Tales of Breastfeeding Woe

I should have known I was going to run into problems. The whole breastfeeding thing was way too easy the second time around. I should have known there was trouble lurking. It has arrived. Trouble, thy name is thrush.

And what trouble it is. In a word: ouch. Thrush is essentially a systemic infection of yeast that infects breastfeeding moms. Once in the ducts, it is so painful and really hard to get rid of. My list of to-dos (already impossibly long to begin with) now includes:

1) total dairy, wheat and sugar free for three weeks to a month to
starve it internally.
2) APNO cream
3) Wash nipples down with a vinegar wash after every nursing
4) Pump until we are both clean of it (everything you pump with must be boiled for 20
minutes after each use and the pump itself needs to be thrown away
after you are done with the thrush)
5) Diflucan for six weeks straight
6) Grapefruit seed extract taken orally
7) Lotrimin for the baby
8) Dairy free probiotics for both you and the baby (and put some in
the diaper itself
9) go topless as much as you can (R likes this one as do my neighbors)
10) Bleach bras and sleepwear everyday.
11) Let the baby go without a diaper as much as you can
12) Switch from traditional diapers to the seventh generation, they retain less heat and so the thrush clears up faster
13) use the gerber nursing pads and change them after every nurse
14) ACUPUNCTURE

Today I started the diet which is essentially full-on South Beach without any dairy. It is not going to be easy, but when nursing feels like razor blades, drastic measures must be taken.

Here's hoping....