knowledge is power...and less painful

i didn't realize how ominous my previous post title would end up...but ominous it was.

you ladies know exactly where i'm going, because a lopsided and hurting chest can go from that to a burning mastitis inferno in about 2.4 seconds. and this is where that story is heading.

the first time i had mastitis i was stuck in our jeep with ty and the two oldest girls. we were driving to disneyland and the traffic was insufferable. can you say parking lot? between baker and barstow i went from a tight chest to a fever of 104.3 and hallucinations. that was the closest i felt to dying, and wanting to die for that matter, in my life. i spent the next day in a hotel room on antibiotics and drainage duty. SO FUN!...not.  i don't ever recommend going to disneyland with a 10week old preemie and forgetting your medela pump at home. all that money for nothing!

so, long story short (too late) yesterday things progressively tightened as the day went on. the heat and the cold rotations of a heating pad and cabbage leaves were not working. (which, by the way, lying down with a heating pad with a 2 yr old, 10 month old and cranky 5 year old is near the top of my not fun moments) but i did remember how refreshing those cold cabbage leaves feel, and man are they the right cup size for me. like a glove : ) but the non-bra wearing decision was not helping at all. by 3pm it hurt so badly i couldn't move that one arm...and panic set it.  i was getting mastitis and things had to be addressed immediately.

thankfully my mother-in-law was free for the afternoon and rushed down as my mom was heading to el templo.  i called my dr's office for a scrip of antibiotics in case things took a turn for the worse overnight. and thank goodness i called! i found out that i'm the biggest mastitis retard on the earth. because apparently getting mastitis with an 10 week old or 4 week old baby, is NOT the same as when you get mastitis when you're baby has weaned.  who knew? obviously, not me.

"do not apply heat on it", the kind nurse instructed. "uh oh," i thought in my head. "and don't move, touch, stimulate them at all".  "oh snap" i thought again.  i had been doing everything wrong, and i mean everything.  with my 2 previous cases of mastitis the instructions were rotations of ice and heat every 10 minutes and pump and drain and nurse those puppies till kingdom come.

i laid in bed with 4 sports bras on and slept from 3:30pm onward (except for dinnertime) and iced and iced and iced and gave ty strict instructions to not even look at my chest area (it really hurts that badly). poor guy.

luckily kathryn helped me out with my church activity last minute and my sister in-law subbed my zumba class for me so i could sleep sleep sleep. ty walked in every once in a while and switched my ice packs. and it's doing much better, thanks for asking.

the best part of the story is i was just giving advice to a new mom about how to take care of mastitis, and here i get it myself ( well, luckily i abated it before the fever and hallucinations set in like with abby). but still! never underestimate the power of how giving advice will bite you in the behind...

or boob.

take your pick.