The Life of Matthew

Oh dear, things are not very well at the moment. Mummy is ill. Mummy has a special breastfeeding Mummy illness called mastitis.

Yesterday morning Mummy woke up with a pain in her left breast. At first she thought she’d just slept badly but then she started feeling week and drained. She was getting chills and feeling nauseous and had a horrible headache. Then she started getting a temperature. Daddy said it might be mastitis and then Mummy looked up the symptoms and it seemed clear that was what it was.

By this time it was getting quite late (for me anyway - I start getting ready for bed around 8pm) and it was my dinner time so Daddy had to stay home with me while Mormor took Mummy to the doctor.

The doctor confirmed Daddy’s diagnosis and Mummy is now on antibiotics and anti inflammatories. He gave her a book to read about how the drugs he prescribed (penicillin g and ibuprofen) are safe for pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers.

Mummy is feeling a lot better today and doesn’t seem to have a high fever anymore so that’s good news. She has to keep taking medicine for another 4 days. I have to help her get better by continuing to drink lots of milk.

Now for the science stuff: it seems that mastitis is an inflammation of the breast with swelling, redness, tenderness and pain. Infection is also possible so you should see a doctor as soon as possible. If it doesn’t get treated, it can cause a breast abscess that has to be drained. That doesn’t sound nice at all so I’m glad Mormor took Mummy to the nice doctor. It seems to be caused by clogged milk ducts so you should make sure you either breastfeed or express milk regularly. You also shouldn’t sleep on your stomach, wear tight or under-wire bras or allow yourself to get run down or stressed. If there is a sudden decrease in the frequency of feedings this can lead to mastitis. What caused it for Mummy she doesn’t know. She hasn’t done any of those things and it’s weeks - months - since I stopped feeding so frequently.

Daddy is of course taking wonderful care of her and of me. Yesterday Mummy didn’t have the strength to lift me. She has to drink plenty of fluids, relax (it is an illness you know), get lots of rest, apply warm and cold compresses (which as far as I can see means a wet towel), sleep without a bra, massage the sore area and - most important of all - keep feeding me. Only I have the strength (!) to unclog the ducts. I am super baby!

It seems that some people say you should put cabbage leaves in your bra. I do know that cabbages are out of season so Mummy is a bit stuck there. Apparently that helps ease engorgement but Mummy seems to have gone beyond that stage.

I might end up with a little diarrhoea as I react to Mummy’s medicine but I should be all right. As long as Mummy gets better.

Until next time, bye bye