Trying to get pregnant

I need some much needed advice from my BP family here.
My husband and I are trying to get pregnant. I know that once I do, there will be some major med changes. Has anyone here been stable and then gotten pregnant and had to go through the med changes? What is it like? How are your moods when you are pregnant? Is it worth it in the long run? Should I even try to get pregnant?
I just don't know if I should even try if it's too risky.

You need to let your pdoc know NOW that you are trying to get pregnant. He may need to change up some meds that could be a problem in early pregnancy.

Only you can know if you are ready for parenthood. My husband and I had 3 children (long before we were diagnosed as bipolar). Wouldn't trade my children for the world. It is a challenge to have mental illness and be a good parent, but it certainly can be done.

I was not diagnosed bp until many tears after my kids were born but I know there were signs that nobody picked up on.

I was more emotionally triggered- little things seemed like big things. I'd get mad at or cry at people who were being difficult.

I got put on zoloft all 3 times. I had some psychosis after 2 & 3. Still no diagnosis. Nursed all 3 on zoft.

Have you asked your ob? I don't know what I would do now as I'm BP1 and I know what I'm like off meds. Being stable is best fir you and the baby. If you can make it past the 1st trimester then start meds again? I dunno. I wouldn't chance it but I had my tubes tied 2 years ago because I didn't want to chance pregnancy.

Definitely talk to pdoc now, as some stuff may stay in the system for a while that could potentially be a problem in the first trimester.

I have a 4 month old, and I found pregnancy to be a pretty stable time, no mania but definitely some depression, nothing abysmal. its now that I;m having some problems with rapid cycling mania. i went off before I found out I was pregnant, unrelated to wanting to be pregnant, just being bipolar and hating meds. I'm trying to work w pdoc to find something I can take while breastfeeding.

depending on the day i go back and forth thinking im selfish for having a child and being bipolar. Actually, my 6 yr old lives with his dad, and I only get to see him once a week. he lives with his dad because I went through a rough time starting when he was 2. I was going in and out of the hospital. It hurts to talk about my oldest and his dad is pretty adamant about keeping me out of the picture as much as possible.

im married now and i dont think the same thing will happen with my youngest but i worry i may get bad again. But in general, my life is better, I'm in a healthy relationship, lots of stability, good care providers.

I have a 2 almost 3 year old. I took seroquel throughout my pregnancy and was pretty manic the entire time. The mania didn't stop until I lost my job when she was 6 months old and then I went into a depression for a couple of months. I stabilized until May of this year and then I had a horrible Manic episode with psychosis and have been unstable since then.

I would do it all again to have my baby. I went through hell to get her into this world and I adore her. The sad thing is my husband and I think that she has childhood onset bipolar. She is already showing signs and I have spoken to my pyschitrist about her and he wants to see her. I hope that we are wrong and she is just throwing horrible tantrums that last for hours, but there are too many other things we can't over look.

I've talked to my pdoc about when I'm ready to have children and he said that he will taper my medications to the lowest possible dosage and take me off some completely (xanax) but he said he's had plenty of moms deliver healthy happy babies with few problems. So I'd suggest work closely with your pdoc and see if he/she can do anything to help.

I definitely know for me that i just have to have children, it's not even a question. I know when i decide i want to, i will definitely be talking to my doctor.I would like to be on the very lowest possible dose, or tappered off especially in the first trimester. If i find that things are not so bad i will stay off for the whole pregnancy and afterward so i can breast feed. If the symptoms are unbearable i will just formula feed, lost of mothers do and it's not harmful to them really. Sometimes medications can also be switched for when you are planning to become pregnant. Either way talk to your doctor and i wish you luck!

OK, I will let my pdoc know.
We know we want a baby, just want to be sure to be safe about it with the Bipolar.
Thanks!

No, I haven't talked to our OB yet, but I suppose I better.

I didn't think about meds staying in my system for a while. That is a good thing to think about.
Sorry to hear about your son.

I worry about that too. I worry about bringing a baby into the world and having him or her go through what I go through. At the same time, I really want a baby. IDK....I think I need to talk to my husband some more.

I looked it up and there is a 15-30% chance that any child I have has a chance of having Bipolar too. That kind of worries me, but my husband isn't worried at all. I guess the odds aren't that bad.

I talked to the Pdoc today and he was shocked that I wanted to get pregnant because I JUST got stable. But, he has asked me to wait a few months to try to get off some of the meds I am on that can cause some birth defects. I am willing to wait because I don't want to risk my baby having defects.
So the first step is to try to get off the Depakote. I am going down to 500mg from 1000mg.
Wish me luck

Good luck...keep us posted