Breastfeeding does not come without complications. Two of the major ones are mastitis and thrush. I have lived and breastfed through both and there is life on the other side trust me.
Mastitis. If you notice your breasts are hard, red and very tender you may be developing mastitis. I always knew I had mastitis when I spiked a fever and got severe cold chills. I was freezing cold even though I was piled under blankets and sweating. If you think you have mastitis contact your ob right away and let them know. They can prescribe you antibiotics that are safe to use while breastfeeding. A nice hot shower helps as well to relieve aching breasts and warm your chilled body. If you can stand the pain, expressing or pumping milk helps to relive clogged milk ducts and engorged breasts. Warm compresses and frequent nursing help you to survive as well. Mastitis is very painful, but with treatment is usually over in 1-2 days. If you have to go through this just hang in there and get the help you need and take some acetaminophen for fever and pain if you need to. It is fairly short-lived, but extremely uncomfortable, but definitely not the time to quit breastfeeding!
Thrush. Thrush was a pain. It is a yeast infection that lasts longer and was harder to get rid of because you have to treat yourself and the baby. If you have very sore red nipples and notice white patches inside your baby’s mouth and on its tongue you both may have thrush and you need to make a trip to the pediatrician. Now breastfed babies do typically have a white milky tongue so don’t confuse this for thrush, but if you do suspect that you are dealing with thrush it is better safe than sorry.
I hope that you do not have to deal with either of these things, but in case you do, be prepared and know that they only last a little while and don’t give up! If you can sacrifice nine months of discomfort for this beautiful baby, you can sacrifice a week of discomfort for months of nursing.
If you need encouragement or have questions feel free to contact me. I just want to equip you to have the best breastfeeding experience possible and be an encouragement in any way that I can be.
Succeed when you breastfeed 