I am bipolar and a mom. I was on birth control so my pregnancy was unplanned (though I was terrified at the time, it turned out to be the best/happiest of accidents). I was on lithium when I conceived, which is a big no-no in pregnancy so I stopped cold turkey as soon as I discovered I was pregnant. My psychiatrist and I decided that there was no way I would make it through my pregnancy completely unmedicated so I replaced my lithium with lamictal. For me the lamictal doesn't work as well as lithium, but it was better than nothing. I took the lamictal throughout my pregnancy. About mid-way through my pregnancy I started getting some pretty serious depressive symptoms. I was extremely reluctant to add in any other medication while I was pregnant, but after much convincing from both my pdoc and my ob/gyn (they insisted that untreated depression could cause more physical problems for my daughter than taking a dose of some ADs) I went on effexor xr for the remainder of my pregnancy.

My daughter was born without any complications (well, the stubborn girl wouldn't turn the right way and I ended up having a c-section but that had nothing to do with any medication I was taking, LOL). She was a very happy, healthy baby...she is now 8½ years old and is a beautiful, happy, healthy, incredibly intelligent little girl.

I guess I just wanted to share my experience. Taking medications during pregnancy can be scary but it is possible. Also, at the very beginning of my pregnancy I had a conversation with my pdoc and my husband and we made a very clear plan on what to do/how I would be treated if I did become so sick that I couldn't make decisions for myself or I became a danger to myself or my unborn baby. There was a plan in place so that we were all on the same page and everyone knew what treatments I would not allow, and what treatments I wouldn't ordinarily agree to but if I became sick enough and it was what was necessary to keep myself and unborn daughter healthy then they should proceed with that plan. Fortunately I never decompensated enough that any of that was necessary, but it was comforting to know that if I became sick my doctor and husband would work together to carry out treatments I had agreed to in advance.

Best of luck to you.