Having more children

[Hlawman]

I'm 23 and newly diagnosed. I have a 15 month old son, who was not planned, in fact he was a honeymoon baby. My whole life all I've wanted was to be a mother and have several children. My neurologist said it would be possible I would just have to discontinue meds a couple of months before trying to conceive. We aren't planning on trying to have another one for at least 2 maybe 3 years. I just would like some input from other women who have had children and had to stop treatment to do so. Did your MS progress at all while you were pregnant?

[kiMberS Mom]

Pregnancy/Children/MS

Hi hon!
I am no dr or nurse, but I am in a similar situation as you. About 2 1/2-3 years ago I started noticing symptoms such as numbness in my right arm and hand, a shocking sensation down my neck and back when I bent my neck forward (which I now know is L'hermitte's) and vertigo. I was also half way through my pregnancy with my first child. I didn't know at the time but they were my first symptoms of MS and they finally after months of tests they diagnosed me with MS in March of the year. I was on rebif for 4 months and my husband and I decided we will try for baby #2 in Nov. I have been off the rebif for a month now and my symptoms feel worse, but I think it's due to the warm weather, stress, and chasing around a two year old. We made the decision to try for another baby now because you never know what the future will bring. I am comfortable with being off my meds for at least a year and just pray for the best as with any pregnancy. I hear relapses are less intense, if even noticeable. So looking forward to that. Everyone is different though. So your best bet is talk to your dr. I asked mine and she said things were good and she didn't see why I shouldn't try for another baby.
I wish you lots of luck. You are young and should try for more children while you physically can. Listen to your body and keep your drs updated on how things are going. Hope this helps a little.

[lorib]

My two kids (5 and 16 months) were both born about 3 years after my diagnosis. The most important thing is to make sure you are seeing a high risk OB in case something does go wrong and also to make sure your neuro is on board with the pregnancy.

In general, pregnancy tends to suppress the immune system so MS shouldn't be a huge issue. You have to stop all meds, which was a pain for me because I take a stimulant for my fatigue, but it's worth it.

I never had any issues being off my dmd before pregnancy. Talk to your neuro and see if there is one that you should switch to if you want to get pregnant. I switched from Tysabri to Copaxone before I had my son. The reason was because Tysabri has a longer washout time (6 months) than Copaxone (3 months) and some of the other injectables.

[mercadies25]

I have 6 grown children and am very thankful for them, but if I had to do it again and I knew I had MS I would not have another. YOU have to think even if there is no problem with the pregnancy you will be hard on you after. And what if you become disabled, who will take care of you and a small child or two?

I am sorry to be so down but this is a tough disease and we never wich way it will go.

So no more kids. Take care of the one you got and TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF.

Good Luck!!

[SNOOPY]

Hi Hlawman,

You will find so many different perspectives on having children and MS (pros/cons). Really it comes down to what you and you spouse want.

I was married at the age of 20 and diagnosed at the age of 24. We did not have any children at the time.

About 4 years after my diagnosis I got pregnant with my son, two years later we had a daughter. My son is now 23 and my daughter is 21.

It is possible to have a relapse during pregnancy or within the first 3 to 9 months postpartum. I did not have a problem during pregnancy or postpartum.

I did have a severe relapse when my children were 2 and 4 years old. It was quite difficult but I was able to care for myself as well as my children. There was never a time I could not care for my children.

I did not have progression due to having children and I did not have a high risk OB.

Information about MS and Pregnancy:
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/liv...ncy/index.aspx

[onlyairfare]

I have three children, all born before I was "officially" diagnosed with MS. At the time, there were no DMD's anyway so there were no decisions to be made about stopping meds.

I had a lot of pregnancy complications but they were unrelated to MS, and quite honestly, they were more serious problems than my MS was. Because of those issues I did see a high risk OB ("perinatalogist"), but he did not feel my pregnancies were high risk because of MS. I had ON once during my last pregnancy, but otherwise no MS problems during or after.

During those years I was having ON frequently with or without pregnancy, and I was most fortunate to fully recover my vision every time.

In general I try to carry on my life as normally as possible despite MS, so since we wanted children, we had them. They are all healthy young adults now. As Snoopy says, it's an individual decision.

[hope32]

I went off Copaxcone to TTC just 6 months after I'd started it. Which in retrospect seems a little crazy ... I was endlessly thankful to get pregnant on only the second month of trying (I was worried about being off the meds for very long before pregnancy, since I know pregnancy has a protective effect). I was off them for about 14 months altogether, including a little over 2 months after the boys were born. During that time I got 4 new lesions but no new attacks that I knew of.

I was a little worried about the 4 new lesions (especially since I only had 2 total before that!) but my MS specialist wasn't *too* concerned, especially since they were on the smaller side. And it does give me good motivation to stay on DMDs now since I saw what happened when I was off of them!

[Tawanda]

I have 6 grown children and am very thankful for them, but if I had to do it again and I knew I had MS I would not have another. YOU have to think even if there is no problem with the pregnancy you will be hard on you after. And what if you become disabled, who will take care of you and a small child or two?

I am sorry to be so down but this is a tough disease and we never wich way it will go.

So no more kids. Take care of the one you got and TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF.

Good Luck!!

...and one more thing...passing on the genetic susceptibility for getting MS to your children. Mom had MS. I also do. She died years before I developed MS at age 40, but the guilt would have been unbearable for her if she lived long enough to see me struggling with the same disease that eventually led to her death. It will kill me if my girl develops it.

I am guessing the people here talking about conceiving must have pretty mild M.S. or there would not be this huge amount of enthusiasm. More power to you. I will just have to be the voice of the wet blanket who says you are healthy until you aren't, and that our kids won't have M.S. until they do.

Maybe I should just be grateful for the forty over the top healthy years I did have, but these last 10 years have evened the score. They have been brutal. I have probably disappointed my DD in a million billion ways because of this ugly, chronic, progressive disease Had God cut my life short at 40 and skipped this entire second M.S. half, we would both probably be OK with that. Sadly, when my Mom passed away from her MS it was sad but their was an unspoken relief that we kids no longer had to live in a reverse caretaker situation.

This is my personal story. You all have yours. I have noticed over the years that my view is not popular, but I think it is responsible, however.

Good luck to you all. I wish we could just cure this crappy disease and never even have to have such debates. Hope I did no offend anyone...that has never been even close to my intention. I just think I have a story to tell. Take it for what it's worth.

[Cat Mom]

Just wanted to say you're all very brave ladies. I wish you the best with this heart-wrenching decision and I hope, if you decide to have a baby, that both you and your baby will be in good health!

Jen

[Tawanda]

No right answers on this topic!

Just wanted to say you're all very brave ladies. I wish you the best with this heart-wrenching decision and I hope, if you decide to have a baby, that both you and your baby will be in good health!

Jen

I totally agree Cat Mom!!! After all, the bible told us to go forth and multiply (too bad there wasn't a provision on how to handle "multiplying" when you or your spouse has M.S. in there, too!)!

[tommylee]

I am a man and may have no business saying anything so please do not be offended by my thoughts.

If you want more children, why wait two or three years?
MS is progressive. It may be easier to do all the "mom duties" sooner than later.

I only have one son 17 now. (we started later in life)
Being a father has been the highlight of my life. Sometimes I wish we had started earlier and had more children.
Yes there may be risks of your children getting MS one day, but I have MS and I am still grateful for my flawed life.

Adoption is wonderful but if you want your own, think about doing it now. You will probably be stronger and better the younger you are.

The gene pool of an adopted child may worse than yours? But they still need a family so it is a good work either way.

Best wishes! Being a parent is a huge commitment but it has been the best part of my life and I am a good at being dad even with MS.

[onlyairfare]

...and one more thing...passing on the genetic susceptibility for getting MS to your children. Mom had MS. I also do. She died years before I developed MS at age 40, but the guilt would have been unbearable for her if she lived long enough to see me struggling with the same disease that eventually led to her death. It will kill me if my girl develops it.

I am guessing the people here talking about conceiving must have pretty mild M.S. or there would not be this huge amount of enthusiasm. More power to you. I will just have to be the voice of the wet blanket who says you are healthy until you aren't, and that our kids won't have M.S. until they do.

Maybe I should just be grateful for the forty over the top healthy years I did have, but these last 10 years have evened the score. They have been brutal. I have probably disappointed my DD in a million billion ways because of this ugly, chronic, progressive disease Had God cut my life short at 40 and skipped this entire second M.S. half, we would both probably be OK with that. Sadly, when my Mom passed away from her MS it was sad but their was an unspoken relief that we kids no longer had to live in a reverse caretaker situation.

This is my personal story. You all have yours. I have noticed over the years that my view is not popular, but I think it is responsible, however.

Good luck to you all. I wish we could just cure this crappy disease and never even have to have such debates. Hope I did no offend anyone...that has never been even close to my intention. I just think I have a story to tell. Take it for what it's worth.

I would say your view is "realistic," not unpopular. Certainly I've never taken offense.

I try to hope for the best, but plan for the worst (or at least think about it). And yes, those of us who are doing reasonably well with MS are much more likely to be debating having children than those who are severely ill. But since MS classically begins in otherwise healthy young women in their childbearing years, who haven't yet had lots of relapses and progression, the debate is inevitable.

We all hope for a cure so we don't need this debate.

[NYJenn]

I agree with our male poster; I wouldn't wait to have more children. Who knows what the future may bring? If you feel well now, go for it.

I don't have any children. I sometimes regret it. My former neuro had me on a lot of meds, as a result, I wnt into early menopause.