Thursday, April 26, 2012

Day 20: OUCH!

Pain during breastfeeding is an indication of something going wrong.

Something has gone wrong.

Yesterday, I started having kind of a pokey pain-like someone was jabbing me with a needle-in my right breast.  It was hot to the touch and swollen.  I took my temp and it was 101.5 and I literally had goosebumps because I was freezing.

I suspect that I have a touch of the mastitis or, as I like to call it, "the devil has taken up residence in my bosom."

It could just be a plugged duct but the fever and general sense of malaise are telling me otherwise.

This is what I did, per Kelly Mom:

  • took a long hot bath and put warm wash cloths on my breast
  • put a warm compress on the bed and laid my breast on top of it
  • started Popcorn on that side whenever possible.  Due to the swelling and excessive milk, she couldn't get my areola in her mouth. I hand expressed almost 2 ounces and then nursed her.
  • got lots of rest-no easy task with 5 kids.  Astronaut made dinner for he and his siblings-hot dogs, carrot sticks, and chips. 
  • drank plenty of fluids, mostly juice and Gatorade
  • slept a lot. I still woke up every 2 to 4 hours from the pain and nursed.
Today, I feel much better. No more fever or chills. My breast isn't hot.  There is far less pain when I nurse. I am assuming it was simply a mild case of mastitis.  All I know is that I feel much better.  

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for visiting my site today. Glad you are feeling better! A plugged duct is always a good excuse to spend the day in bed. And congrats on your new baby.

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    1. Thanks for visiting my blog and thank you, she's a joy! I really enjoyed your post. It's interesting to see how issues play out in different cultures.

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