Breastfeeding Ziggy: Mastitis is a Motherfucker.

There are few things lonelier than feeding at 2am, just you, your baby and a red, sore swollen boob that feels like someone’s sticking knives in it each time he latches on.

The first time I got mastitis it came out of nowhere. I had no idea what it was. I had heard of mastitis, sure, that was something cows got, but I hadn’t put two and two together when the symptoms began.

It started with a tenderness on the side of my breast, it was a bit warmer than usual, and it felt hard. I didn’t think anything of it, Ziggy was only 8 weeks old and my body had many tender parts, so what was another one.

As the day went on, the tenderness got worse and I could feel a big lump on the side of my boob. It had hurt to feed Ziggy since he was born, every time he latched on my toes curled, and as soon as he was done I slathered a calming balm all over my nipples, but now it was agony. Like hot knives stabbing my nipple every time he latched, and the pain continued throughout the entire feed.

I started to feel unwell, tired, chilled, just plain crappy. But by the time I thought to do anything about it, it was too late in the day for the doctors, so I took some immunofort, painkillers, and went to bed.

Feeding that night was terribly painful. It’s a horrible thing looking at your beautiful child and dreading feeding them. When Ziggy latched on sharp shooting pains would dart up my breast and the pain would take my breath away.

I curled my toes, grabbed onto AJs hand, squeezed the shit out of it and cried. Cried and cried while Ziggy fed. I cried silently, tears rolling down my face, looking at AJ, out the window, at the wall, anywhere but at Ziggy. I didn’t want him seeing me so upset.

It was a rough night. Ziggy was up feeding often, and I didn’t want to keep waking up AJ, so I just sat there, in the dark, feeling sorry for myself. And I Facebooked.

Faceboook is great when you’re up multiple times a night. Because, chances are, your mama friends are up too. And they are full of help, support and advice. They were quick to come to my rescue; ‘Get to a doctor straight away’ they told me. ‘Take lots of vitamin C and probiotics’ they advised. ‘Massage, massage, feed feed feed’ they said.

And they sympathised. They told me to hang in there, breath through the pain, ‘you’re strong’ they told me, ‘you can do this’.

The morning saw me head to the doctor and the health shop. I had my ammunition, it was time to wage war against this horrible affliction. Yeah right.

I spent the day lying on the couch, too miserable to move, while AJ looked after Ziggy and bought him to me for feeding, then took him away again. I was so grateful for his support, just holding Ziggy to give him a boob was beyond me at that point.

It was like having the flu. Not a cold, that people call a flu, but the legitimate,  hit over the head with a bit of two by four, can’t get out of bed, chills and sweats, flu. With excruciating breast pain, now in both of them, just to top things off.

A friend had also suggested I get Ziggy checked for a tongue-tie. Tongue-ties can hinder babies ability to suckle properly. An incorrect latch sometimes means the breast is not being drained properly during feeding. This can lead to a blocked duct, which in turn if not treated can lead to an infection and mastitis.

A tongue-tie? This was not something we had remotely considered . I didn’t think there was anything wrong with his tongue. He could stick it out fine, and anyway, if there was something wrong, wouldn’t have the midwife or doctor picked it up by now? He was 8 weeks old, it wouldn’t have gone undetected for this long would it?

I decided to see a Lactation Consultant anyway. I didn’t think that Ziggys latch was very good, he seemed to be taking in just my nipple, and even before I got mastitis it was always painful to feed him. Finding a Lactation Consultant at first proved to be difficult.

I tried my midwife,  she recommended I call the Birth Centre. I called Waterford. They advised me they used to have one, but that service had not long been discontinued.  They suggested I try the other Birth Centre. Same story there but they gave me the name and number of a lady who worked privately.  I called her. She wouldn’t see Ziggy as he was over 6 weeks old, (at this stage my stressed out emotions kicked in and my voice started wavering) but she advised I try the hospital.

Emotional, and a little bit frazzled, I called the number she gave me. I struck gold. I explained my situation and an appointment was made. I hung up the phone and cried. I was relieved to have finally found someone willing to help but I was pretty exhausted by the run around it took to find help

The following day, still sore, still tired, and now sporting a coldsore, just to top things off, I trudged my way into the LC’s office. The lady I met was lovely. As Ziggy was grizzling and hungry, the first thing she did was show me how to literally smoosh my boob into Ziggys mouth . . . and for the first time in 8 weeks of breastfeeding, it didn’t hurt! It didn’t hurt! I looked at here with wide eyes, and then I started to cry.

The relief I felt to feed him pain free was intense. I had been battling through pain during every feed for 8 weeks, and in just 5 minutes, this wonderful lady had fixed it.

We got talking and she told me that pain while breastfeeding, for 8 weeks, was not normal. For the first week or so as your body adjusted, yes, but for Ziggy to be two months old and it still hurt to feed him, even when I didn’t have mastitis, was not right. ‘Has anyone checked him for a tongue-tie’ she asked? ‘No’ I replied, ‘his tongue is fine, he can poke it out with no trouble’.

Well, as it turns out, a tongue-tie does not always hinder the baby’s ability to stick their tongue out, but instead to lift it up. She checked his mouth and sure enough, he had a short frenulum, or tongue tie, and he also had a upper lip tie, which meant he could not splay his upper lip up when feeding. My poor kiddo.

‘Oh hun’ she said, ‘no wonder you are having troubles’.  She gave me a booklet of information and the name and number for a local dentist that corrected tongue and lip ties. I called them that afternoon and after a bit of to’ing and fro’ing, and more tears (mine of course), an appointment was made for the following day.

Thank you for visiting. We post a lot of garden, food and Ziggy images on our Instagram account, and daily thoughts, discussions, and even a few giveaways on our Facebook page. Come and join us.

If you are experiencing ongoing pain while breastfeeding, please don’t just think ‘this is normal’ and continue to suffer. There is so much support out there for you. Whether it be your midwife, a Lactation Consultant, your local La Leche group, friends and family, there are people out there waiting to help you. I find The Milk Meg has great advice too. You are not alone, and something can be done to help. You just need to ask.