Mastitis: My Pregnancy Story

Pregnancy. I have always heard that every pregnancy is different and no two are alike. My first went very smoothly (looking back at it) my biggest concern when I found out I was pregnant again was….my nose spreading! I know, but it’s the truth. After birth, my daughter went straight to the NICU. She had a fever and stayed there for three days of course I pray with this one that that doesn’t happen again, but this happened post pregnancy.

So here I am again, almost nine month pregnant with one heck of a story to tell baby number 2. As of right now, I don’t know the gender of our new addition. With very little surprises in life, we are excited to have gotten this far without knowing this one HUGE thing.

The journey to delivery has been a long one. At first I had no intension of sharing this, it is so personal. But it sheds light to me on the age old saying…every pregnancy is different. And also may bring to the forefront, an issue other pregnant women are experiencing. One that I had no knowledge of prior to it happening to me.

At about four months pregnant I realized that I had pain in my left breast. At first I wrote this pain off as a part of pregnancy. After about a week, I decided to talk to my doctor about it. She too thought it was simply a part of being pregnant. As the pain persisted, I insisted she look at my breast because it was becoming a bit unbearable. As I felt my chest I could feel lumps in it which further freaked me out and I believe heightened my pain as I realized something must really be wrong. I took to WebMD (of course) and could find nothing on my symptoms besides Mastitis.

“Mastitis is inflammation of the breast usually caused by a bacterial infection. It can happen to any woman, although mastitis typically affects breastfeeding women more. Mastitis can leave a new mother feeling very tired and run-down. Add the illness to the demands of taking care of a newborn, and many women quit breastfeeding altogether. But mastitis can be treated with medicine, and you can continue to nurse your baby even though you have mastitis. In fact, breastfeeding usually helps to clear up the infection.”-WedMD

After seeing my OB, she decided to send me to a Breast Specialist to further investigate what was going on in my chest. After a week on antibiotics and a “baby friendly” pain killer the specialist decided that she needed to operate. At about 4 and a half month pregnant, I was sent to have an outpatient procedure at a local hospital. The baby was monitored and I was assured that everything being done was done with the baby’s health in mind, especially since I had to be put to sleep.

Scared out of my mind, I was wheeled into the surgery room and felt much like I was on the set of Grey’s Anatomy as they prepped me for surgery while I was wide awake. They did not want to put me to sleep until they had to so there I was counting to 10 holding my belly while looking at my doctor and a plethora of surgical tools with a group of people around me.

Clearly, I survived this short surgery. The wound was left open as they could not close it while the infection was still there. The pain after surgery seemed worse than the pain before, mostly because I didn’t want to take too many of the drugs prescribed. Even though the doctors said it was perfectly safe, I couldn’t wrap my head around taking the prescriptions.

Recovery. The diagnosis was basically Acute Mastitis. I at first saw the Breast Specialist daily to change my bandages. Her offices were located in the Cancer ward of the hospital; this makes it sad every time I go. Knowing I didn’t have cancer (thank god) was one thing, but constantly being around people that do is hard. Every time I would park my car, the parking attendant would say “going in for chemo? Have a good day” I finally had to tell him I was not, I didn’t want to be rude but it was just too much.

Over the months I felt that I missed my second trimester. The issues with my left breast knocked the life out of me, honestly. I was at the doctors all the time. I had 5 procedures in the specialist office. They were to cauterize my wound as I had “proud skin” with being pregnant; I also had to have a second incision cut as the infection came back. That one had to eventually be cauterized as well. Lastly, I had both incisions stitched closed as we try to prepare for child birth. All these things did not happen back to back, they have taken place over the last four months. All the doctors, nurses, LPN’s involved in my surgery and procedures have been great. It has been a rollercoaster ride but one where everyone on board only wants what is best for myself and my unborn child.

I could not possibly have gotten through this without the help of my family. My husband and even my four year old daughter have been hand over foot helping me deal with the sleepless nights, crazy work schedule, endless doctors’ appointments and last minute trips to the hospital.

In between the treatment of my Mastitis I have been to the hospital for various pregnancy related issues, possible blood clots, had to test twice for glucose (how fun), gotten the flu twice and last but not least had to have a custom mouth guard made for pain that started in my mouth due to grinding my teeth at night. No, no two pregnancies are alike.

Acute Mastitis. Right now, I am still stitched up. I am praying that I will be able to still breast feed my baby. I have been fighting a good fight for 4 plus months and I will not be defeated, even in the moments I feel I am. The point of this story is not that I am strong; it’s that I’m weak. That all pregnancies are different, but as long as my baby is healthy I am happy and despite these last month’s I can’t wait to meet this little person and I would do it all again for them (Period)