Hi, all. I am working with a mom, age 40, of a nursing toddler. The
toddler is 21 months old and nurses 5-6 times a day. Mom wants to get
pregnant again and it took help last time. They have not been using BC
since birth, so they figure it is going to take assistance again, and she
has some questions.
The toddler was conceived through uterine insemination due to a problem
with 'killer' (mom's words) cervical mucus, a slight luteal phase defect
(slightly under normal for progesterone), and a fibroid near the top of
mom's cervix. Mom took FSH (she ovulated regularly, but they used drugs to
increase the eggs and the odds of fertilization). She tried Clomid, but it
worsened her LPD, so they went to the injected FSH (specifically, Metrodin)
the cycle before conception, and the cycle she conceived, too. During the
pregnancy, she took hGC and progesterone (for the 1st trimester). Dad's
sperm was quite vigorous and numerous, so that's not a problem. Mom's
periods returned 18 months pp, and she has nipple tenderness in the last
half of her cycle now. (Maybe she's ovulating again by herself?)
She moved cross-country during the pregnancy, so she can not go to her old
fertility team. She's been told by some folks near her that they won't
take her unless she weans the toddler, and they might not take her due to
her age. Does anyone know:
1) If these sorts of treatments are incompatible with nursing, really and
truly? Nursing is still very important to the mom and the toddler and they
don't want to stop. Milk quantity isn't so much the issue, as that's not
really the main reason the toddler still nurses at this point. And also,
is breastfeeding, really and truly, likely to exacerbate any of the
problems she had? It doesn't seem so to me, but I'm certainly not an
infertility specialist!
2) Of a breastfeeding friendly (and possibly age friendly) RE/infertility
team in the greater Washington, DC area? We figure it's big enough that
*somebody* has to be able to understand that nursing is important and be
able to work with her on this, not against her.
Thanks,
Tricia Jalbert
LLL Leader in Oakland/Berkeley, CA
(Yes, not the same area- she's an email pen pal, if it's important.)
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