I thought it was going to be all roses from now on...
For those of you, who are still wondering if two kids are a lot more work: Ivan was born two months ago today and since then I have had mastitis twice. The first time it was a month ago and I came down with a ferocious fever of 102.something (over 38 deg. celsius) without even having any other symptoms. It was gone in a matter of about 12 hours plus and then I felt a slight pain in the right breast - but only if i touched it. Ok, so I thought, now I know what mastitis feels like. Then last Friday I got the achy feeling again, plus the chills and after a few hours of lingering fever it spiked up to 103.1 during the night (39.4 about). I had some slight pain in the left breast, but that's about it. It all calmed down by Saturday night, I was fine yesterday and then this morning at 3 a.m. I am woken up by... chills! Achy bones! Hot forehead! Fuzzy vision! "At least" this time my right breast was in pain for real (note: "right breast", why not have two bouts of mastitis back to back?). I got up and pumped a little and decided to nurse him... my peacefully, deeply sleeping baby I was waking up! The irony. Then I popped some more Ibuprofen and now I am functioning at only a ridiculously low 99.2 (37.5) degrees.
When is this going to end? What am I doing wrong? I rested and drank lots of fluids and nursed and nursed. I am exhausted and frustrated and panicky because there are two children wanting something all the time and we all need to eat apparently too. From time to time at least.
This is what Dr. Sears says about recurrent mastitis:
"Problems with recurrent mastitis are usually the result of irregular breastfeeding patterns: missing feedings, giving bottles in place of breastfeedings, or skipping pumping sessions when separated from the baby. Recurrent mastitis may also mean that mother's immune system is generally run down, because of fatigue and stress. Mastitis is a sign that you need to take a closer look at your lifestyle and breastfeeding relationship and make some adjustments."
Well. I am not skipping any feedings, I don't feed bottles nor pump... So where does that leave me, doctor? Stress? Fatigue? Me? Silly! You're just playin'!
It's funny how that goes. Like everyone else I used to pray that God may give me food, diamonds and a Mercedes. Now, all I ask is that I may leave the bed without my body on fire.
Posted at 09:47 AM on May 22, 2006
Is there a breastfeeding support group nearby? I would encourage you to find one and ask about that recurring mastitis thing. One other reason could be that the baby isn't latching on right and isn't getting all the milk, but that would have affected his weight gain and you'd have noticed if he weren't satisfied, so I doubt that.
Oh, by the way, one lady I know had mastitis not because of anything she or the baby was doing wrong, but because of a blocked canal. There was no way for the milk to get out of that one part of her breast and she had to get a tiny operation to free the canal so the milk could flow. But then again, you'd probably have had something like that with the first right? Or did you?
Another thing that could cause that, is maybe the milk is just not draining properly from a particular part of the breast, for a reason other than physical, maybe the nursing bra is too tight, or you have more milk than the baby needs and that one spot didn't get drained properly, and pressure built up until it just blocked, or some other reason... Then you might just have to apply pressure to that part to get it to drain properly.
Anyway, I hope it gets better soon! Breastfeeding my second and third children was hard in the 2cnd and third months because I kept (for lack of a better way to put it) hurting my breasts, sometimes they'd be sore (not the nipples, but deep inside the breast) sometimes they'd get all hard, sometimes it would really really hurt deep inside the breast just to nurse, all through the nursing, like the baby was sucking on empty or something,... but usually after the third month it was smooth sailing. I've never had mastitis though.
Sorry for so much info... :)
I get mastitis often and I never skip feeding or any of that stuff. I think my body is just very efficient at making milk and it makes too much for the baby. Probably the lack of rest contributes as my oldest os thirteen and thirteen years ago was the last time I got a good night's sleep.
The worst is the fever, chills, body aches etc. One time my doctor looked at me and wrote a note for my husband to stay home and take care of me for a week.
I suggest you do all the regular stuff-drink lots of H2O, rest as much as possible, make the baby nburse with his chin facing the spot you are engorged, but also, call the doctor and get on abx if it doesn't resolve in a day or so. It helps you get on your feet.
Also, I found with my last bout of mastitis this past summer, I made a concerted effort to eat really, really well (stayed away from too many chemicals, preservatives, too much dairy etc) and stick to my vitamins and I recovered very quickly.
The only time I felt as fatigued as I did with those fevers was with morning sickness ;).