So after the last post I was put on a medicine that is a definite no-no for breastfeeding and babies. Read will cause developmental delays. Why was I on medicine again you may ask? Well, following the bladder infection, I got colstridium difficile colitis. The main symptom of this fun infection is diarrhea. Every half hour to an hour. No fun, and after two weeks of this I called my doctor. His booking secretary said that I didn't need to make an appointment and that I must have the flu even though I feel fine and the above is my only symptom. Right.
I insisted on an appointment which was snowed out. I booked one for a Dec 13. So It has now been nearly 3 weeks of this fun business, and I'm sent home with test kits to take into the lab. I diligently fill them, and take them to the lab to wait a phone call so I can be cured.
Friday, I get a call that I have colstridium difficile colitis (aka c. dif). My doctor calls and tells me that the public health unit has informed him that one of his patients aka me has a reportable communicable disease. C. dif has been going crazy of late and can be communicable if you don't wash your hands or the toilet well enough. As no one else in my family or friend circle got sick, I'm pretty sure I washed adequately!
Anyhow, I am put on this new med and my prescription is faxed in to the pharmacy I use. I call them a hour later and they haven't seen it. I call them two hours later and they haven't seen it. I then call my doctor's office to find out that they don't close at 5:00, but at 4:00 on Fridays. Great. I don't want to go through another weekend of this! I was so excited to get it out of my system! I listen to their message machine and try the on call Dr. that has been left. Thankfully they're open until 5:00 so I get them to fax my prescription in. It goes, I pick it up, and get to start the potion in the morning. Matt and I decided that so Kanga would get a good night's sleep before we start her on formula. Yeah, we get to try this again.
On that note, I told my doctor that she had reacted to every formula we had tried. He pretty much said good luck and that there wasn't an option.
So, next day...
I had 9oz of milk in the freezer to send to daycare with Kanga. I gradually got her to drink the formula and thankfully she didn't get any diarrhea. Really, what would we have done if she couldn't though! Over the 16 days (10 of meds, and 6 to clear my system) one of my friends nursed Kanga a few times to get her some antibodies yet and THANK YOU to her. Another friend tried, but Kanga just wouldn't go to her. She'll cuddle and hug her, but didn't want her milk. Don't feel bad though! Thank you so much again for offering it to her!
Meds over the holidays was okay, it just meant that I had to give Kanga a bottle and then pump to keep up my supply. This was further complicated by the fact that when I tried to rent an electric pump from Cheeky Monkey I was given a run around.
That story starts fair enough. I went into the Oxford store and they were going to bring a pump from the Wellington store for me on Monday morning. Monday morning I get a call that they're not allowed to do that due to pumps being assigned to specific stores. Fine, I can run to the other store, but when I get there I'm not allowed to take it because it is only allowed to be charged to a credit card which I don't carry, especially during holidays! I avoid spending if I can! I said I'd call in my number and pay debit for now. Not allowed. I felt quite hassled.
Long story short, I had to buy an electric so that I could pump faster and efficiently enough so I didn't get a blocked duct again. I did twice in the first week, but mum ultrasounded it and I haven't had it block since! Holy cow I am so thankful!
My c. dif cleared up though. Now I just have to watch my dairy. I have a bit of an irritable bowel yet, but I always did. It's just more sensitive than usual as it's rehabilitating!
If any of you have tried to get a breastfed baby to drink formula then you know how difficult it can be. Babies like what they are used to and don't much like change. I first gave Kanga some soy formula in her cereal about 3 weeks ago. A while later she was projectile vomiting! Having given her soy formula in a bottle for her to try some and get her used to it in case I didn't have enough milk ready for her daycare days, I thought the can had likely gone bad and felt awful to giving a spoiled formula to her!
Well, on Friday I officially found out that I have a bladder infection and am now taking medicine for it. The write up from the pharmacist said that it passes into breastmilk, so I called the pharmacist and asked what it could do, if it's safe for her, and such. He asked if my Dr. knew I'm nursing and I said yes (he's her Dr too). Then he said that most mom's give their babies formula when they're on this medicine, but that they also prescribe it to babies if they're sick. So what's the answer? Is it safe or not?
I decided I'd try to get Kanga to take formula while I'm on the medicine just in case (and hope that it was only for the 10 days and I didn't need an extra round!). I mixed some of the powdered soy formula I'd picked up (after all she hadn't reacted when I'd been testing formulas before!) and gave her a bit in her cereal so she could get a taste for it. That night (it was in her supper) we had vomiting again. She had a 3rd of an ounce in her cereal and of that ate 2 or 3 bites. She barely even got any of the soy and she reacted like that!
Okay, she can't have soy. I guess I'll try some milk based formula. I hadn't wanted to do this as Monkey had a raw dairy intolerance. I wanted to wait until she was about 2 before she had any dairy. As it turned out, I was right to wish so. Kanga drank a 3rd of an ounce last night and had diarrhea this morning. I hadn't put the two together so I mixed her cereal with the milk based formula to give her a taste for it. She ate about 3 bites again and has had diarrhea all day.
On top of this, Kanga has a horrible cold right now that she picked up from one of her teachers at daycare. When I saw her teacher last week while picking her up I was shocked that she hadn't been sent home. I now have the cold too and I called in to volunteering so not to pass it on! I feel bad enough that Monkey has been in the same room with Kanga and I for the last 4 days with the vaporizer going, coughing, sneezing and all! It's inevitable that he'll get it.
So now I know that my sick baby can't have formula. I can only hope that I can nurse her until she's old enough to sustain life without it! If I ever needed surgery or needed a medicine that she couldn't have through my milk then I hope, I hope, I hope that she'd be old enough that through her meals she'd be okay!
