Healthy Baby, Healthy Mom: Overcoming Mastitis
No one claims that breastfeeding is an easy journey, and that’s especially true for the mamas that experience mastitis. Below a local mom shares her breastfeeding journey and harrowing experience with mastitis.
Having Baby Willow
My story is different than any I have ever heard and very unusual. I wanted to share my experiences in hopes that someone may read it and see warning signs in themselves. If sharing my journey helps just one other mama, then it is worth it. The unusual journey began when we went to the hospital to welcome our daughter, Willow, into the world.
We were admitted on a Tuesday morning to be induced. They began Pitocin that morning and I labored all day. When my doctor came in that afternoon to check me, I had only dilated to 1 centimeter and had 30% effacement. She turned off my Pitocin and gave me Cervadil to hopefully ripen my cervix and she planned to turn on Pitocin again in the morning.
The next morning, they took out the cervadil and it had not helped much. They turned back on my Pitocin and I labored all day. That night when my doctor did her rounds, I was still only 1 centimeter dilated. However, I was 70% effaced and my cervix had moved closer to the front and was easier to reach. At this point, we were a little concerned about how long it was taking. My doctors told us that as long as my stats were good and the baby’s stats were good, we were okay to labor and try to have her. So, she then turned off Pitocin for the night and let me rest.
On Thursday morning I finally started having some pretty consistent contractions even when the Pitocin was turned off. They restarted the Cervadil and let me labor all day. That night when they checked me I was 70% effaced and about 2 centimeters dilated. My doctor decided to put in a foley bulb to try to help me dilate. The foley bulb was supposed to fall out when I got to 4 centimeters dilated and it really helped kick start my contractions. That night I had some really intense contractions, but I still tried to rest a little.
The next morning when my doctor came by she took the foley bulb out. I was dilated to a 6 and she accidentally broke my water. At this point, it’s getting more serious – we have 24 hours until we have to have Willow. I got my epidural that morning and then labored most of the day and when my doctor came by that afternoon I was dilated to a 7. We were getting so close, and we were so excited and nervous. My nurse checked me throughout the night and I got up to a little over 8 centimeters. This whole time we have been in the hospital, our encouraging statement we kept saying was “Healthy mom, healthy baby” whatever has to happen for that goal to be achieved is okay. We knew that God was in control and when it was time, we would welcome our sweet girl into the world.
The next morning when my doctor checked me I was still only 8 and a half centimeters dilated and she told me we needed to do a C-section. We had done everything she knew to try but we had run out of time and needed to bring Willow into the world. We were not in a hurry as it was not an emergency C-section -Â it took about an hour to get everything ready and then we went and had our sweet baby. She weighed 9 pounds 1 ounce and was 21 inches long. She is beautiful and healthy.
Conquering Mastitis
So from this point, we begin our breastfeeding journey. While in the hospital, Willow did great breastfeeding. She favored my left breast more than my right, but she would take both. She had a good latch and was getting milk. We went home thinking we were doing a great job and I was so excited to be able to breastfeed her.
I was pumping some, maybe once a day to get the hang of pumping for when I go back to work. My supply was getting better and better each day. One of the only problems I had was I was prone to getting heat rash under my breasts while I was pregnant so that had come back. I put some of my medicine on it and it cleared up. I also got really sore nipples a few times and put some cream on them and they got better.
On February 19, my right breast started to hurt a little. I was aware that mastitis was something that could happen while breastfeeding and knew some signs to look for. So I had some flu like symptoms, I had chills and just overall did not feel good. I knew the most important thing was to continue breastfeeding, so I kept giving Willow that side and it would hurt really badly when she first latched but then the pain would be tolerable after that.
On Monday, February 21, I called my doctor’s office and told them I had mastitis and they called me in an antibiotic to start taking. I got it that day and started taking it, I still felt really bad but I figured that was normal. Well that night, I had a little black place appear on the bottom side of my breast. I knew that could not be normal or good, so on Tuesday I called my doctor again and asked for an appointment so they could look at it. The place was probably about the size of a dime.
My doctor looked at it and said that my antibiotic should start helping in by the next morning. So, I went home and continued the antibiotic. That night, I took a turn for the worse and started getting nauseas about 5 that afternoon. I began throwing up and did not stop all night. I could not keep anything down and could hardly get off the couch. At this point, I am still trying to breastfeed to get some relief. I am in excruciating pain and cannot stop throwing up. We look at the little black spot and by this point it is about 5 times bigger than it was and is solid black. We did not want to go the emergency room as we have a 4 week old baby and did not want to risk her catching anything.
On Wednesday morning, I am waiting at my doctor’s office when they open. They look at my breast and tell me I need to be admitted to the hospital. The hospital was so nice and gave me a room on the labor and delivery floor so that Willow could still come and see me to continue breastfeeding. I was severely dehydrated and my kidneys had begun shutting down due to the infection. We were in contact with a surgeon and told her the situation and she said not to eat anything and she would be by that afternoon to see if I needed surgery. When she got there the black place had already spread more so she took me to surgery and said I was not septic but I was as close as you could be.
She had to take out so much tissue because the black place and most everything below was dead tissue. One of our biggest concerns was that I would lose my nipple, because it was just barely hanging on. The next morning I went for another surgery and she removed more dead tissue. I had a third surgery on Saturday and a fourth surgery on Monday. The fourth surgery was very successful in the fact that my nipple was looking really healthy still and my surgeon was able to put in a couple sutures so the wound was not just completely open. My surgeon had sent a biopsy of the dead tissue and it came back as staph. It was not something weird or unusual, it was just regular staph and they do not know what caused it.
The antibiotics that kill the staph can only be given by IV so I had to stay in the hospital for several days to get those antibiotics. One of the things I was most concerned and saddened by was the fact that I was breastfeeding. I was told it is possible to breastfeed on just one breast. It was start to make more milk being as one of the biggest things in breastfeeding is supply and demand. However, after the third surgery my surgeon said I could no longer breastfeed with Willow as the risk of infection is really high and if I continue trying to breastfeed her she was concerned about how it would affect my health and my healing.
I was devastated and a part of me felt like I was letting sweet Willow down. I remembered back to when we were in the hospital having Willow and our motto was “Healthy baby, healthy mommy” and that became my motto once again here. My sweet Willow needed me more than she needed my breast milk. So we began the transition to formula. Luckily, Willow was great and she did such a great job with the change. That helped me be able to focus on recovery. I was able to go home on March 4 and began healing.
The Journey to Healing After Mastitis
Every day we changed the dressing on my wound and every day it started getting better and better. The wound began to close and the skin started growing back. On March 23, my left breast had a knot appear on the bottom side. Keep in mind; I have not been breastfeeding for a month now. We had a doctor’s appointment that day and showed it to her and she said it was just a little blocked duct and squeezed it and some milk came out. So, we went home and it was gone after that.
Then that weekend another knot popped up so I squeezed it and got a little milk out. It was tender for a couple days but nothing too bad. I had another appointment on Monday and at this point it was still very sore and my surgeon felt of it and said she felt some fluid and with my history felt it would be wise to go ahead and drain it.
So we left her office and met her at the hospital for day surgery. She was so glad we went ahead and went that route because there was an abscess the size of an egg that she drained. She said most likely this was caused by some milk getting trapped and then getting infected. For whatever reason, my body does not do well with breastfeeding. After this happened, my doctor told me I would never be able to breastfeed again that there is too much risk for me. The fact that I would NEVER be able to breastfeed again hit me really hard. I wanted that special bond with my future children and wanted what was best for them. It took me several weeks to realize that I am what is best for them. My health is more important than giving them breast milk.
If you have the opportunity to breastfeed, then my opinion is to do it and enjoy it. It is so hard, don’t get me wrong, but it is so rewarding. However, if you are in a similar situation to mine and are not able to breastfeed or simply do not want to then giving your baby formula is just as rewarding and special I have learned.
I encourage you all to remember “Healthy mom, healthy baby”, whatever that means in your specific situation. I also want to encourage all mommas who are breastfeeding to watch for signs of mastitis. If you are concerned, ask your doctor. If you show any signs at all, keep a close check on any changes in your breasts or how you feel. My situation got really bad so quickly. I went from being fine to being almost septic in 3 days. If you have any unusual spots show up on your breasts, get them checked out. I hope that my journey has helped to shed some light on an experience that I do not want any other woman to have to go through. If you have any questions or similar stories, I would love answer questions or chat and share similarities and differences.
Mastitis Symptoms
According to Mayo Clinic, mastitis is inflammation of breast tissue that sometimes involves infection. Symptoms of mastitis include:
- Breast tenderness & warmth to the touch
- Swelling
- Thickening of tissue, or lumps
- Pain or burning sensation while breastfeeding
- Skin redness, often in a wedge shaped pattern
- Generally feeling ill
- Fever over 101F
If you exhibit any of these symptoms, seek medical attention promptly.
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