt's and CM for one year. My cycles were very irregular. I was referred to a reproductive endocrinologist after 1 year. Turns out I had stage IV endometriosis. I had laporoscopy to zap all the endo. But it returned after just 3 months. We did 3 IUI's during this time. No luck. IVF was our next aggressive option. We paid out of pocket, $15K and 26 months after beginning our ttc journey we were pregnant with twins.

- How were your PFT's before getting pregnant?
Stable in the mid 50's for several years before getting pregnant.

- Did you get sick during your pregnancy?
Yes. By 20 weeks I had a terrible lung infection that brought my FEV1 down to the upper 40's. We handled it with inhaled Aztreonam. It worked great. I inhaled the IV version of the drug (not yet approved by the FDA) for 30 days on/30 days off for the rest of the pg.

Did you have to go on IV's during youre pregnancy?
No.

- Were you able to take all your medications while pregnant? If not, which ones did you have to stop taking?
I was able to take all my meds.

- Did your health/PFT's worsen while pregnant?
My PFTs went up. By the time I delivered at full term (38 weeks, elective c-section) my PFT's were higher than they had been in 5 years. They were in the upper 60's.

- How was your delivery? Did you have to do anything special while you were in labor?
I never went into labor. My delivery was smooth, planned production. I would have an elective c-section again if I ever got pg again. Though it is not my intention to have more children.

- How was your health after having the baby?
My health slowly declined after the first six month of having the twins. My PFTs became stable around 48% from 2005 to present. I have had two bouts of pneumonia in the last 5 months which landed me in the hospital for 10 days each time. My twins are 2.5 years old now.

Feel free to ask any more questions. I'm an open book. I know some CFers are discouraged from breastfeeding. I didn't find this true at my clinic. I breastfed my twins for 6 months. I wasn't super keen on it, it was ok, but I was happy to finish when they were six months old. Also, during pregnancy I became CFRD insulin dependent immediately after conception. It did go away after delivery, however I am now severly borderline and check my sugars everyday. No insulin yet though.

Tara

 

[tara]

Hi Leah,

My name is Tara. I'm 31. I got pregnant with twins via IVF when I was 28 years old. I'll try and answer your questions.

- Was it easy for you to get pregnant?
No. We ttc'd for 12 months using, Robitussin, OPKs, bbt's and CM for one year. My cycles were very irregular. I was referred to a reproductive endocrinologist after 1 year. Turns out I had stage IV endometriosis. I had laporoscopy to zap all the endo. But it returned after just 3 months. We did 3 IUI's during this time. No luck. IVF was our next aggressive option. We paid out of pocket, $15K and 26 months after beginning our ttc journey we were pregnant with twins.

- How were your PFT's before getting pregnant?
Stable in the mid 50's for several years before getting pregnant.

- Did you get sick during your pregnancy?
Yes. By 20 weeks I had a terrible lung infection that brought my FEV1 down to the upper 40's. We handled it with inhaled Aztreonam. It worked great. I inhaled the IV version of the drug (not yet approved by the FDA) for 30 days on/30 days off for the rest of the pg.

Did you have to go on IV's during youre pregnancy?
No.

- Were you able to take all your medications while pregnant? If not, which ones did you have to stop taking?
I was able to take all my meds.

- Did your health/PFT's worsen while pregnant?
My PFTs went up. By the time I delivered at full term (38 weeks, elective c-section) my PFT's were higher than they had been in 5 years. They were in the upper 60's.

- How was your delivery? Did you have to do anything special while you were in labor?
I never went into labor. My delivery was smooth, planned production. I would have an elective c-section again if I ever got pg again. Though it is not my intention to have more children.

- How was your health after having the baby?
My health slowly declined after the first six month of having the twins. My PFTs became stable around 48% from 2005 to present. I have had two bouts of pneumonia in the last 5 months which landed me in the hospital for 10 days each time. My twins are 2.5 years old now.

Feel free to ask any more questions. I'm an open book. I know some CFers are discouraged from breastfeeding. I didn't find this true at my clinic. I breastfed my twins for 6 months. I wasn't super keen on it, it was ok, but I was happy to finish when they were six months old. Also, during pregnancy I became CFRD insulin dependent immediately after conception. It did go away after delivery, however I am now severly borderline and check my sugars everyday. No insulin yet though.

Tara

 

[rubyroselee]

Hi Tara,

Thanks for your story. Twins!! And you even carried them to 38 weeks - that's amazing! Sounds like you did very well. From what I've heard from other CFers it sounds like pregnancy has been a fairly pleasurable experience for most. I'm looking forward to getting the okay from my doctor to begin trying!

Take care,
Leah

 

[rubyroselee]

Hi Tara,

Thanks for your story. Twins!! And you even carried them to 38 weeks - that's amazing! Sounds like you did very well. From what I've heard from other CFers it sounds like pregnancy has been a fairly pleasurable experience for most. I'm looking forward to getting the okay from my doctor to begin trying!

Take care,
Leah

 

[rubyroselee]

Hi Tara,

Thanks for your story. Twins!! And you even carried them to 38 weeks - that's amazing! Sounds like you did very well. From what I've heard from other CFers it sounds like pregnancy has been a fairly pleasurable experience for most. I'm looking forward to getting the okay from my doctor to begin trying!

Take care,
Leah

 

[mom2lillian]

- Was it easy for you to get pregnant?

No we did 6 rounds clomid and femara with ovidrel that did not work then discovered it was most part due to DH's sperm morphology. We were successful after our first IVF.

- How were your PFT's before getting pregnant?

Excellent. 93%

- Did you get sick during your pregnancy? Did you have to go on IV's during youre pregnancy?

Yes at 7months.

- Were you able to take all your medications while pregnant? If not, which ones did you have to stop taking?

I stopped taking zithromax by my own choice for the first trimester. Evertyhgin else was fine I take zyrtec singulair advair TOBI pumozyme albuterol xopenex

- Did your health/PFT's worsen while pregnant?

just the normal amount most pregnant womans woudl toward end a bit when I was sick and on IVs but not much

- How was your delivery? Did you have to do anything special while you were in labor?

Complicated but not due to cf. Had emergency csection due to the baby position beign stuck in canal.

- How was your health after having the baby?

better than ever, I take myhealh more seriously now I think I was in a bit of denail before and didnt do stuff regularly. Now my PFTs are 97% and it is first eyar I was not hospitilized in feb/mar.

congratulations to you and good luck!

 

[mom2lillian]

- Was it easy for you to get pregnant?

No we did 6 rounds clomid and femara with ovidrel that did not work then discovered it was most part due to DH's sperm morphology. We were successful after our first IVF.

- How were your PFT's before getting pregnant?

Excellent. 93%

- Did you get sick during your pregnancy? Did you have to go on IV's during youre pregnancy?

Yes at 7months.

- Were you able to take all your medications while pregnant? If not, which ones did you have to stop taking?

I stopped taking zithromax by my own choice for the first trimester. Evertyhgin else was fine I take zyrtec singulair advair TOBI pumozyme albuterol xopenex

- Did your health/PFT's worsen while pregnant?

just the normal amount most pregnant womans woudl toward end a bit when I was sick and on IVs but not much

- How was your delivery? Did you have to do anything special while you were in labor?

Complicated but not due to cf. Had emergency csection due to the baby position beign stuck in canal.

- How was your health after having the baby?

better than ever, I take myhealh more seriously now I think I was in a bit of denail before and didnt do stuff regularly. Now my PFTs are 97% and it is first eyar I was not hospitilized in feb/mar.

congratulations to you and good luck!