Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) Support Group

I'm 30, just had a baby boy in May. My pregancy was smooth till the very end that I developed hypertension. I was induced only a few days earlier than my due date. My baby is very healthy and he's a chubby chub now.
I knew my dad had PKD/PLD but I was too healthy to bother myself with it. I lost my tummy real quick after delivery and I felt a swelling bit on my stomach and waist. It turned out to be my enlarged liver and kidneys. I have no idea how much they have progressed but my pregancy certainly had contributed to their growth.
Having a baby can be exhausting sometime. I was hoping I can relax a bit when my baby gets a bit older, then I found out I have PKD/PLD. :)
My husband and I would really love to have another child. From things I've read about PKD/PLD, the female hormone (estrogen) stimulates cysts growth especially on liver cysts which makes pregancy risky. Not that we can't have a healthy baby, but in long run, it may make the condition progress faster.
I feel blessed with a beautiful baby and wondering if it's really that important to have another one. I want to live a long, healthy life, seeing my baby grow up rather than spending my time on hospital visitings.

my 1st pregnancy went great no problems. my 2nd i was ill all the way through. in hospital a week out a week my bp was so high.in end i was induced a month early because my kidneys werent workin.. my function did return eventually but it caused significant amount of damage. i was told then if i had a 3rd id be on dyalasis within 5 yrs.thats 9 years ago. im now stage 4 and just started to feel yuk the past few months.your doc is right go 4 it now while ya still fit and doing ok . good luck xxxx

i have just added this site as there are so many different answers with this disease i currently have no probles with this but had probs when i was pregnant very high blood pressure and low platelets also had lots of swelling and preoclampsia i had to have my son a month early i was in an out of hospital right the way through, once i had my son i went straight back to good health and we were both fine.
i would love a second now my son is three but worrying whether i would be ok and i find the doctors not very helpful as they dont really say much just that my kidney function is good and my bp is good but when i was pregnant thats when i had problems.
my son is 3 now and he has high bp and is on medication apart from this he leads a very fit and healthy life, im aware that there is a 50 percent chance it could pass onto more children but am just wondering if its also worth risking my own health. hope u can help thanks.

you and your husband have to be the ones to make the decision. we all have different feelings.
you do run the risk of passing PKD onto your baby, you also run the risk of doing some harm to your own kidney health tho the usual recommendation is no more than two children.
I wish you good luck with whatever you decide and want to welcome you to this great support group.

I didn't know I had PKD when I was pregnant, but I did have high blood pressure in the last trimester of my second pregnancy. Everything turned out fine, though. I was told to drink lots of water and eat protein - so I had crawfish the night she was born. We always told her that's why she has red hair - and her favorite birthday dinner is crawfish!

My kids are young ladies now, 23 and 27. We don't know if either one inherited PKD yet. Still, even if I knew I had PKD before they were conceived, I think I still would have had them - it has been such a blessing to my husband and I. And you never know, one day I may need a donor kidney...

thankyou for your replies you have been very helpful, i think i was just nervous having more children if something went wrong, this is a big disease that my whole family has and my aunties all seem to have lots of children and so on. does anyone know anything about the brain anyrsym that can occur from pkd as this is meant to be high risk if its in the family and my uncle and my grandad have both sadly died of this at the ages of 37.

Rachee, my mother had 2 aneurysms, one at age 33 and the last at age 41, but none of her children had them and all were PKD. of course 2 didn't live past 50 but aneurysms had nothing to do with their deaths, nor did PKD directly anyway.
since aneurysms are in your family best to be tested.

thankyou for reply just were it was my uncle and my grandad as such young age 36 its a little worrying, but they didnt know threy had it so they werent kept an eye on, but they know i have it so i can be kept an eye on, i have had a brain scan and it was ok that was bout 3 years ago so imagine they will check it again. just really want 2 children but didnt want to put my body under to much strain as my first pregnancy wasnt very straight forward with pkd and preoclampsia. but to be fair all my aunties and uncles have lots of children and there all still ok.