I was home from the hospital after my second c-section (Hello, Pax!) for roughly...two days? Three?...before coming down with a case of mastitis. It turns out that "engorgement" is a real thing that can happen, uh, immediately.
Before we were discharged, I remember the hospital's lactation consultant reaching over, squeezing my boobs and saying, "Honk, honk! Congratulations! Your milk is in already! Watch out for engorgement..." the rest is all mwah mwah mwah since I tuned her out...erroneously thinking that I knew it all.
I mean, after "honk, honk" what else do you really need to hear?
Evidently more than I did.
So I suddenly found myself on a daily regime that included motrin, tylenol, the usual post-op narcotic, stool softeners, and antibiotics...as well as dealing with a sluggish, after c-section digestive system (read: no pooping).
I've never been so nauseous in my life.
My husband, in an attempt to help, came back from Whole Foods armed with the world's most disgusting ginger tablets (chewable!!!) and Inner-eco's "Power Packed Probiotic Kefir".
After choking down a few ginger tablets, half crying and half laughing in frustration (nasty, nasty things)...with no luck whatsoever, Mike brought out the kefir drink.
"Babe, EVERYONE at Whole Foods was swearing by this stuff!! They said it's not that bad!"
I opened it. It smelled...tangy. I heaved and ran out. A few hours later, with my desperation levels at an all time high (have you ever tried nursing while nauseous? the WORST)...I decided to have another go.
"Just take it like a shot, Babe." Mike encouraged. "Drink! Drink! Drink!"
I glared back. But took it like a shot. It was tangy, fizzy, and.....not too bad. I chased it with a saltine cracker.
Within an hour....I was feeling better. So I took another shot. Then later that night, another. Less than 24 hours after that first shot, my nausea was gone. Poof! GONE.
I took a few shots of this drink daily while recovering. It made a world of difference. R came down with some kind of stomach bug, so I started giving it to him, also. Poof! Stomach bug gone. (And the kid actually likes it.) The whole family now uses this stuff several times a week, just for overall good health and digestion.
Apparently, the stuff is packed with probiotics, was started by a couple of Denver natives, and the company uses part of the profits to support programs that help secure "freedom, food, medical care and education to the people of Sudan, Africa and anywhere else in the world where persecution and oppression is prevalent." Recently, proceeds from the sale of Inner Eco helped fund construction of a middle-school in Uganda, provided scholarships for children in Kenya, and sent students of homeless mothers to school in Romania.
A miracle in more ways than one.
See more about Inner-Eco (as well as where to buy) here.
xo,
S
