[Lins]

Hi!

I have been gluten free for almost 2 years and am doing fairly well. I still see my GI Dr for GERD and constipation issues, but believe I am gluten free only because I feel HORRIBLE if I get gluten. Anyway, I see my usual OB/GYN later this week for my first pregnancy visit but I don't have a lot of faith that he will be knowledgeable with Celiac. Maybe I will be surprised, but I doubt it.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a good OB/GYN in northern Illinois or southern Wisconsin? I'd really appreciate some names and am feeling pretty lost at this point. Everything I've read said as long as I'm gluten free, everything should be fine. But I'd feel better if I was seeing someone who at least understood Celiac.

Thanks!!

[maddycat]

I don't have any dr suggestions for you, but...

I would suggest telling your ob about your celiac disease and see what they say first. I was referred to a Perinatologist (high risk ob) so that they could more closely monitor things in regards to celiac and pregnancy for me (I am now 34 weeks pregnant). I met with the Peri for a consultation at about 12 weeks along. She decided that she wanted to do my 20 week ultrasound scan (instead of a usual tech) and other than that mentioned having growth scans after 27 weeks (since IUGR, growth restrictions, can occur if you still have some malabsorption issues). I have routinely gone in for blood work on orders of my regular internist during my pregnancy as well (especially to check vitamin/iron levels more often).

It is true, that as long as your diet is well maintained, then there shouldn't be any issues with the pregnancy along with celiac disease.

Good Luck!
Marcia

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Good advice from Maddycat---my first baby was IUGR because I kept trying to eat the stupid crackers they told me to eat (I had never heard of gluten or celiac at that point. We nearly lost him (I also had pre-eclampsia), and for all three of my pregnancies, I had hyperemesis, and was unable to gain more than a few pounds since I was constantly barfing.

My OBGYN--who specialized in high-risk--almost caught the celiac. She noticed that I was always carrying strawberries around, and I told her that they were the only thing that ALWAYS stayed down. She mentioned celiac and wondered if we should look at testing for that, but when she explained it, I said, "Oh, well, Chinese food never stays down, either, and I never go for the noodle dishes, just the rice and veggies and meat. And I don't throw up when I'm not pregnant!"

Unfortunately, I didn't know at that point that soy sauce had wheat, or that pregnancy can trigger all kinds of problems with gluten....and no other doctor that I ever saw ever suspected celiac--they just kept giving me prescriptions (we've all been through this, haven't we? )

[Lins]

Thanks Ladies,

I have since seen my OB/GYN who was familiar with Celiac but admitted that she'd never had one as a patient before. Great... Anyway, I also saw my GI Dr yesterday. According to the testing I had done earlier this year, my absorption was good and my guts had healed well, my bone density scan was really good, and my blood tests were negative for Celiac, (those numbers had been very high when I was eating gluten so they have been good indicators so far). He told me that if he hadn't seen all that good news, he'd be concerned. But since my body seems to have recovered well I shouldn't worry too much as long as I stay gluten-free.

Thanks again!