@#$%*&^!

Warning: Some may find this a little TMI, so skip it if you're squeamish.


I went to the doctor this morning (primary care doc this time), because I developed a small problem in one of my boobs Saturday night - I thought maybe I had a plugged duct again, but this time it was super painful.  Symptoms continued through Sunday and were only slightly better this morning because I took ibuprofen yesterday to help manage the pain and the flu-like symptoms.  Turns out I have mastitis.  If you've never had the "opportunity" to experience this little gem, let me fill you in on what it's like: it hurts like h^^^.  I can't touch it, I have to watch how I sleep (thank goodness I'm still sleeping on my sides only - guess some pregnancy habits are hard to break!), and going down the stairs can be interesting.  I'm on an antibiotic to help clear it up.  Apparently it's a bacterial thing, and antibiotics are the only way to get rid of it.  I have to keep pumping regularly, and warm compresses are supposed to help keep things flowing like they should.  The lactation consultant in the NICU told me to keep storing the milk, because it's perfectly safe to give to Judith - it's only the tissue around everything that's infected.  Great news for my daughter, not so great news for me.  I brought this on myself too.  No more super long stretch in the evening!  Needless to say, I've learned my lesson and now I feel like I'm becoming a pumping nazi.  Oh well.  It could be worse: I could have an abscess in there.  I sure hope this clears up fast though.

In other news, John experienced his first diaper blowout this afternoon, and it's partially my fault.  When we got to the hospital, I found out that Judith had taken all of her feeds for almost 24 hours again (we just had to get through the 3:00 for the 24 hour mark), and that she would be moved to an open crib at 9:00 tonight.  Her nurse had just started her care, but I was able to change her diaper and John was able to feed her.  Well, I guess I didn't get the diaper on as snugly as I thought, and there was a gap at the legs.  I went to the mother's room to take care of things while John fed her, and when I got back a little more than 20 minutes later, John had her in the incubator and had a very frustrated smile on his face.  I was confused, and he informed me that Judith had a huge blowout while feeding (he heard and smelled the event - haha!).  He was having a hard time getting her to eat, and there were 10mL left in the bottle at the moment.  We had to change her outfit, blanket, and pulse ox probe.  The little stinker even had the guts to lay in her incubator and smile about the whole thing!  I thought that was very cute, but John was clearly frustrated, especially after everything was getting messed up.  All I have to say is Judith listens to me well most of the time.  We have an arrangement: she saves the poopie diapers for John and gives me the wet ones.  After she was changed, she polished off the remainder of her bottle.

I'm guessing the feeding tube will stay in for at least another day.  I think that's better anyway, because I'd rather see her take on 1 challenge at a time and master it so we don't end up in the same boat we did last Thursday.  They're holding off on her bath too, for this exact reason.  I would imagine that they'll give her a bath at some point, but probably not until she's proven to her nurses that she can be in the open crib more than 24 hours without dropping her body temperature.  It's a small step, but a step nonetheless.