Hello, I Am New But I Have A Question

[jnessa055]

hello ladies i am so excited that i found this website.. i have celiac and i have been dx since i was 3 and i am now almost 20. i have a question because i have read that its women who have celiac are infertile or have many miscarriages and this scares me bc evenutally i would like to have kids, what im askin is if you ladies will tell me some successful stories about their pregnancy... thanks ladies!

[spunky]

I don't have first-hand experience but my understanding is that if the woman is careful about being gluten free, she should not have those problems with pregnancies.

[gfgypsyqueen]

I've had two happy, healthy, smart kids. One when I didn't know about celiacs and then the second when I had celiacs for a few years. Both of my kids have food allergies and one has celiacs, so I doubt I am the norm.

The first pregnancy was pretty much text book except for the fact that my face and arms were thinning during the pregnancy. After the baby was born the weight dropped right off and my health took a dive. That's when I found out about Celiacs.

The second pregnancy with known Celiacs was harder. I am very sensitive and react to contact. So I was glutened almost once a month for the pregnancy. At least it seemed like that! Everytime I got glutened the baby went crazy, but the following day was the worst because she wouldn't move all day. The Dr didn't know or care about Celiacs and was of no help in checking the baby or making me feel any better. Finally she was born about 1 week early after being glutened. She was perfectly healthy and cute as could be at birth. At 9 mths she devloped a terrible rash that did not respond to medication and her growth rate dropped. She is now 2.5 yrs old and a Celiac with a dairy allergy too.

You can have a healthy pregnancy and you can have perfect kids even when you are a celiac . But a lot of women have a very hard time getting pregnant or keeping the baby for the entire pregnancy. Keep believing that when the time comes that you want kids, you will get pregnant and have a healthy baby. Just be very strict during the pregnancy about gluten. And the weird issue that I have never figured out: don't over eat any one food group. With my first, she had colic and I ate nuts heavily while nursing. She later devloped a nut allergy. With the second I lived on dairy during and after the pregnancy. She has a dairy allergy in addition to my Celiacs. I have no idea what the relationship is there, but I have heard other people who overate a food group while pregnant or nursing and their child later developed an allergy to it.

[Guest j_mommy]

Not all or even a majority are infertile. If you follow a gluten-free diet, you should be ok. There is a thread going on right now about preterm labor and alot of us have seemed to go through that.

[happygirl]

The vast majority of problems associated with fertility are among women who are undiagnosed and/or don't follow the diet. When you are dx'ed and start/maintain the diet, your risks drop dramatically----not only for fertility, but for *most* other potential complications.

So stick to the diet, and your risks shouldn't be much more elevated than any other woman

[jnessa055]

thank you so much for the insight ladies.. it scared me because for a long time i ate whatever i wanted no matter what the consequences are.. it was hard growing up with celiac disease and being invited to birthday parties with cake and pizza and not being able to have it... well i ate it anyways.. its just been recently that i am trying really hard to be gluten free... i got back on my vitamins and am reading labels like crazy!!! sometimes people look at me so funny that the grocery stores lol, but i dont care, i want to better myself so that when the time comes i can have a happy healthy child!! thanks so much ladies

[confused]

I have had 4 kids that are healthy, yes 2 of them were preterm, but had no major problems due to that. One was 2 weeks late and one was right on time, then the 2 preterm were at 35 weeks. I do beleive the first preterm bb was the one that triggered my celiac tho. Now i know im celiac i cant have anymore cause hubby took care of that but i would love to have one now since im healthy.

paula