On Friday morning, I woke up having serious, sharp pains in my lower, right abdomen. Of course, my mind started to dwell on the possibility of having appendicitis, which pretty much scared the heeby-jeebies out of me. All of our family lives in Georgia, a lot of friends are out of town for Thanksgiving, Hugh is working insane hours stocking produce at his job since it’s Thanksgiving(THE busiest few weekends for him out of the whole year), and I just HATE the idea of MAJOR surgery AGAIN. I was looking forward to celebrating Christmas with family this year in GOOD health, instead of walking hunched over and like a granny from my c-section incision. All weekend long I just kept an eye on it while my in-laws came into town and played with Laney. After a few hours in Quick-Care, I am happy to say that I do not have Appendicitis (PRAISE THE LORD!), but I do have a Urinary Tract Infection and a few unanswered questions as to what could be these sharp pains.
How does this make parenting hard for me this week? My doctor gave me strict orders to take an antibiotic for 10 days to clear up the infection. I asked if I could go the all-natural route first, and he adamantly said “NO” and that I have to catch this thing before it trucks on up to my kidneys. I still have a choice in the matter in taking these drugs, but when there’s a time-sensitive matter at hand, I begin to feel a little pressure. The antibiotics will cross over to Laney through my milk, so even though my doctor said he’s prescribing me a safe antibiotic while breastfeeding, I’m not going to give her my milk, if I indeed succumb to taking the antibiotic. I will give her ½ of my frozen breast milk, ½ REAL milk to start weaning her onto real milk since her first birthday is in a few weeks, and will pretty much “pump and dump” all the while decreasing my supply (on purpose). After pumping my life away for a year, seeing breast milk poured down the drain is so painful to watch. My plan was to continue pumping just one measly time a day, if my body would provide one bottle full, to get Laney through flu-season. I would not mind pumping once a day until February. Then I’ll be 100% D-O-N-E with my “breast-friend” named Medela.
I am not one who takes drugs easily, unless I’ve had major surgery or something that brings me a lot of pain. I always like to take the all-natural route, if possible. I could take cranberry pills and possibly kick this infection to the curb, but how will I know it’s 100% cured? Surely there's more to it than a few cranberries, but I just haven't had the time to research. What if it begins to heal, but not good enough by the time I face Doc next week? Then I’d have to confess to bucking the system and being a rebellious, bad patient. (hee-hee). Most herbal remedies say that they are not suitable for nursing mothers anyways, so I’d still “pump and dump”, but the benefits would fall more in my court since I wouldn’t be wiping out my intestinal flora with those antibiotics. I'd only take the herbal route if I knew I could walk myself in that office next week, head held high, confident and excited to represent herbs well, knowing my UTI is 100% gone. There’s assurance with the antibiotics and uncertainty with the herbal route. My heart wants all natural. My mind feels pulled toward the antibiotics.
If the pain in my lower abdomen persists, I have to have a CAT scan to see if I have a hernia, which he suspects, since it hurts more when I’m moving or lifting something. A HERNIA PEOPLE! Can you believe that?! Look at what year 29 brought me this year. Goodness gracious, I feel like an old man. (For the record in my 20’s I’ve had a colonoscopy, hemorrhoids(men aren't allowed on here, right? LOL) and now a possible hernia in my mere 29 years of life! Gee whiz. I don’t WANT to know what 30 brings.) Let's just pray that I DON'T have a hernia.
This decision poses a problem for me in parenting this week. I want to parent well and provide the best for Laney, as well as take care of this temple the Lord has given me with the best and most wisest way possible. I'd love to find a way I could cure with an all natural method and continue to feed Laney my milk. The Husband has requested that I just take the antibiotics , and I want to honor him too. He's just uncertain that herbs will wipe out the infection. With that said, should I swallow a few cranberries or chow down on some antibiotics?
p.s. Anyone know anything else besides cranberries to heal a UTI?
13 comments:
Hollie, you know I'm all for the more natural route. With that said, I would probably take the antibiotics for one reason - your husband requested it.
I believe that when it's all said and done, we can rest assured that we are being very pleasing to God when we honor the requests of our husbands - even in some of their more un-wise moments. In honoring the men God gave us, we place ourselves under the protective umbrella of God's Provision, b/c we are fulfilling the role in which He placed us.
Jojo and I made a pact very early in our marriage that when it came to our health, I had the final say when HE was sick, and he had the final say when I am sick. That way neither one of us could be our stubborn selves and possibly cause ourselves more harm.
With THAT said, I also believe that prayer WORKS, and Jojo and I will certainly be lifting you up tonight.
You're a great mama!
Shan
PS - I'm so looking forward to getting the sweaters this week... thank you!
Hey Hollie! I agree with Shannon. Even now when Laney is so young, it's important to heed the word of the husband, so she will later in life, and so she will have the model set for listening to your word, even when she may not agree with it. Also, I've dealt with UTI's before, and they can be ugly nasty things. Recently I had to take three rounds of antibiotics to get rid of one, and I've been told it's not uncommon to have to treat it more than once to kill it. I'm skeptical whether cranberries would get rid of it. Be praying for you! Hope it heals quickly and the pain goes away!
I am an EMT-I that deals with this type pain frequently. Could it be a hernia, yes. Is it, probably not. A UTI is almost as painful as a kidney stone (luckily, I don't know personally, but they say it is as close to labor pains as anybody can have), my point being, do not jump to conclusions that you have a hernia. Believe me, if you did, it should have already been detected just by touch. The reason why it all hurts/stings so bad is because of the way we are built, the wires down there are narrow so anything out of the ordinary is bound to hurt. Don't panic, take the antibiotics (especially if you normally shy away from traditional medicine the antibiotics will work ten fold) and you'll feel better much, much sooner. Regarding the feeding situation, formula is not a bad alternative while you take care of yourself, after which you can continue the regimen you have been doing. If you're sick, how is Laney going to stay healthy?
Scott,
(He's a friend from High School.)
I hope and pray that all of this goes away and that the "hernia" was just talk. I think I'd do a happy, little jig! Ha! My side was hurting all night every time I moved to roll over, so needless to say, I had a restless night. We'll get to the bottom of this soon!
Shannon and Megan,
Thank you for your advice. I agree with you on how important it is to heed the advice of our husbands, especially when they blatantly request something of you concerning your health. Most of the time he's not as motivated to try out alternatives to medicine for own health as I am for our family and friends, but usually he supports my excitement and the "hunt" to find alternatives. So, when he blatantly asks me to not do that, I know he's pretty serious.
I love you girls!
Hollie,
Girl, take the antibiotics! This is not something that you want to mess around with... especially since it can bring other organs into play. When we got married I took cranberry as a preventative... and I still ended up in the emergency room with a very serious infection. The nurses even commented on how bad it was. I know it stinks to throw out milk, I had to do it too... but being a healthy mom that is feeling good and able give her best to her family is something you won't regret. What a blessing you have some saved and she is close to a year so you can use milk. I love ya, Court
*Let me know if you are going to Tyrone for Thanksgiving!
Hollie,
Cranberry pills/juice is better if you are trying to prevent recurrent UTIs. The best way to kill a strong UTI is with antibiotics. I had a patient who let one go too far and was treated at home with IV antibiotics for a severe kidney infection. It can get out of control quick. Also stay away from bubble baths for the next week or so (warm baths without soap in the water is fine).
If you do take the antibiotics, I would try and eat yogurt at least twice a day. I know you mentioned Laney's milk allergy at one point in time, but since you are "dumping", it shouldn't matter. Yogurt will help replace the natural "good" bacteria that the antibiotics will kill, keeping you from getting a yeast infection (another thing you do NOT want on a holiday!).
Will be praying for wisdom and that you are all better soon.
Hollie,
I used to got UTI's like crazy. To help with the discomfort, take AZO. It turns your pee a scary orange color, but it works like a charm until the antibiotics clear it up. Hope you feel better SOON!
Shannon,
I LOVE this:
"Jojo and I made a pact very early in our marriage that when it came to our health, I had the final say when HE was sick, and he had the final say when I am sick. That way neither one of us could be our stubborn selves and possibly cause ourselves more harm."
I'm going to talk to my hubby about this tonight. Great plan!
And Hollie,
About pumping 1x a day through flu season - I say AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME and DO IT DO IT DO IT!!!!! I wish so much that Will was still getting breastmilk now that we've battled so many illnesses since this summer (just after he quit nursing). I am firmly convinced that if I was still nursing even just once a day - we would have avoided most of these illnesses (b/c I haven't gotten any of them!). Anyways - great post about parenting.
Marymstraits,
What is AZO?
Hollie,
I'll answer for Mary in case she doesn't see the comment soon...I've never taken it but do know that its found near the yeast infection stuff at the drugstore/walmart/target. My doctor recommended it to me (but I never took it!). Here is a link to figure out what it actually is....
http://www.azoproducts.com/
AZO is amazing. it works almost instantly. only treats the symptoms though...not the infection. you'd still need antibiotics for that.
Ditto to Shannon! And you can find AZO at most any drug store. Thanks to Christina for answering sooner!
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