Bout

I have just dealt with my first bout of mastitis. I didn't have this problem with Layth before. I'm thinking this time it's because I've been pumping for an EBM supply and now I have an overabundant milk supply.

I woke up last Thursday morning with a swollen left breast with red angry lines on them and plugged milk ducts that were like rocks. It just came on quite suddenly. I already have nipple trauma on that side and it became unbelievable worse.

Thankfully Thursday is the day that the lactation consultant at the nearby pharmacy works. I went to see her first thing after sending Layth to school. She said I had mastitis and that I should see a doctor. Meanwhile she recommended a few tips to help heal the mastitis and the nipple trauma. The doctor gave me a course of antibiotics.

I felt sorry for my husband. He was on a break from working nights but now with all this drama, he had to help around a lot. He even had to prepare Layth for school one day from getting him ready in the morning, preparing his lunchbox and sending him to school. While all I did was take care of my breast, express milk and feed Thauban and rest rest rest and drink plenty of water. I am very thankful that my husband was off duty so he could cook. Otherwise I'm sure I would have gone hungry.

I expressed every 3-4 hours. I could get up to 3 oz with every pumping session!! I stopped feeding baby from the affected side because it was too painful. I used lanolin to treat it and hydrogel breast discs to prevent it from sticking to my underclothes. It improved significantly within 48 hours so I started to feed baby again from the affected side on Sunday night.

That night after one feed from the affected side, I suddenly had pins and needles in that breast. It was so distressing. I couldn't sleep and it was so painful. It was literally driving me crazy because I couldn't control the pain and paraesthesia at all. I tried putting an ice pack, heat pack, massaging it with oil to no avail. I cried and shook and hit the breast for 3 hours just trying to relieve the pain. Then I took a hot shower, then cold shower at 3am and it improved a bit. Going without the bra also helped. I could finally go back to sleep (only to wake up 30mins later to feed baby hah!).

I was really distressed. My chest was so painful I couldn't even hold the baby or cuddle him. I called the lactation consultant and she suggested a few remedies which I tried. I texted my mom because I felt so miserable. She told me she had this with all of our siblings. Made me appreciate my mom a lot more.

Since the phone call, I tried all sorts of tips. I even tried the Ayurvedic remedy of turmeric+oil that the nurse suggested. Haha! It was okay, I guess. Helped with the nipple soreness but man, it stained everything!! I got fed up.

After trying a few other things I finally got a "regiment" going.
1. Pump every 3 hours until all lumps disappeared.
After every pumping:
2. Soak breast in bowl of Epsom salt and water (magnesium sulphate).
3. Applied minyak gamat liberally.
4. Applied lanolin
5. Used a breast shield- I thought of this myself...not only did it protect the nipple from touching my clothes, it also protected it when I bumped into something or when I was carrying baby. It also bathed the sore spot with the breastmilk that collected there.
6. Cover shield with nursing pad
7. Heat pack to prevent lumps from occurring
8. I even resorted to some form of ruqyah, read some simple verses and made du'a of healing
All that time also, I stopped nursing from that side like my mom suggested.

Alhamdulillah with time and perseverance, it improved. I went to see the nurse again today, she said it looks better. She made me feed again with the affected nipple so she could observe, she said the latch and attachment all looked okay. It was probably nipple trauma that was so deep it was healing quite slowly. And to think, that the 'trauma' was only because I fell asleep during a night breastfeed and didn't realise baby was 'chewing' on the nipple until 2 hours later when I woke up again.

The nurse recommended that I take supplements to aid healing and boost the immune system like Omega-3 and probiotics to prevent thrush. So now I'm taking probiotics (lactobacillus acidophilus), Omega-3 and multivitamins.

I still have the pins and needles after feeding on the affected side but not as bad as it was. The nurse said it might be nipple vasospasm or Raynaud's phenomenon of the nipple. So she said to keep it warm. I tried that but it ended up irritating the breast instead. If only there was a patch that had heat in the centre and ice on the periphery. Hehehe.

Alhamdulillah 'ala kulli haal.
It was (or is) a very challenging time.