Cold, Boob, Heart

Yeah, there's a catchy title.  ;o)

We've had a busy few days.  BB celebrated his ten month birthday on Sunday by coming down with a rotten cold.  This is only his second cold ever, so I'm definitely NOT complaining.  But I do feel terrible for him.  This cold is significantly worse than the cold he had in October.  It's obvious that he doesn't "get" why he feels so terrible.  I've been pondering the fact that he's only had two colds in the past ten months.  Is it because he has a great immune system (with special thanks to breastfeeding), or is it because he hasn't been exposed to enough germs?  I'm sure there's no way for me to know the answer, just something I've been thinking about.

I celebrated BB's ten month birthday by getting a blocked milk duct.  It wasn't really painful, but very disconcerting and scary.  It happened around 13:00.  I started feeding BB and by the end of his feeding, my right breast had a very hard area above my nipple.  I, of course, started to panic.  I searched online for the symptoms of mastitis, but it didn't seem possible since I didn't have a temperature and the hard area wasn't sore or red.  And at that point, I didn't realize that a blocked duct was different from mastitis.  I tried to get some rest, spent some time in the shower with the warm water running on it, applied warm compresses, tried pumping and massage.  Because of BB's cold, he was barely nursing, so he wasn't much help in trying to move things along.  It wasn't getting any better and I was becoming quite frightened.  After we put BB to bed for the night, I called the Mother/Baby General Info Hotline at the DECRH.  I wasn't sure if it was the right place to turn, since BB is ten months old, but I knew that if I called Telecare, I'd end up talking to someone with limited knowledge about breastfeeding (perhaps even less knowledge than I have!), and every time I've ever called Telecare, I'm told to see a doctor within two hours--without fail--and then when I see the doctor, they just shake their head because it really wasn't a dire emergency.  The person I spoke with at the Mother/Baby line was very helpful and assured me that it was okay to call that number with a breastfeeding issue as there is really no other place for me to get help.  She explained that it was a blocked duct, and encouraged me to continue with the measures I had been taking, and told me to keep with it until it finally let go.  I worked at it from 20:00 until 23:00.  At that point I had managed to move it to my nipple (yep, I could actually SEE the blockage), but couldn't get it the rest of the way.  I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open, so decided that rest would probably be the best option at that point.  When BB woke up at 04:30 he managed to finish unblocking it for me.  I was a very grateful momma!  I've been very fortunate to not have any breastfeeding issues up until this point...  I've often felt like a lot of the people around me have been waiting for me to fail at it, so I was very discouraged when this happened.  I've very very glad that everything seems to be okay now though.

I need to mention how supportive DH was during the whole blocked-duct-ordeal.  He took BB out for a drive late in the afternoon so I could have a nap.  (It's the first time BB has left the house without me!  I was a bit nervous, but they both returned safe & sound!)  He sat up with me until I decided to call it a night.  He fetched the hot water bottle, reheated the Magic Bag, kept me company in the bathroom while I stood in the shower, and even offered to try pumping for me when my hand got tired.  :)  I tend to only share my gripes about him on here.  He's really a good guy.  :)

BB's cold seems to be considerably better today.  He had a temperature at bed time last night, but when we checked it at 03:15 this morning he was back to normal.  His nose is leaking less today, so that's awesome.  

I had a bit of an upsetting convo with my dad last night.  He called to check on BB and mentioned that he has stopped taking his cholesterol medication.  He's been on it for several years now (11 maybe?) and his joints have been bothering him a lot recently.  Because of his work, he's very active, and is definitely not out of shape.  He heard of some relatives who stopped taking their cholesterol meds, and they're not having joint problems anymore.  He says he stopped taking his this weekend, and the next morning he was able to get out of bed without any problem.  I suggested that he should discuss this with the doctor, and he seemed to think that if he just started watching his diet he could stay off them.  If he had watched his diet in the first place he may not have ended up on them!  And mom mentioned in an email yesterday that she and dad had Chinese food one night this weekend - does this count as watching your diet?!  He seems to think that he'd rather die of a heart attack than be uncomfortable all of the time.  I want BB to grow up with his grampy in his life.  And the other thing is, who says he'll die of a heart attack?  Maybe he'll end up with heart problems, and not be able to enjoy his quality of life because he has to take it easy all the time?  It's not black and white.  I totally get the fact that he wants to be free from pain, but I really think he needs to discuss all of this with his doctor.  Unfortunately, his doctor is the same doctor I go to... he's retiring in a year.  He isn't exactly "with it."  But in the current situation our health-care system is in, you can't just jump ship and go to a new doctor.  I voiced my opinion.  I cannot nag.  He will only tune me out.  I need to let him be an adult and handle this.  But in the meantime, I will worry.  Because it seems to be what I do.