Thrush...

As I've mentioned in my past few posts, we've been dealing with a strong bout of thrush.

For those of you who aren't familiar with it here's a little bit of what it's all about:

(I hope I understand it enough to explain it well and correctly)

Thrush occurs when your PH balance is off. Your body has too much yeast in its system and lacks in good bacteria. So, essentially, your whole digestive system is out of whack. 

We first noticed Vivienne's rash around her diaper area while we were on vacation a few weeks ago - it was very light colored and only in a small area so we thought maybe it was from swimming so much. She's never had any sort of rash before so as her mama I had a feeling something was going on. It stayed under control and not bad at all for a few days - I used regular diaper creams and corn starch and it didn't seem to get any worse. 

On the last day of vacation her rash started to get really out of control. It was bright red and spreading very fast. She started to get little white spots and I knew right away that it was a yeast infection. 

We quick got her home and got her on an antibiotic (nystatin). By that point her whole mouth was full of yeast also. The day she started the antibiotic I noticed that I had the rash also from her breastfeeding. So painful!

I talked to one of my good friends who I knew had thrush with her baby girl last year to see if she had any tips or remedies and she was *SO* helpful to me. 

She told me of a few home remedies and a diet that she followed.

So, on top of the antibiotics I started a strict "diaper changing regiment" 

We change her diaper every hour, using only warm, wet washcloths to clean her with (baby wipes irritated her rash so badly). Then, we would spray her diaper area down with an apple cider vinegar/water mixture to help kill the yeast, and blow dry (on the coolest setting) the diaper area so that it was completely dry - moisture helps yeast to grow so we had to be sure that she was totally dry all the time. After she was dry we applied the cream and then her diaper. 

We're still doing this same regiment now - every hour. 

Her rash is almost completely gone and the yeast is totally gone from her mouth!

As for me...

I started the Candida diet, which is a very strict detox diet to help get my body back to its normal self. I haven't been following it as well I as should be. I'm not supposed to have any sugar, dairy, breads, etc. It's hard and crazy.

For the rash from breastfeeding, I used coconut oil after each time I nursed Viv. 

We have been so blessed with a baby who never cries, hasn't been sick, or caused any worry at all...so when she came down with this thrush I was beside myself. I was so worried for her and hurting for her. She didn't seem to mind it too much but she is a trooper and doesn't like to frown. It's been exhausting doing all the diaper changes, watching what we eat, etc. 

I'm hoping that things are almost back to normal and that we all stay healthy for a long time to come!