Monday, March 7, 2011

Lyme Disease and Pregnancy


This is such a controversial topic. Everyone has their own opinions and there are many different ones. It's the hardest one for me when dealing with Lyme since I don't feel my family is complete just yet. I would like to have one more baby to add to the family, just one more, that isn't too much to ask for is it? Well with lyme, it could be. I have had 10 months of treatment now and I don't see an end in sight which is incredibly frustrating. Looking back I think I unknowingly had Lyme for 9 years and unknowingly passed it along to my 4 yr old daughter during pregnancy. No one will touch her as far as treating her in our area because she is such a complicated case. She was also born with MCAD a metabolic disorder that complicates things to say the least. Although MCAD has nothing to do with Lyme it can effect how she handles treatment. So we are flying out to CT in a couple weeks to see the top Peds Lyme doc there is. Anyways, I mention all of this because this is also an added thought when we consider adding to the family. Our next child would have the same odds as my daughter for MCAD, a one in four chance. So we would be risking the MCAD on top of the Lyme. I feel we have a handle on the MCAD part of it and we know how to take care of a child with it, Lyme on the other hand scares me to death. Do I want to risk having an incredibly tough pregnancy, delivery and postpartum and risk passing it onto my child? Some say as long as you take meds during pregnancy you won't pass it to the baby, some say you won't pass the lyme but could still pass the co-infections, some say it's totally selfish and they would never ever risk it, some say it's worth the risk and you never know what you could be passing along to your baby anyways...Where do I fall in all of this? I don't know. I feel stuck in the middle of it all and worry about every possibility. I could have a totally healthy pregnancy and baby but I could also have a really hard pregnancy and could pass it along to an innocent baby. With my daughter I had a really healthy pregnancy other than puking my guts out for the first 4 months. The delivery went great and she was healthy and pink when born. We found out at 3 days old she had MCAD and have had our fair share of hospital stays but other than that she has been a healthy kid. I pretty much had her tested for lyme as a precautionary because I figured I had it longer than I first thought. Sure enough, she has lyme. She went 4 years with out us knowing she has Lyme Disease. I could have another experience like that and could have a healthy kid and not know until down the line that under the surface there is a disease attacking the child's body like my daughter. Some one got through to me last week and I felt better about possibly having an only child, but it's sure not easy to except when you aren't really the one deciding, it's your health getting in the way of it. Way, way too much to think about when considering adding to your family. My brain is telling me one thing and my heart another. I am lost in it all!!

4 comments:

  1. Julie- You basically took the thoughts right out of my head. I so want one more baby. But I don't know where I stand on the issue either. I still have to get my 7 and 4 year old tested. If I can't almost guarentee I wouldn't pass it on, then I probably would not have another one. I guess there is always adoption. It just breaks my heart. I wasn't ready to be done. I just have to remember this is God's plan and not mine. I so know how feel. Keep you chin up. We will get through this some how.

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  2. Julie, I know just how you feel! When I first got sick, I actually thought I was pregnant and was so excited. I really wanted one more child.

    Things turned out my differently than I expected since the "baby" ended up being Lyme. But I struggle with the feeling that someone is missing and I hate Lyme for taking that away from me. My two children both show signs of Lyme (if only I had known when I was pregnant...).

    I couldn't live with myself if I passed this on to a child knowingly, so for now, for me, having another child is not happening unless someone can guarantee that I won't pass it on.

    I agree wholeheartedly with what you said, "My brain is telling me one thing and my heart another." Sigh!

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  3. Hi Julie. I was recently diagnosed with Lyme and have a 1 year old daughter. I'm pretty sure I got Lyme 5 years ago. I'm contemplating getting my daughter tested, but there's so much conflicting information out there. My ped & LLMD said not to test unless there are symptoms, but nearly everyone else says to just get the test. I'm curious to hear how your appt with the kids LLMD goes and how you decided to test your little one.

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  4. Hello, I had lyme disease when I was a child. I am now 30 years old and having problems. I personally think it is related to lyme disease. I am having numbness in my rt hand, that mocks carpal tunnel(which I was tested for and it was neg), so I then had an MRI of my brain that has shown nodules in my frontal lobe. I go to a neurologist next week to find out what it is all about. I am trying to get pregnant and went off my birth control over a year ago and have not had a menstraul cycle. Have you heard of or experienced anything like this in your syndromes? I was treated back then, but not sure if they got it in time.

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