The first infection

I'm just going to feel sorry for myself for a second. I have been really happy since Annika was born because breastfeeding was going much better than it had with Maya. Not great, mind you, and still a lot of pain, but definitely less than the first time. I still have one bad nipple crack that I'm working to heal, but I've been making progress.

Well, now I have an infection - a big red sore patch on the top/side of the left breast that doesn't feel like a plugged duct (no lump). I've been nursing pretty much every single hour (sometimes Annika sleeps and I make it two hours, fancy that!) both day and night since she was born. Last night alone I nursed at 8, 10, 12, 1, 2, 3, and 4:30, at which point I passed her off to husband in desperation until 7 when she really started crying. I am definitely nursing frequently enough that I absolutely should NOT be getting mastitis!! I can't say that's what it is yet, and hopefully I can nip it in the bud and keep it under control, but right now it's red and sore and I am feeling sorry for myself that nursing is just never going to be easy for me :( :( :(

Anyway, I just took a bunch of Advil, along with a hot shower, and now I'm sleeping with a heating pad on my boob. I did want to quickly document though that the hospital pharmacy (the only compounding one in like a 50 mile radius) will no longer make jack newman's APNO, so my midwife told me to home brew it from shit you can order off the internet. This left me with two bad options about what is safer to put on my nipples tonight to try to combat the microbes: unused APNO from nursing Maya that expired two years ago, or the gunk I made myself in my bathroom?

Rant over, but I'll keep you posted about whether or not I'm pumping green pus out tomorrow...again, why am I the only one for whom it can't just be EASY?!?

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