Jeminij said...
Yes. I have chronic lyme and had a baby 8 months ago. I had just stopped treatment after a year from a relapse of lyme (diagnosed in 1998 with late stage CNS lyme) when 3 weeks later I found out I was 6 weeks pregnant. I did have a horrible sick pregnancy. Hyperemisis (morning sickness noon and night). In and out of the hospital for dehydration. I am not sure how much my lyme played in my pregnancy as I was too sick with the pregnancy to know lyme still existed, but I am sure it didn't help.
I was on amoxicillin throughout and during breastfeeding. I saw a high risk doctor as well as my ob and my lyme specialist and all 3 assured me that I would not pass lyme onto the baby during pregnancy or while breastfeeding (I only did 3 months). I know it is possible, but they told me it was almost next to impossible. Well, I had a very healthy baby girl and she is amazing. I did have her tested at birth and again 3 months later and she is perfectly fine and probably the best baby on the planet. Thankfully, she sleeps through the night and always has so I was never really sleep deprived too much.
Now, 8 months later my lyme symptoms are coming back. I have to say that while breastfeeding and after the birth, I felt amazing. I expected to relapse afterwards, but just the opposite. I credit to the lack of hormones you have after birth and while breastfeeding. I wish I had known this then and I would have continued for much longer. But, once my hormone levels returned to normal, my symptoms started to return and now I am having some not so good days. Overall, I am not too bad, some days I am and need help with the baby, but other days, like today, I am ok. I try to pace myself (which isn't easy) and get my sleep, but I have also heard it takes up to a year to recover from giving birth. My doctor told me it would take at least 2 years as I was so sick and my body went through a lot.
So I don't know what your plans are for having a baby. I wouldn't let lyme keep you from starting a family as it was the best thing I ever did, but I do wish that I was 100% all the time as it isn't easy some days to raise a baby let alone do it while not feeling up to par. But I also know with chronic lyme, it may just be something I have to deal with off and on throughout my life so I can't let it keep me from having children or having a life.
The symptoms that Borrelia causes in people born with the infection may not be apparent at 8 months. It's spectulated that autism may in fact be caused by congentially transmitted Borrelia. I think your baby is too young to be reliably assessed for autism though, but you may want to look into that in a few years. Hopefully your bacterial load was low enough to have avoided passing it to the fetus and your little lady will be super healthy.