Christmas Eve

It is cold outside, and inside the house not only is it warm, but scented with the fragrance of homemade cookies that my mom and boys have been making this afternoon. A perfect smell to wake up to on Christmas Eve I thought, as the baby and I woke up from our nap. They are freezing some cookies for me to eat in some weeks, as even though it is Christmas I must abstain from anything that has sugar or flour in it. I am on a special yeast fighting diet! Yes... sadly the baby and I developed thrush, (yeast). He first got it in his mouth, and then I got it in my breasts. This is the reason for my long absence from my blog, all energy has gone to the management of this thing. I successfully was able to breastfeed my two elder sons, each for a year. I never thought that I would have any trouble with this one. What a surprise, and oh, what pain! I understand and have such empathy now for the women who choose not to or can't breastfeed their little ones. In a moment of desperation I attempted to give my little one a bottle. He refused it.

In the past few days things have slowly started to get better, meaning I am not gritting my teeth and crying during feedings anymore. My little one is gaining weight rapidly, as the amount of milk is not the problem.

At the advice of someone from the La Leche League we found a pediatrician that works at a hospital in Moncalieri, and she told M what to do for a quick "not quite legitimate" meeting with her. We registered with the Pronto Soccorso, the emergency room, and then when they told us to go to a certain doctor at the pediatric unit on floor two, we were very furbo and went up to floor six to meet with our doctor who was working in the nido, the nursery. While waiting I was joking with M that they would come find us when we never showed up on floor two. I was feeling a little strange, like we would get in trouble for not following directions. He smiled and said, "Yes, but we are in Italy. Here we "arrange" things." I liked that. I liked the doctor very much too, she was very kind to fit us in her busy schedule. She has Luca and I on the strongest anti-yeast medication, so that the breastfeeding can continue.

Through all this drama, my mother has been an absolute life saver. I don't know how we would have managed without her care and strength and support. I am very lucky to have her here now... I know it.
So, now that I have explained why I have been absent from this blog for so long, I can finally tell you:

Merry Christmas!

I wish all my friends, family, and fellow blogging buddies a wonderful time with their loved ones this holiday season!