Pregnant and about to do a remicade treatment

We have had many many women on this forum taking meds such as Pred,Pentasa, 6mp/Imuran, Remicade and Humira while pregnant. All had healthy and happy babies. Stef17 is one member who has used Remicade and Humira and I believe she has 2-3 healthy children. The thought is a healthy mom produces a healthy baby. I don't know the exact week, I am thinking after the 33rd week, you are to stop the Remicade until the baby is born, and then to have another infusion after the birth. Congrats and good luck with your pregnancy. Hugs!

Thank you Stef17 for telling me your experience with remicade during pregnancy.  I know a healthy mom makes for healthy babies but I do feel a little guilty everytime I put medication in my mouth (or vein for that matter).  I feel like my baby will be born with these drugs in his/her body.  When I was pregnant with my son which was 7 yrs ago, I was taking 6mp when I found out.  My GI doc at the time took me off of the drug and just had me take azulfadine.  When my son was born he was born with a cyst on his neck, hydronephrosis, and a hydroseal.  I asked the dr's and they all said that they're positive that it was not due to any medications I was taking during the pregnancy.  Also 7 yrs ago I was just diagnosed I think for about a year so I was not nearly as bad as I am now.  I hadn't even been hospitalized once.  Since then I've been hospitalized at least twice a year every year, had my gallbladder removed, my appendix removed, and a small bowel ressection with a temp ileostomy that was reversed in 08.  I'm just so scared but I am the healthiest now then I've been in a while.  I'm due to get a remicade infusion on the 29th of august.  Also I get premedicated before the infusion with benadry, tylenol, and steroids.  Are those safe to take also?  Thank you for all your help. 

I know what you mean - as a mother you worry about every little thing and especially so when you have to take medicine. You are fearful that something will hurt your baby. I think you should absolutely believe what your doctors say about your son. My 3rd child was born with "pectus excavatum" - a dent in the chest. I thought "OH NO! The humira did this!!!" I felt horrible. I was part of the OTIS humira & pregnancy study and when the head doctor flew to my home to examine my child I asked him about it. He said that it had nothing to do with the humira, that it was just one of those "genetic anomolies" that can happen to anyone. Then he said something to me that totally made sense and made me feel a million times better - drugs that are known to cause problems in babies/fetal development cause the SAME problems in all of those babies. They don't cause random problems or random genetic defects. I hadn't connected those dots. So, I felt a lot better.

As for your premeds - yes- all of those are safe. Does your GI know you are pregnant? Has (s)he ok'd the remicade? Only reason I'm asking is because sometimes the nurses who administer the remicade don't know and then they get their panties in a wad if you tell them you're pregnant. They want to verify with the doc that it's ok and blah, blah, blah. A lot of them have not had a pregnant patient so they don't know that it's ok to take remicade while expecting. SO - you can either 1)make sure the doc knows and they can verify if they get all picky about it OR 2)save yourself the hassle and don't tell them. :) Or at least don't tell them until after they've started the infusion. You don't need the nurse's permission to get your meds while pregnant, but sometimes they act like you do.

Glad to help. Let me know if there's anything else I can do!

Thank you all for all your help and input.  I actually do feel a lot better about taking the remicade next week.  My GI doc does know i'm pregnant but I do not get the remicade in his office.  I actually get it in my hematologists office.  He does not know and neither does his nurses.  Should I call them before hand to give them a heads up?  I don't want to go in there thinking everything is hunky dory and then i get crap from the nurses b/c we all know how nurses can be.  Although sometimes I do think the  nurses know more than the doctors sometimes lol.  Anyway thank you again for making me feel a little more at ease about the remicade.  I just want to do what's best for myself so that i can do what's best for the baby. 

Any health practitioner treating you with any meds needs to know you're pregnant. It's too big of a deal and a liability issue as well.

Sorry about the infection. Hang in there!