Mastitis

It all started with Caitlin being a little more rough than usual during her feeding. She was pulling off quite violently while still sucking hard on the nipple. There was some soreness of course but nothing worse than what would usually heal in one or two days. Unfortunately, 2 nights ago I had chills, my entire body ached and I had a fever. It was so bad that I decided to cancel whatever work engagements I'd made the next day. My entire breast was swollen and every time the baby nursed again the let-down sensation was almost unbearable. I'd read about this condition somewhere either in the baby books or on the web. In my feverish dreary state I recalled reading how one woman got a breast infection and developed an abscess. She had to undergo an operation to drain the puss out. When it returned a second time, she had to give up breastfeeding altogether.

I just curled up into a ball and prayed for God to heal my breast. Luckily I had read that the best way to go is to just continue nursing because the worse thing that could happen is that all your milk ducts are so swollen that your breast become engorged as well. I also vaguely remembered that the baby wouldn't be affected even if the milk came from my infected breast. 

By morning, the swelling had gone down just a little but I was still feverish. Also, somehow my armpit was a little sore. I saw the doctor in the morning who assured me that I didn't have an abscess and that the antibiotics he was about to give me would be safe for the baby. Later I read that less than 1% of women who have mastitis get abscesses. The only thing is to prevent it from happening again. I'm definitely going to rub some lanolin on my nipples the next time they feel sore.

At the moment, I feel much better and I'm going to work tomorrow but I still can't move my arm without winching. The medicine that I took did have any affect on the baby though. I noticed that she became more drowsy after I took the painkillers. I've since stopped the painkillers but since I have to continue with the course of antibiotics, I try to time it such that when Caitlin goes to my in-laws during the day, I pump out the milk before I take the meds and then at night, I feed her again before taking the meds. 

She's taking 2 meals of solids now. However, it's inconsistent. It takes a lot of coaxing from the maid and myself to get her to eat if I'm around. She still trying to wrap her head around the concept that it's okay to eat something else besides breastmilk even if I'm around and "available". Thank God her grandmother cooks a nutritious baby porridge. It's lovingly slow-cooked with a slice of pork to create a stock and later carrots or spinach is finely chopped and added to the soft porridge. It's way better than the commercial baby porridges that come in a tin. Unfortunately, she's still prefers the breast so I had to experiment with all sorts of different baby porridge options. 

On a more positive note, Caitlin's eczema has cleared up about 90%. I decided to just use my own Clarins (because all their ingredients are from natural sources) lip balm and cocoa butter moisturizer from Body Shop. It's been working like a charm with no side effects.