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CAH and Pregnancy: A Short Story with a Happy Ending.

by Erin Anthony

Marsha Finnegan will be the first to tell you she “has a good life.” At 51, she has a beautiful daughter, Bailey, 13, and a wonderful husband, Tim. CAH has never been something that stopped Marsha from doing anything, especially having a child, so she assures me this will be a quick conversation.

1.) Was having a family something you thought about growing up?

No, I actually didn’t want a family when I was younger.  I remember going to my doctor as a teenager and saying that I did not want children and wanted to have my tubes tied.  My doctor, of course, wouldn’t agree and told me “you’ll regret it later.”  Fortunately, I listened to her advice.

I didn’t start thinking about having children until much later.   Tim and I didn’t start dating until I was 28 and we dated for several years before we decided we wanted to get married and have a family.  By the time we started trying I was in my late 30s and I didn’t get pregnant until I was 38.

2.) Did you have any concerns or worries about getting pregnant  or having a child with CAH? 

Honestly, we didn’t think much of it.  We went to find out our chances of having a child with CAH.  We knew we might have some problems so we did see a fertility specialist, eventually changing from one that we didn’t like to another who was successful pretty quickly.  We tried a few different things at first, starting with taking basal temperatures every day to see if I was ovulating. Eventually, I took pills (clomiphene citrate) every day to ovulate. 

3.) What were your concerns once you found out you were pregnant?

Because of my age we were concerned about having a child with Down Syndrome so we did the test for that and even visited with a family who had a child with Down Syndrome.  Other than that we weren’t too worried. We tested for CAH, too, just because we wanted to know.

4.) Did you consider prenatal Dexamethasone treatment? Were you concerned you might have a child with CAH?

No, we didn’t think about using prenatal dex.  I have CAH and I’m ok.  If my daughter did, with all that entails, that’s ok too.  It was something we were comfortable dealing with.  I think, if people want it (prenatal therapy), and it can be done, great. But, the world shouldn’t stop, life shouldn’t stop.

5.)How was your pregnancy? How did you feel? Did you undergo any special treatment?

We increased my dosage of medicine for my pregnancy and I did experience gestational diabetes.  So, I did have to stop drinking my Pepsi, watching other stuff, and doing the blood test thing every day.  Other than that I was totally fine.  I didn’t see my ob-gyn more than other women and was able to work up until two weeks before I delivered. I did see my endocrinologist every trimester in order to adjust my medications.  All in all, it was a normal, uneventful pregnancy.

6.) What was your delivery like?

I knew from the beginning that I would have to have a C-section because my pelvis was small.

How did you feel about that?

I was thrilled.  I really didn’t have the desire to go through a “regular” labor. I healed up very nicely and it wasn’t a big deal.

7.) Did you ever consider having more children?

We tried two more times with artificial insemination, but the clock was working against us.  If I was younger we would have probably tried harder but we were more than happy having one healthy child.

8.) Any final comments?

 I have a really good life.  I have a beautiful, healthy 13-year-old daughter and a great partner. I want other women to know that this is possible.

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