This past week was one of the hardest weeks as a mommy to my baby girl and my fur baby! Last Saturday I wasn't feeling very well. My body felt achy and just tired. I noticed a couple blisters on one of my nipples and also noticed a hard lump in my right boob that wouldn't go away even after a feeding. It was SO painful to feed on my right boob. I was trying to continue to feed on the right side and I even pumped for a half hour after each feed, but this hard lump would not go away! I read a lot online about clogged milk ducts and mastitis and I really was starting to think something was going on. I soaked in a hot bath, did hot compresses, fed, pumped while on all fours (I read gravity can help) and nothing seemed to be working. I felt so achy and sick later that evening and my boob was so swollen and heavy.
Mastitis is an inflammation in your breast tissues. The inflammation may quickly become an infection, which means that bacteria grow in the inflamed tissues.
Once I took my temperature and realized I had a fever I wanted to go see a doctor. Being a Saturday in a small town the only option was to go to the ER. Luckily, we didn't have to wait too long to see a doctor in the ER, but once we did I felt like he took a whole 2 seconds to examine and speak with me! "Feed more on that breast. The milk needs to come out," is what I was told. GEE THANKS. I am aware of that already! I felt so frustrated. We came home and I just got worse. I took some NyQuil and slept in the guest bedroom while Sean took care of Harbor and bottle fed her. I could barely sleep. I was so achy, sweating, had a massive headache and felt nauseous. Sunday this all continued and my right boob was worse. SO swollen and painful. Reading up all of the symptoms for mastitis online I just knew I had it. Of course being a new mom you question yourself though. To make things worse we had a flight the next day to Calgary. We had our interviews booked for Nexus (a program you can apply for to quickly get through customs while traveling) and we didn't want to miss our appointments so I was really hoping I'd feel better the next day! So Sunday was another NyQuil night and sleeping in the guest room while feeling like death.
Thank goodness Monday morning I felt a TINY bit better and was able to push myself onto our flight. Sean was a trooper. He pretty much packed for himself, my stuff, Harbor's stuff (a lot of baby items!) and Lilly's stuff needed for the trip and got all of our butt's on the flight! It was Harbor's first flight and I was a bit nervous how she would do. I still had a temperature of 102.5 and in a lot of pain though so I didn't get to enjoy her first flight as much as I would have liked to! Even holding Harbor was painful. I couldn't hold her against my chest and the pain was getting so bad I could barely lift my right arm up! Thank goodness her daddy kept her entertained and snuggled up during the flight! Harbor did so well! She was a smiling baby at the beginning of the flight and then slept the whole time.
Thank you WestJet for a great flight!
Later that afternoon I made an appointment online to speak with a doctor because I was not feeling any better and my right boob was going to explode! It was still tender, swollen, red in the area of the lump, KILLED to feed from and the lump was getting bigger. Right away the doctor said I had mastitis. She prescribed me medication and 2 creams. She also wanted me to book an urgent ultrasound to make sure there wasn't an abscess in there. I felt relieved and couldn't wait for the meds to kick in. We did our interviews and then were able to see some family which was nice. I really had wished I wasn't in so much pain while seeing family, but I tried to push through it. We did end up having to cut our trip one day short though because I needed to get back home for an ultrasound.
Harbor sure was a happy girl meeting her Uncle Pat, Aunt Danielle & cousin Fynn!
Snuggling with Uncle Ian
Busy daddys!
I had read online that cabbage leaves help the swelling of mastitis so I gave it a shot. I swear it helped! Put the cabbage in the fridge, place a few leaves inside of your bra (the coldness feels good) and it really made my swelling go down! FYI don't put the cabbage in the freezer. I put frozen cabbage leaves inside my bra the day we left Calgary and the leaves melted all over my bra and tank top! We were sitting on the plane and Sean goes, "Do you smell that? What is that smell?" and I died laughing and said, "Does it smell like cabbage?" and he replied, "YEAH!" haha! I had taken the cabbage leaves out before the flight too, but I still smelt like it! (I will never look at cabbage the same again!)
After a couple days of taking the medication my fever finally broke, the body aches went away and my right boob wasn't as painful. I am still waiting to go in and see the results from my ultrasound, but since the lump has gone down I really think the mastitis is improving! My main reason of wanting to write a post about this was really because maybe another new mommy out there is questioning if she has mastitis and really just needs to be reminded to trust yourself! YOU know your body and you have to go with your gut! Mastitis is awful and I hope to not have to go through it again nor would I wish it upon any mom!
The other awful part of my week was worrying about my poor fur baby. Lilly had started to not seem like herself while we were in Calgary. She was very lethargic, not really eating and we just knew something wasn't right. Once we got back home we were hoping she would improve, but she got worse. She still wasn't eating or drinking and barely walking. When she did walk she was very slow and even falling over. We called the vet and they said to bring her in right away. So long story short Lilly has Immune-Mediated Hemolytic Anemia. She had her update on shots 4 weeks ago and the shots pretty much made her immune system go into over drive and destroy its own red blood cells. Her blood work was not good & the vet even said it's a good thing we brought her in because she probably wouldn't have made it another night. She was hospitalized over night during the blood transfusion & thank God responded well. All of her levels went back to where they needed to be & she was able to come home.
We have been going back to the vet everyday to check her red blood cell level. Her level was good for the past 2 days, but unfortunately today's blood test wasn't good and her red blood cell count went back down. Lilly has to have another blood transfusion this evening and I can't stop thinking about her. My poor fur baby. I am trying so hard to stay positive, but it is really hard not to think the worst. Praying she just needs one more blood transfusion and that her body can stop attacking itself and be healthy again! We are currently waiting to receive a phone call from the vet this evening to update us on Lilly. Hopefully everything is going well and we can pick her up in the morning!
This past week has sure been a tough one and all I want to do is sit and snuggle my baby girls. It was the first time I hated breastfeeding and wanted to quit, but I know I can work through it and do what's best for Harbor. I am worried sick about Lilly and so scared of losing her. I love my babies with all my heart and just can't imagine life without them! I am trying my best to stay positive and do everything possible to keep my girls safe and healthy. I am so thankful to be their mommy!
xo Ashley
