Okay, maybe it’s not all good here… I mean Evan is good, mommy is not. Last night I broke down when my nipple split in half. I’ve been dealing with nipple pain for a while now. For some reason I still haven’t gone to a lactation consultant. Like I said in a previous post when I was complaining about nipple pain, I apparently like to hurt. Well that was the old me, this girl doesn’t want to hurt any more. Last night at our 3am feed I pulled my nipple from Evan’s mouth to discover it was completely split. No wonder it was killing me. I called the Ottawa Public Health number today and spoke to a nurse. She said from the way I described the pain (shooting pain throughout my nipple and breast and a burning sensation, along with cracking/splitting) that it sounded like thrush. I told her we had already dealt with thrush, but we only did a 3 day cycle of the Gentian Violet which she said was not enough. She also said Evan does not have to have the white spots in his mouth for me to be suffering from it so purple mouth is about to make a return. I’m really not looking forward to dealing with this purple dye for the next 7 days, but I realize now that I have to get a hold of this thing because it’s ruining my life. Melodramatic? Why yes, I am.
I know what you’re thinking, yesterday I was saying that everything was great and now I’m saying that my nipples are ruining my life, well welcome to the early days of motherhood; one moment things are great, the next you're balling your eyes out.
So tomorrow is a big day! At 11am we’re going to get professional photos taken of Evan at Christine Tripp’s new studio in the Glebe (needless to say I won’t be applying the Gentian Violet until later tomorrow afternoon), then off to Westboro for a lactation class. I’m hoping we have a better night tonight than last night because big days are tough on little sleep.
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Hang in there Josie. I've had split nipples and lots of different "electrifying" pain behind my nipple and deep in my breast. I'm not sure how - but I got through it. To be honest, I'm not sure that I had thrush myself, but I know the pain I had was unbelievably difficult to deal with. At times I thought like I was on fire. I kept my baby off the nipple that was split as long as I could and pumped to avoid engorging too. I used a lot of ointment on my nipples to keep them them in a bareable state before trying to breast feed. I don't know about the purple stuff you're trying, but if it works for you go for it! Hope it gets better, and know that it will. Evan is definitely worth it - I know my girls (as crazy as they make me now) definitely are worth every waking pain! :)
ReplyDeleteYou need to see someone about that latch! Trust me, go to an LC. They really do help.
ReplyDeleteYou may be dealing with thrush too but it sounds to me like the latch is not good.
Hope you find some relief soon.
Wow! That sounds painful!!! I think we are dealing with our second bound of thrush with my son too (6 and a half weeks old)He's been a nightmare to feed lately. We were given a week worth of Nystatin the first time(no purple tongue) Hope you feel better soon! The things breastfeeding moms go through eh?
ReplyDeleteKirsten
Josie,
ReplyDeleteI am not one to give advice, but I am compelled to suggest this to you because I really, really, really know what kind of pain you are going through. I was committed for a variety of reasons to breastfeeding, but that kind of nipple pain can send a woman to the drug store for formula.
I was so gracious for this: Ask your doc for a script of Jack Newman's All Purpose Nipple Ointment.
I got a script when I was in hospital when I mentioned to my team that my nipples were getting a bit beat up. I got the script, and put the ointment as prescribed, and in 3 days, things cleared up.
I also developed thrush I think when my son was 10 weeks old. I read in Jack Newman's Breastfeeding book that he recommended the gentian violet as you are using, but he also recommended the nipple ointment to facilitate healing while fighting the fungal infection. Zap, things were done in a week.
Good luck Josie!
Just another mother saying that yes, go see a consultant. I suffered pain that made my toes curl up until one nice LC changed my position just so and it worked. She came to our house within an hour and gave me a tube of lanoline oitment. Marvelous stuff.
ReplyDeleteAnd this was my second baby. You think I would have known.
It might just be a question of tweaking.
Don't give up, Josée