| By Wednesday I was having problems again. This time the right side was fine, but
the left breast was very engorged, sore, and swollen. I was afraid to pump because I
didn't want it to produce more milk. I expressed some milk by hand, and a lot came
out on its own anyway. But by afternoon, my fever had returned and I was feeling
really bad. Again, I called the doctor's office and reported my rising temperature and other symptoms. My instructions were to pump milk if I could and start a new antibiotic - Augmentin. Well, I was on the second floor and the pump was in the basement. I had already given Joe a heads-up that I was starting to feel bad again and asked if he could come home. Apparently he had a conference call he needed to be there for, so he remained at work, though I kept wondering when I would hear from him or when he would get home. Finally, I talked to the receptionist where he works, and she tracked him down when I told her I had a temperature of 103. When he told his boss the situation, the boss sent him home at once! Thankfully Rebekah slept peacefully through most of the afternoon while this was happening. Otherwise I might have really had my hands full! By the time Joe got home with my prescription from the pharmacy, I had retrieved the pump from the basement but didn't have the energy to sit up and use it...much less did I want to leave Rebekah who had finally decided to wake up and fuss. With Joe's help, I was able to pump a few ounces of milk to relieve some of the pressure. We agreed that if my temperature went any higher than the 103.8 or so that it was at, we would call the doctor again. A few minutes later, it had risen to 104. The doctor had us come in to his office, and he made a special trip in to see me. He was looking to see if an abscess had developed, which thankfully one hadn't! Nevertheless, he needed to do something to help me recover. He took a culture of the milk and sent it in for testing, and then he proceeded to express a lot of milk out of my left breast. I really think the pain from that was worse than the contractions of labor, but it's hard to be sure! Afterwards, he sent me home. We were so glad I didn't have to go into the hospital for intraneous antibiotics that evening, but if things were not improving by the next morning, that still might be necessary. Thankfully, things were better on Thursday morning. I had been instructed to pump milk every 2 hours or so, and I did. Afterwards, I massaged even more out by hand. Over the next few days I decreased the amount of pumping until I wasn't getting anything out when I pumped. A few more times of hand-expression while lying down did the trick in eliminating the problem and my milk supply. |