Friday, November 21, 2008

Update on Jenn, by Shanna

Hi everyone,

Jenn asked me to update the blog for her so that you aren't worried. After her post yesterday she went to the doctor and they decided that she needed to be admitted to the hospital to get antibiotics through an I.V. That sounds pretty simple, but it took about 4 hours for her to actually get into her room and get some meds. It was an administrative mess, but she finally got settled around 7pm. At that point she had had a fever of 103 for a couple of days and very engorged breast. It is now 4pm the next day and she still has these things!!! They were only going to give her one bag of antibiotics, but have decided now to give her a new bag every 8 hours. They are hoping that this along with her pumping every 2 hours will be enough to drain the milk. If not, the last resort is to have the milk surgically drained - what I think is an out patient procedure where local anesthesia is used.

She still feels pretty bad, although they have given her some pain medication. The babies are at their sitter, Andria's house, and are doing great. Neil and Mom are with her at the hospital.

Everyone keep your fingers crossed that she feels better soon!

3 comments:

Frances Katrin said...

Sounds like the infection is really serious. I hope her spirits stay up and she pulls through soon.

A few ideas that might be of help.

-Pumping is great! But the baby's suck is at least twice as efficient as getting the milk out. If they can have the baby room in, that will likely give her sooner relief.

-If pumping is the only option, her engorged breasts probably need extra large pumping shields. A larger shield will mean that the breast tissue will not be unnecessarily constricted so the milk can flow. The hospital usually has only one size shield, but a professional lactation consultant will have lots of sizes in inventory and will measure her for the right one. If the nipple turns purple or dark red during pumping, that means it is probably too small.

-If pumping, consider every hour while awake. Two hours at night. Same is true with nursing... as often as she will let you/ tolerate it. If she is awake, she should be nursing.

-Antibiotics can put the baby and mother at risk of developing thrush. To prevent this, supplement the mother with acidopholis (sp?) and yogurt every day. Yeast/ Thrush issues is cand develop into issues that last weeks and are just as painful as mastitis. Not to scare you, just to warn so you can prevent.

-You can still alternate hot and cold compresses or submersion into water bowls to get the breast tissue to relax.

-Nursing on all fours (baby lying on floor) works wonders to get the milk to flow down.

- To prevent mastitis again, avoid wearing a bra, fitted shirts, laying on your side or stomach, and touching your breast while nursing.

- Relax.... alternate wine/beer with water. Hey, why not, after what you've been through. :)

Anonymous said...

We're thinking about you, Jenn. Hope you get better very soon. I'm sure the hospital will take great care of you. Let us know if we can help with the kids in any way! Lisa V.

Anonymous said...

Also, no bras with underwire! Hope you feel better soon!