Mastitis. Expressing. Top ups.

[tollyfeeder]

I think I may have developed mastitis.
My left boob is sore, hard and there is a red patch :(

I plan on calling my GP tomorrow.

I’m not sure if the reason I have it is because of the amount of times I have to express.

My DD is 6 weeks old. She lost 10% of her birth weight at day 5 and for 3 weeks her weight remained completely static.

We were under the Hospital who told us that if she didn’t gain a large amount of weight by the following week, they would admit her and tube feed.

We took her to a private clinic who diagnosed a posterior tongue tie which they cut.
They gave us a feeding plan which was to top up my DD’s feeds with 40ml formula or EBM every 3 hours.

I was also told to express every 3 hours.

I’m struggling with the expressing. I’m finding it so time consuming and very draining as hardly any milk comes out when I express so most of her top ups are formula :(
Some days I only manage to express 2/3 times and not at the same time each day.

We were due to go back to the hospital but due to the virus, the appointment was cancelled so DD was never weighed.

The HV is due to come and visit next week and if the appointment goes ahead she will weigh her.

We’ve put her on our home scales and pretty sure she’s gained.

I just can’t wait to stop all the expressing and top ups.

Could the mastitis be caused by my irregular pattern of pumping?

It sounds as though you've had a very difficult start and I'm sorry, I just don't know if this could be caused by the pumping or if it's just one of those things.

I would really recommend talking to a BFC about the possible mastitis and how you are coping with expressing.

Have you got the helpline numbers?

How did you get on with the Gp? Hope you have antibiotics now. You can’t hang about with mastitis, and even with antibiotics need to be doing lots of moist heat - showers, baths, and firmly massaging from behind the sore area all the way to the nipple to try to shift the blockage. Can give some more tips on shifting blockages if you want.

Tongue ties are associated with mastitis, and despite having the division, problems can be ongoing with baby’s ability to transfer milk. Agree that having someone with expertise help you assess the latch is important. Getting on top of this will lead to reducing top ups, but you do need her weights and advice on how to go around that.

I think before making any changes you need to tackle the mastitis as the priority. It’s so grim isn’t it. Sending and