Mastitis, Round 3

In case this post is TMI, I apologize in advance and recommend you skip forward to the next article. 

For everyone else, I’m about to express my frustration:  I’ve got mastitis AGAIN.  What is mastitis, you ask?  Click this link to let Wikipedia show you the painful details about what mastitis is. 

Basically, mastitis is a red, swollen and painful breast infection that causes chills, fever, sweats, loss of milk production, and can lead to a breast abscess that has to be surgically removed if not treated with antibiotics in time.

So in 4 1/2 months of breastfeeding, this is the third time I’ve had mastitis and the third round of antibiotics.  Twice on one side, once on the other.  This time, I got mastitis from going too long without pumping or feeding.  My house is being remodeled and every room of the house had people in it, even the bathroom, for hours.  There was nowhere to go to pump.  The baby got a bottle and I got full- too full.

Mastitis, the “Gift” That Keeps on Giving

After having my baby, Seven, (who is now 4 1/2 months old) I decided to try breastfeeding even though I hadn’t with the last baby.  After severe breastfeeding problems, such as Seven having a tongue tie which had to be surgically removed, I decided I would try to stick out the nursing as long as I could. Let the record show that I am NOT a fan of nursing- it’s great for other people, but not my favorite thing to do.

My OB/GYN doctor told me she had chronic mastitis after one of her pregnancies.  Interestingly enough, she said that women who have it repeatedly probably won’t have the same problem after a subsequent birth.  For the next baby, the odds are up in the air about whether you’ll be prone to it or not.

My doctor told me she was really surprised and proud of me for still breastfeeding after 2 bouts of mastitis.  Naturally, she was sympathetic when I called her to report it was back.

I went for approximately 3 months of exclusive pumping with my last baby, never breastfed, and never had mastitis.  Now I come to find out that it’s hard to shake and is recurring for many women.

What Causes Mastitis, Anyway?

I wondered what causes mastitis, and did a little research.

“Bacteria normally found in a baby’s mouth or on the nipple can enter the milk ducts through small cracks in the skin of the nipple and can multiply rapidly in the breast milk. This can lead to a superficial small area of inflammation (frequently from streptococcal bacteria) or a deeper walled-off infection or abscess (frequently from staphylococcal bacteria).”

-eMedicineHealth

So that explains why it’s more likely to occur from nursing as opposed to exclusive pumping.  There’s no bacteria contacting your breast if you sterilize your pump parts before each use.  There is, however, always bacteria on your baby’s mouth.

Now What?

I’m lucky that Seven is almost old enough to be transitioning to first foods like baby rice cereal and oatmeal.  My husband asked if I want to be done lactating after this round of “pump and dump” of my breast milk during the 10 days of antibiotic treatment. 

The answer of course is yes, because I’d love to have my life back!  Being chained to a pump every three hours can really put a damper on your lifestyle, especially in the summer and when you have other children.  Road trips, camping, conferences… I’m an active person who likes to schedule life in blocks longer than 3 hours sometimes.

However, I really want to make sure that Seven has a moderate supply of frozen breast milk to carry her as long as possible, so that’s my quandary.  I’ll deplete a lot of that stockpile over the next 10 days as I feed her from the frozen milk and throw away the fresh stuff filled with antibiotics.  (I know the antibiotic is safe for baby, but hubby and I don’t approve of giving the kids any unnecessary antibiotics.)

So time will tell what happens for me next.  I’ll make it through this course of antibiotics to clear up the mastitis infection and see how I feel about continuing to pump and nurse.  I’ll have a large relief when it’s over, but still be a little sad when the breast milk comes to an end. 

Have you had experiences with mastitis?  How many infections did it take before you stopped nursing for good?  Let us know in the comments below.

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