I am not a mother but I do have a little bit of advice. I encourage you to breast feed your child. Most people that have IBD were not breastfed for at least 2 years or more. There is a study that breastfeeding your child for 2 years or more, reduces the chances of your kids getting IBD. I just wanted to share Good luck and congratulations! You are very lucky

Hi there! Just wanted to say that I totally relate-- it's tough to find doctors who are familiar with women of childbearing age (I'm 32) who have j-pouches, and I personally don't know anyone else in real life who's in this position (though I know plenty are on here!) It can often seem like we're having to blaze our own trail, which is stressful. The only thing I can think of would be to ask about all the diagnostic/screening tools available so you can get as good an idea as possible of what your particular anatomy looks like. I'm not sure if you've already been trying naturally or not, but either way it may be helpful to gather that info. For me personally, upon comparing my ultrasound (which noted the location of my ovaries) and HSG (which noted the location of my tubes), it appeared that scar tissue had caused both to re-locate in my abdomen, and it looked unlikely that I would ever be able to naturally get an egg from my ovary to tube in order to conceive. (This was in 2016, and when I had an unrelated surgery last fall to remove an ovary, my surgeon told me that the adhesions around my ovaries were a huge mess and agreed that I wouldn't have been able to get pregnant on my own.)

I was able to pursue IVF shortly after the initial testing, which, thankfully, has been a smooth process for us. We've had two children already and are pregnant with a third! My pregnancies and deliveries have also, thankfully, been uncomplicated and I haven't experienced any issues with my pouch. Happy to chat more if you have any other questions while you navigate this process. Good luck!

@susbo posted:

Hi there! Just wanted to say that I totally relate-- it's tough to find doctors who are familiar with women of childbearing age (I'm 32) who have j-pouches, and I personally don't know anyone else in real life who's in this position (though I know plenty are on here!) It can often seem like we're having to blaze our own trail, which is stressful. The only thing I can think of would be to ask about all the diagnostic/screening tools available so you can get as good an idea as possible of what your particular anatomy looks like. I'm not sure if you've already been trying naturally or not, but either way it may be helpful to gather that info. For me personally, upon comparing my ultrasound (which noted the location of my ovaries) and HSG (which noted the location of my tubes), it appeared that scar tissue had caused both to re-locate in my abdomen, and it looked unlikely that I would ever be able to naturally get an egg from my ovary to tube in order to conceive. (This was in 2016, and when I had an unrelated surgery last fall to remove an ovary, my surgeon told me that the adhesions around my ovaries were a huge mess and agreed that I wouldn't have been able to get pregnant on my own.)

I was able to pursue IVF shortly after the initial testing, which, thankfully, has been a smooth process for us. We've had two children already and are pregnant with a third! My pregnancies and deliveries have also, thankfully, been uncomplicated and I haven't experienced any issues with my pouch. Happy to chat more if you have any other questions while you navigate this process. Good luck!

You are so lucky

@susbo posted:

Hi there! Just wanted to say that I totally relate-- it's tough to find doctors who are...

Thanks so much for your response @susbo! I have had some ultrasounds/HSG where they've determined one of my ovaries is trapped by scar tissue and one of my tubes is partially blocked. But so far no one will say what kind of effect that will have on fertility, beyond a generic "it might cause problems, it might not". That is helpful to know that I should question about location and placement and how that might affect things.

It's encouraging to hear your story of successful pregnancies with no j-pouch complications so thank you so much for sharing that. I'm sure I'll be back with more questions at some point

Hey there! I am slightly different because I did have two children prior to my j-pouch. I did see a fertility specialist, did a few months of clomid and then got pregnant after giving that up. In regards to complications, any pouch issues I had totally disappeared during pregnancy and I was able to eat my fill of dairy (a no go for me since the pouch). I know that is probably not everyone’s experience but over all my pouch pregnancy was not much different than my pregnancies pre-pouch.

I had one baby prior to my j-pouch and then got pregnant about 6 months after my j-pouch surgery.  I also have chronic pouchitis.  I was on a low dose of Augmentin my entire pregnancy and for 6 months of nursing.  After 15 months on the Augmentin, it stopped working so I needed to get on other antibiotics.  My docs didn't want me on any other antibiotics while nursing so I decided to stop nursing at that point and switched back to other antibiotics.  My pregnancy was uneventful other than horrible morning sickness.  I had a normal vaginal delivery since I had a very easy delivery before that and I have small babies (if it's your first baby, you may want to consider a c-section to reduce risk of tearing depending on baby size).  My son is almost 10 now... Everyone doing great!

I had a very good pregnancy and my digestion was bullet proof during the pregnancy. I was eating popcorn daily in my third trimester because my office building had a machine in the lobby making it (haha). So, I miss being pregnant. I had a planned c-section with no issues other than the doc cleaned up my scar from my original surgeries and made it better looking. Don't be too worried unless you have other health issues - the j-pouch shouldn't prevent a healthy pregnancy and birth.

I'm in Calgary so my family doc referred me to an obgyn with experience with j-pouches. Honestly, there were no issues and my body took over and did what it needed to build a big, healthy baby girl who is now 15 and learning to drive, which is WAY harder on me than pregnancy ever was.

Aww good for you for taking that step! It can be fun but stressful and everything rolled into one. I’d suggest looking at previous advice on the pregnancy board on the j pouch forum here- I know we’re had some good discussions and advice here.

I got pregnant at 38, about 5 months after my takedown surgery and after a tumultuous 3 years of ulcerative colitis and being on and off prednisone and other drugs. My husband and I had actually prepared for some difficulty getting pregnant bc of all the health issues colitis and the pouch might being, but that didn’t happen. I had no probs at all with the pregnancy and my doc planned the c section. The surgery was cake compared to the j pouch surgery, plus you have this great bundle of joy. we had a colorectal surgeon on call in case they hit some issues with scar tissue, bleeding, etc, but nothing happened at all. Easy peasy.

Best of luck to you!

@Bubba1028 Your post made me happy. All of these have, but I'm 41 and you're the first mom on here I've seen that's even remotely my age. I don't look 41. I look like a child haha. So I am hoping that works in my favor. I've had my pouch for 11 years and I never thought getting pregnant would ever be possible. Not to mention the absolute dumpster fire that ulcerative colitis made out of my 20s and 30s. I was too busy trying not to die from UC symptoms to find a stable relationship or a job, or even one single true friend, let alone a baby.

I am freaking out because I want the pregnancy to work so much. Things have changed so much for me. The surgery gave me a new life. Even though I have chronic pouchitis and maybe a prolapse I don't actually care that much. It feels like I could actually have what I wanted when I was young. It's like RIGHT THERE....I hope I can do it.

It's been such a rollercoaster. I  hope it works. I can't afford IVF so its either bio kid or adoption.

Hi there everyone,

I am also in my 30s and struggling to conceive. I’ve also suspected endometriosis for many years but never confirmed. Could I ask how you know that you have scar tissue? I wonder if that’s an issue for me but don’t how how this would be diagnosed.

Thanks!

For me, it was clear that I had scar tissue based on the initial tests that my fertility specialist performed- on ultrasound, my ovaries were shown to be located in a not-normal spot, and on HSG, my tubes were shown to be pulled up and away from my ovaries, so it was suspected that scar tissue had moved my organs around and there would be no way for an egg to naturally get to one of my tubes. (A few years later I needed an ovary removed, and during that surgery my doctor confirmed that my ovaries were, in fact, covered in adhesions/scar tissue and it seemed impossible that I would have been able to conceive naturally)

@HeatherF21It was similar for me—ultrasounds and other scans showed a few small pockets of trapped fluid, one ovary is mostly stuck in place and one tube is partially blocked. They assume a combo of surgical scar tissue and endo. I’m on a wait list for surgery to remove some of the tissue. I was told the only way to know definitively it’s endo is to go in surgically and look but all signs point that way for me.

I had my J pouch surgery when I was 19.  I had 2 kids at ages 33 and 37.  We did have fertility issues, but I don't think it was because of the pouch.  My pregnancies went totally fine!  Just stay hydrated!

We opted out of IVF. Can't afford that financial risk and im fairly certain the hormone treatments will send me back 10 years in mental health recovery. Adoption won't work because I've been to psych wards too many times to qualify. I think if my tubes are blocked its game over and I will have to accept not being a parent.

Ulcerative colitis stole my career and the surgery stole motherhood. It's ok...i think I am still a person without a job or children....my husband likes me at least.