Breast milk-Miraculous Potion?
So when I heard how breast milk is like the first vaccine, I had a preconceived idea that it would keep my baby from getting sick. It would be a miraculous cure-all that would protect him from the air born illnesses and germs flying around at daycare and from us. At least healthier than babies not being breast fed!
It all started with one of my students at school proclaiming that he went home with strep throat one day in December. He was back the next day. Even if he was on antibiotics, they hadn't been in his system 24-hours to make him not contagious anymore. I'm one of those people that can think about being exposed to a sickness and then I'm sick. Someone says they have a sore throat and then I just know the germs are flying down my throat and the next thing I know, my throat hurts. Saying that, I do not get sick very often though. So my throat is sore and I asked the nurse at school to check my throat. She takes a flash light and shines it down my throat. She says, "Yep, you have white patches on the side of your throat. It's either puss pockets or strep." Having a three-month at home with whom I am very close to, I went to an urgent care facility that I visit because I do not have a primary physician. I had strep for the first time in my life at the beginning of the pregnancy so I decided to get swabbed. The test ended up negative which I was thankful because my baby had already been exposed to me for a day. It was just an upper respiratory infection, a fancy way of saying a cold. Since I am nursing she said there is less you can do than if you are pregnant! She first recommended Sudefed, but then changed her mind when I told her I breastfeeding. She said all I could do was take Tylenol, use my Neti pot, and spray a cloreseptic.
My boy had been waking up congested for a few weeks prior to this. We elevated his mattress, bought a humidifier, and used saline and an aspirator. Joe read the best thing to do is keep breastfeeding. So he started getting worse, having film in his chest which would make him gag and choke when he coughed. Then he started feeling miserable, sleeping a lot and fussy when awake. Definitely not his usual self. Then his head started feeling warm so we took him to the pediatrician (December 21). Turns out his temperature was 100.8 and he had a mild ear infection in his left ear. She prescribed an antibiotic (penicillin) and told us to keep him hydrated with breast milk and if we needed to supplement use clear Pedialite.
It took a week to use the bottle of penicillin. In the evenings before bed he cried uncontrollably and we discovered it was gas so we made sure he burped and passed gas right after we gave it to him so he would be comfortable. We finally figured it out after three nights of crying! I guess with the medicine being chilled, that is a side effect.
Supposedly, breastfed babies have fewer ear infections. I hope that was the first and last.
It all started with one of my students at school proclaiming that he went home with strep throat one day in December. He was back the next day. Even if he was on antibiotics, they hadn't been in his system 24-hours to make him not contagious anymore. I'm one of those people that can think about being exposed to a sickness and then I'm sick. Someone says they have a sore throat and then I just know the germs are flying down my throat and the next thing I know, my throat hurts. Saying that, I do not get sick very often though. So my throat is sore and I asked the nurse at school to check my throat. She takes a flash light and shines it down my throat. She says, "Yep, you have white patches on the side of your throat. It's either puss pockets or strep." Having a three-month at home with whom I am very close to, I went to an urgent care facility that I visit because I do not have a primary physician. I had strep for the first time in my life at the beginning of the pregnancy so I decided to get swabbed. The test ended up negative which I was thankful because my baby had already been exposed to me for a day. It was just an upper respiratory infection, a fancy way of saying a cold. Since I am nursing she said there is less you can do than if you are pregnant! She first recommended Sudefed, but then changed her mind when I told her I breastfeeding. She said all I could do was take Tylenol, use my Neti pot, and spray a cloreseptic.
My boy had been waking up congested for a few weeks prior to this. We elevated his mattress, bought a humidifier, and used saline and an aspirator. Joe read the best thing to do is keep breastfeeding. So he started getting worse, having film in his chest which would make him gag and choke when he coughed. Then he started feeling miserable, sleeping a lot and fussy when awake. Definitely not his usual self. Then his head started feeling warm so we took him to the pediatrician (December 21). Turns out his temperature was 100.8 and he had a mild ear infection in his left ear. She prescribed an antibiotic (penicillin) and told us to keep him hydrated with breast milk and if we needed to supplement use clear Pedialite.
It took a week to use the bottle of penicillin. In the evenings before bed he cried uncontrollably and we discovered it was gas so we made sure he burped and passed gas right after we gave it to him so he would be comfortable. We finally figured it out after three nights of crying! I guess with the medicine being chilled, that is a side effect.
Supposedly, breastfed babies have fewer ear infections. I hope that was the first and last.
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