|mastitis|
what a hateful thing to happen.
this was my second bout of mastitis. it came on fast and hard and pretty much wiped me out for 4 days. i think the worst part of mastitis is the fear that this could be the end of breastfeeding -that there won't be milk anymore. i would look at how beautifully fat and big my dear madeline had gotten on my milk, and it made me so sad to think that this could be the end. i hadn't even had a chance to protect her from evil daycare germs, yet! too painful to nurse, i pumped every couple of hours, even when the milk was only coming out drop by drop. hot showers, warm water soaks, and massaging as much as i could stand... i think it's starting to get better. last night i was able to put her to breast, and she did a good job emptying a lot of milk out. there's still a painful lump in there, 6 days after it started. that has me a little worried that it might need to be lanced, but as long as i am making milk, i can handle anything. yay for milk!
so, i didn't do much of anything this weekend. i made a baked mac and cheese one night, and froze some of it for future use. wrote some more thank you cards, paid some bills... but mostly i spent the weekend hooked up to the pump. i have a love-hate relationship with that pump. at first, i blamed the pump for the mastitis. if i were nursing instead of pumping, this wouldn't have happened. then, when it becamse too painful to nurse, and i had to turn to the pump, i was thankful for it. so, i blamed other things. maternity leave in this country is cmopletely inadequate, especially for breastfeeding mothers. if i didn't have to go back to work so soon and pump at work, i wouldn't have gotten mastitis. and, of course, i hate my lumpy, ill-fitting, hands free pumping bra, which, at this very moment, is poking my sore spot and making me wonder if it's causing more damage. but, short of going braless at work, there isn't much i can do right now. i resolve not to wear this bra again for extended lengths of time. there's another hands-free pumping and torture contraption arriving in the mail for me today. hopefully, i will have more luck with that. otherwise, i'm going to do have to get good at rubberbanding it.
it's all worth it, though. just look at her!
this was my second bout of mastitis. it came on fast and hard and pretty much wiped me out for 4 days. i think the worst part of mastitis is the fear that this could be the end of breastfeeding -that there won't be milk anymore. i would look at how beautifully fat and big my dear madeline had gotten on my milk, and it made me so sad to think that this could be the end. i hadn't even had a chance to protect her from evil daycare germs, yet! too painful to nurse, i pumped every couple of hours, even when the milk was only coming out drop by drop. hot showers, warm water soaks, and massaging as much as i could stand... i think it's starting to get better. last night i was able to put her to breast, and she did a good job emptying a lot of milk out. there's still a painful lump in there, 6 days after it started. that has me a little worried that it might need to be lanced, but as long as i am making milk, i can handle anything. yay for milk!
so, i didn't do much of anything this weekend. i made a baked mac and cheese one night, and froze some of it for future use. wrote some more thank you cards, paid some bills... but mostly i spent the weekend hooked up to the pump. i have a love-hate relationship with that pump. at first, i blamed the pump for the mastitis. if i were nursing instead of pumping, this wouldn't have happened. then, when it becamse too painful to nurse, and i had to turn to the pump, i was thankful for it. so, i blamed other things. maternity leave in this country is cmopletely inadequate, especially for breastfeeding mothers. if i didn't have to go back to work so soon and pump at work, i wouldn't have gotten mastitis. and, of course, i hate my lumpy, ill-fitting, hands free pumping bra, which, at this very moment, is poking my sore spot and making me wonder if it's causing more damage. but, short of going braless at work, there isn't much i can do right now. i resolve not to wear this bra again for extended lengths of time. there's another hands-free pumping and torture contraption arriving in the mail for me today. hopefully, i will have more luck with that. otherwise, i'm going to do have to get good at rubberbanding it.
it's all worth it, though. just look at her!
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