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Am I definitely going to pass lyme to baby?

Hey I wondered if anyone can help!
I am very negative at the moment ! I'm 35 weeks pregnant .. Caught lyme in first trimester and only got diagnosed a month ago and have been on amoxicillin now since diagnosed and will be until the birth of baby.
I am aware that I fall into all 'unfavourable ' outcomes in regards to pregnancy outcome but I feel I need some kind of hope to hold on to ! I know what the odds are and the case studies etc.. And I have prepared myself for a congenital lyme baby but am I completely doomed? As in am I definitely going to have a really bad outcome like a still birth or neonatal death ... If baby has lyme I feel strong enough to cope and deal with this but I ant cope with loosing my baby..... Has anyone got any words of hope for me ?
All studies note bad outcome from first trimester infection which is when I caught it .... But I really need some ray of light or hope to hold onto I'm really struggling
Thank you
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Avatar universal
How is your son doing now?  And how are YOU?
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Avatar universal
Welcome, and congratulations on your new one's arrival!

You could call your OB's office and ask whose responsibility it is to collect and send out the cord blood, whether the hospital staff or whoever, and see what they say, and then follow up with that person/department.  Could it have been submitted under a different name (if you and your baby don't have the same last name, for example)?

Others here can give you more ideas about what to do now about testing your baby and so on --

Congratulations again!  Babies are wonderful news always.  :)
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Avatar universal
Hi my name is Barbara. i had my baby on Dec.15 of 2012. The cord blood was taken to check for Lyme. I was waiting for the blood test results for one month. Finally, I had enough and I called the office for the fifth time about those results. They said that they called the Lab and the order was placed but specimen never received. I can't understand how this was missed. What happened to the cord blood? I am very disappointed. I don't know what to think anymore!. I was on Amoxy during the pregnancy but still worry about these results. Any comment on that? Is there anybody who received treatment for Lyme and gave Lyme to the baby?

Thank you,

Barb.
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Avatar universal
Congratulations!
That is wonderful news adn I hope the test of the cord blood will turn out to be good news too!
Lots of love to you and your son!
xxx
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1763947 tn?1334055319
Congrats to you!  
Prayers and blessing to all of you.
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Avatar universal
Congratulations to you and your entire family!  

What wonderful news -- fingers crossed here and sending you all good wishes.  Keep us posted on those test results --

Blessings for your little one -- !
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Avatar universal
Hi everyone just to let you know I delivered a beautiful baby boy in the early hours of Saturday morning weighing a very hefty 9 pounds 2 . So far he seems a picture of health and I plan on enjoying him and trying to chill until cord and placenta results are in. Thanks again for all your help during a very difficult time as you all know half of my battle was gettin him here as I was obsessed that he was not going to make it .
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Avatar universal
Excellent!  We look forward to your good news!
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Avatar universal
Thanks for your encouraging words!

I think it's time I lay the Internet to rest until after baby arrives! I just want to say a big thank you to all ... I mean that sincerely..... Without you all I don't think I would have any hope whatso ever and I will always always remember the help you have offered here!

I promise to inform all of baby's arrival and hopefully a picture too.... Due date is November 24th but I get induction date next mon which will prob be 39 weeks.

Thanks again to u all ... I hope to speak to u all soon with some good news xxxx
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Avatar universal
There was a paper published earlier this year where they proved a case of Babesia transmission through the placenta from mother to child.  Gary Wormser is the last name on the list of authors. Don't know how he got on it. He's the head of the IDSA Lyme Committee.)  It happened 10 YEARS ago, and they just published it. (Would have been nice if they'd been warning people and their doctors for the last 10 years instead of sitting on the news!)

It doesn't automatically transfer. If it did, there would be many stories about it.

My mother was pregnant with my sister when she was in nursing school and took a class on congenital birth defects. She learned about the most common horror stories of things that go wrong .  Of course this made her a basket case about her own baby.

My sister was born completely healthy and normal.  By the time she got to me 4 years later, she wasn't panicky anymore. She was even exposed to Rubella, and her OB offered her an abortion so she could avoid a deformed child.  Thankfully, my mom refused.  (I was born big and healthy, too.)  So even though there was an actual chance of problems, she concluded the risk was low and it wasn't worth worrying about.  

Anyway, I tell you this to encourage you to stop reading the scary stories!  There are scary stories about everything in life.  I think the hormones make a woman more emotional as well as protective of her baby. All normal.

I suspect you're in the "nesting" stage shortly before delivery. Focus on that instead.  Keep yourself busy and you'll have your baby in no time.  :)
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Avatar universal
That is a sad story -- perhaps you've collected enough data now to have a game plan for yourself and your baby, and it's time to give it a rest.  There are always awful stories out there to scare me enough to not want to get out of bed in the morning.  For a long time after 9/11, I would turn on the news before even getting out of bed in the morning, just in case something terrible had happened again.  After a while, I calmed down and didn't feel the need to do that anymore.  Maybe you're at the point where continuing to read sad stories isn't educating you, it's instead scaring you without producing any positive result or action.  It's time to think positive thoughts ... your baby is getting a dose of stress hormones from you every time you react to those awful tales.  So I'd give it a rest, and coast into delivery from here.  You've done your research, made a game plan, and now it's time to focus on good thoughts for the future.  You can do it.
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Avatar universal
Just read a story on 'roadback ' forum about a woman in USA delivered a baby who does 5 hours after birth and had many problems due to a first trimester infection .. :( she had te baby tested and it had spirochetes in its tissues .

Err I can't stand this!
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Avatar universal
Thank you . Apparently babesia is transferred too :( I have a feeling I have lyme bartonella and babesia which makes matters worse !  I don't care about me I just care for the baby! As if lyme wasn't enough. Do the others cross as easily / as much as lyme? More to think about.

The German lab are very helpful.. Are there testing accurate? X
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Avatar universal
HI,
As far as testing goes, you basically need to test for infections that can be passed through the plaecnta. As far as I know, this is lyme and bartonella  but I am pretty sure nothing else.
Email Infectolab and ask them, I am sure they will know. They don't like making people pay for tests they don't need, they have always tried to be as helpful as possibl to me.
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Avatar universal
You say, "I need to be strong!" You ARE strong already!  It takes strength and courage to contemplate what could be problems and to make a plan to prepare for and deal with adverse circumstances.  That means you are a good mother already.

You and your partner be sure to take good care of each other -- it sounds like you are already.

Take care -- we are all thinking of you and your growing family --
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Avatar universal
Thanks a lot for your help! All of you I appreciate every comment!

That's Rico I will test for those two then definitely! Thank you.... I did think bartonella could be a possibility but I don't know why I say that.

I have has lyme 5months before I started taking the amoxicillin..  So hopefully I won't have too mug of a battle ... Maybe ... Although I don't want to be told by any doc it will be cured in three months if realistically it won't! I was wondering how long treatment would last for the baby if e did have it ? How would anyone know when he is symptom free ? Hmmm I don't know !!

I am due November 24th but am going to be induced at 39 weeks ! I can't wait to have him here in my arms so that I can stop worrying about all the worse stories ive read and focus on test results and then treatment or not ! Grr! I'm just so scared about it all .. I read a comment today that read 'all the deformed, disabled or dead babies come from women who caught lyme early and didnt treat it right' ..... A part of my heart sank .. I shouldn't read them but there are a few who believe that my scenario brings the worst outcomes and I can't get that out of my head :( but I need to be strong!

X
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Avatar universal
A good LLMD is definitely the right person to give you the best recommendations.

But, if you can't get to one in time, then here are my thoughts as a patient.

Ehrlichia/Anaplasma are unlikely. I don't even think they are in humans in England. I wouldn't pay for testing for them.

Bartonella is a possibility and can be transferred to your baby. It is a bacterial neurological infection. The preferred meds to treat it are different than for Lyme, but there are several drugs that do treat both. Doxy is one of them in the early stages.  I would get tested for it.  The test refers to b.henselae, the name of the bacteria.

Babesia is another possibility. It is also transmitable from mother to child in the womb. It is a parasite that is a relative of malaria, and is treated with specific antiparasitic meds. Sometimes symptoms show up after a patient is well into Lyme treatment. I would get tested for it.

Both Bart and Babs can be false negative in blood tests. A negative is very encouraging. A positive is definitive and indicates treatment.

I don't want to add any more fear to your already worried psyche, but if you and/or your baby test negative for these diseases, just write the names of these two diseases down and put it away somewhere. If you or your baby get inexplicably sick with fevers and other unexplained symptoms in the months after birth, insist on evaluation and testing for both Bart and Babs before being dismissed as having a virus.  If you turn up with either one, then take your baby to the LLMD for evaluation as well.

You really didn't have Lyme that long, so you have reason to be optimistic!  

When is your due date? It sounds like you are a good planner and you're just about ready. :). I hope your labor is short and simple!
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Avatar universal
That's the problem with not using a doctor -- if you miss taking a test for something, then you don't get diagnosed.  And if you aren't diagnosed, you don't get treated.  And you are still sick, and a lot of time and money gone.

For the sake of argument, let's say there are four possible infections overall:  Lyme, bartonella, babesiosis, and ehrlichiosis (tho there may be others less common).

The symptoms overlap if you have more than one infection (which happens at least half the time), and streaks vs spots vs bumps, and muscle aches and pains vs joint pain -- it is all difficult to work out, even for the docs -- but based on their training and experience, they know which tests to order.

Without that training and experience, it is all just a big guessing game, and as you note, it gets very expensive very fast.  

Then there is treatment.  There are often different meds for these different diseases, and the order in which they are best treated is something a doc knows.

I know how expensive the tests are -- and that's why a knowledgeable doc is needed, both to keep the costs down, to shorten the time to diagnosis, to have a proper diagnosis, and to treat appropriately.

Lyme and the other tick ailments are not simple like a sore throat -- the causes are many, and the treatments various and interlocking.  That's why you need to see a Lyme specialist.  

That may sound like I am not helping you, but truly, that is the best advice, rather than 'order all the tests' or 'gee, it sounds like X disease, even tho I'm not a doc and have never met you but did see the cell photos you posted on the internet.'  Lyme testing is an art, not like a +/- pregnancy test off the shelf.

We're just patients like you, not medically trained.  We can explain our experiences in navigating the mess the medical profession has made of tickborne infections, and give suggestions on how to get diagnosed and treated, but we cannot (and should not) try to tell you what to test for or how to treat what you may or may not have.

Not trying to be harsh here, but I also wouldn't try to tell you how to rebuild the transmission on your car.  Not a mechanic; and definitely not a doctor.

Please find a knowledgeable physician!
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Avatar universal
I contacted he German clinic and they are sending me out a test kit they can to the igg igm westernblot borrelia and any co infections? Do you think all co infections are necessary? My dad is paying forte testing but I don't want to test something for the sale of it!

I've looked at symptoms of the co inf and they seem similar to lyme so I don't know :s
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Avatar universal
Thank you I have just emailed them now ! :)

Where do I get the transfer factors from ?
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Avatar universal
As far as doxy goes, I mentioned that as I thought it was the most widely used.
My doctor prescribes Minocycline (the next generation version of doxy, but it works on lyme bacteria in the same way) for just about all his adult patients. He always prescribes it with artemisia or plaquenil, which burst open the cystic forms of the bacteria.
Perhaps it's still effective against the European strains of borrelia?

As Jackie said, figuring out which antibiotics are best is not a do it yourself job, it really does take an expert to know what is best for each person.
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Avatar universal
Here's the message my sister sent me about probiotics - I've just copied the whole thing as she wrote it

"The probiotics I mentioned were the Biocare ones, they make ones for kiddies and one called Infantis for 'little babies.

http:/ /www. biocare.co. uk/default.aspx?GroupGuid= 29&ProductGuid=16960&PageItemGroup Guid=1062

It's specially  good for tiny babies either C section or not breast-fed, and probably ideal for any with immune compromisation.



However, I have also discovered another really excellent one which I believe is also suitable for babies though it doesn't say so exlicitly on their website ( http:/ /www.symprove. com/ ) but their website is very informative, and you can email them directly to ask about giving it to babies, and to get the lowdown as they aren't allowed by law to put up all the proper information that they'd like to (it's all due to EU laws about making medicinal claims and which type of licence you have forked out for as a manufacturer bla bla bla - bureaucratic nonsense basically making it hard for them to explain properly what it's for).  They developed the product from 10 yrs of research at UCL and I think it's the bees knees in probiotic terms.

It's worth reading all the pages of their website as it is very interesting and informative."
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Avatar universal
Thank you! Yes it seems everything is in place x
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Avatar universal
i am so sorry you are going through this. my thoughts are with you. hope your obgyn is up on all this..
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