Hi all,
I agree with the comment about feeling pretty alone in my situation, pondering pregnancy post-transplant - it's really nice to hear other women's experiences. I'm 12 years post transplant, I've been lucky enough to have enjoyed mostly good health, a few bumps along the way that's for sure. I used to have a baseline of around 85, but that crept up from about 8 years post transplant and has been consistently around 110. I'm 31 and engaged & am thinking more realistically about children. I'm exactly the same as you initially said you felt Jenjen - a bit ambivalent about having children. I love kids, and if it wasn't for my health issues I wouldn't think twice, but I'm nervous about harming the baby, my own health, the baby's future development etc...
![Sad :(](./images/smilies/icon_sad.gif)
It's a very hard decision, and from what I've researched (albeit briefly, and exclusively online) there doesn't seem to be much long term research on how certain medications affect a child's development. I'm not sure I could cope with being responsible for any ill health or learning difficulties of my own child, the thought makes me very upset.
I'm nervous about having to go from MMF to another med too. Tacro & MMF have worked well for me.
Do let us know how you get on Jenjen, and anyone else considering conception - I'd love to hear more experiences.
This might be a stupid question: for those of you post transplant with kids, once you successfully conceived and were pregnant, did you feel like your lower abdomen was...'overly crowded'?? Did it hurt at all, stretch your scar painfully or did you feel any terrible pains with the baby kicking the graft? Can a baby actually damage the kidney from inside by wriggling/kicking?
Also, if anyone had a vaginal birth, is there any concern about rupturing of the graft/scar at all? Sorry to sound gruesome, I don't know who else to ask these things!
In response to someone who asked whether lifestyle factors influence getting your creatinine down: I think yes, lifestyle can be an influencing factor. I found that for about a year I was getting recurring urinary infections and consequently my base levels shot up to around 160. I was honestly getting UTIs so, so frequently - it felt like I was constantly on antibiotics. My specialist even had me taking a small dose prophylactic daily... When the infections finally settled down, and I was off antibiotics, I found the base levels went down, but (as I said above) the baseline increased from 80 odd up to 110 and hasn't gone down since. So (after that ramble): make sure you take care of any lingering infections in your body. For me that means obviously taking antibiotics until it's cleared up, getting lots of sleep (I always get snuffly/sore throat if I have a few nights of terrible sleep), stay really hydrated, minimize internal and external stress factors.... cheesy advice, but get the basics on track: infections, sleep, stress, diet, exercise, limit booze. Best of luck to you all.