Rash, Arizona, Clogged Duct

Haven't written anything in a while – to make a long story short, when we went to Phoenix gretta got a rash and we thought it was from the linens at the Legacy, then it continued when we went to the rental houses, so we thought it was the hard water there. We were so excited to get home because we got it would go back to normal which was no rash at all. We got home it got even worse, to the point where we finally took her in to the doctor on a Saturday. They told us to bathe her every day in water only, no soap, and then lube up her entire body with Eucerin Aquaphor. So we did that for a week until her six-month appointment which was the next week. It seems to help a little bit but the rash was just not really going away very good. Basically we've been dealing with this rash for the last month and half, and today is March 15. Actually we've been dealing with it for two months. Even a little more. The rash is gotten much better since we finally took her to an upper cervical chiropractor – kind of a holistic doctor (dr Andrea Jordheim from my mops group). She put her on a regimen of DHA omega-3's, probiotics, and vitamin D daily. That and the brainstem upper cervical adjustment she did to Greta did seem to help a fair amount. So it has gradually gotten better but never completely gone away. About two and half weeks ago I eliminated dairy from my diet in an attempt to kick it even harder. That does seem to be helping, so she probably has a milk intolerance which she will probably grow out of. It's fairly common – they are allergic to the protein in cows milk. But then about a week after I gave up Dairy, I got a clogged milk duct in my better producing left side. It was fairly painful and grossed me out to the point where I almost fainted a few times. Eventually I adjusted to it and was constantly massaging it and using heat and hot showers. It did go away after a couple days but I noticed a white spot on my nipple that was called a bleb, after I researched it. It's like a blister sort of, but the skin grows over one of the milk duct openings on The nipple. Sometimes the milk can get stuck behind there and cause the clogged duct. So I worked the clogged duct out in the rest of my breast, but still have the small white spot and it does seem to be still a little bit clogged. I was making some progress after researching it and doing some occasional Epsom salts baths on the breast only and using very Hot compresses right before I would nurse her. But it severely hurt my milk supply because I wasn't emptying it for a couple days, and so I've been working really really hard to get my milk back up. It has been a huge struggle and I have been very frustrated and weary. I never had to do anything for my milk before even though I wasn't a milk cow, I still produced enough for Greta. But now I am eating lactation cookies, taking at least 12 fenugreek a day, drinking tons of water, taking lecithin which is supposed to help with the milk duct, and eating oatmeal every day which is supposed to help with lactation. I'm also taking goats rue. Nothing seems to be working that great although last night Greta did a long stretch – the longest she's done in a very long time. She slept from 1 AM to 8:15 AM. I was so happy because I needed that sleep so desperately, and we had been up earlier in the night with Georgie who woke up crying hard and inconsolably (this has been happening every now and then for a few months and after researching it, I found out that it happens when they are overtired. It's almost like they can't wake up and so that's why they're inconsolable). But now today, my breast is feeling hard again and I think that it might be clogged again and I am just so completely frustrated and at my wits end. I'm thinking about calling a lactation nurse and going into see them and seeing if they can clear out The clogged milk duct on the nipple. Anyway, that is a summary of a very long big story. That is rash is looking a lot better but she still itching like crazy which is very irritating. I am just so sick of this all and want my baby to feel better not itch, and be satisfied, not hungry. It has been a very trying couple months. Well, after I wrote this post, in the afternoon she was nursing and I was trying to massage the best I could, and she was not seeming that hungry or like she was getting very much so I took her off and scraped the white spot on my nipple with my fingernail. Something did come off, and after that it seems to open the floodgates. She was swallowing better, but still seemed pretty full so I put the pump on and I pumped for like 12 minutes straight with milk just pouring out of that one duct. It was such a release and something. Last night she did another long stretch from around 11 PM to around 4 AM. So my clogged duct seems a little more clogged again today – but I at least feel some hope because I feel like I can keep up on it as long as I keep an ion it and scratch it every now and then.