Ouch! I seem to have gotten mastitis. Google says it's most common in the early weeks of nursing, but apparently it happens at other points, too. A couple of weeks ago I had a milk blister, and I have had two blisters before that have resolved themselves pretty quickly, so I didn't pay much attention to it. My nipple was still sore, but nothing I couldn't ignore... and then it felt worse and worse. And then on Saturday night, I realized as I was holding Asher that my entire left breast was sore. Nursing and pumping on Saturday night were so painful, which it has not been since the first few weeks. I also felt very tired and achey, and hoped I wasn't getting the flu.
I woke up on Sunday feeling hot and achey and took my temperature first thing-- it was 100.5! My normal temperature first thing in the morning is 97.3 (I know this because I took my temperature to chart my cycles back when I thought I would have a cycle, how naive!), so this was high for me. I didn't have any real flu symptoms, plus Eric and I had gotten our flu shots over a month ago.
In the entirety of my relationship with Eric, I have not had a fever. I get one, maybe two, colds a winter at the worst. And it just so happened that Sunday was my grandma Tenny's 90th birthday party in Washington, DC! We had been planning to drive down and back that day so we could go and bring the boys to her party. I couldn't stand the idea of her only great-grandchildren not being there, so I knew that Eric and the boys had to go. But then I decided since I wasn't contagious, I should suck it up and go.
So I called my primary care doctor's office, and the doctor on-call told me to call my OB. I have to admit, I was excited to talk to him again and tell him how well our boys are doing! Thankfully, he called a prescription in to CVS, and I ran around like crazy getting ready and we hopped in the car and drove on down.
Our boys were absolute angels-- not a peep or a cry the whole way down, and then smiling and happy for 2 1/2 hours at the party. We brought the walker for Asher and put these little Robeez boots my friend Molly gave us on his feet, and he just marched all around the apartment, exploring, grinning at people, it was so adorable. Benjamin was his usual charming self and let people hold him and pass him all around. We left there around 2:30, and on the way out, we passed Bob and Elizabeth Dole in the lobby-- a DC celebrity sighting! Elizabeth Dole commented on how cute our boys were. They were also well-behaved on the way home, which made my decision to go down there while I was sick the right one.
I am pretty much recovered now. I have some slight tenderness in my breast, but no more aches or fever, fortunately. My energy is also back, and we have had full days and a lot of fun. Now we're preparing for our annual November celebrations: Meema Alison's birthday (tomorrow! With a dinner party for her on Saturday night), and then Thanksgiving, where my boys will celebrate their first Thanksgiving with 4 of their great-grandparents, and many of their aunts, uncles, and cousins.
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