The sole intent of this blog is to provide medical information regarding fertility dealing with Cystic Fibrosis patients, based on my experiences living with CF. This blog is for those who want medical information about fertility and Cystic Fibrosis. Parents please know the maturity level of your children and pass judgment whether the content is suitable or not. If not, I advise they do not read this particular blog.
♥Please remember all Cystic's are different I can merely write from research, and experiences in hopes to help others.
Most people want to have children at some point in thier lives. Most little girls come up with an idea of what they want to name their children by the time they are in third grade.
☆For me it was, Jordin Desiree and Dominick Weylin. I fell in love with the name my sister picked out for her baby girl and did not end up naming her daughter Jordan. Desiree is the middle name of Lucille Ball, who has been my idol for as long as I can recall. Dominick is after my daddy and my grandfather and Weylin is actually for Waylon Jennings. I wanted to change the spellings and make it more me, "unique".
When I was 18 I was finally an "adult", far from it, but that's when I began thinking about a family someday. I went to my CF doctors as a regular check up and decided to ask about the possibilities of getting pregnant and what it would mean medically. She told me that the woman that just walked by my door at the clinic was a CFer and she had 3 healthy kids. She then followed it up with recommending that I shouldn't have kids because of the health burden it would be for me and a baby.
When I got married in 2010 we decided we wanted to have a baby and that it was that time for "us" in our lives to make a family. We tried for a little over a year. Did everything they said we should do foods, certain days, vitamins, positions, and it just didn't happen. Finally, I got fed up and went to the Navy doc and asked them flat out, "Can I or can I not conceive a child?" Tests were ran and I was devastated to learn that I was unable to become pregnant naturally.
◆I can in a sense look at this a blessing in disguise because we are now divorced. I always look at the brighter side of things as the glass is always half full to me.
In Cystic Fibrosis patients some of us are indeed infertile and sterile. Roughly 95%-98% of men with CF are unable to have a baby naturally. This is caused by the vessel that travels sperm through to your penis. This vessel called the "Vas Deferens" does not fully developed in Cystic men. I am not sure why this happens, all I know is that it does. Men can enjoy a normal sex life, of course, based on health, as these don't phase sexual things in any way. (Miracles happen every day so this is not always the case)
◆Men that have the 38910kb C-T mutation you are the 2-3% of men that are indeed fertile and are fully capable of having babies. Just be careful and make sure you know everything about, Gene Mutations, where it ALL begins.
Now, for ladies it is kind of tricky. Most females with CF go through puberty a little differently and later in life than their female friends, especially when the CFer does not weigh very much and are on a lot of medications.
◆DO NOT let this bother you if you are one of the "lucky" CFers like myself who are unable to have a baby naturally. We do have several options of still being able to become mommy's and daddy's.
I know, since Tyson and I have gotten engaged, we have discussed several different options. There is In-vitro fertilization, which is when they take my eggs and his sperm to create a baby in a lab. Once they are fertilized, they then implanted my eggs back into my uterus and hope they take and make a baby. We can take my eggs and his sperm and have a surrogate mother. Meaning the baby would be our biological child, however, another woman be giving birth to them.
The part that kills me is I know we would be such amazing, loving, and caring parents. Our babies would be beautiful and so smart. Smart, because of Tyson of course, not me. I would love to see him scare the hell out of the boys trying to date his baby girl or teach his son how to work on cars and motorcycles or how to fix anything. This isn't just a burden for me, however a burden for him as well. I am not healthy enough to give the love of my life a baby. That hurts and it hurts really bad. Seeing my friends with their babies and families makes me cry sometimes. I am happy for them, especially because I know how crazy and wild they all used to be and now they are amazing mommy's with such awesome little kids, but it still stings.
☆There are several other options for CFers to have children, I have just not listed them. This blog is already longer than I wanted it to be. I may touch base with all of the other ways at a later date.
Wishing for that day I can say "Yes, I am pregnant",
Sandi
For more tips, information, and my adventures with CF, please like me on Facebook!
When I was 18 I was finally an "adult", far from it, but that's when I began thinking about a family someday. I went to my CF doctors as a regular check up and decided to ask about the possibilities of getting pregnant and what it would mean medically. She told me that the woman that just walked by my door at the clinic was a CFer and she had 3 healthy kids. She then followed it up with recommending that I shouldn't have kids because of the health burden it would be for me and a baby.
When I got married in 2010 we decided we wanted to have a baby and that it was that time for "us" in our lives to make a family. We tried for a little over a year. Did everything they said we should do foods, certain days, vitamins, positions, and it just didn't happen. Finally, I got fed up and went to the Navy doc and asked them flat out, "Can I or can I not conceive a child?" Tests were ran and I was devastated to learn that I was unable to become pregnant naturally.
◆I can in a sense look at this a blessing in disguise because we are now divorced. I always look at the brighter side of things as the glass is always half full to me.
In Cystic Fibrosis patients some of us are indeed infertile and sterile. Roughly 95%-98% of men with CF are unable to have a baby naturally. This is caused by the vessel that travels sperm through to your penis. This vessel called the "Vas Deferens" does not fully developed in Cystic men. I am not sure why this happens, all I know is that it does. Men can enjoy a normal sex life, of course, based on health, as these don't phase sexual things in any way. (Miracles happen every day so this is not always the case)
◆Men that have the 38910kb C-T mutation you are the 2-3% of men that are indeed fertile and are fully capable of having babies. Just be careful and make sure you know everything about, Gene Mutations, where it ALL begins.
Now, for ladies it is kind of tricky. Most females with CF go through puberty a little differently and later in life than their female friends, especially when the CFer does not weigh very much and are on a lot of medications.
◆Becoming pregnant for women can be determined by weight, overall health, and regulation of CFRD (Cystic Fibrosis Related diabetes).
We all know that mucus is our enemy when it comes to everything in our bodies, including our cervix. The extra mucus that we have in our cervix acts as a brick wall for sperm to even find an egg to fertilize. While 20% of CF females produce an extra amount of mucus on top of the "normal" amount for a Cystic making it almost impossible to conceive naturally.
We all know that mucus is our enemy when it comes to everything in our bodies, including our cervix. The extra mucus that we have in our cervix acts as a brick wall for sperm to even find an egg to fertilize. While 20% of CF females produce an extra amount of mucus on top of the "normal" amount for a Cystic making it almost impossible to conceive naturally.
That is the case for me. I have the Great Wall of China basically blocking my cervix. Along with a tilted cervix, which really makes it difficult for a normal "healthy" woman to become pregnant, making my body Fort Knox.
◆DO NOT let this bother you if you are one of the "lucky" CFers like myself who are unable to have a baby naturally. We do have several options of still being able to become mommy's and daddy's.
I know, since Tyson and I have gotten engaged, we have discussed several different options. There is In-vitro fertilization, which is when they take my eggs and his sperm to create a baby in a lab. Once they are fertilized, they then implanted my eggs back into my uterus and hope they take and make a baby. We can take my eggs and his sperm and have a surrogate mother. Meaning the baby would be our biological child, however, another woman be giving birth to them.
☆I am up in the air with this idea only because, I want to feel my baby moving in my belly, I want to take photos of a baby bump as it grows, I want Tyson by my side and him being the first one to hold our baby.
The part that kills me is I know we would be such amazing, loving, and caring parents. Our babies would be beautiful and so smart. Smart, because of Tyson of course, not me. I would love to see him scare the hell out of the boys trying to date his baby girl or teach his son how to work on cars and motorcycles or how to fix anything. This isn't just a burden for me, however a burden for him as well. I am not healthy enough to give the love of my life a baby. That hurts and it hurts really bad. Seeing my friends with their babies and families makes me cry sometimes. I am happy for them, especially because I know how crazy and wild they all used to be and now they are amazing mommy's with such awesome little kids, but it still stings.
☆There are several other options for CFers to have children, I have just not listed them. This blog is already longer than I wanted it to be. I may touch base with all of the other ways at a later date.
Wishing for that day I can say "Yes, I am pregnant",
Sandi
For more tips, information, and my adventures with CF, please like me on Facebook!
