Invasion of the Microbes

****Warning: DO NOT read this post if you are easily grossed out!****

Men, this is your last chance!  Turn back now!  I am going to be writing about things like yeast and nipples.  Keep your innocence.  Or, if you feel you are up to it, keep reading.

Keep in mind, I am writing this blog to document my experiences.  I am doing this for two main reasons.

1. Avoid pregnancy and new motherhood amnesia
2. Provide Jackson with the story of his early life and what Colin and I are going through to be the best parents we can

Again, this post is going to get real, quick.  I am talking photos and everything.  Turn back if you are afraid.

Okay, here we go.

It all started with bloody poop.  Sam had some major grossness coming out of his rear end on a walk one day.  The next thing I knew, I was having to wipe his butt each time he came in from the backyard.  I was wiping away more than loose stool.  He had a significant amount of blood coming out as well.  The last straw was a bloody accident on the carpet.

When you see blood, it is natural to freak out.  I consider myself a fairly rational person and I knew it was most likely broken blood vessels when he was straining to going potty.  However, this was a lot of blood and it was happening each time he tried to poop.  Also, he has never had this type of stomach issue before.  I called the vet.

I was asked to take in a stool sample.  No problem, it was readily available on my carpet.  

Keep in mind, a trip to the vet entails getting Jackson ready and dropped off with the grandparents so I don't have to take him in with me.  That is a whole other ordeal that takes approximately an hour depending on time of day.

Sam had an overgrowth of gram positive bacteria.  

*Nerd Alert*

To explain, dogs have gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria in their intestines.  The difference between these two types of bacteria has to do with a peptidoglycan layer (a polymer made up of sugars and amino acids that forms a mesh-like layer) and whether or not it is outside of the cell membrane or between two cell membranes.  Gram-positive bacteria has a peptidoglycan layer outside of the cell membrane (remember, bacteria also have a cell wall, similar to plants), therefore, it retains a crystal violet stain and shows up dark blue or purple under a microscope.   Gram-negative bacteria has its peptidoglycan layer between two cell membranes so it does not retain the stain.  

Moving on.

Upon examination, Sam had a significant amount of bleeding in his colon and rectum.  He was given IV fluids (which created a funny little hump on his back making him look like a camel) and a prescription for antibiotics.  We also were tasked with making him a gourmet dinner of rice and chicken broth.  These treatments should have made him better in a few days, which was imperative because I was getting pretty tired of wiping his bloody butt with disinfecting wipes each time he came inside.  Not.A.Good.Time.

Fine, Sam is going to live.  Hooray for that.  He still had a few accidents on the carpet, so he was relegated to the kitchen area when I was gone during the day.  I could not deal with cleaning the carpet every time I came home in addition to everything else I have going on as a new mommy.  It is exhausting and disgusting, and thank goodness Jackson is not crawling yet.  I told Colin if Sam has one more accident I am cutting that section out of the carpet.  Done.

Once I wrapped my head around Sam's special needs, it started to dawn on me that nursing Jackson was growing increasingly painful.  I would literally tear up every time he latched on.  Instead of nursing, it felt like he was stabbing me.  When he was done, it was intensely itchy and it felt like broken glass was floating around inside my breast.  Again, Not.A.Good.Time.

There is a local lactation support group called Mommy & Me.  I decided to go and get some help.  Not only did I want to weigh Jackson and find out how much milk he was transferring when nursing, I wanted to know if there was something wrong with his latch that was causing the pain.  From my limited understanding of breast feeding, it is supposed to get less painful with time, not more.

Remember how advanced of a feeder Jackson is?  Of course his latch is perfect.  He is transferring a few ounces each time he feeds.  He is a rock star.  The pain is caused by another fun little microbe in my life.

Candida.  AKA: Thrush

Duh!  I studied thrush when I took microbiology in college.  I know someone who experienced thrush after her cesarean and actually quit nursing because it was so painful.  How could I not think of this on my own?  To be fair, this is the image that would represent what we learned in college:

Jackson is not all jacked up in his mouth like this.  If I really look, the back of his tongue looks a little white, but for the most part he is fine.

The lactation nurse explained that my brain has shifted since I have been tasked with taking care of my son.  My right brain, responsible for love and nurturing has taken over.  My left brain, responsible for math and other more advanced thought processes, is not as accessible.  Colin can attest to this.  I am typically not allowed to drive anymore when he is involved due to my absent-minded and completely nonsensical routes I have taken when running errands.  I am not dangerous, but I certainly cannot plan a gas-efficient way to get all my errands taken care of.

*Nerd Alert!*

Candida Albicans is a yeast that naturally lives in your body.  Particularly the vagina (if applicable) and mouth.  It prefers a warm, moist (I hate that word!) environment, so nursing is a perfect set up for a colony.  This microorganism is opportunistic and takes advantage of disruptions in the flora of your gut when you are subjected to stress, injury, or the most common reason, antibiotics.  Of the many byproducts released by Candida, uric acid (which can build up in your joints and cause gout) and acetaldehyde (which causes chronic headaches and brain fog) are the most common symptoms experienced.  In addition to the ideal environment, yeast loves to convert sugars into carbon dioxide and alcohol (we harness this process to make beer) and one of the side effects is that you crave sugary foods.

Moving on again.

Headaches, brain fog, sugar cravings?  I thought lack of sleep and my postpartum status were causing me to experience these unfortunate symptoms.  All this time I was hosting a manipulative little colony of yeast that was doing much more than making me cry when I nurse my child?  What a clever little microbe!

So, in addition to Sam's special dietary and medicinal needs, I started following the "thrush protocol".  In a nutshell, this involves a lot of white vinegar and boiling water.  Here is a rundown of everything I have been doing to get rid of this fun little yeast colony Jackson and I have been sharing with each other every time he nurses:

1. Boil my pumping parts and his bottle parts in water and vinegar after each use.
2. Use a new towel each time I shower.
3. Wash my bras separately in hot water with vinegar in the final rinse rather than fabric softener.
4. Wash my nipples with a solution of (you guessed it!) vinegar and water after each nursing session.
5. Use Lotrimin on my nipples, yet make sure I remove it when Jackson is going to nurse again.
6. Use a syringe to apply a suspension of Nystatin in Jackson's mouth four times daily.
7. Apply a Nystatin cream to Jackson's behind as needed.
8. Take a Diflucan pill daily to fight the colony on me.
9. Drink my probiotic yogurt shots and take probiotic dietary supplements.

In addition to that nightmare, Sam was not getting better.  I had to go back to the veterinarian office and get a second opinion.  Apparently, in addition to the bacteria, he has stress-induced colitis.  Basically, he is upset that he is no longer the baby and the high-alert protectiveness he is experiencing along with the sound of crying is too much to handle.  He was given some doggy tummy pills and prescription for Immodium and Pepcid AC.  Really?

This is all the medication and supplies needed between Sam, Jackson, and I right now.....

Basically, I am always boiling vinegar and water and I spend a lot of time administering medicine.  Our house smells like I have been chowing down on sea salt and vinegar chips all day.  I am convinced that a person could not have a job and thrush at the same time.  Not possible.

The pharmacist told me the Diflucan should work in 24 to 48 hours and start making the pain subside.  Well, that really was not the case.  It still hurt so bad to nurse, I started to get frustrated.

I went back to Mommy & Me and a gal that works at a pediatrician's office told me about a fun little condition called contact dermatitis that mimics thrush.  Apparently she has seen a lot of women misdiagnosed with thrush.  There are people out there who have followed this crazy protocol (which takes up SO MUCH TIME!) who never knew to ask for a culture to make sure it was thrush.  She asked me if I had my milk cultured to check for yeast.  Well, of course not.  This was presented a week ago as: duh, you have thrush!  She told me to give the Diflucan a week and if I was still having pain to get a milk culture.

Also, Sam is still having accidents (he even busted out of the kitchen to go potty on the carpet) and his bowels are still not 100% better.  The next step for him is doggie Valium or Prozac to help him calm down.  Again, really?

So here I am.  One day shy of a week on this medication and I am still in pain.  Great.  Looks like I am on the search for a doctor tomorrow who can see me and write up a lab order for a milk culture.  After all the work I have done to clear up the colony that supposedly was living on me and Jackson plus all the efforts to prevent reinfection, I cannot fathom the idea it was all in vain and I will have to try another method of treatment to get rid of my discomfort.

I never anticipated that I would be hoping for yeast.  What has my life come to?

This little pumpkin is well worth it......