I have recently had a few bowel obstructions but thankfully no emergency surgeries! WHEW! My husband and I would still like to have more children and unfortunately will have to do IVF. My husband is a little more hesitant to proceed because he is afraid of what will happen if I have a bowel obstruction while pregnant. He is also a Physician and I think that makes him "know to much" and is more cautious.

Has anyone had an obstruction while pregnant?
What did you do or what do they do for you in the hospital?

I never had obstructions during pregnancy (knock on wood) but I have been hospitalized 3 times for them... 2 resulting in surgeries.
They never stopped me from trying for a child though. I would imagine if an obstruction did happen during pregnancy they would follow a routine course of trying to resolve it with an NG tube 1st... then surgery if obstruction didn't clear.
If you can find Jill on one of the posts she would probably be able to help you as she had obstruction issues during her 1st pregnancy but I don't believe she had those issues w/ her second. She also went through IVF process so I imagine her opinion would be beneficial to you.

Also with your husband, perhaps if you both met with your surgeon together it might reduce some of his concerns.
Another thing that might help is if you ask your surgeon for an ob recommendation. This way there can be positive communication through your pregnancy.

Hi,
While pregnant with my son 3 years ago, I did have a bowel obstruction at 24 weeks. They tried to resolve it with an NG tube, but I was completely obstructed and surgery was necessary. Very scary, but my son was born via c-section at 37 weeks, and he is perfect! Since my son was born, I have had several partial obstructions (none requiring hospitalization though). So now I am 32 weeks pregnant, and I am being watched very closely both by a GI and my OB, and I am on a restricted diet. Knock on wood, everything has been fine this time, and I am feeling great!

So just because you have had obstructions doesn't mean there isn't a great chance that you will make it through a pregnancy without complications. I would just make sure you have great doctors working closely with you who know your history.

Good luck!

I had a small bowel obstruction at 17 weeks and because I was in the 2nd trimester they were able to treat me as they normally do. Although my GI was too freaked out about the pregnancy and wouldn't touch me. So my OB did everything I asked her too; it was by far the best treatment I've ever received since I usually have to convince someone in the ER that I'm not a drug seeker and I really do know what works best for my body.

I think as long as you are past the first trimester they can treat you with the big meds necessary.

I had a severe obstruction at about 18 weeks. It was a day to day thing weather or not I'd need surgery. In the end since I had an ileostomy they catheterized the stoma and kept it that way till the adhesion causing the obstruction broke. Rest of pregnancy was fine - delivered normal 7lb10oz boy by c-section at 39 weeks. Second pregnancy no issues at all - 6lb 15oz girl at 39 weeks by c-section.

Both pregnancies by IVF so let me know if you have questions!

I had my first child naturally, no complications, then had my total colectomy 8 months following.
Had my take down 3 months after.
We decided we wanted more kids and thankfully 2 months after my take down I was pregnant with #2 child.
I felt awsome up till about 26 weeks when I started with obstruction pains. I ended up totaly blocked at 28 weeks. I stayed in the hospital till I was 32 weeks on an NG tube and IV food.
At this time they decided to do surgery to resolve the obstruction. My OB was present during the surgery in case of complications they could get baby out right away.
Thankfully there were no complications during surgery and my GI surgeon said there were some adhesions causing the issues, so he just cut them.
I went on to carry out my pregnancy to 38 weeks and had a healthy 7lb baby boy via csection.
I am now at 24 weeks pregnant again with baby #3. I am very concerned and worried bout obstructions again, I am carefull whay I eat, no bulky food... and I only eat easy to digest food and lots of yogurt and liquidy foods. NO gasey foods at all!!!And try not to ever over eat!
Exercise also helps to keep my body moving and my intestines feeling healthy.
Hears to hopes and prayers!!!

Thanks for sharing your experiences, it really helps to put my mind at ease.

Geena, how in the world would you stand to have an NG tube in for that long? I could barely stand it for 14 hours when I was in the hospital with my obstruction and I finally pulled it out myself! It was so awful and I couldn't stop throwing up and that made it worse!

We have been trying to get pregnant for 2 and a half years with no luck. We are saving for IVF but it's so expensive and insurance doesn't cover anything and something always comes up so we have to dip into our IVF money! UGH!!! Hopefully God will answer our prayers soon or we hit the jackpot!

Nothing was covered for us with IVF either, and we ended up putting it all on a credit card. It was the best $ I ever spent, as my son is 21 months old now. We both worked 2nd jobs to pay as much of the balance off as we could prior to the baby coming. We got about half paid off, which is fine by me. I'd rather carry a balance of a few thousand dollars on a credit card and work to pay it off over the coming years and have my son.