Thinking about having another child
 

but wanted to get on here and see if there are others that have gone through pregnancy with MS? I am so nervous. I really want to have another one.

The OB dr is sending me to the Prenatalogist because he said I'd be a high-risk pregancy since I will be 35 in July. Probably also because of the MS.

I am going to see a new neuro (Dr. Brandes) on the 13th because I wanted a specialist and also because my current one seems to have lost some of my paperwork and not requested any bloodwork. I started Rebif in June. I went on my own accord in Sept for bloodwork and it was fine. Should I worry so much?

I've also been having skipped heartbeats daily. They say that is normal but when I told MS Lifelines about it they said to have the thyroid checked. Hmmm.

Anyway, thank you in advance, to everyone who responds. I just want this so bad but want it to all be safe.

Chelzer

Hi, Chelzer.

I have 2 children both born after my diagnosis, they are now 16 & 18. I have never had any regrets.

There is always the possibility of a relapse during your pregnancy and/or after but the most common time for a relapse is post-partum.

I never had a relapse with either of my pregnancies or post-partum.

I do believe you will need to be off rebif before getting pregnant but you can go back on it after your baby is born.

I wish you all the best in your decision :hug:

I had my daughter after I was dx'd. My story is a good one. No problems with the pregnancy. My sx's slowly went away while I was pregnant and slowly returned after I had her. I had no flares. Our decision not to have any more children had very little to do with my MS.

I had two children after being dx, and they are almost 16 and 12 now. My last daughter was born when I was almost 37.

I don't regret my decision at all, but there can be a fair bit of guilt (if you are so inclined) and it has been difficult to cope at times.

My best advice is to ensure that you have a very strong support network of family, and that your husband is prepared to take on a very active role in parenting. I wouldn't have made it this far without the help I've gotten along the way!

Cherie

thank you
 

for responding! I was reminded (with Cherie's response because of the family help) that my MIL also was saying how I could pass the MS to the kids. I don't think it's been proven one way or the other, has it? I am going to talk to all the dr's before getting pregnant. Thanks again everyone for your responses.

I dont think you can "pass on" the MS...I know that MS sometimes runs in families, but I dont think it's truly a genetic disease. There'd be more than 2 in my family if that were true. So far, the only MSers in my family are me, and a 2nd or 3rd cousin. (cant remember exactly where she is in the family tree...she's my dad's cousin's daughter...so, 3rd cousin??)

My family seems to have a lot of autoimmune diseases in it tho...on both sides. life threatening allergies, Rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes....

I probably have a bigger chance of passing down the birth defect that runs in my dad's family than I do of giving MS to any potential offspring. (I'd rather my potential kids got the birth defect than MS if they had to inherit something like that from me)

thank you Erin
 

If my DH and I need support I know we can come here. My family and friends are very encouraging. My niece is pregnant and my nephew's new wife is pregnant! I think it's something in the family!!!!! Oh how I want this to work out. Thanks again for the support.

Chelzer

P.S. I think my MIL has the best intentions but she just isn't showing it now. She has no idea we are thinking about having another yet. I think I will tell her when I AM pregnant instead of "incase".

oh yeah, I think you should wait till you're actually pregnant before you mention you want another baby.

I've got a friend who had an autistic child...her mother-in-law got all judgemental and blamed her for the kid being autistic...as if my friend had control over her DNA and made the autism gene show up in the kid. (because, the M-I-L just couldnt have the austim gene in her family)

I'd love to have a baby some day, but I just dont know if I'm up to ever having a kid. I'm afraid the MS is going to cause me too many problems. Plus, my boyfriend has mentioned to me a few times that he doesnt want to have kids. (altho, he still will say he can see me when I'm 80, with a couple of grandkids crawling on me...)

The other reason I probably wont have kids is my age. I'm going to be 39 in May. I'm probably getting too old.

I too was worried about my age (35 in July) and the dr told me it was a 99.5% chance everything will be fine, but there is that 1/2 % chance I'll have a down syndrome child because of my age. Down Syndrome doesn't run in the family but I don't know...maybe it's a gene we develop as we get older? My MIL and I get along real well so if she knew we were thinking of a child I think she'd quiet down but there is a chance I'd hear other things alot more and I'm not willing to take that chance. I want to continue being happy. It's a decision (to be pregnant) that only DH and I can make. Not her.

As far as you having a baby, do what you feel is right. You can also adopt if you wanted to have a child without having your body go through that. My MS isn't too bad so I wouldn't mind having one. The only thing that reminds me I have MS is that I have very little feeling in my fingers. That's frustrating sometimes.

You can't pass on MS. If you have a parent with MS, you have a <5% chance of getting it as well. What they think is that you inherit a genetic tendency. They theorize that you inherit a gene or group of genes that if they get turned on (virus, chemical, environmental triggers), then you develop MS.

My mom has it, I have it, my brother has it - but I have two sisters that are just fine. Despite that, I'm still considering having one of my own. The risk is there, but it's low. I'm already 36 and probably wouldn't actually give birth until around age 39, so I'm more worried about those risks than the baby having the right genes to develop MS.

I actually just looked it up today and at age 35 it's a 1 in 400 chance for having a child with Down's, at 40 it goes to 1 in 100. That really scares me.