Welcome to Georgia's Journey

Georgia Lily Lucas was born at home on October 6th, 2008 4:15am, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She was diagnosed with SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy) on April 1, 2009.

On April 3rd Georgia was taken home, to be near her sisters and the rest of her family and friends. Nearly three weeks later, on April 21, 2009, she died peacefully -- in the loving arms of her mother and in the same room in which she was born.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

The Color Purple

Purple has never been my favorite color even though I quite like it. Calla and Maya both claim it to be their favorite so I decided to do Aria's room in that color. It's beautiful and I love it! I can't say however, that I am loving the color very much these days. If you are squeamish or uncomfortable with the idea of breastfeeding please stop reading this post. If you want a bit of a laugh at my expense, read on!

With Calla, Maya and Georgia I was never able to nurse them for very long. The main underlying problem was that I actually made too much milk. Believe it or not, making too much milk causes just as many problems as not making enough. In my case, it lead to constant engorgement, difficulty latching, leaking, plugged ducts, thrush and mastitis. I did seek help from lactation consultants with all three girls and in the end all of them had no idea how to help me. With Aria I decided that I would feed her for at least two weeks and then if it was going downhill I would stop.

Surprisingly, I didn't become engorged this time and for the first time in my life I was able to nurse my baby totally pain free. That was until THRUSH came into my life. I wasn't surprised that I got it as I had antibiotics during labor which is considered to be one of the main causes. For those of you that don't know thrush causes burning, and shooting pains . Not fun!

I immediately started treating myself with gentian violet. Oh yes, there is nothing like painting your nipples purple and having a baby with a purple mouth to boost a new mother's spirits! : ) Add that to the pain and sleep deprivation and it can be pretty discouraging. I should also mention that it's extremely messy and stains everything it touches including your skin. Luckily I had my little cheer leader Maya who happened to think that purple nipples and a purple mouth are beautiful. She even went over the the neighbor's one day and declared, "My mommy paints her nipples!" Thank goodness my neighbor knew what was going on and is a very open minded person.

Unfortunately, the gentian violet didn't work. This lead to a trip to the Walk In whereby I was prescribed something that is now considered 'ineffective' in the case of thrush, followed by a melt down at the pharmacy and another at home. Thanks to a fabulous friend and public health nurse I now have something much stronger that I am optimistic about. We have also been able to put away the purple stuff and feel a little more comfortable venturing out in public again.

So... we are still nursing and will continue until the we are done with the meds. But like I said I am not loving purple very much these days.

For those of you wondering, Aria has been unaffected by the thrush thus far and is packing on the pounds. She now weighs around 9lbs. That's almost two pounds since birth. She is a content baby for the most part and is just starting to wake up into this world. We are enjoying every moment with her.

Love to you all,

Kristen

5 comments:

  1. Aw Kristen. Hang in there! We've been through the purple stuff as well. I've always had an over production too. I have found that after the first 2 months or so it really levels out. I've nursed for 43 months - if there is anything at all I can do to help you let me know! You're doing a great job, Momma!

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  2. We went through similar experiences and attempted nystatin creams and breaking open capsules of acidophilus and rubbing that powder on my nipples, which actually did the trick. Also expereinced the engorgement and overabundance of milk and therefore lived in nursing pads which also caused the thrush. Glad things are turning around for you. In my three childrens nursing years I was always amazed at how I could have a love/hate relationship with nursing.

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  3. Oh Kristen, you always make me smile! I hope things are going much better and at least through the whole ordeal you have found times to laugh, with a little help from Maya! :-) Thinking of you today and always, Em

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  4. I'm purple right now in fact from a flare up from the major infection we had in our first month. Two rounds of GV, 4 weeks of fluconazole, 4 weeks of supplements of strong proibiotics and GSE. But we made it through!

    Oversupply has been my issue too and I thank God for nipple shields. They help Zoe manage the flow until she will be big enough to manage on her own. I have been amazed at how much support there is for low supply but nothing for oversupply which seems more common than you think... Please email me if I can be any help :o) clschouten@shaw.ca

    I'm so happy for you that you've been able to nurse Aria. What a blessing!

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  5. Kristen...your posts just make me giggle!! :) so sorry to hear of the difficulty, but it sounds as if you are on the right path now....purple or not.
    take good care...hope to chat soon!

    be well...
    Lisa :)

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