Saturday, October 11, 2008

What???? NO SUGAR?!?

WARNING....this post is not so rosy, and may gross some of you out. PROCEED WITH CAUTION. Since the end of August I have been dealing with an infection related to breastfeeding called "thrush." Thrush is basically a yeast infection that thrives in warm moist places and commonly happens to babies and moms during breastfeeding. The baby will get small blisters in her mouth and moms will get very sore and painful breasts in the process. Originally I thought Addie was just changing the way she latches on and that's why I was sore, chapped and peeling (can you say ouch?), but then I would get intense burning shooting pains following nursing. So, I decided I should actually go to the doctor to see if anything could be done. Well, Addie had a couple of blisters on each side of her mouth and the chapped, red, painful cuts (along with the burning shooting pains) I had were definitely thrush. So, I learned all about how to get rid of this horrible infection and hoped for the best. Addie and I were both put on medication. I had to throw out over half of the milk supply I had built up in our freezer and couldn't keep and of the milk I would pump at work for more than a day because it was loaded with the infection. Not to mention the fact that I was in excruciating pain EVERY TIME I would feed Addie and pump at work. I was told the infection would be gone in about 4-5 days and that a couple days after that I could start keeping all of my milk again. So, we started the meds and it worked within 3 days for Addie. Me on the other hand is a different story. So here I am 6 weeks later, 3 rounds of medication later and it is still not gone! It is definitely not as bad as it was in the beginning, but my left side can't seem to get rid of it. So, the only way to kick this things is horrible. NO SUGAR OF ANY KIND in my diet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And, NO CARBS!!!! Ahhhhhhh!!!! So, I have to stick to this thing for at least 6 weeks but probably more like 2-3 months. Once all my symptoms are gone, I have to do this for at least another month and then I can SLOWLY work sugar and carbs back into my diet. So until then, my plight is vegetables, cheese, meats, eggs, hummus and some raw nuts. The good news is, I will probably lose some weight. I have been doing this for exactly 1 week and have eaten more vegetables this week than I have in the last year. I feel like I'm going to turn green! So next time you have pasta, potatoes or any kind of delicious sugar filled dessert, please savor every bite for me! Hopefully the next few months will fly by! :(