I had both my kids before my official diagnosis, so I don't know if it made things worse. I do know that I'm really glad that my sons are both adults and can look after themselves (they were 13 and 15 when I was diagnosed). They've been making their own lunches and doing their own laundry from 13 on - not because of the MS but because they needed to learn how to do it.

I know that even with RRMS I have days where I just don't have any energy and I don't function well. If I had a baby or a toddler right now I would have to rely on my husband to handle everything - and I know for a fact that he couldn't do it.

I guess if your boyfriend is already questioning whether or not the two of you can handle the stress - then you need to really look at your relationship and whether he is willing and capable of taking over all child care if the pregnancy and birth does make your MS unmanageable. Kids are a lot of work - but I wouldn't trade being a Mom for anything.

I worked with a young lady (mid 20's) who got married and pregnant shortly after being diagnosed with PPMS. She wanted so badly to have a child and she thought if she hurried things along then she would still have the time to do things with her baby/toddler before the disease progressed too far. Unfortunately, with other complications, she ended up in a wheelchair before the baby was born and lost a lot of her motor functions. She and her husband divorced within a few years and the child lives with her ex and his new wife. I'm not trying to make you think it's impossible but you do need to really work through all of the pros and cons and discuss everything with your doctor and your boyfriend and any family support you hope to have.

It's a huge decision and the most impacted one of all of you will be the child. On the flipside, there are a lot of older children out there who need loving parents - have you considered adoption?

Good luck, take care.

I waited a long time (10 yrs of diagnosis and marriage marriage) to get pregnant specifically because I was afraid of what my very mild, very quiet MS would do. I was so afraid to wake it up. There is also a very large genetic predisposition towards ms in my family, so having a child that may develop it was another thing to consider. After waiting years for an adoption that may never happen, we decided to go for it. By this time, I was of advanced maternal age (38-39) and yes, it was harder. It took 1.5 years. I miscarried and then it took another 4 months to get pregnant again. If I had to do it again, I would have gotten a fertility monitor right from the start. Once I started using it, I got pregnant quickly (the second time).

Since giving birth, I've had 2 exacerbations in 2.5 years. If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing. I was a very type A personality, and still have some of those characteristics, but having my daughter has really mellowed me. I think part of it is because I waited until I was older to have her and part is because she brings me such joy. I take more time now to stop and appreciate things and she has increased my patience immensely. Is it stressful? For me, I don't think so. Life is inherently stressful, it's how you react to everything that determines if that stress is bad for you. I breastfed for 18 months and to tell you the truth, once you've gotten past the first couple of months, which are the worst, sleep-wise, it's actually pretty easy to BF and I felt like I got more sleep (we also co-slept). I did things like nap when she napped (heck, sometimes I still do!) & I didn't work which cut down the stress immensely.

It sounds like you really want to have kids. If you let MS take that away, you will always think about what you missed out on. I grew up with a mom with MS. To be honest, I didn't even really know it. It wasn't until she was much older that it really became a problem. I feel like I still have mild MS and my MRIs bear that out. Having a child didn't change much for me MS-wise. I do everything I can to keep myself healthy and strong and so far I've been lucky. If something happens, we'll figure it out as a family.

I had kids before diagnosis. I also was really fatigued at times. I was diagnosed and still did my kids. i know other moms that do. the infant stage is the hardest if you have muscle weakness and fatigue that makes it hard to wake up. Some helps when feeding is a pillow propped under your arm to support both baby and mom.

preschool age is also hard to keep up with when physical limitations present themselves. there are always work arounds.

I love my kids and I did just as well if not better in some cases as other parents.

What you should know is with or without MS it takes more than parents to raise children. If you both choose to have children, then develop a good support net work. Also talk with both sets of Grand parents. MY husbands family has been very helpful with the raising of my children and so has my church family. I do what I can for both and they do what they can for me.

I was officially diagnosed in spring/summer 2007 and started Copaxone. We had planned to TTC in spring 2008 and after consulting with my MS specialist and OB/GYN, we decided to go ahead as planned. The timing made sense in terms of grad school/career and since I was 31 and DH was 39 and we didn't know if it would take a while to get pregnant, we wanted to go ahead and try.

I was worried about being off the drug to TTC but fortunately got pregnant the second month trying. I actually loved the reprieve from shots during pregnancy. During pregnancy, I had a lot of limitations but no complications. I think the fact it was a twin pregnancy had more to do with that than the MS. The first year was TOUGH. I did go to formula-feeding after the first month so DH could help more with the feedings and so I could go back on the Copaxone. (I later switched to Betaseron and now Tecfidera.) There have been times when it's been hard for me to keep up with two little boys but it's hard to know whether the fatigue is MS-related or parenting-related. Overall I have no regrets and I can understand feeling like MS is winning if you have to give up such a major dream. I'd definitely talk it through with your dr and partner. I think you can weigh MS in the decision but I don't think you have to rule it out just because of the MS. Best of luck to you!