Getting Pregnant

[Moongirl]

im 26 and was just dx with celiac disease this month, never really thought that i would have issues with having a baby till i was dx. now i am concerned that i will have complications trying to get pregnant, i dont plan on having a baby probably for another 2-3 years, but it has concerned me more now that i have been dx. aany advice or stories??

thanks

[traveljunkie]

Hi Moongirl,

If your not planning to try for 2 or 3 years and you stay on a healthy gluten-free diet, I see no reason you wouldn't have the same chance of conceiving as any other woman.

Charlene

[Merika]

If you're on a gluten-free diet and celiac, your pregnancy and miscarry rates are the same as anyone else. And they're only slightly higher if you're not diagnosed.

I wouldn't worry about it too much -- as an example, I was very sick for years undiagnosed, it took me & dh ohhhhh maybe one or two tries to conceive, and I had a great pregnancy - felt better than I had in years, lol. I was diagnosed celiac and went gluten-free when my son was 2 years old.

Hope that helps,

Merika

[cgilsing]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Like everybody is saying, if you are on a strict gluten-free diet your risks aren't any higher than a person without celiac disease! I was diagnosed in August of 2004 and in September of 2005 I got pregnant on the first try! My pregnancy has been uneventful and healthy so far. I have heard that babies of mothers with celiac disease (that are on a strict diet) actually average a slightly higher birth weight than babies of mothers without celiac disease! Good luck when you decide it is time to try!

[jenvan]

I echo what's been said here--if you are gluten-free, your chances should be "normal." And some women who are not diagnosed have no problems either--its not necessarily a majority that do. I have a friend with Celiac who is pregnant right now--and she had the same concern! So, there are a lot of babies out there with Celiac mothers

[pokerprincess]

im 26 and was just dx with celiac disease this month, never really thought that i would have issues with having a baby till i was dx. now i am concerned that i will have complications trying to get pregnant, i dont plan on having a baby probably for another 2-3 years, but it has concerned me more now that i have been dx. aany advice or stories??

thanks

After having four, the last one after dx, obviously wasn't a problem. All on time, average weight and at 15,13, 10 and 3 are rarely ever sick. i am a little out of my mind sometimes!

[Nadtorious]

What are the chances of a celiac passing it on to her baby? I'm super sensitive and don't want another "me". I don't have reactions very often-once a month or so, but I didn't get my period for 2 years because of celiac disease. I'm afraid of infertility and passing this disease on.

Nadia

[cgilsing]

I'm not sure what the statistics for the possibility of passing celiac disease to your children is. It is hereditary, but at least in my familiy the level of sensitivity varies greatly. My mom is gluten sensitive, but she isn't nearly as sensitive as I am. As long as she doesn't eat cookies or cake or something she is ok (doesn't worry about soy sauce, cream soup, the wrong brand bacon etc.) My great-grandmother was as sensitive as I am, but her daughter (my grandmother) only has dh for a symptom and generally eats what she wants and puts up with it. Of her kids only 2 of the 4 have any symptoms. I wouldn't think that your kids would have a sure chance of having a problem, and if they do, they may not be as sensitive as you.

The way I see it, if you have celiac disease you will closely watch your children for any signs and symptoms of celiac disease. If they do get it, than at least they won't suffer for years the way many people do. You can be their advocate at the Dr. office, you can help them learn how to eat right, and they will always have you to understand what they are going through. I don't want my kids to have this either, but if they do, just keep in mind if we have to have something then this isn't THAT bad, there are so much worse things, at least we have something that we have some control over, and we still live a normal life (with the exception of eating what we want )

[Melzo]

As a girl who is currently trying to have a baby, it has been a tremendous relief to find all of you who have had easy / normal preganancies. It might be that I read too much, but I had heard that it is harder for woman w/celiac to get pregant and then also harder to keep the baby full term. We have been "trying" since October and I think now that the celiac is not the problem....it's me stressing out about it!!!! I am happy that I have read your responses!! Makes me feel so much better.

BTW, I have read in a book (and that's where I get into trouble) that direct relatives have a 1 in 5 chance of having celiac disease. One in 132 Americans have celiac disease. I also read that if you breastfeed, you lessen the chance of your child getting celiac disease. Has anyone else heard about this?

Melanie

[Merika]

Hi Melanie,

I've heard similar statistics - 1 in 10 immediate family, 1 in 133 north american population. Breastfeeding has been shown to lessen odds of celiac. :)

The important thing, you know, is to have fun trying ;-) LOL

Merika

[Roxyk]

From my experience, I did have a hard time getting pregnant, probably due to celiac. I was only diagnosed because my father was. About 9 months after my diagnosis & going gluten free I had normal periods. Exactly one year after diagnosis - I was pregnant. I am now 33 weeks. I do "appear" smaller in the belly - but who knows.

We will be watching our child closely for signs of celiac & will have him/her tested around 2 years of age. We found a pediatrician with expericence to help us out. That was very important to us.

Good luck, try to relax (I know I hated to hear that in the 2+ years we tried), and if you do have problems - see an acupuncturist (they rock - stick with Traditional Chinese Medicine dr) & see a fertility specialist.

[Melzo]

Thanks guys!

I actually am having "normal" periods because I was on birth control for years (got off of them in August) and seem to be regular. However, this month I tried taking my basal temperature in the a.m. and tracking it, it seems that I am not ovulating because my temperature has not spiked at all this cycle. I wonder if it could be the celiac, or that 5 months ago I went off of birth control, or both or something else entirely. It could drive a girl crazy.

Merika & Roxyk, I should listen to you and just have fun. Thank you again!

Melanie

[Ileana]

Hi!

I'm new on this forum! My name is Ileana and I live in Romania! So, please excuse eventually problem of language! I'm 27 years old! My problem is that in my country were not made any kind of studies regarding celiac diseas, so we don't have too many information about the diseas! Doctors are able to diagnose the diseas, but that's all! They don't give too many information about it! The doctors discovered the diseas to my mother in law almost 53 years ago! She was on gluten free diet for 5 years! After this period the doctors permited her to eat products with gluten! She was ok for a long period of time! She born my husband and after 2 years she remained pregnant with my brother in law! After a month she gaved birth to her second child and one month later she became very, very sick! She entered in the worst phase of the diseas! I have one question: What is the chance for my future child to inherit the diseas! I read a lot of things on the internet and I've seen that the diseas can be genetically transmited, (my husband did not had any simptom of the diseas yet!)

Please excuse my mistakes in translation!

Ileana

[Melzo]

Hi!

I'm new on this forum! My name is Ileana and I live in Romania! So, please excuse eventually problem of language! I'm 27 years old! My problem is that in my country were not made any kind of studies regarding celiac diseas, so we don't have too many information about the diseas! Doctors are able to diagnose the diseas, but that's all! They don't give too many information about it! The doctors discovered the diseas to my mother in law almost 53 years ago! She was on gluten free diet for 5 years! After this period the doctors permited her to eat products with gluten! She was ok for a long period of time! She born my husband and after 2 years she remained pregnant with my brother in law! After a month she gaved birth to her second child and one month later she became very, very sick! She entered in the worst phase of the diseas! I have one question: What is the chance for my future child to inherit the diseas! I read a lot of things on the internet and I've seen that the diseas can be genetically transmited, (my husband did not had any simptom of the diseas yet!)

Please excuse my mistakes in translation!

Ileana

Ileana:

Your translation is fine. I was able to understand what you are going through! From what I have researched, your child has a 1 in 5 chance of getting the disease. Breastfeeding though, may slow the onset of the disease. So if you are able to breastfeed, it seems that it would be worth it. Sorry about my translation! Hope you understand and good luck with this. You can do it!!

[Roxyk]

I should have added that I did have normal periods ON birth control - because it's hormones. It was when I went off that things started to change & my period got shorter & shorter.

[Melzo]

I should have added that I did have normal periods ON birth control - because it's hormones. It was when I went off that things started to change & my period got shorter & shorter.

My periods don't last as long (2 days instead of the 4/5 on birth control). They also have been further apart (31 days instead of 28). What is the sense of having your period if you're not ovulating? (Being sarcastic). I am going to contact my ob/gyn soon if I don't start soon. AGAIN, I am worrying too much, aren't I?

[Roxyk]

No, you aren't worrying too much, just taking charge. I really don't think drs did as much for me as my acupuncturist did. she told me 9months of treatment & I would see a difference - and I did. Combine that & my injectable drugs for fertility & I got pregnant. I would recommend looking for a Tradition Chinese Medicine dr/acupuncturist in your area. It really was the best way to go.

[Guest watermanlee]

As a girl who is currently trying to have a baby, it has been a tremendous relief to find all of you who have had easy / normal preganancies. It might be that I read too much, but I had heard that it is harder for woman w/celiac to get pregant and then also harder to keep the baby full term. We have been "trying" since October and I think now that the celiac is not the problem....it's me stressing out about it!!!! I am happy that I have read your responses!! Makes me feel so much better.

BTW, I have read in a book (and that's where I get into trouble) that direct relatives have a 1 in 5 chance of having celiac disease. One in 132 Americans have celiac disease. I also read that if you breastfeed, you lessen the chance of your child getting celiac disease. Has anyone else heard about this?

Melanie

I just wanted to mention something to think about. Not just for Melanie, but, for anyone who reads this.

I have two children. I did not breast feed the first for very long, only 4 months. She had some issues with the milk based formula, so she was on Soy Formula for the rest of her first year. She is very healthy, has no allergies to any foods, according to the RAST testing and thriving very well, considering she was 7 1/2 weeks premature. She is 10 now and very intelligent, calm and average height and weight. On the other hand, I breast fed my second child for 10 months. She has suffered chronic ear infections and throat infections, gas, and Diarrhea. She had her tonsils and adenoids removed when she was 5. She also complains of having a headache alot. As she got older, she mentioned her chronic stomach pain, and after every meal she was on the toilet with the big D.... As a matter of fact, until I took her off of the wheat last year,(she is 7 now) she had never had a formed stool. I have recently discovered the term STRATORRHEA( I think that is spelled incorrectly) and without a doubt, she has had that too. Unfortunatly, I often gave in to her pleads for a cookie, pizza, and cake, and every time, the diarrhea returned, within an hour after eating. At age 6, she was diagnosed with some mild food allergies, including milk, egg, corn, wheat, yeast, and a handful of environmental allergies. She is also allergic to cats and dogs, the two things she loves the most. She also has been placed in special classes at school for reading , it is hard for her to concentrate when others are around, she is a little hyper, bouncing around like a ball, all the time. She hasn't napped since she was 11 months old. She has a very short attention span and she is underweight, although her appetite is huge. She can easily eat 4 chicken drumsticks in a whack!

This past January, she has also been diagnosed with celiac disease. It is also pretty conclusive that I have celiac disease. Having said all of this, I can't help but wonder if the breast feeding may have been a contributor to her multiple food and environmental allergies, especially since they are all the same as mine. Also, the fact that my other daughter has nothing! I know that when I ate a food that I am allergic to, my body must have made the histamines or whatever happens when you have an allergic reaction, and I am pretty sure these things are passed through to the baby via the breast milk. Toward the end of breast feeding her, I was told to not eat or drink any dairy products because they thought she was lactose intolerant. If the milk I drank passed through my digestive system, and still affected her after all of that, ( I am allergic to milk too, found out recently) could she have, in effect, caught the allergies from me? If your breast milk is supposed to give the baby immunities, could it also give her allergies? She didn't seem to get all of the benefits I was told she would have, as a matter of fact, it turned out to be the complete opposite. Maybe with all of the reactions I was (unknowingly) having to foods,( I just found out about my allergies 2 years ago, I was 29) I could have passed something along?

I forgot to also mention, that it took me 2 years to get pregnant with my first daughter. Apparently due to Endometriosis and the fact that I wastold it would be unlikely that I would have children. I had complications with her, including a 63 hour labor after my water broke, that resulted in a 4 lb. baby. I didn't get pregnant again until 2 years later. I was not using birth control during this time. During this second pregnancy, I had Placenta Previa,and reached a whopping 204 lbs. ( I weighed 105 when I got pregnant) due to mild hypertension and hydraminos (excessive amount of amniotic fluid). I ended up having a Cesarean Section with her 3 weeks earlier than her due date. I don't know if having celiac disease had anything to do with these experiences, but, if I could have avoided any of the complications by being on a gluten free diet or whatever, I would sure have liked to know!!!!!

[shellhoo]

im 26 and was just dx with celiac disease this month, never really thought that i would have issues with having a baby till i was dx. now i am concerned that i will have complications trying to get pregnant, i dont plan on having a baby probably for another 2-3 years, but it has concerned me more now that i have been dx. aany advice or stories??

thanks

I was Dx when I was 19, and I didn't really understand the disease too well. I was pretty much told to just stay away from bread and cookies and stuff like that. I still had a lot of symptoms but the bulk of it went away. I got pregnant for my son fairly easy and had a normal pregnancy. I had some symptoms just from not knowing all the hidden glutens and not looking at labels. But I was absorbing nutrients then.

A couple years later, I got preg for my little girl. I had a lot of symptoms, but just dealt with them, mostly bloating and D. I was also under a lot of stress. My sister's baby passed away while I was pregnant. Her baby was 2 monthes old. That was a hard thing to deal with and I just got sicker. They decided my daughter was not thriving in my uterus and I had a c-section at 25 weeks preg. She weighed 1 pound. She's doing good now. She has a couple minor problems, like hearing loss and developmental delays. But she is cute as a button.

I didn't fully understand the disease until last January when I started losing weight rapidly. I lost a total of 55 pounds in 5 monthes. I was hospitalized in June and that's when I found out about all the gluen foods i could not eat. I finally had my period again in September. Then I got pregnant again in October. I am 4 monthes pregnant and I feel great!!!!! I am totally gluten free. Last year was a pretty eventful year for my family!! I try not to think about what I can't eat and just focus on my life and family. I watch my kids closely for signs of the disease and see none yet.

Good luck!!