New baby. What works?

Hi everyone I have a newborn baby and am dealing with a flare up. Im wondering what tricks people may use to survive motherhood with this disorder? A little background on me is im 23 year old female. Have had UC for 4 years now and mostly get constipation/blood/mucus throughout the week and 1-2 days per week have painful BM all morning (sorry tmi!!) I had a VERY bad flareup when pregnant which my doctor said is uncommon (since usually gets better) and tried suppositories/enemas/oral medications. It cooled down a little after my son was born but now back to where we were. Its so hard spending most of my morning on the toilet (on my "emptying" days) when the baby is crying. I even set up one of his bouncer seats in the bathroom (seems so gross to me!). Any tricks from moms? Any diets that help control symptoms? Any advice is helpful! Thanks

I flared terribly after my first son was born. I got my first symptoms during his pregnancy and was undiagnosed until 4 weeks post partum. My biggest piece of advice is to jump all over the flare now.

What meds are you on? 99% of UC drugs you can breastfeed on if thats something you are worried about. You need to make sure you are on max dose of 5-asa if you are on them. Enemas and suppositories help a great deal. Eat foods that are easy on your gut.

Your hormones are all over the place right now and that can play a big role in things. Can you add a signature so we know where you are with meds, etc? Helps people give better advice.

Nothing is the norm with UC. So sorry u dealing with this!

I find it concerning that your GI told you to ween off your maintenance meds when you felt better...you felt better because of the meds. I'm currently pregnant and even my GP (on early prenatal appointments) made it very clear to me there's no reason to come off my ibd meds, 5asa's are safe for baby and much safer than a flare. When I saw my GI to tell him I was pregnant he stressed to not come off my meds and to increase to daily max if things got any worse, he said no waiting, up those meds (both ends) and take control of the flare before it gets worse. He also warned me that a flare after birth is possible, and to again, stay on all meds and call him if daily max isn't improving symptoms because a short dose of pred is safer than flaring, even when breastfeeding. It's strange that your GI would give you opposite information to mine, and common opinion/experience on this forum.

I don't get D with a flare. I get constipated. For me I assume its the inflammation making it harder to go. You may need a quick course of pred to bridge you until the apriso kicks back in. Both meds are ok during breastfeeding. I had to take pred while breastfeeding and I stayed on my Lialda. Plus I am on Remicade.

How long did you try the cort enemas for and were you able to retain them? It may take a couple weeks of them. Did you get a flex sig to see where and how bad the inflammation is?