Monday, August 04, 2008

A Fungus Among Us

I mentioned in a previous post that Elias' cradle cap is getting much better. It IS getting better, but it's being pretty resistant to completely going away. So, we decided to get really tough with it. The pediatrician had told us that Head & Shoulders would be the first thing to try, but if that didn't work he gave us a prescription for an antifungal cream that has proven to work on cradle cap. Cradle cap is not a fungus, but for some reason it has been known to respond to this particular cream. So, we filled the prescription and we've been using it on E for the past couple of days. I think I can see a real improvement! We've still got some flakes, but the rash is almost completely gone! Yay for that!

I also realized yesterday that I have thrush (a yeast infection of the breasts). Yippee. I had thought that the pain and redness were just a part of pumping, but thankfully another mama on my pumping mama's discussion board educated us rookies that it is NOT and we probably have thrush. I have all the classic symptoms. Although it's frustrating because from what I read, thrush is pretty hard to get rid of, I am thankful that this pain is not just something I have to live with, and there's actually something I can do about it. One good thing about pumping is that it is highly unlikely I'll pass the yeast to Elias through my milk from a bottle, so I will have an easier time getting rid of it than if I were actually breastfeeding and we had to treat both me AND the baby. So I have a different antifungal cream for that! I tell you what, our bathroom is starting to look like a science lab with all the different creams, cleaners, and sterilizing equipment! But hopefully before too long we'll all be healthy!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey Joni,

Asa got thrush about a month ago and, praise the Lord, I caught it before he gave it to me. however, in case elias should get it, go to the pharmacy and ask for gentian violet. it is an herbal liquid, and it's purple, like the name suggests. you just use a q tip and apply it in his mouth and it turns his whole mouth purple. but, i am not even kidding, it cleared it up OVERNIGHT!! i kept treating it for another 48 hours, but it worked like a dream. you can also apply it to your breasts but I never did that (the thought of purple on my nipples was too much for me!!). just wanted to pass this along in case you see the white patches pop up in eli's mouth. another breastfeeding friend passed this info along to me and i was SO thankful!!

Anonymous said...

oops, let me clarify...i found it before he gave it to me (as in i did not catch it!!)

kelly 's a riot said...

hi joni,

congrats on your sweet baby:) it's been so long since i've been thru my blogroll, that everyone's family has grown! i visited your sis's blog and can't believe how big her Patriot has gotten...mine is just now 14 months and my has the time flown by!
-kelly