First of all, congratulations! The best of times are ahead of you! You can probably tell by that line that I just became an empty nester, but really, so many fun times ahead, like reliving your childhood but the way you want to! The surgeon told me it might be difficult to get pregnant and it was. My expectations were low, but I also didn't want to have a family if I was going to be sick all the time. Suffered from UC from the age of 18-26, surgeon couldn't believe I walked around as long as I did with a totally dead colon, I donated it to science it was that bad! After surgery, path tests came back that I had Crohns! So 6 years after my take down my husband guessed my "flu" might be because I'm pregnant and I was. I will never forget; I left the dr's office, went home, got on my knees, and prayed to my God that I just wanted to be a healthy mom who could take of her child - He answered my prayer! Although my pouchitis has slowed down over the years after having children - those first 6 years were like I never had surgery and my UC was back. I definitely had challenges along the way, I have 4 fistulas now and my immune system is pretty low, but my kids don't know me as a being a sick mom.
Like you, my doctor sent me to a high risk OB, and I went every two weeks. I suffered from severe pouchitis before my pregnancies, but it slowed down quite a bit while I was pregnant. As a matter of fact, I didn't have any bouts with pouchitis until I was 32 weeks pregnant. 20 years ago a J-Pouch was unheard of (to this day I still end up with doctors who are clueless to this surgery) and the OB's didn't know what to do with treating my pouchitis while pregnant and in retrospect, there was probably nothing they could have given me. But I ended up delivering at 32 weeks. Not sure if the stress from the pouchitis broke my water or we J-Pouchers are a high risk because of our new systems. Only bad call by the OB was he thought I could deliver a breach premie baby naturally -because the baby was so small. NOT a good call. Since my file had a c-section required, as soon as I was admitted they gave me a spinal epidural. I couldn't feel anything, I couldn't feel the contractions, I couldn't push. They took him by forceps, ended up black and blue from head to toe, and a dislocated shoulder and hip. No fun delivering a premie, having to leave them at the hospital, but he grew up to be a great kid. After I stopped nursing at 9-10 months, I ended up getting pregnant again! I delivered at 37 weeks and all was good. My 19 and 20 year old boys are now in college and I have a little more time to pamper myself.
My take away for you, no matter what, premie or not, make sure you have a c-section! I felt great through both my pregnancies, no pain or discomfort in my abdomen or at j-pouch. I got lots of rest, ate good, took a walk every day, and took prenatal vitamins.
Good luck and DON'T WORRY! Say a prayer, take a deep breath, enjoy your pregnancy, and take one day at a time.