Hi Ladies,

I know you love your Diane 35 but trust me on this one and switch to another bcp or Yasmin ASAP. One of our concerns is for ladies who will be travelling great distances by aircraft, spending long stretches of time seated and not moving. This can cause a problem.

Believe me, Dr. Newman and I did not decided to make our public statement without forethought. And I most certainly didn't expect our friends on the other site to get so crazy about this. The disclaimer that proceeds the protocols over there is so off the wall I can't even begin to tell you.

For instance, they make a comparison between the protocols and thalidomide and DES. Those drugs were used in early pregnancy when the fetus was still forming. The protocols are meant to be done by an adoptive mother or intended mother via surrogacy prior to baby's arrival. The Diane 35 is out of the woman's system before she even begins to lactate.

In any case, the study did not find adverse problems with babies, it was concerned about deep vein thrombosis in the mother. Many statements that are made in the disclaimer are taken completely out of context. It would have sufficed to just post what I had written and leave it at that.

I sincerely hope that this will not adversely affect your trust in me or Dr. Newman or the protocols. It is because we care more about you than we do about our research findings that we went public with this. We are more concerned about your well-being than we are about anything else.

I find the whole thing very upsetting. I was trying to notify then of a potential problem only to have them bad-mouth the protocols in their entirety.

Thank goodness I moved the forums. I want to thank each and every one of you for your support.

Fondly,

Hi Cathy,

Yes an antihistamine can reduce your milk supply but you don't have one yet so don't worry. You're still on the meds right? Congratulations on the possiblility of twins! Let me know what you decide and we'll get your milk going.

Fondly,

Okay Lenore. I ordered my yasmin to <img src="http://www.asklenore.com/ubbthreads/images/icons/grin.gif" alt="" /> . I should have it before I run out of Diane.

Lenore, it's not your fault they freaked out on the other board. You did tell us about the possibilities of blood clots right from the beginning, and even recommended the baby asprin.
I'm not sure why they posted the way they did, but it's like they fell off the deep end. I, too, thought right away of how the bcps are not even in the system by the time the baby is breastfeeding. And the dom has been approved for use in breastfeeding moms by the American Academy of Pediatrics! I think we can trust them to tell us if it's safe or not. If we can't trust them on this, why would we trust them regarding anything about our children?
I trust the protocols, and feel it is far better then some of the drugs and procedures used in trying to conceive a child. And a whole lot of us have been through all of that. I am glad that Dr Newman and you were concerned enough about blood clots that you decided to switch the bcps. I am not worried. I discussed things with my Dr in the beginning, and although he didn't know anything about it, he told me Reglan was bad, and if I wanted to try this than go for it.
DawnL in WA

Dear Dawn,

Thank you for your post. It gave me much comfort to read it. I too was very surprised at the reaction on the other site. All of us who did the protocols were made aware of the fact that they were not yet published except for the regular protocol mentioned in Dr. Newman's book and that there are side effects. We did our best to list them in the guide to the protocols. No one is trying to sell anything here. Neither Dr. Newman nor myself reap any financial gain whatsoever from our work with adoptive moms. This all started because I was looking for a way to breastfeed my son. I found a way with Dr. Newman's help and passed it on. I've spent countless hours assisting other mothers. I even became a board certified lactation consultant and established a breastfeeding clinic.

When I suffered from recurrent miscarriage for years and found that there was treatment, I let everyone know. When I found out about gestational surrogacy, I let everyone know. This is my way. When I find out something, I let everyone know. So when I found out that there was a potential problem with the Diane 35, I let everyone know.

They just don't get it over there on the other site. It's not about the milk. It's about feeling betrayed by one's body and having the opportunity to get it to work like it's supposed to for a change. It's about putting your baby to the breast without fumbling with plastic tubing and providing your baby with a gift that only you can give. It's about putting all of our infertility, pain, and suffering behind us and feeling like a normal breastfeeding mother. AND it's about providing our babies with the absolute best start in life.

Fondly,

Hello Lenore and Nona,
I did write a e-mail on the other site responding to some of the comments made over there. For instance, they said that women spend more time on the protocol than they do nursing their babies. I have seen quite a few moms doing the all natural route with pumping and herbs give up very quickly because of their frustration with the supplemental devices and the fact that they are only producing drops of milk. I also mentioned that people who adopt internationally generally receive older babies, and that in my opinion, the more milk a mom can have, the easier and better chance of nursing an older baby.
My husband is not agreeing with me to adopt the twins, not only the work of 2 infants, but the fee of over 40 thousand. I was ready to do it, and I know if I really pressed he would let me, but I hate to go against his wishes. I am feeling very sad today , and feel I am back to square 1 with what age, what gender to adopt etc...we had thought about a 4-5 year old boy and an infant girl. And at times, just the infant girl. I keep going back and forth. How does one ever decide? At least with bio. kids , one does not have to decide the race, gender, age, country etc....I am finding I am getting really stressed agian about all this. I am within weeks of all our paperwork being done, and am feeling so sad. I think I have PTSD from our sons adoption in Peru! Sorry to go on and on I just needed to ventilate.
Nona, where on earth can you do an adoption for only $1,000? Will this be a special needs baby? Could you e-mail me and let me know your agency? Alot of our stress is certainly coming from the high fee's involved and the fact that I want to only work part time afterwards, but feel I can't d/t fee's. It is all getting very overwhelming again.
I am on day 93 of the protocol. I hope to stay on another month or so and then start pumping before I fly to Guatemala for my extended stay. I will switch to Yasmin as soon as it arrives. Thanks for listening everyone.....Cathy

Well Sean,

I agree with you. I felt the time preparing on the protocol was no different than the herbs and pumping I did for my first. The only thing it got me was more milk and a much more successful experience. My OB/GYN honestly believes that myself and the three other who have completed the protocol and are now pregnant is because of it. (I believe all of us have PCOS- and somehow it jumpstarted to a few "normal" cycles)

I also believe more milk means less explaining to the inlaws, friends and other disbelievers in any type of breast feeding.

In regards to the twins (tripplets, etc)- I know in the USA if they are twins they can not charge more for any of the fees. The costs (especially lawyer fees) are based one the birth and it is considered one birth with two babies.

Jane

Jane,
Thanks for you advice. I really am sorry that the lawyers in GU are charging double for the twins. I need to give them our answer today. There is already quite a waiting list of clients wanting the babies, so there are obviously people willing to pay that much money.
I also feel that the three months on the protocol so far is no more in fact less work than the pumping and the herbs. To tell you the truth, I tried just the pumping and domperidone for 5 weeks and just saw drops and boy did my nipples hurt. I actually am trying to stay on it as long as possible and will only pump about 4 weeks before I leave for GU. I am hoping the baby will be a good breast pump alternative and my nipples will not hurt as much if she is latched correctly.
I am so glad you had such good breastfeeding experiences. Take care,
Cathy