Milk and Meat

I was a lactose-intolerant vegetarian....and loving it! And then, these tiny little boys come along and all of a sudden...all I want are bowls of cereal ( I am grateful for lactaid), yogurt, grilled cheese, and any pork product I can get my hands on. Not fish (strong, strong strong fish aversion still going on), not chicken (AP Biology turned me off a long time ago) and not beef (so tough to digest). We are not talking about unreal cravings, just a strong preference for meat and milk products. What's a girl to do?A rack of ribs is staring me in the face.

For some, pregnancy can have a positive effect on Crohn's symptoms. Did you know that when you are pregnant your immune system is somewhat suppressed? I just learned this...It makes sense- this happens so that your body does not reject the little one growing in you and treat it like an invader. Your body attacking invaders is also why conception can be tough, and was tough for us- my body was treating EVERYTHING like an invader.

If you are considering pregnancy, I highly recommend collecting as much information as you can. Here are some of the topics I was concerned about:

• conceiving/fertility
• getting into a "good place" with my symptoms: how, for how long, would it stay?
• medication/safety: during pregnancy and breastfeeding
• my prior abdominal surgery and scarring (which could affect the fallopian tubes): tests can be done to check!
• flaring during pregnancy and immediately following the birth and action that could be taken
• my immunity if I were to continue on biologic medications (which I couldn't, but that is something to think about)

So I perused the web, asked my GI Doc a lot of questions, asked my ob-gyn a lot of questions, sought a consult from maternal fetal medicine at a phenomenal local hospital, talked to my mom, and talked to my husband. We made decisions that were right for us.

And now I want milk and meat.

Perhaps I need the iron? The calcium? Is my kind diet a lost cause? Of course not. If you are interested in learning more about kind food choices and exploring a vegetarian lifestyle to help you with your IBD symptoms, I was incredibly inspired by this book (thanks for the recommendation Becca!):

The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone
Her blog: http://www.thekindlife.com/

In the meantime, I will work on balance. 

Two babies for the Crohn's Baby!

Baby Boy A

Baby Boy B

Hi everyone,
I know...it has been over a year. In that year a lot has happened! You have guessed the obvious! Twins are expected this spring!

Sooooo it turned out Humira gave me drug induced Lupus....BUT it did help stabilize my Crohn's. Granted, not being about to move around and being in immense pain for a few months is not my cup of tea, but I am grateful. Please note, this is not a typical reaction, in fact it was quite surprising for the doctors that care for me.

I took myself off Humira last January, and a few months later, the chemicals were out of my body, leaving me to explore other options. I found two wonderful options- 1. a vegetarian lifestyle and 2. acupuncture. I attribute my continuing health to this new lifestyle!

We found out this past summer that I could not conceive naturally (it seems my body attacks more than just my digestive system....) BUT lovely NPs and techs at the Reproductive Science Center helped my husband and I through other avenues. The outcome...twins! I went into the pregnancy with my Crohn's in a good place, and so far it has continued.

I look forward to sharing my baby-bearing Crohns experience and please let me know if you have any questions. AND if anyone else has Crohns and twins, I would love to learn more about your experience:)