Wednesday, June 11

Works-for-me Wednesday

I'm pretty sure there aren't any guys out there reading my blog, but on the off chance that there are, I'm going to say this just once: TURN AWAY. NOW. This is a girls-only post. You don't want to read this if you aren't a female. (I almost said 'you don't want to read this if you don't have a va-jay-jay' but my mom would get upset at me for that. So I won't say that part.)

Ok, here's something that works for me. (And check out Rocks in my Dryer for more awesome tips!) After David was born, and he was about 6 weeks old, I started having a very hard time nursing him. I'd already nursed my other two, and other than an extremely fun bout of mastitis, I hadn't had any issues. All of a sudden, nursing HURT. And itched. I was very confused. So After about 6 days of crying each time I fed David (I actually cried each time. I'm not exaggerating.), I finally called Laurie, my awesome midwife. After listening to me for a whopping 7 seconds, she said, 'Well, Brea, you've got thrush. Make a 10-1 water/white vinegar solution, and rinse off a few times each day, and every time you shower.'

Thrush? What the heck is that? Turns out, it's basically a yeast infection. Babies can have it in their mouths, too. (David didn't.) I was sure I would never be able to fix it that easily, just using a very diluted vinegar solution. What with the searing pain and all. But hey, I'm game for just about anything once or twice, so I decided to give it a whirl.

Oh. My. Goodness. Oh me of little faith. Within one hour of using the rinse just twice, I could tell a massive difference. Now, it was slightly uncomfortable at first. But nothing compared to the thrush.

And here's the great part, because I know the majority of you are reading this thinking, 'But I don't have kids,' or 'I'm done with the nursing part of my life,' or something like that. BUT. Thrush is a yeast infection. We all know where else yeast infections happen, right??? Those nasty over-the-counter remedies from the store are ... well, nasty. Seriously. The next time you feel one coming on, mix yourself a water/vinegar solution. 10 parts water to max 1 part vinegar. You might want to start out even weaker than that. Use a peri bottle, or even just use a wash cloth. Trust me, this totally works!!!!

And I'm keeping it in mind this time when the baby comes. So I don't go through the torture again. (Oh, and if you ever have a baby with thrush in his or her mouth, there's an easy fix for that, too. All you do is run up to the store and buy some acidophilus, the powdered kind, in the little capsules. Break them open, put a little on your finger, and put it in the baby's mouth. Totally safe for the baby, and really funny to watch, too!)

5 comments:

frillsfluffandtrucks said...

Thrush...yuck! My baby girl had thrush when she was an infant and we were on vacation. That was NOT fun!! Thanks for the easy thrush beating tip!

~ Sarah

Martha said...

I found your blog from Jessica's (farmfresh)...and expected to see a cute pregnant mama...and am now reading about thrush. Hey, it's real and instead of that gross goo I'd totally go for the vinegar solution next time! Thanks!!!

Unknown said...

Just where were you four years ago young lady?? Aviana and I had thrush for like, 4 months. Not kidding. After the first two scrips only helped temporarily, I had purple nipples and Aviana a purple mouth--from gentian violet. Which also works. But it kept coming back. For months.

Yeah. Purple nipples. Everyone should try it sometime.

Anonymous said...

What a simple tip. Wish I had known this 24 years ago! Oh well, I'll keep it in mind for when I'm a grandma.

Thanks for sharing.

jesnicole said...

YUCKNAST. YES, MY SON AND I VISITED THIS FUNGUS, TOO. I FREAKED OUT. THEN MY GRANDMA, WHO HAD 12 CHILDREN (AND MY OTHER GRANDMA HAD 13) TOLD ME "IT'S NO BIG DEAL, I THINK ALL OF MY BABIES HAD IT...IT'LL GO AWAY". THAT HELPED CALM ME DOWN A BIT. HOPE YOU'RE DOING WELL!! :)