Hello all!

I haven't posted in a million years, I am sorry to say I turned into one of those j-pouchers who had incredible success and stopped visiting.

I need some answers, or at least support, and so I came to the best place I know for that!

After my surgeries at the beginning of '06, my husband and I started ttc. We had nearly given up when -guess what? I got pregnant!

Now I am 29 weeks along and am wondering how many of the weird symptoms I am having are common with pouchers.

I am nearly incontinent, my theory is the baby is kicking my pouch just as much as my bladder. Is anyone else experiencing this?

In spite of that, I am having trouble emptying my pouch completely. I find this odd. Comments?

Also, my scar from my ileostomy is killing me! I don't have stretch marks from my first child and didn't have any stretch marks from this pregnancy until yesterday. I felt a sharp pain and lifted my shirt to see that I have 2 little stretch marks coming out of my scar. Does anyone else have this problem? At my prenatal appt this morning I asked the doc what I can do to ease the pain and he said nothing. Scar tissue isn't flexible and it is bound to hurt worse than normal stretch marks because it is going to be more of a sudden "snap".

And, last question, I am having a c-section and am familiar with what happens during it (I delivered my son via c section) but I want to know what to expect from the pouch side of things. Example: how long does it take for your bowels to wake up after surgery, will the surgery/medications and restricted diet make it harder to breastfeed due to a pouchers tendency to get dehydrated easily, ect.

Thank you all in advance!

Jada

I have had 2 babies after having surgery in 1999. This last one I found I was having more leakage at night, then normal. My first I had less BM's and it was the only time in my life after surgery I slept through the night.

I was hospitalized in my first pregancy because of scar tissue pain and they gave me a shot of demerol. This occured at 28 weeks.
I had more constant pain from scar tissue the second time, but not as bad. This also continued on until 8 weeks post partum.

I had quite a bit of gas and gas pain after both c-section that occured after I got home. They were especially painful during after pains(the contractions that shrink your uterus) This last maybe 2 days. I also threw up after both c-section which is common in all c-sections. The last one (november) I had Brin at 9:50am and ate dinner that night. I had clear fluids after lunch time.

I have had trouble with breastfeeding in both of the pregnancies. Drink a lot of liquids. I am doing better this time around. I do both breastfeeding and formula feeding and we have been successful for 5 months.

Hi Jada,
I feel for you. I am a week ahead of you at 30 weeks. I too have scar pain. My babe likes to push on the stoma scar the best. Ouch! I found it helped if I lie down on that side with a pillow under the belly for support - the baby backs off and kicks the other side I had leakage early on when my uterus was having trouble rising out of my pelvis and now I only leak when I don't take immodium on a regular basis. I take one in the morning and one at night. The doc says it's okay. I also stopped eating sugary stuff - that helps alot. Hope all goes well. Drink lots and lie down

p.s. side note:
Annikki, I'm from Victoria too! Who was your OB? I just saw Dr. Cooper today in fact. How was your experience at VGH?

Colitis 1992
Colectomy 1994

I had a lot of leakage during my pregnancy that has cleared up since I delivered. I couldn't feel her kicking my pouch but it definitely felt like there was ore pressure/less room.

I didn't get any stretch marks around my scar. I had barely any stretch marks at all until I came out of my c section tho. I used lotion every day so that might have helped.

My bowels woke up I think the day after my surgery...it was pretty fast. Not a lot of painful gas for me. Also I have had no problems with breastfeeding or dehydration. I actually have a very plentiful supply. My pouch is a lot older than yours...over 20 years and I am not on a restricted diet or anything tho.

Pretend Colon:

I was suppose to have Dr. Cooper for both, but had urgent sections because of high blood pressure, so both time I had whoever was on. He seems great and has experience with j-pouches.

When I had my baby in November, they were doing reno's on the ward and very busy! My experiences with VGH has always been good ones.

have you checked out Kids In Victoria website?

Hi Jada,
I had my baby in September. In the last two months I had more and more problems with emptying my pouch that I felt like it almost shut down at the end. I delivered 3 weeks early because of this and am glad I did. It was horrible and I had tried all the things that used to work in the past to get things moving and nothing worked.

I started eating way too soon in the hospital. I should have waited longer - I got very sick. It's not fun when you have eaten but your bowels are still asleep! So my only advice would be to wait a little longer than you think. I felt so good after my c-section, it was nothing compared to my other surgeries so I tried acting like a superstar. Big Mistake.

Good luck and congratulations.

Thank you all!

It's always nice to know you're not alone when these things start happening.