Desperate to keep BF, please help

[fleacircus]

DD is 18 days old; started feeding well straight away and is doing brilliantly. Left nipple got very sore though and didn't heal, so I went to local BF support group and worked on improving latch on left, which started to get better, but then I got a blocked duct which I didn't recognise because I thought the pain was still from the nipple.

By the time I worked out it was a blocked duct I had mastitis but didn't realise that either - I know I sound like an idiot, I was in lots of pain and weeping all the time and either sweating or shaking uncontrollably, but I thought all that was part of being tired and run down, didn't think I was actually ill. Mentioned problems to the HV and even that I was worried issue with breast might develop into mastitis but she just said it was probably a blocked duct and gave me a couple of tips about clearing it. So although had symptoms since Tuesday didn't get diagnosed until last night (Friday) after talking to NCT BF counsellor on helpline - and thank goodness she realised I probably already had mastitis and told me to call out GP so I have now started antibiotics.

Anyway... sorry this has turned into such an epistle... I have been continuing to feed DD from infected breast but it is often painful, we both still find it hard to get latch right and it can be a real struggle sometimes which is distressing and made worse by the inflammation.

A very lovely pregnant friend brought her medela pump over for me last night, so I was thinking of expressing rather than feeding from that breast so DD wont get caught up in my pain and frustration. But I'm worried that if I do that and just feed DD from right breast that will mean I'm massively over-producing and mess up the supply and demand. I have some bottles so could try to feed her the expressed milk (I am planning to do that eventually anyway) but she isn't even three weeks yet, and I really really don't want to risk interfering with BF.

I just feel a bit at my wits' end - oh, also the gunky milk that was blocking the duct has begun coming out when she feeds which is good because it's unblocking but I can't imagine it's that good for her, and my nipple has cracked again so she's sometimes got blood mixed into the milk she spits up from that side, which tips me over the edge a little. So please please if you have any advice and have managed to read this far I would be so grateful.

Hi fleacircus, sorry to hear you're having such a difficult time. I completely sympathise with you! Is it possible for you to express from the infected breast? I've always found it less uncomfortable to express when I've been having difficulties with the latch. This might help with the pain and discomfort and will still encourage the milk flow from that breast. It should help the nipple heal and then blood won't get mixed up in the milk.

I would feed from the good breast mostly, and express from the blocked one frequently. Your supply might go a bit lopsided temporarily, but things will even up again once you go back to normal. You could save the expressed milk in the freezer for a later date (if it's not too bloody etc.) but I would avoid the bottle at this early stage.

I used to express (though from both) and it wasn't a problem with messing up supply - it just kept things ticking over as I did it regularly (when I would have bf). I did it because it was too painful to bf, and it gave me a bit of chance to heal.
Hope you are feeling better soon.

DP is here for weekend and I've got my mum coming on Monday when he goes back to work. He only went back to work after paternity leave on Wednesday and until then was absolutely brilliant, doing all housework, cooking, lots of changing and bathing too so that I could concentrate on BF and recovering from birth. So getting ill coincided with being home alone which hasn't helped, although honestly we were both really relieved when mastitis was diagnosed as I've been such a wreck this week we'd both begun to worry it might be PND. So in some ways I feel much better now, can just accept that I'm ill and need to get better.

Have really been trying to feed from infected breast; she's already going quite a long time between feeds (as much as 4 1/2 hours sometimes) so it can end up very engorged though, and with the inflammation as well it's really difficult for us to get the latch right. Is it worth me waking her up more often to feed, do you think?

My mum did, with varying degrees of success, but she breastfed me well and for more than six months. And I know I can phone that helpline again; I think I'm just desperate to get as much advice as possible (clearly this is my PFB and I am a completely neurotic new mother! )

I don't mean she usually leaves it that long between feeds, at the moment in the evening she is tending to cluster feed for several hours - and she feeds more frequently during the day. The long sleep is making me a bit anxious though; she seems very healthy and is growing well (she'd regained her birthweight - 8lb 9oz - by her 7-day check up) so I should probably just be enjoying getting some sleep myself, but it just seems very soon for her to be sleeping so long. Last night she was feeding off and on from about 10pm to 1.45am and then slept until 7.15am - 5 1/2 hours. I don't really know what's normal though.

Hope things get better for you soon. Just wanted to say if her weight gain is good and she's cluster feeding before her long sleep I really wouldn't worry about her having a long nap at some point in 24 hours. My dd once slept for a 7 hour stretch when she was about the same age and it really worried me (i fell asleep too or i would have woken her!) Once she got to about 4 months though she started waking more frequently during the night so I'd enjoy it while it lasts, especially if you're ill.
As long as she seems happy and is pooing and more importantly weeing a lot then you don't need to worry about her getting enough. Just keep feeding on demand and as often as you can bear it from the infected breast as this will really help it unblock and the milk will be fine for her to drink.
You're doing brilliantly and I'm sure you'll start to feel a lot better in the next few days when the antibiotics kick in. Just a shame you had to wait so long for a diagnosis.

Thank you all for being so lovely about it... I know this will pass but is dragging me down a little as it drags on. Now DD is being very sick; twice during the last 48 hours she has lost what looks like a whole feed. She is still filling nappies though with poo that looks very healthy; the antibiotics have given me an upset stomach and so I think this is what has happened to her too.

Anyway took her to the GP this morning and he said the breast looks bad (depressingly, obviously I had no comparison so hadn't thought good or bad). It hasn't improved since Friday so he's prescribed a new stronger antibiotic. He also said I shouldn't feed her from that breast as it probably contains pus. Every BF source I know has said to keep feeding from that breast so that threw me a bit. I've tried expressing without success, but it was my first go so I'm hoping to get better. The nipple is getting sore again and the cluster feeds are leaving me feeling a bit desperate, although she does sleep brilliantly afterwards.

I don't know what I expect anyone to tell me, I've had loads of good advice, I just feel a bit sad about the whole thing and about making my beautiful DD sick. She is so lovely and sweet-natured and it is heartbreaking when she is sick and gets unhappy, and I can't do anything about it expect feed her to comfort her, even though I know that's likely to make her sick again. Feeling blue.

flea

No need to stop bf from an abscessed breast, and if you can, it's important that you do cont. to feed from it.

If it's not improving, then ask to see a breast surgeon, who can treat the abscess directly.

If, indeed, this is what it is....

hi fleacircus

if you've seen any of my posts you'll prob guess i can' give you any good advice!

but just to say stick at it, i've been having a nightmare too and mumsnet has been a HUGE support.

sending hugs to you

Flea,

You are doing a FANTASTIC job, hang in there it will get better .. i promise. As for your Dr.. PLEASE do not listen to that nonsense about NOT feeding from the infected side - that is UTTER RUBBISH. It is the absolute best thing that you can do for you and your breast. By feeding your beautiful dd you are giving her the best nutrition and at the same time using her as the most effective way to empty the breast, which as a result will relieve the pressure, ease the pain and make you feel better.

I have had Mastitis 6 times now. 4x with dd1 and 2x with dd2. I have tried and tested many different things and found that applying warm packs (flannels or booby tubes helped the milk flow better.
Then after feeding i applied cool packs to help soothe the breast and reduce swelling (the skin on my breast actually pealed off with the heat!).
Always feed from the infected side first and if she tends to sleep for around 4 hours i always Hand Expressed after around two hours, again to relieve the pressure.

Take paracetamol to reduce your temp if you have one (feeling shivery).

Take advantage of any extra help and rest as much as possible.

Here are the contact number for the supporter lines;

The Breastfeeding Network (BFN) - Supporter Line 0870 900 8787 - The service operates from 9.30am to 9.30pm every day of the year.
La Leche League Great Britain - 0845 120 2918
National Childbirth Trust - 0870 444 8708 - 9am to 6pm, seven days a week.
Association of Breastfeeding Mothers' - 0870 401 7711 - Open every day from 9.30am to 10.30pm

You are doing a great job, remember this difficult time will be past you soon and it will get much easier every day. Hang in there, it will pay off big time

Thank you - don't know what I'd do without MN at the moment! Finally things are beginning to get better; the new antibiotics seem to be working. I can still feel a couple of small lumps (pea sized - or maybe petit pois sized, more realistically) in the areola and they're a bit sore so I think that must be where the problem began. Lumps of gunk have been appearing which I assume is the blockage clearing.

Thank you Determination for your suggestions; I've been using hot water to soak the breast but not as frequently as I probably should be, only in the evening when DP is here to take care of DD. The Booby Tubes look much more practical but we don't have a microwave, is there an alternative way to heat them? I am in awe of you for coping with matitis six times - makes me feel that I must be able to get through this!

Hi Fleacircus, you are doing such a fantastic job, bf is hard enough without having an infection as well.
Just wanted to say, you didn't 'make your beautifuldd sick' I used to toture myself when ds was a newborn everytime he had wind, threw up etc I thought it was my fault - it isn't just their little bodies.
I know most dr mean well but they don't always know what they are talking about re: breast feeding, I wish they wouldn't give inaccurate advice.

Just remember this is as tough as it gets, take it a day at a time and you are a WONDERFUL mother, your little dd is so lucky!

xxx

Still improving, although quite sore still. And weirdly the skin is peeling, very glad Determination mentioned that happening as otherwise would have been freaked out! I'm beginning to feel a bit more positive about the whole thing now; really glad that I managed to keep BF throughout. And I'm now halfway through the antibiotics so it's not too much longer for poor DD to have to put up with them. She is such a funny lovely girl, although also a bit of a crosspatch at the moment, poor thing.

Well done fleacircus, your little girl is so lucky to have you.

I had mastitis with both dcs although not as bad as yours sounds.

I got delirious with the temperature and felt very wierd and negative; when it all settled down again I felt much more positive.

Docs seem to say things should be better very quickly but in my experience the pain can go on for weeks until a full recovery which of course, makes you terrified it has come back again! Good luck

Fleacircus, you sound as though you're doing a tremendous job.

I hope mastitis is cleared as soon as posible and you can start enjoying b/fing your dd very soon.

Flea,

I forgot to mention... After my 3rd spout of Mastitis and 3 x Antibiotics i decided to go all natural with re. to Mastitis and consulted a Homeopathist who recommended Belladonna. The last 3 times i had mastitis i started taking the Belladonna with paracetamol as soon as i felt it coming on and expressed/nursed/rested.. didn't have to take the ABs which i had been prescribed (just to be on safe side) encase i couldn't do it without. [[http://www.barbarageraghty.co.uk/articles2.html#3 Belladonna reduces the inflammation and i found it helped within a few hours of starting the treatment.

You can buy this in Boots or health food shops.

You are almost over it... and you have done an outstanding job to get through mastitis. Give yourself a huge patt on the back and remember it will pay off big time. Well Done

Belladonna

Finished the antibiotics and now have thrush, probably caused by the antibiotics. So will definitely be trying belladonna if the mastitis returns. Keep telling myself I just need to get through the next few days and then there's something new to contend with... having to treat DD with an oral gel which contains alcohol and saccharine, following the Breastfeeding Network advice but beginning to wonder how this can possibly be better for her than formula. Not that switching to formula would make any difference now, I still have to treat her. Wept when I found out and feeling pretty awful about it when I think about it, so am trying not to. And making inappropriate jokes about my alcoholic daughter, which conceal my despair.

Whatever you really think, please just tell me it's ok.

Sorry you've been having such a hard time with all of this. You sound like you've done a fantastic job and are a top mummy. www.drjacknewman.com is also a fantastic resource on breastfeeding and has video clips you can look at whenever you feel like it. You are definitely doing the very best for your baby so - it's okay and well done!