We have four children, two with CAH. It really hasn’t been that much of a burden. We’ve only had one instance when both were having an adrenal crisis at the same time, and we worked things out. Of course no family could really be called typical, since there are so many other variables involved, so we may or may not be a valid example of what life with 2 CAH children would be like. I do know that God never gives you anything He doesn’t know you won’t be able to handle. Problems are just opportunities that aren’t that apparent at first.

Our second son was the first with CAH. Linda took dex with the next child until the amnio showed he didn’t have CAH, so she slowly got off of it. She took it again with the fourth child, a girl, who has CAH, and there weren’t that many side effects. Since taking it is temporary, the weight gain, if any would also be temporary. The medical page on this site has tons of links to information about dexamethazone. Have you checked those out?

Even though there’s only a 1 in 8 chance the baby will need the dex, the problems if she or he does, and you don’t take it, are too serious for you not to. If he or she turns out ot not have CAH, you can get off of it quick enough, and I haven’t heard of it having any negative affect on non-CAH pregnancies.