Mastitis, how did I get that?

The pain was awful. I kept on feeding baby, biting my lip from the anguishing pain. I just kept saying I can do this.
I was having this awful pain when I was nursing my son. It was tender to the touch, my pore nipple looked deformed and twice the size it should have. I just had no clue something was wrong. I just figured it was similar to the pain that you go through when you first start nursing a newborn baby.
The other day at work I started pumping and I filled the bottle full of blood. It freaked me out. It was already hurting really bad to touch and feed or pump but now I was bleeding.
Thomas is almost 10 months old. So what was going on?
I finally called a lactation consultant. Why I waited until now I will never know. She recommended I see the doctor because I probably had Mastitis.
Mastitis, what is that and how did I get it?
This all came about from when my son got sick. He was sick last week and didn't eat like he normally does. On a few occasions I let my breasts get pretty filled up and I didn’t pump. Don't make that mistake. I must have gotten a clogged up duct that then turned into Mastitis. I had never heard of this before. It was hurting really bad every time I fed Thomas. It would burn for the first couple minutes and then the pain would ease up. This is a bacterial infection in the breasts. The doctor put me on antibiotics. I am still sore but it is getting better every day. I would have probably ended up with flu like symptoms if I would have left this go on untreated. I wish now I wouldn't have waited so long to seek advice. I was amazed that through the process I could still nurse and I pushed through the pain for my baby. It is amazing what we do for our little ones.

How I have survive 10 months of breastfeeding

When Luke was a baby I was not able to breastfeed him for very long after I returned to work. He got about 2 months of breastfeeding and that was it. It wasn’t because I was having issues with feeding him it was everything else in my life that lead me to give it up.
I made a promise to myself that I was going to have success and not make the same mistakes with Thomas that I did with Luke. I decided I can do it and I will do it!
I am happy to say I have been nursing for almost 10 months now. My goal is to hit his first birthday and then I can consider weaning him if he wants to be weaned. I am just thrilled that I have made it this far.
My husband and family have not always been the best support system but I have dealt with them. My husband says Thomas is going to be attached to me until he is 5. This isn’t true but sometimes I wonder…. He does prefer nursing over a bottle. That can create some frustration for me at times but I am committed.
I learned a few things along the way that made the experience much better the second time around. This time I bought a good Medela Pump. Don’t buy a cheap pump, don’t do it! With Luke I bought a cheap pump that burnt up really quick. It was a small hand held pump that was easy to use but it didn't pump enough milk and it didn't last long at all. I also worked at a place that did not have anywhere that I could pump. I ended up going into the ladies restroom each day and pumped. It wasn't private and I hated every moment of it. In my current job I have my own office so I can close the door three times a day, keep working and pump. This makes life so much easier.
If you do anything invest in a good pump. It will pay for itself in the first couple months of baby’s life. I know I would have spent a lot more on formula by this point so the pump was a great investment. I just wish I had done it the first time because then I could have used it for both my kids and not just for Thomas.
My second smart move is I pump whenever I can so that I can supply the sitter with milk and I have a stock of it in the freezer. I have bought one can of formula since he was born and I bought it with coupons and spent $7.00 on the one can. I actually threw it away because it had been opened and was getting old.
This time I also had a great sitter who provides such a great support system. She nursed her kids, one to 18 months and the other up to 12 months. She provides that encouragement and support that I really need. My family doesn't provide that support and they wanted me to wean him long ago. They just don't understand. I wanted to say if you want me to stop feeding then you buy the formula.
If you are a nursing mom and you need support I am here for you. I learned a lot from both of my children and I am still learning. Don’t be surprised if I am not seeking advice from other mom’s when it is time to wean Thomas. I don’t think I am going to decide when this happens but he will.

Do you Freecycle?

Does your community have a freecycle organization? Have you used it? This is an awesome organization. It is an online community with one goal; pass it along to someone who could use it so that you don’t throw it away. The goal is to keep perfectly good things out of the land fills.First you join the group at http://www.freecycle.org/. Then you are set up to post items you would like to give away, or items that are wanted. You send an email and then it is sent to everyone in the group. People then email you if they are interested in your item or if they have an item they would like to give to you that you have requested. Everything is FREE and no money is to exchange hands. I have seen in my community people give away furniture, TV’s, appliances, clothes, you name it I think I have seen it. I have never requested anything but I have given away a few things and it is so simple. Once you post the item, those interested send you an email with an interest in the item. Finally you get to decide who gets the item and they come pick it up.This is such a novel concept and bravo to the person who thought of it. Finally I thank all those that participate and who act as moderators to keep such a great thing going.

Paperless Coupons

Coupons are one of those things that I love and I hate. I tend to clip them all the time and then I either forget to take them to the grocery store or forget to use them. Then it never fails when I have them to use they have expired. Recently I found a new thing called Proctor & Gamble E-saver. I am a Kroger shopper and some of you might not be familiar with Kroger but P&G had other stores that you could load your coupons to if there isn't a Kroger in your area. On the Kroger web site you can go in and select P&G e-saver program, sign up and pick your coupons. You don’t have to print anything out you enter your Kroger card number when you sign up. Then you select the coupons that you want or will use and they are saved to memory on your Kroger card.Now when I go shopping I can’t forget my coupons because they are already attached to my Kroger card. I love this!

The funnies of a 5 year old

My son Luke seems to be a very witty and funny kid. He keeps me in stitches regularly with his comments and his choices of words. The other day we are in the car after his t-ball game. He received his game snack and it was the Yo-Go’s yogurt. Now Luke does not like yogurt and I didn’t think he would eat these. He opens them up and takes a bite and here is what happens next:

Luke…. "Wooo! I didn’t see that coming. Those are surprisingly good."

Now we are just cracking up in the car because of how he says this. Now, I was surprised by his choice of words. Later I figured out exactly where he got these crazy words. On TV there is a commercial for KFC and a girl tries there chicken wings and says this very saying.

I think my son has had a little too much TV time here recently. It was still very funny to me.