CCFA awareness week.

It's the first day of Crohn's and Colitis awareness week.
I continue to be well 99% of the time.  Something I'm amazed by and don't like to think about too often in case I get jinxed.  I truly believe that breastfeeding has been of the greatest benefit to my health in this regard.  I'm not sure why.  I'm fairly certain that any gastroenterolgist would disagree because they don't believe in anything but medication.  It's a damn sight better than biologics.
I continue to worry about my future with this disease.  Of course, worry is what did me in in the first place.  So I try to meditate and practise deep breathing techniques.  Try being the operative word.
I still get updates about the SCD diet and I continue to have it in the back of my mind.  I will do it again before any other medication.

29 weeks pregnant

Today I am 29 weeks pregnant.  We had another ultrasound to check for growth a week ago because IBD can sometimes cause malnourishment in both mother and foetus.  I am totally fine though and baby is doing wonderfully, in fact he already weighs at least 3lbs!  This is great news to hear.  I was also checked for Gestational Diabetes, that involved drinking a very sugary flat orange soda.  It wasn't too bad but the sugar overload made me feel drunk.  I also had blood drawn and the results were perfect.  I am so relieved about everything looking good.  I am still suffering IBD symptoms sort of sporadically but happy to know that there are no adverse effects.  I am not anemic, nor do I have an elevated level of white blood cells (both indicators of a flare).
I am getting wicked heartburn nearly every day though, which is something I've never really suffered from before and that sucks.
The worst part about this week has been another health insurance dilemma.  Brian's school decided to switch up their plans which means that when the baby comes it will cost us $750 a month to insure both me and him.  That's more than our house payment and without me bringing in any income after the birth will be impossible to manage.
So now we don't know what to do and have the anxiety of the impending expense of a new human in our lives and the added expense of ridiculous health insurance coverage.  So we're both very stressed and worried about everything.

IBD during pregnancy

I am now 21 weeks pregnant.  Like I said before, I have good days and bad days.  This past week has been mostly good.
I have been worried about any effect the IBD may be having on my developing baby but happily, so far, there are none.  Every single test has come back normal and there's a healthy, thriving little boy in there.  So it's all good for now.
The Doctors test you for what they call Intra-Uterine-Growth-Restriction, in most cases this is apparently detectable through blood tests (if there's a reason for it to happen).  My test was normal, all gene tests are normal... so, I am sort of starting to relax about everything.
I also have an inherited blood clotting disorder called protein C deficiency, which puts me at a slightly higher risk of having some kind of blood clot.  This risk goes up in pregnancy.  So with everything else in my medical history this means I have to have a hospital birth.  I would rather use the birthing center in town and give birth in a pool but that won't be possible for me.  I will try to make the best of it though.
I don't want to say that I want a 'natural' birth because I don't want to feel disappointed in myself if I don't achieve that.  What I want is a healthy baby.
It's hard not to worry, I am by nature a worrier.. but I think everything's going to be ok.

SCD was a success, then I got pregnant...

My last post was about starting the SCD diet.  The intro phase was really hard, physically and mentally.  After that passed, I actually started to feel fantastic and best of all, my flare quietened down.
I stuck with the SCD for something like 6 weeks before I found out I was pregnant.  I started cheating with little things because I was so damn hungry ALL the time and my options were still limited.  Then morning sickness hit.
'Morning' sickness is really a misnomer.  It lasts all day.  You feel green from morning to night and nothing can lift it.  I tried so many things.  The last straw came when I threw up after eating a banana, a banana!  So I asked my Doc for something to make me feel less disgusting.  The pills worked to stop me from actually puking but I still felt rough, though I was able to function normally, which was nice for a change.
I almost lost my job because I went from working full time to only working 2 hours a day (from 2-4:30, when I felt able to drive).  That was a sad situation because not only was I stressed out about being so fucking sick all the time, I was worried that I was going to lose my job.  Consequentially, working has not been the best since then as I feel like they let me down when I was vulnerable and they think I wasn't really as sick as I was.
Now I am 19 weeks pregnant and feeling better, mostly.  Unfortunately my IBD symptoms have returned since going off the SCD.  I also, privately, feel that the pregnancy hormones make my inflammation worse.  I have good days and bad days.  When I take my probiotics I feel good (usually).
I also worry about the effect my IBD is having on the foetus, although nearly everyone assures me that unless my symptoms are really bad there's little to no effect on the foetus.  It's good to read stories about women who have successfully carried a pregnancy to term with IBD.
Tomorrow is the anatomy scan so I'll have more to update then.

SCD has started.

Since I took the pentasa I've been in a low-grade flare that I couldn't shake. Only going to the bathroom 2-3 times a day but not passing anything solid :\

I started the SCD on saturday and so far I feel, if possible, 10 times worse. Incredibly watery D, urgency, cramping.. all the rest of it. I also feel physically exhausted and achey.. like I've been exercising really hard. I am also mentally exhausted so if this doesn't make any sense blame the lack of food.

All you can eat on the SCD intro diet is home made chicken soup with pureed carrots and beef patties, all you can drink is water or diluted grape juice.

I must have only gotten around 600 calories the past few days, I've lost 10 lbs.

Even though I have D I need to move on to the next stage for my own sanity. That stage has things like chicken 'pancakes' and banana 'pancakes' soo... at least some variety!

So far this diet is the hardest thing I've done. My body is crying out for me to please eat something with carbs in it but can't.

back from summer!

I finished the course of prednisone and while I haven't started flaring again (at least, I don't think so) I have noticed some more reaction to certain foods I'm eating so in an effort to halt things before they spiraled out of control I tried taking some pentasa I had stashed away in case of emergency. Instant flare. The morning after I took the first dose I spent about half an hour in the bathroom with urgency, gas and all the rest of it. I persevered and tried another dose after breakfast that morning and had the symptom I hate most of all...going to the bathroom to pee and ending up needing to do more than that. Ugh. I stuck it out for two days, going to the bathroom to poop 6-7 times each day before I decided to give up.

I felt really depressed at this reaction to the pentasa. It spelled out the dreaded idea that immunosuppresants really might be the solution.

I'm determined to not let that happen to me though. It just doesn't make sense for me right now. I am sure that I will never again put my faith in a drug that is not well tested enough.

So I am going to try the SCD diet. It will be hard; I love all the forbidden foods. No more wheat, rice, potatoes, corn or sugar (any kind except honey) for me. This will probably be the hardest thing I have ever done but I try to remind myself that it was hormones and a change in diet which set me off in the first place so perhaps a change in diet will set things right this time.

I hope so.

ohhh prednisone

I don't usually weigh myself all that often but while taking pred I have been weighing myself once a day, usually at the same time of day and can I just say oh my god how did I gain five pounds in one day?

That's what prednisone does.