Hi again,
my niece just gave me a scare. She had to take her 2 week old baby to the ER
per her pediatrician because the gentian violet I'd told her to use had
caused blisters in her baby's mouth and she wouldn't nurse all night. She
wouldn't even suck a finger so my niece got scared and called the
pediatrician. Anyway, they gave her an ounce of pedialite and then she went
right to the breast. It had been 9 hours so they were worried about
dehydration and not happy that someone had told her to use GV. I am sure
that I will hear about it from the pediatrician. We have a good working
relationship so I hope she doesn't really get upset. She is real big on
Nystatin. After seeing the blisters, I feel maybe the nystatin isn't so bad
after all. I had given my niece the handout on how to use the GV but I had
actually encouraged her to put it on her nipples instead of swabbing it as
it's not as strong that way. But, she did what the handout said and was ok
the first day. The second day the blisters appeared. I will be a lot more
cautious with GV from now on. My niece isn't upset and the thrush is gone
but I hated to have her go through all of that. One other thing, my niece
had breastfed her first son for a year (she was a 17 yr.old at the time) so
formula has never been an option for this baby. I was with her when she
delivered and we got the baby to breast immediately. She nursed like a pro
the two days in the hospital but when she got home, my niece got so terribly
engorged I worked with her two hours to soften the breasts. The baby nursed
for 20 minutes but then stopped cold. my niece was enormous and for 36 hours
we had to use SNS, tube feeding, hospital grade pump and all the engorgement
protocol to soften them enough for the baby to latch. The moral is that
sometimes even when it all goes right, things happen. My niece was very
determined and hung in there. But she really helped me realize why some moms
quit. This was agony for her and the baby would scream and refuse the
breast. Then all at once, she went back to it like the pro again. This has
been an incredible learning experience for me.
Oh, by the way, I am a new grandmother and after the scheduled C-section, I
was in the OR with my D-I-L and Son and we broke all the rules to get this
little girl to breast. She came out sucking her fists like crazy. Got her to
breast in the recovery room for 45 minutes and she's nursing beautifully.
They are staying with me for three weeks so it's been wonderful. My
great-niece and granddaughter, 5 days apart, both here and nursing like
champions. They make this LC proud.
But it has been a rough week!
K Dunton, RN/IBCLC

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