First two weeks of BF'ing my LO went well-ish, from get go however my right breast was giving my trouble (inverted nipple, baby wouldn't latch that or for long, cracked sore nipples, etc) so I OF course tried any and every suggestion made to me by lacataion consultants on what I can do to make the right side as easy as the left side was to nurse her. Well, that didn't work, come mid 3rd week of BF'ing I noticed lump in right breast which was in fact a clogged milk duct, tried massaging and "getting it out" but apparently didn't work and that turned into nasty Mastitis- quickly. Well once I realized something isn't right, called my OB and she agreed it sounded like Mastitis and wrote me a script of which I took for 4 days and noticed it wasn't helping but in fact my symptoms were getting WORSE. By the time I got in with my doctor after demanding an apt, it had turned into a full blown BIG abscess.

If you have never experienced this before, let me tell you it was more painful to me than my labor, delivery, and recovery experience x10! I was miserable and cried and cried from the pain and from feeling guilty that this happened AND that I was putting so much time into healing my breast that I wouldn't be able to enjoy my baby girl. My OB changed my antibiotic to Bactrim and referred me to a breast specialist and she was a God sent. Instead of jumping into an I&D (insicion and drainage) procedure which requires you to pack your breast for about a month bc of how it heals, my Dr instead wanted to do a series of drainages called "serial drainages" of the infection for a whole week aka I had 6sessions of getting lit up with lidocaine (in the infected breast) and draining the nasty out. I'm so thankful she didn't jump the gun on the procedure because I can now say I'm on the mend of recovering with the infection gone and I had the choice to continue to breastfeed my girl with this decision (if you have a I&D they make you quit bc of milk fistulas). While I definitely chose to stop it just made me feel I needed to tell my experience for anyone who unfortunately might go through something like this! Definitely a learning experience but moral of the story: check your breasts when nursing your LO (for pain, lumps, inflamation) and if you have any of the things listed call and get it checked out ASAP! Also, before jumping into procedures, make sure to explore and discuss all possible options of treatment with your Dr!💪🏼