Mastitis is a Bitch

Sunday I took Finn to meet Santa and get his picture taken - but that's a story for another post.  Finn ate some pears for breakfast yesterday around 10 (he nurses at night around 4am, and is never interested in eating again until 9-10) and then we ran some errands.  We didn't make it to meet Santa until around two, and I fed him again right before we went in.  He ate a lot less than usual, and I noticed that I was tender on that side, but figured he'd just gone too long between feedings and I was engorged.

By the time we left the mall, I was feeling awful.  All I wanted was to lie down.  Once we got home I took some Tylenol and developed chills as soon as we got in the bed to nap.  I checked my temperature about an hour later and it was 99.7.  I kept trying to get Finn to feed from that right breast, but he wouldn't feed for long, even when it was clear he was still hungry.  I probably should have pumped then, but I felt so awful, it didn't even occur to me.

My fever broke in the middle of the night, but Finn still wouldn't feed off that right side.  I was less achy this morning but still felt pretty horrible, and spent the morning looking forward to my pump session.  And when I did pump, I noticed a little bead of something thick and yellow on my nipple when I was done *warning, this gets a little gross* and when I squeezed, more gunk came out.  I expressed tons of nasty stuff, just from one duct.  It seriously looked like snot was coming out of my breast.  The other ducts were spurting out milk just fine, so fine I ended up with sprays of milk all over my desk before it occurred to me to put a tissue over myself to keep that from happening.

I felt a million times better after getting all that purulent (never write the word "pussy" when trying to describe something that was pus like, it never looks right) material out, and thought maybe I was in the clear. But then I started to feel awful again a few hours later.  So I broke down and got antibiotics.  I hate the risk of a yeast infection from them, but I really have no choice.  Has anyone ever truly had success with taking probiotics with antibiotics?

I came home and got Nanny M to stay a little longer so I could take a hot shower and express more nastiness.  Once she left I made myself some oatmeal for dinner, and found myself crying on the floor with Finn while waiting for my water to boil.  I have not felt this bad since I was in labor.  I'm not in the same type of miserable pain, but I feel like absolute crap.   Oh, it would be so nice to have someone taking care of me right now.

I pumped on that side while Finn took a bath, and then expressed more goop - much less than earlier, which hopefully is a good sign.  I tried to sleep, but I've got a nasty headache, too, and can't get comfortable.  Which is just annoying, since all I want to do is get in bed.  Maybe I'll take some ibuprofen and get an ice pack for my neck and crawl in bed again.  I need to get up at midnight to take my next antibiotic, and I think I'll pump again then to keep the gross stuff moving out.

Once I'm feeling better, I'm going to have to come up with a much better plan for nursing and pumping on the weekends.  I'm certain I brought this on myself; a week or so ago I even had the thought that I was going to end up in trouble with the way my nursing schedule is so different on the weekends, since I don't pump then. I should have listened to myself.  Mastitis is a bitch.