Starting a Family when You Suffer from Ulcerative Colitis

Some significant changes have occurred in my life since my diagnosis of ulcerative colitis many years ago. I have had two children in the past twelve months. One was born in May of 2007 and the other was born in April of 2008. These two beautiful boys were a gift from God after seven years of waiting and wanting children.

When I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, I knew that it would be a while before I would be able to try to conceive. I did not realize that it would take so long once we started trying.

Very little research has been done about the effects of ulcerative colitis on fertility. This is because the treatments for ulcerative colitis vary so much from person to person. In my case, the doctors seem to think that my inability to conceive and to successfully carry a pregnancy to term was caused by the high levels of stress and the amount of medications that I was taking while trying to get my ulcerative colitis in to remission.

Once my ulcerative colitis was in remission, it still took a little while for me to get my body ready to get pregnant. I had to let some of the old medications flush out of my system. Then, I talked to my doctor about getting pregnant. She was wonderful. All of the medications that I was on except for one were approved for use during pregnancy. This made things somewhat easier.

My doctor told me that even though I was in remission, I should go back to eating the bland diet that I did when I was trying to get my ulcerative colitis into remission. She told me that hormones would change my trigger foods. So, when we started trying to conceive, I went on my diet.

Once I found out I was pregnant, I slowly tried to incorporate new foods into my diet. One thing that surprised me was that I was able to eat dairy foods while I was pregnant. This continued while I was breast feeding. I was also able to tolerate vegetables better during those times.

One thing that was a little bit different with my pregnancy than with a woman who has a normal pregnancy is that my doctor's appointments were every other week instead of monthly at the beginning of the pregnancy. My doctor wanted to monitor me closely because there is a slight increase in miscarriage rates in women who have ulcerative colitis versus a healthy woman.

Both of my pregnancies were otherwise normal. I took prenatal vitamins, did a good prenatal exercise program, gained an average amount of weight and had normal deliveries with both boys.

If you are pregnant or trying to get pregnant if you have ulcerative colitis, the most important thing to do is to remember that your doctor is your ally in this adventure. She is there to answer your questions and advise you to do things in a way that will protect you and your unborn baby. Listen to her advise and keep an open line of communication with her so that you can have a pregnancy that you can enjoy.