Love hurts...

Well, I don't think I'll be mentioning cloth diapers in this post, except to say this- when the problem (which you are about to learn about) was resolved, a nice absorbent cloth diaper came in handy to clean up the mess...

So, what was the problem you ask? Pain. Intense pain- the kind that makes it hard to sleep or focus on much else. The cause? A terrible case of clogged milk ducts! I have nursed 2 babies now and this is my first serious case of multiple clogged (or plugged) ducts. I'll tell you what, I wouldn't mind going the rest of my life without an encore.

I first noticed a problem Thursday night when I tried to nurse my daughter at midnight after not having nursed her since 3 p m. She is 11 months old and is working on weaning, it seems- that's part of the reason for the 9 hour gap in nursing. The other is that I had been in class from 5:30-9:00 pm and she was already asleep when I got home. That was my first mistake- I should have woken her to nurse or at least expressed some milk at 9 pm, but I was feeling tired and lazy and wasn't experiencing any discomfort. I foolishly thought I could wait until she woke up. WRONG! By midnight I was really ready to feed her. I nursed her on both sides, but noticed that the right breast was still engorged even after she had nursed for 10-15 minutes. Exhausted and hoping things would be better in the morning, I went to bed. I work up to the most horrible pain at 4 am. I was totally engorged on the right side and could not even express a trickle!

I didn't know what to do. After talking with a good friend, a breast feeding counselor and a lactation consultant I took a few steps to relieve the problem (which thankfully did not turn into a raging case of mastitis- which could have meant lots of antibiotics to combat the infection and high fever!)

In hopes that you do not suffer the same ordeal here's what I did:

- Hot compresses (hot water bottle, hot shower hot wash cloth- the moist heat helps a ton)

- Massage, massage massage (preferably in conjunction with moist heat- in the shower was best for me. Be warned, it hurts like heck, but it helps!)

- Nurse, nurse, nurse. The temptation is to be hands (and mouths) OFF because the pain is so bad, but don't be tricked. This will only make matters worse. The breast needs to be massaged and emptied and baby suckling is the most effective method.

- Ibuprofen- it helped to make all of this tolerable.

So, after 2 days of pain, the suckling final bore some results. I could feel the clog actually passing (it hurt big time) and the all of a sudden, it was like the dam broke and the flood gates were opened. And THAT is when the cloth diaper came in handy!

Take a look at this article by Jack Newman and this blog post by Amy Ellen Kise on the topic of plugged ducts. They were helpful for me!

Update on Wednesday, March 31, 2010 by Phillydiaper Team

So... here it is 5 days or so later and the trouble still lingers. Thankfully a full blown plugged duct has not recurred but I am still battling htis pesky (and painful) "minor" obstruction which is slightly visible on the surface. In case there are some guys reading, I won't go into too many squemish details... but check out this article and let us know how you've dealt with this annoying problem!