yeast? and background of birth loss

[paranoidprego]

i suppose i should mention some background: I was previously a paranoid pregnant woman (hence my screen name:) back when i joined this forum in 2005. I was a NICU nurse prior to that. This past february, at 39 weeks, I had a silent placental abruption for no known reason and lost my daughter. completely unexpected. completely devastating. I almost died delivering her due to the massive amount of blood loss and my inability to push her out for hours (she was posterior). i have suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, anxiety, you name it. when you are faced with your own mortality, you no longer feel safe. i don't know how to trust my body.

we unexpectedly got pregnant in April. well, needless to say, I am now probably the most paranoid pregnant woman who has existed. since finding out about being pregnant i have not had a day where i was not worried about something. i'm not going to list everything because that is no longer relevant.

my current issue is this: last week at my appt. i told my midwife i was feeling the start of a yeast infection, but i was upping my probiotics and i expected it to go away. the next morning, it was more noticeable so i called her and they did a culture which showed i did have yeast. i did notice that morning a bit more irritation of the labia and told the nurse practitioner. she put me on Diflucan that day and told me to take it again 3 days later if needed. since that day, i have had the worst irritation externally (sorry for the tmi:). initially, i probably allowed myself to scratch with all the itching which i'm sure made it worse. it got more irritated and slightly swollen. it has been almost a week of having to deal with this despite 2 doses of diflucan which feels like the yeast is taken care of. but i am fed up with this awful irritation. i HATE calling the office with every single problem esp. something like this, but i just want this to go away! I spoke with my midwife about it on monday and explained it all, she gave me tips etc. but i don't feel like anything is getting rid of it. i don't think it is yeast anymore because of diflucan treatment. i tried a vagisil cream - burned. i used hydrocortisone, nothing. i put vitamin e and that seemed to help but still hasn't gone away.

has anyone experience anything like this? any tips for treating? would a lotrimin cream help? it complicates things because i am taking a progesterone vaginal suppository twice a day so i must wear pads all day long which certainly irritates things more. do i just give it more time? i'm sorry for such a piddly question. i used to be on this forum all the time with my past pregnancies, but i don't feel like i belong here anymore because of what happened to me. but i am still very much in to the natural everything and i miss being around like-minded people.

oh and fyi, i did learn something of value: the worst brand of pads is Always - they have more occurrence of yeast infections in women who use them (which is what i was using. 

thank you

[fruitfulmomma]

 I understand about the paranoia. My 2nd loss was late 1st tri. and I didn't realize how much it had affected me until I got pregnant again and was crazy worried the whole time. She is 6 weeks now and I am just now starting to let go of that.

The itching, if it is external, Earth Mama Angel Baby has a spray called New Mama Bottom Spray that might help. It has cucumber in it which is cooling and helps relieve the itch. Also maybe new panties since yeast can hang on to it, especially sythetic fabrics. I had a belly band type thing that I was wearing when I had thrush and I had to throw it out because everytime I wore it I started itching again. 

[ISISandOSIRIS]

I don't know what to take that would work with progesterone cream but I couldn't read your post without saying I am so sorry for your loss.  I completely understand the paranoia, but not to the extent you must be going through.  

I hope you find some moments of peace during this pregnancy <3

[LDoulaSteph]

I'm so sorry for your loss and all the feelings you are having now. My suggestion would be to try cloth mama pads. You can find lots of women who make them on etsy and because they are made of cotton they feel just like underwear. I switched to cloth pads about a year ago and would never go back to store bought ones. I just throw mine in the normal wash and dry cycle (I just use them for slight leakage with my diva cup) and they have stood up great. This should take care of the irritation caused by the plasticy feel of store bought pads. good luck :)

[NaomiJoy2]

I just want to second the cloth momma pads.  Regular store bought pads cause irritation for me but several years ago I bought a couple of Naturally Hip pads with fleeces cover so moisture is wicked away and LOVED them; I never had a single leak with them and that was way different from store bought. Over the last few years I have increased my stash and I use them almost exclusively though I do use the Instead cups now and then.  I just wash them in my washing machine.  I either dry them using 1 1/2 cycles or I dry and hang them out a day to completely dry.  I still have some from 5 years ago!
 

[gypsymama2008]

I'm not sure whether this would work for you or not, but I had the most awful yeast infection midway through this pregnancy  (it would not go away for 2 weeks, it was awful) and my midwife recommended boric acid capsules.  They cleared it up within 36 hours, it was amazing.  I've heard mixed reviews on whether it's recommended during pregnancy but from what I can discern from the research, if you're not in your first trimester and you're not ingesting it, it's just fine.  Good luck!
 

[at_the_hip]

witch hazel (same as what is in tucks pads...but you can buy cheaper in bottles next to the hydrogen peroxide) works great to sooth the irritation of yeast.  It *really* works.  I will warn you that it will burn like the dickens for a few seconds, but it is so worth it for the relief. 

[Megan73]

I'm afraid I don't have any suggestions on the yeast but I wanted to tell you I am sorry for your loss and wish you all the best with your new pregnancy. I lost my first baby five years ago in my 40th week to a fetal-maternal hemorrhage caused by a silent abruption. I feel for you, mama. The pregnancy and birth forum here helped me a lot.
Be gentle with yourself - and I hope you get some relief from that infernal itching!