Pregnant with an AN?

[Kaybo]

where in the South are you from?  I am in Texas?

K   

[designergal]

My husband and I are laughing about the college fund thing...had it somewhat under control with just 2...now with a third child in the mix..... it will be a toss up with which kid gets to go.....LOL!  Hope this one is smart!!...............<grin>  My husband tries to take credit when they say something bright...but I remind him that I was the one that breastfeed! 

[arkansasfarmgirl]

I will say, from my own experience, that I DO believe pregnancy can make these tumors grow faster, and that breastfeeding is even worse.  All about the hormones.  I had my first symptoms during my first pregnancy, they escalated for a few months afterwards and then stabilized for a couple of years.  Then during my 2nd pregnancy the symptoms worsened.  And in the first several weeks post-partum they worsened dramatically.  My daughter was 6 weeks old when I was diagnosed and 13 or 14 weeks when I had surgery.  At diagnosis my tumor was estimated to be 4.5 cm, and by surgery it was "a lot bigger"--they couldn't or wouldn't tell me how big it actually was, but they told me I was lucky to have come through unimpaired and that it was "one for the record books".

The good news is that they can do supportive measures to get you through the pregnancy, if it becomes necessary.  There are so many of us diagnosed post-partum that you'll more than likely make it through just fine though.

Good luck to you and Congratulations on the new baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vonda

[krbonner]

My AN was diagnosed when my 2nd was about 4 months old (I suddenly lost hearing halfway through the pregnancy, but no one would do any tests while I was pregnant).  I know I had the AN during that pregnancy, and am fairly certain it was there for my first as well.  It shouldn't affect the pregnancy, but do be careful about watching for changes in your balance.  That was a big problem for me with #2 (before I knew the cause of the problem).  When I hit the second trimester and starting to get some of the normal pregnancy swelling, my balance was completely shot.  Between the swelling and vestibular changes and the regular pregnancy-induced center of gravity changes, I had to be extra careful to not hurt myself!   

My doctors do believe, though there is not enough of a data pool to scientifically prove it, that the hormones related to pregnancy, breastfeeding, and menopause can cause ANs to grow faster than you'd otherwise expect them to, but won't cause an AN to grow that wasn't already there to begin with.

I had surgery when my second was 18 months, and then went on to have a third child earlier this year.  My MRI this fall was perfectly clean, so that pregnancy didn't do anything AN-related.  Yay!

Congratulations!

Katie