On Sunday, I attended my post partum support group, it was just me and the lady who hosts who had also become my good friend. While chatting, I had a slight itch on my breast and upon scratching it, felt a large lump in my breast milk duct and was surprised I was engorged. it didn’t even feel painful like I had experienced a clog feel. But I did rub it out and let my baby nurse. I didn’t take it as seriously as I should have.
That evening, I felt like I was coming down with the flu. I was sure of it, given my chilly sweats, body aches, and whining a fever. I was feeling horrible, thinking I’d exposed my friend to the flu and she’s going to Disney this week. Overnight was awful as I sweated profusely through the night, and my breast grew more tender each hour. When I woke up and felt my breast, it was red, hard as a rock, the swollen thick mass was about as round as a baseball. hot to the touch. Factoring in my other physical symptoms could only mean one thing.
I sent pics to my IBCLC friend who confirmed Mastitis. She thought it was severe enough to warrant calling the doc for meds and so I did. I was prescribed a specific antibiotic and motrin for swelling.
Mastitis is awful. It’s extremely painful to the touch. To have any sort of clothing elastic, such as from my nursing tank, is so awful, just a couple minutes will leave large imprints in my breast. The swelling causes it to be misshapen and lumpy looking. You can see the edge line of where the infected tissue ends, as it’s so swollen and red. Even the Montgomery glands have sunken in and pitted some because it’s so swollen.
I was told to expect to feel horrible Fira few days. It’s not just the milk duct that’s clogged at this point, although keeping the milk flowing is the most important thing. It’s the lobes and tissues in the surrounding area have become infected. In some women who cannot sufficiently drain that milk out, it becomes abscessed and surgery is needed. I think I’ve been able to sufficiently drain it though, I still feel swollen lobes but the lumps have gone.
There’s a particular way i was instructed to massage my breast to help draw the milk out of my breast and back up into the ducts so I could take the pressure off the clog to help give it a chance to unplug and drain. In addition to pumping, Ive become pretty good at hand expressing. So much that I didn’t even pump the other side to keep up, just expressed in the shower and so far, so good.
I have such a whole other level of respect for what moms go through to feed their babies. I know women who have had multiple bouts of mastitis. It’s such an awful illness and has completely kicked my ass.
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