Rebecca - posted on 09/24/2010 ( 23 moms have responded )
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First off, I'm new to this board. I'm 19 years old and my daughter, Saydi, was born August 22nd, 2010. Everything went absolutely perfect until we tried to get Saydi to nurse. She absolutely refused to latch on, and though she was born on her due date, our lactation consultant thought it could be the fact that her APGAR was 37 weeks, that she wasn't quite down with the latching with her tongue down and sucking couple.
We worked for hours after Saydi was born to try to teach her, but the nurses insisted after the 24 hour mark that we HAD to supplement formula since we could not successfully get her to latch on.
We did so, since they scared us into thinking she wasn't eating enough, and only 2 feedings later, we woke up to our darling Saydi, laying in a pool of her own throw up. She was very pale and crying in such a way that made me know that something was wrong with her.
Our day nurse took her to clean up her bedding and make sure everything was OK. Her temp was a low 94, so they took her to the nursery to warm her up a bit. They took x-rays of her chest and abdomen and she had a substantial amount of fluid in her lungs from passing through the birth canal. They admitted her to the special care nursery and put her on oxygen to help her breathe off the fluid and an antibiotic IV, just in case she had any sort of bacteria.
That first night was really hard. I was discharged and sent home, for lack of out-patient rooms to stay in. We live on the other side of town from the hospital, so we weren't able to go for all of her feedings around the clock. They gave her a bottle of Nutramigen formula, a hypo-allergenic formula that's already digested, to be easy on her tummy. They found us a room the next night, so we were at the hospital all day and night, still working with our lactation consultant to get her to nurse. We were, (and still are), very determined to breast feed. Saydi was hooked on the "instant gratification" from the bottle, so it was still very difficult. She was discharged 4 days later and since then, we've had been trying for over an hour before each feeding to get her to latch on, but she's sooo stubborn. The girl doesn't like boobies in her face!
Since she wouldn't latch on, after trying to get her to, I would pump milk for her to eat. I was determined to keep her away from formula, especially since she had such a horrible allergic reaction to it in the hospital. But after about a week after she was discharged, I couldn't produce enough milk for her by just pumping! I tried everything my lactation consultant and others had suggested to do to get my supply back up, but nothing worked. Soon, I was only able to pump 1 oz A DAY, as opposed to 9 oz every 3 hours, in 20 minutes like before.
Turns out, I contracted a Thrush infection that first day Saydi was on antibiotics in the nursery. It went unnoticed for so long, it started affecting my milk supply. We put nursing on hold, so I could heal myself up (as it was so painful to even try to pump or try to nurse), so we were forced to feed her the Nutramigen formula. She was okay with it for about a week, then developed an allergy to it! We've tried all kinds of Soy and pre-digested formula, but she's still having such a hard time with it. The one we found that was easiest on her was the Parent's Choice Soy formula. We suspect she has GE Reflux Disease, just as her father did when he was a baby.
So here's my problem:
It's been 2 weeks on anti fungal pills and this Thrush infection is STILL causing me problems! I've tried to start pumping again, but it just opens back up cracks and sores, allowing infected milk to get back in, keeping the infection on my nipples. I tried to hand-express, but I can't even get a drop.
Does ANYONE have ANY experience with Thrush, and if so, what was the most affective way of curing it??? Once it does go away, is there any hope of getting my milk supply back?? How can I do that??
Thank you so much for your patience if you read this whole thing, I'm just at a stand-still! I don't know what else to do!
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