This cycle, to try to extend my luteal phase I opted to use natural progesterone cream. I haven't used it in a few years. I originally tried it to deal with my fibroid, but I don't think that was the cause of my fibroid.

I can tell the progesterone cream is working, I just started using it this cycle again. It is a topical, natural progesterone cream. I used it a few years ago as well. My breasts are a little more sensitive than they have been. I'm 9dpo today and no AF yet. I guess that is a good thing. I'll keep my fingers crossed that she stays away for a bit longer.

Affects of maternal diet on child's immune system

I have a new theory about how a breastfeeding child may come to react (eczema, hives, etc.) to mother's milk, after coming across some new information about how the intestinal lining works. Perhaps your b-levels are low in both you and your LO and it is affecting the intestinal permeability for you both -- allowing partially digested proteins into your milk, and allowing them through your LOs lining to allow her to react.

Leaky gut is a condition where the intestinal lining us damaged and it let's through bacteria and partially digested or undigested nutrients, including proteins.
Dr. Weil - What Is Leaky Gut?
Is Your Digestive System Making You Sick?


B6, and magnesium both help with sulphation, the breakdown of sulfur, sulfites and toxins in the body. B6 also is needed for production of mucin, a protein that helps protect the lining of the intestine. Taking Tylenol can affect sulphation, as it uses up your sulfate stores, which are needed for this process.
Mothering.com Discussion - sulfur sensitivity
Intolerance to Sulphur (diagram and info)
Sulfation

B vitamins are soluble vitamins that will increase in your breastmilk if you take extra.
Vitamins & other supplements for breastfeeding mothers


If you read my post about supplements for extended nursing, I've had delayed ovulation, digestive issues and my little one has eczema (thought to be related to leaky gut and low D3). I recently started taking a b-complex and vitamin D3 to help with my cycle and the I noticed that his eczema started improving.

Perhaps you might see about adding in some extra B vitamins to your regime. It might help both your and her intestines to improve your intestinal lining. Eating foods to aid your liver will help with bile production, and detoxification. (Top 10 Nutrients for your Liver, Kidney and Gallbladder) and probiotics can help support good flora in the gut which should aid in digestion -- though again, I've seen a big change with just the extra Bs.

A lot of what I've read about anti- inflammatory diets have talked about paleolithic diets. If we ate more traditional diets we would probably be consuming more organ meats, like liver, which are rich in Bs. This might explain why someone eating a Western diet might not be taking in enough B for breastfeeding demands over time.

Supplements for Extended Nursing

Since hitting a fatigue wall last Spring I've been working on taking more supplements. I'm taking my prenatal every day, or not every other day, alternating with a B-complex. The B-complex is for my late ovulation and it is a little soon to tell if it is working, maybe by next cycle.

I'm also taking almost daily a liquid calcium-magnesium-phosphorus-vitamin D supplement.

I also take Slow FE as I've always been on the anemic side. I take that every other day.

I recently added in Carlson D-drops (D3) as we get little sun during the winters in Seattle.

The B-complex and Vitamin D seem to be helping my son with his eczema amazingly. Over time I've had increasing problems with sulfur-containing foods and I recently found mention that this may be due to not enough B6 (and magnesium, if you are craving a lot of chocolate).

I checked KellyMom and it said if you are eating a balanced diet you shouldn't need to supplement but I am feeling much better since I have been. I don't know how many studies have looked at women nursing past a year. I'll have to look into that more.

Vitamin D3 to help with Eczema

My son has eczema that through careful food logging, were have been able to isolate some trigger foods. He does not have anaphylaxis as we did the blood work to rule that out.

Starting mid- August his eczema randomly increased in intensity, and it hasn't been totally clear to me why.

Coming off a cold my son's eczema was way down - even though diet-wise were both had the same exposure to foods he is sensitive to before. He is flaring a bit today again, but perhaps I was a little too cavalier in what I ate, given his rash was down (I'm still nursing him).

I recently started supplementing myself with D3 and a b-complex. The following article and some other discussions on the Mothering forum, have me wondering if it is possible that D3 could help so much. I would be so stoked if we could get it to a more manageable level - or gone for good.

Use of oral vitamin D supplements may help prevent eczema

Mothering discussion of the above linked article.
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=1026192

Anone tried using D3 to treat eczema and seen results either way?

Reporting in from my RE appt this afternoon. My bloodwork cane back great. FSH was something like 5.7 which she said was excellent. Thyroid WA normal too. She gave me an u/s to check on my fibroid, etc. The fibroid was down from 6x9cm during my pg to 3x4 cm. It is intramural, in the wall of the uterus, but not impacting my lining or interior form. That is a relief. My lining was good and she counted 9 antral follicles on the left, which she thought was great. My right ovary had a few follicles but was far more quiet.

I remember that when I had cyclic pain in the past the u/s always showed ovulation on the left. Then fibroids in TCM are linked to blood stagnation, and my fibroid is on the right. It makes me think that maybe I should try some arvigo massage to help improve circulation.

She said the short LP was of some concern as we could be conceiving and miscarrying. She said she wouldn't want to try meds while I'm still nursing. She thought it would be a good idea to have my partner have another s/a.

We had a nice visit and i told her about my delivery and how my fibroid surgery with her was a positive experience that prepared me for my c/s. I told her to feel free to share anything from my history that might be helpful to other patients. I'm glad I went as now I can just work on tweaking things. My RE said to consider the door open once we had weaned if we might want to try letrozole or clomid.

I had some mean headaches after AF arrived last week. I don't usually get headaches and not for so many days. I ended up taking aspirin and it still didn't help. I took a tiny bit of vitex early on that last cycle, but weeks earlier, and then I also had taken a b-complex which was new for me. I'm wondering if it was all that extra b that did it to me.

I got calls from my acu and RE offices confirming my appts for tomorrow. I'm curious and a little anxious about what the RE will say.

I just scheduled an appointment with the RE for the week after next. I pressed to get CD3 bloodwork done before going in, as AF is due next week and that would be a lot more useful for the consult -- otherwise we might have to wait until mid-November as my cycles are running around 5 weeks most times.

I called my partner to let him know I scheduled a consult and he started going on about how we haven't been trying at all and that we need to try 30 times and be all mechanical about trying. I reminded him that I've been charting and we have been timed correctly. I got AF back two years ago, which means I'm ovulating.

Talking to my partner just left me frustrated. Here he keeps asking me if we are going to have another and then when I try to take the next step to get some professional input he starts to act like he knows better.

I decided that you guys were right, that a consult with the RE, who has specialized training in this area would be the quickest way to get the input that I want. I've worked with this RE before, she did my fibroid surgery and repeat d&c. It isn't like I'm going to talk to some unknown person.

Can you hear me growling and snarling? I'm having some mean PMS. My acu said it is a liver qi thing, as I also suspected. If not for my son's nursing and food sensitivities I would be all over the nearest comfort food I could find. As it us I had a chocolate chip cookie and a brownie this afternoon, but i was feeling so glum about my cat (and this crap PMS) that I just needed to indulge.

I want a vacation on an island where it is warm and quiet and I can sleep all day if I want.

Hopefully tomorow will be a better day, all this emotional upset is awful for the liver qi.

I don't think that docs can do much for infertility while nursing, since nursing hormones (high prolactin particularly) automatically compromises fertility, at least some. I remember one mom in a TTC while nursing bg took Clomid while nursing b/c she didn't realize and the doc never asked and she got pg that cycle, which was interesting to note.

My toddler is laying across me, nursing, asleep for his nap. I love that my schedule let's me be able to do this with him. With a second child things would probably be quite different.

thinking about the thyroid again

I was googling about b-complex and thyroid and came across this article. While it has a little quackery bits in it, the nutritional stuff and thyroid function stuff seems reasonable enough to be true (IME that can be the case, good info with weird supplement pitching online). I'm going to compare to some books I have but just in case you are interested:

http://www.oxymega.com/thyroid_gland.html

knowing that some of the foods I eat, including kale, broccoli and peaches might be working against my thyroid, and that the thyroid helps the body to rest and settle itself ( something I've been having a problem with) and think clearly, I'm feeling like yes, perhaps there might be more to what I can do.

I had some extra time today and was able to squeeze in an acu appt and it went pretty well. My FM said peak today and I was feeling nauseaus so I thought it was a good time for a visit.

I brought in some of my chart, to show what the FM was showing about my LP and cycle length and she thought my best option was to take a b-supplement. She said no herbs for now.

She gave me the name of a couple family practice naturopathic doctors to check out, both for me and my son. I asked her what she thought about getting blood work done and she said it might be useful to check my thyroid and iron levels. I'm glad I talked to her about it, I was feeling overwhelmed about finding someone to work with.

I believe less than 10 days is considered a short LP. Your body needs at least that amount of time for the lining to be in the correct alignment for implantation.

I'm breastfeeding and TTC#2. Breastfeeding is all about the hormone prolactin, which suppresses estrogen and progesterone production, and increases FSH. It is common while breastfeeding to have delayed ovulation and a short LP.

One herbal treatment option is to use Vitex, which adjusts the amount of prolactin in your system.

I've read that too much stress can also elevate the prolactin level, as can too much sex (go figure). Trying to reduce the amount of stress on one's body is a multi-faceted endeavor - including significant diet and lifestyle changes.

Another approach is to try acupuncture/TCM, which can adjust your hormone levels, but TCM will also require diet and lifestyle changes.

Someone I know had short cycles and she opted to try Clomid and that worked for her. She made no lifestyle changes, but the she had a rough time while she was pg with hyperemesis gravidarum and the baby had intrauterine growth restriction and had to be born early by c/s. I wonder if she tried a different, more healing approach for her body if she wouldn't have had a better, healthier time during pg.

Just feeling a little down - TTC#2 after infertility

It took us the better part of 5 years trying and surgery for both of us for us to have our son, now 2.5. We overcame a lot and our little guy is such a blessing. Still there is the memory of how life was affected by infertility that lingers, and since we have been TTC again, the specter of infertility still haunts.

My partner really wants another baby and we haven't used any protection since the baby was 6 months old. We are often too busy and tired to TTC that much, but I broke out my fertility monitor and we have been timing the best we can and still nothing.

I'm still nursing my son, so it is very possible that breastfeeding is impairing my fertility. But my son is allergic to dairy products, and very attached to nursing -- and given that I'm now 39 and have another fibroid, I know that our chances of another aren't so great as they might have been (in another lifetime, I suppose).

My fibroid has started aching again, a sign that it is very active. This one grew quite a lot while I was pg, and it was last the size of a small orange, though it might have shrunk post pg. Then my period has been getting heavier over the past 6 months, where I'm starting to wonder what's up. My luteal phase is too short (it might be due to nursing) as well.


Then this week I found out that friends of ours, who have a son around the same age as ours, just lost their second pg (about 14 weeks in, related to hyperemesis complications). I just got again and I'm just feeling so glum and sad and miserable -- for their loss (how devastating), for my own uncertainty about whether it will be possible to have another, and for all the heartbreak that went on for us in the past with TTC.

My schedule is so tight between working and watching my son. I recognize that I should probably start talking to my OB, acupuncturist, and a naturopath again but it is so hard to make time. Which make it all the more frustrating.

Intestinal Flora in C-Section Delivered Babies

Since my baby was born more than two years ago, and has developed eczema and other skin rashes, I've spent some of my rare free time researching causes of eczema with many sources pointing towards intestinal health. Given that I delivered by c/s, I've wondered what the affects of intravenous antibiotics to proper intestinal colonization by beneficial flora.

Add to that information that I too have been having increasing digestive issues that I think may be Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) and I'm more than convinced that my little boy and me are in the need of a little overhaul of our intestinal flora.

I'm a bit dismayed that the importance of probiotic is not discussed with mothers of babies born via c/s. I did think I was eating well enough, but perhaps this one more stint with IV anti-biotics sort of tipped the scale against me (I also had IV antibiotics during my two d&cs and abdominal surgery to remove a uterine fibroid, in the two years before I became pg with my son).

Here are some articles to reference. I see so many new moms posting here about GERD, eczema, etc. and it may be possible that intestinal flora might also be at play.

[quote]This study shows for the first time that the primary gut flora in infants born by cesarean delivery may be disturbed for up to 6 months after the birth. The clinical relevance of these changes is unknown, and even longer follow-up is needed to establish how long-lasting these alterations of the primary gut flora can be.[/quote]

Fecal microflora in healthy infants born by different methods of delivery: permanent changes in intestinal flora after cesarean delivery.
Grönlund MM, Lehtonen OP, Eerola E, Kero P.

Allergy development and the intestinal microflora during the first year of life.
Björkstén B, Sepp E, Julge K, Voor T, Mikelsaar M.

Gut Flora: A Digestible Account of Probiotics - The Naked Scientists 2005.12.28


I've also found information about the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), as a method to control appropriate bacterial levels in the gut. Other than eliminating known trigger foods for my son's eczema, I haven't yet ventured this far. I'm going to find an appropriate naturopathic doctor to work with (if I can find one). Here's more about the SCD:

PecanBread - site target at using SCD with kids

Breaking the Vicious Cycle - SCD Beginners Guide

Potty Training Success

I'm pleased to report that we are now diaper-free during the day, and using a diaper only at night and at nap as a back-up, in case his body is too tired to wake up (we had a couple sleep related accidents).

Every day he is getting better and better at telling us when he has to go and a lot more confident about pottying.

In our case, though he is now 2 1/2, he just wasn't psychologically receptive to being fully trained until recently. It was like he turned a corner and was ready. I think, as we probably have all observed, that there are a lot of development phases that little ones go through and how their entire being responds to these changes affects how receptive they are to pottying. Elimination communication has been a fascinating window into his development -- being able to see how his brain portions out resources for language, fine and gross motor skills, etc. -- as we went through various potty kicks and pauses.

I would totally do it again if we have another baby.

I'm still nursing quite a bit with my 2.5 yesr old and recently broke out the fertility monitor again to try to figure out what was up with my cycle. I have learned that my luteal phase is way too short.

I searched online and it seems that breastfeeding commonly causes Luteal Phase Defect. I found some interesting links from the search terms:

luteal phase defect breastfeeding

HTH

Treating Eczema and Leaky Gut with Diet

I was researching over the weekend and found reference to the fact that the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), can be helping in treating leaky gut and possibly eczema. It is believed, so I've read, that eczema can be caused by food sensitivities and leaky gut.

Has anyone tried this diet out? It used commonly used to treat colitis, crohn and it works well for autistic spectrum kids as well. If not for eczema, for other conditions?

here are a couple links:

PecanBread - site target at using SCD with kids


Breaking the Vicious Cycle - SCD Beginners Guide

We learned about emotion coaching in the parent-child class I took at our community college. I don't think I've read too much about it on the Ovusoft boards directly, though I think the book has been mentioned. It was really interesting to learn about the four different types of parenting defined by Gottman, that we all dip in to each of them at times, and to learn how emotion coaching works. I think just having awareness of the concept can really help with parenting of toddlers and young children.

Dr. Gottman discovered that children who had Emotion-Coaching parents were on an entirely different developmental trajectory than the children of other parents.

What are the five elements of emotion coaching?

* Be aware of a child's emotions
* Recognize emotional expression as an opportunity for intimacy and teaching
* Listen empathetically and validate a child's feelings
* Label emotions in words a child can understand
* Help a child come up with an appropriate way to solve a problem or deal with an upsetting issue or situation

In Dr. Gottman's research he has found that children of emotion-coaching parents had more general abilities in the area of their own emotions than children who were not coached by their parents. In other words, these "coached" children grew up to become what Dan Goleman has referred to as "emotionally intelligent" people. What are characteristics of these children?

Dr. Gottman's research demonstrated that emotion-coached children

* Are able to regulate their emotional states
* Are better at soothing themselves when they are upset
* Could calm down their hearts faster after something upsetting happens
* Have fewer infectious illnesses
* Are better at focusing attention
* Relate better to other people, even in tough situations like getting teased in middle school
* Are better at understanding people
* Have better friendships with other children
* Are better in school situations that require academic performance

from The Gottman Institute - Parenting Research



The Talaris Institute has more information about:

The 5 steps of Emotion Coaching

The four Gottman-defined parenting styles:
http://www.talaris.org/spotlight_parenting_styles.htm

The Dismissing Parent
The Disapproving Parent
The Laissez-Faire Parent
The Emotion-Coaching Parent

Has anyone got any opinion or experience with the book, Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child?

What have your experiences with Emotion Coaching been?

29 months - update/ Working on Potty Independence in a Toddler

As we proceed with post-EC potty independence I've been talking to Jonah more
about pottying, about wearing underwear, about how his cousins potty, singing
songs about going poop, offering more, etc. I haven't put a lot of pressure on
him, just tried to keep the dialogue going.

He just started to use the BabyBjorn Little Potty, the one that he has refused
to use since 7 months old. It had been sitting in his room where he could see it
the whole time, and I had talked to him about how he could use it for potty if
he wanted to and showed him how to sit on it but he didn't want to. Given his
lack of interest in using it I put it away in his closet as it was just
collecting dust. He found it in the closet a few days later and brought it out
again so we have been trying on that potty some before bed. Before that, and
ongoing, he will use the toilet with a seat reducer.

----

We've had a sudden big breakthrough this week. J randomly on Sunday started
saying "no dipe" and didn't want to wear one to bed. Sunday morning he had been
dry overnight and he was so emphatic about not wearing a diaper when he was
going to bed that night that I just put some cloth diapers under the sheet on
his bed (just in case) and let him sleep with just cotton knit pants on (his
choice). I had heard that they let you know when they are ready to have more
control.

Indeed he was dry when he woke up Monday morning. But then he refused to go
potty in the morning. He didn't want a diaper and no potty. Oh brother!
Eventually, while playing with his cars he started to wet and I was able to
finish him off on the BBLP.

The rest of yesterday, until evening, he resisted wearing a diaper. Yes, he wet
himself some, but not too badly. I think also, with the heat wave we are having
now in Seattle, that perhaps he just doesn't have to go as much as his body is
sweating so much to stay cool. At any rate, I'm thinking we are starting to
cross a line into potty independence. With no diaper on he is also happy to put
his pants on by himself, or try on his underpants -- but he won't wear both
together. If this keeps up we are just going to have to spend the week outside a
lot, to keep from having accidents in the house, until he gets the whole thing
figured out.


And then today, he was home with my partner this morning and three times told
him that he had to do pee-pee I(including once, while at the grocery store).
Today we got him into underpants and shorts. Though each time he had actually
already wet himself, each time he did want to get undressed and sit on the
toilet. The amount he wet himself was gradually decreasing each time and he was
able to pee more on the toilet.

It is really exciting to have it finally coming together.

---

Tips and Tricks

I talk to Jonah a lot about listening to his body, and that we don't want to
wait to poop until it is an emergency. Last weekend he started doing his little
poop jig, saying "no!" to his body of all things, as he tried to hold it in. I
told him again that he needs to listen to his body and his body was telling him
he needed to go poop. He still was resistant but then we talked about how we
couldn't go to the pool if he had to poop and he probably wouldn't want to poop
at his cousins' house (something we were discussing). Quickly he agreed and we
got the entire affair into the toilet. With my partner and our afternoon sitter
he will only go in his diaper.

I praise him when he goes for doing a good job of listening to his body.

He only poops every 3-4 days but it can really overwhelm him and he fights it.

We also sing a song on the potty that I made up. It goes like this:

Everybody goes poop poop
Mama goes poop poop
Dada goes poop poop
Jonah goes poop poop
Everybody goes poop poop! poop poop!

and then we run through all our family, his friends and animals.

Another song is this, to a mambo type rhythm:

poo-poo in the potty!
poo-poo in the potty!

When he's sitting on the toilet we do that song/game from camp called
Concentration... (you slap your knees and chant)

Concentration, are you ready?
if so, let's go
starting with, names of...
CARS (his preference)

Then we run through names of all the car brands and types. This has actually
turned into a big daytime activity -- wandering around the neighborhood,
studying cars (logos, hubcaps, tail lights, and types).

It helps to have something interesting to do while on the toilet (so I've
learned here) and that was the best I could come up with.

I hope this is helpful for others. I'll report more as we make more progress.

Researching diet to treat constipation and fibroids

On a related note, I was looking up information about diets for chronic constipation and came across (again) The Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD). I've had some digestive issues for years, and since my delivery it has gotten worse. Why? I don't know. Is it hormonal changes due to nursing? The result of one more round of IV antibiotics during my c-section.

I feel my issues are due to an improper balance in my intestinal flora and I've been thinking for a while that I need to learn more about how to tweak things so I've got more favorable beneficial bacteria flourishing in my gut.

I've received IV antibiotics more than oral antibiotics during my surgeries and delivery -- I have had to remind myself that thing really could be thrown off by that.

Anyway, the SCD sounds interesting and I'm wondering if it might be worth trying out. I found the yogurt idea to be inspiring (I love to cook) and some of the dietary rules sound similar to what my naturopathic doc and acupuncturist have been telling me -- less simple carbohydrates, cooked vegetables, cut out sugar. I also found reference to this diet helping with eczema -- something else that is linked to intestinal flora issues and a leaky gut -- which might be helpful for my toddler.

BreakingtheViciousCycle.info - informational site for SCD that is based around the book Breaking the Vicious Cycle, which seems to be a SCD bible of sorts.

PecanBread.com - a site about using SCD with children, with lots of info about using it to treat ASD kids


I've also got a Susan Lark book on the way called Fibroid Tumors & Endometriosis that includes information about nutrition to treat fibroids that had good reviews on Amazon. I haven't bought a fibroid book in a while so I might as well try this one.