Thrush Little Baby

Yesterday Jay mentioned that he had noticed a white paste on Jamie's tongue. Somehow I knew it was thrush. It was a bizarre example of instinct combined with random bits of trivial knowledge. Somewhere along the way I had stored in my head the idea of this thing called "thrush," and I knew what the symptoms were.

So, back we trekked to the doctor for another $20 co-pay. This kid is seriously getting to be expensive, and he still owes us for this month's rent!

The doctor informed us that it is indeed thrush. It's nothing dangerous. The only problem ever associated with thrush is that some babies won't eat if they have it. Not Jamie, of course--he's already up to 8lbs 6oz! He's still eating just 2 oz per feeding, but he's growing like a weed. Unfortunately, the treatment for thrush is a topical ointment. The directions from the pharmacist said to "swish, gargle, and swallow." Believe it or not, we couldn't convince Jamie to do that, so we're having to paint the inside of his mouth. We're also putting the medicine on his pacifier, which seems to work quite well.

We had another sleepless night last night. Jamie just couldn't get comfortable. He still doesn't really cry, and he's not inconsolable. He just wants to sleep on someone's chest, not in his bed. Of course, this also happens to be Indie's favorite method of sleeping, so it's not unusual to see Jay with a baby and a cat on his chest. At least Indie doesn't also come with the problem of leaking diapers.