The Joys of Breastfeeding

So, after four months of breastfeeding, my right boob has given out. Not in the shrivel-up-and-die kind of way, but the imploding kind of way. I officially have mastitis of the titty. Yup, that is the technical terminology (at least the mastitis part is). The unofficial term is blocked duct. It hurts terribly. Everything I read said to put warm compresses on it and to massage it while nursing. I did all that and 24 hours later I'm in more pain than I was when this started.

Last night I was up every 2 hours pumping because when the blocked duct fills up with milk it just backs up. Not a pleasant experience. In hopes of relieving some of the discomfort, I went to Target (because Target has everything I could ever hope for) and went directly to the breast feeding section. There were these funky (HUGE) pads that were filled with a gel-like substance that said they could be warmed in the microwave and placed in your bra. I knew that it was hot when I put it in my bra, but I didn't know how hot it really was until I took it out to nurse Nora. There were bright red splotches all around my boob. They didn't look too bad in the very dimly lit nursery. Only when I looked at them in the mirror did I realize that I had 2nd degree burns all around my boob! I am somehow going to get in contact with the company that made these horrible things and let them know what a terrible product they have. Luckily, I can't feel the burns because the rest of the pain overpowers the burns.

The phone call to the OB on-call led to her calling in a prescription at the 24 hour Walgreens for an antibiotic that I have to be on for 10, count them 10, days. She told me that I don't have to stop nursing. I would have been crushed if I did! That would have messed everything up. Hopefully I won't be up every two hours during the night tonight to pump because it hurts so bad. Even right when Nora came home I wasn't up that much in the night.

This kid is going to owe me, big time!