I knew that things were going too well when it came to breastfeeding. I hate to be a debbie downer…but I guess it was time for the other shoe to drop. I woke up one morning to alot of pain in my breast. I knew right away what it was, since many people warned me it could happen…I got mastitis…booooo

Mastitis is an infection in the milk duct, and can be common among women who breast feed. It’s crazy how quickly the symptoms began. The main symptom was pain in the breast. The first day it just hurt, and really hurt when the baby nursed. When I woke up the following morning I was pretty confident that my self diagnosis was correct. I was achy, and felt sick, along with the pain and hot red splotches over the hurt area. I didn’t have a fever, but the rest of it all fit. All I needed was for my doctor to get me medicine.

I was hoping that the doctor would just prescribe my medication over the phone, but I had no such luck. She wanted me to come to the office. That meant packing up the baby and going out in the pouring rain, but I’m glad I did. She told me the she wanted to be sure it was actually mastitis because the main medication to cure it is penicillin….and since it says I am allergic to penicillin in my chart we had a bit of a problem.  See when I was 18 I had a reaction to penicillin when I had mono, which then led me to tell doctors that I was allergic. Problem is that penicillin is really the go to medicine that is safe for pregnant and breastfeeding women…this stupid allergy has given me stress for months! Especially since I don’t believe I’m really allergic! I tried to have an allergist test when I was pregnant, but it was too dangerous. Now that I have the baby I tried to get an appointment, and do you know when I got one…..the end of May! But I digress…

First the doc said the only thing I could take was Cipro, but that would mean I had to stop breastfeeding while taking it. I panicked. How could I stop when things were going so well? I think the doctor felt bad for me and offered another option. She told me I could take this medication that affected those people with penicillin allergies in 5-8% of the time. She told me she would allow me to take it if I promised to have Benedryl on hand. To this I crossed my heart and promised.

It’s been about a week since I found out I had mastitis, and it still hurts. I go back to the doctor again in a week and a half to make sure it’s gone. I sure hope it is, and I hope it doesn’t come back. Ouch!