Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Mastitis: a breast infection that can leave you feeling as if you've come down with the flu. You may notice areas of redness, hardness, soreness, or heat in your breast, and swelling of the affected milk duct. Common, and more serious, signs of the infection include chills, a fever of 101 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, and fatigue.

This describes it perfectly. Last night at 8:00 I started having severe chills and couldn't get warm. By 9:00 I could barely stand up due to body aches in my legs, back, and head. Neil had to stay up with Mary and when he came in to check on me around 2:00 my temperature was 101. The highest it reached was this morning at 102. I went to my doctor and after just one look she knew that it was Mastitis. Now, I am on antibiotics which I have to take 4 times a day for 7 days. My doctor said that if I had waited much longer I would have ended up in the hospital.

This whole thing came unbelievably fast. I was actually packing my suitcase to fly up and see Shanna when it started. That was canceled around 2:00 in the morning. Now, I have a ticket to use at some point during the year. I was really looking forward to meeting Ellen and playing with Lucas, but I absolutely would not have enjoyed myself with the way I feel.

Neil has been so great. He stayed up with Mary last night and he is going to do it again tonight so that I can sleep. I hear that you usually feel better by the second day of antibiotics. I certainly hope so because I missed holding my little baby girl today.

2 comments:

Shanna from BabySchrades said...

I'm glad you have meds now Jenn, you should feel better soon. We'll plan the trip for another week and maybe Ty and Neil can come too. Love you!

Tanya said...

I had this exact thing happen to me when I was breast feeding Emily. My temp was 102 and I felt worse than I had ever felt before. It is miserable. I am sorry that you are having to go through this! I even had several clogged ducts after this incident but I learned how to fix them before any kind of infection started. I hope you get better soon and we will see you very soon!!! Love you!