2 questions, totally unrelated....

First, I thought I was just having the normal post-pregnancy bleeding/discharge, but now the discharge is a yellow color and has been for about 3 weeks - I am 6 weeks postpartum. I had a bartholins cyst excised in July and it came back right before I had my baby. We didn't do anything about it since it wasn't infected and I was having a c-section a week later. Well, I think it must be draining because its puss-like. Does postpartum discharge look like that? If it is the bartholins, how long do they drain for???
Is this normal?


Second question....
I have a fissure and pouchitis and my surgeon put me on flagyl and even checked with my ob/gyn to make sure it was safe while breastfeeding...but stuff I've been reading online says otherwise....I'm only going to be on it for 7 days but this makes me very nervous...anyone else take flagyl while breastfeeding?

Hi, Tracy. I usually post as Melissa, but I haven't been able to get in under that login for the past few months, so I created "Temp Login" (clever, huh?) until I can sort it out.

First, congrats on the birth of your baby! It's wonderful, isn't it? I can't believe my little man is going to be a year old in 10 days, the time really does go by so fast. To answer your questions, I had some yellowish discharge too, not heavy, a few weeks out post partum. I don't think it's abnormal, but given your bartholins problem, you may want to put in a call to your OB to be sure.

As for the flagyl and other meds, go to Kellymom.com and look at their forums section, especially the "Mom's Diet and Health Chat" forum. Search for Flagy or post a new subject, and one of the board-certified lactation consultants will find out for you. You may want to order a copy of "Medication and Mother's Milk," by Thomas W. Hale, which is considered the bible of what meds are safe during breastfeeding. There is so much misinformation, and so many women are instructed to wean by their doctors when they really don't need to. You can also call your local La Leche League or your hospital or birth center and ask their lactation consultant to look up Flagyl in the Hale guide for you. Most lactation consultants have them.

I hope this helps. My son is still breastfeeding, and I've read that breastfed babies of moms with IBD have less of a chance of developing IBD themselves -- the best incentive to continue!

Hi Tracy...

Congrats on that little one! My bartholin cyst popped last Sunday. This week I have had a greenish discharge, (which must be infection?)
It feels like only half of it drained. I see a doc Thursday about it, and a million other things.

my excellent ob/gyn put me on flagyl w/my newborn. we both were cranky and gassy but it did the trick (i had a vaginal cyst think too). no problem to my now 2 1/2 yr old!