Blebbity bleb bleb

I've had a whole bunch of posts rattling around in my noggin and no time to write anything, since at present it seems all my spare baby-free hours are spent searching for a place to go on holiday in February.  The requirements have become increasingly complex almost to the point of ridiculousness: must be dog and baby friendly, someplace pretty but not tooo far away, somewhere with stylish decor and good heating (essential in the raw damp old Scottish weather). DVD player and wi-fi desirable. Hot tub, aromatherapy and spa treatments aspirational. 

Unfortunately, the first item on the list (that being "dog") already limits things quite considerably. That and the fact that as usual, we have left it too late and most of the good places are booked up. We could compromise but frankly, I have stayed in enough chilly wee hovels up the side of a damp glen to last a lifetime. There is one house we really like the look of, but it is miles and miles away in the arse end of Arse-na-Nog. Even if Botany is willing to put up with the journey, it just feels kind of...remote.

Anyway, much as I want to get around to writing about all those other fascinating topics (weight loss! my loathing of public transport! dreams about losing the baby in the bed!) what I really want to do right now do is throw myself at the mercy of the wise old internets and talk about the thing on my left boob. (If you're in the middle of eating your breakfast, now might be a good time to look away). I think it may be a milk blister, also charmingly known as a bleb. See how educational blogging is? I had no idea what a bleb was before yesterday and now I get to share it with the entire world.

The thing looks blebbish, and has been hanging around for about a week now. I've tried applying warm compresses and nursing more frequently on that side. But no joy. It remains, bleb-like as ever. If I may get a bit graphic- it's not really all that raised as such, and when prodded, it does appear that milk comes out of that duct so I am not convinced that it is, in fact, a bleb. In which case I am not sure what the hell it is. I don't self-diagnose thrush, because it is only one wee white spot and I can't see any corresponding spots in Botany's mouth.

Is it possible to have a bleb where it's just kind of a bit covered over rather than actually plugged?  Where milk still comes out? I've tried scratching away the top surface with a (clean!) fingernail but much as I am keen to wheak out the offending material, I don't see anything really in there to grab onto (sorry- personally, I am a bit ghoulish and love this stuff). Then a few hours later the white coating is back and we start over.

I am beginning to get worried because it's now actually becoming a bit sore- waking me up at 2am in discomfort. But that could be from all the poking around I have been doing, rather than from the alleged bleb itself. Unfortunately, even though I am trying to get her to nurse more often on that side, Botany's new favourite trick is to vigorously yank her head away to look at something else with my beleagured nipple still in her mouth- causing to me yelp in pain.  No doubt this is not helping either.

I am living in mortal dread of mastitis setting in, especially as I am starting to feel a bit "all overish" and yucky. The solution is probably to trot myself down to the GP and whip out the (theoretical) offending bleb for a proper analysis- but I do like to go armed with as much googled factoids and anecdotal evidence as possible, if only because I can see it annoys the doctors in my practice that somebody is thinking for themselves.

Now, I am off to seek out holiday cottages that also accept blebs. 

Comments

[another karen]

hi mare -

i had a (granted self-diagnosed AND self-treated) blocked pore. at least i think it was a pore as opposed to a duct, because my didn't cause any real pain so to speak. it was just this constant whitehead-looking thing on my left nipple. i thought i was imagining it for a while (it was definitely much more noticeable right after she nursed) - until the day DH said "what the heck is THAT?" in the end, i followed the advice from "The Nursing Mother's Companion" and took a clean, sterile needle to it. as promised (in the book), while it did bleed (eeeewwww, sorry...) a little bit, it was not particularly painful to unplug. what i removed definitely looked like it was just dried up old milk that came out with a moderate amount of "needle prodding." i did find that i had to sort of dig a little out, then massage the nipple/breast to push some milk (and, hence, the clog with it) up and out but, after a few rounds of that (done all in one sitting over the course of just a few minutes), i got "nothing but milk" and have been bleb-free ever since. i should also admit that i had tried it a couple of times before with no luck as i was too much of a wimp to actually break the skin and "dig" (gosh, that sounds SO much worse than it was). honestly, it was comparable to removing a splinter - it looks and seems a whole lot worse than it really is. once i broke the skin and could see what was in there, it really wasn't painful in any way (and, trust me, i am a TOTAL wimp)!

hope that helps. best of luck - with the bleb and the holiday!

karen

[Veronica]

Firstly, just having gotten over a bout of mastitis myself, if you are even feeling a TINY bit 'all overish' then get to a doctor right now!

I went from feeling a little 'off' to being 'OMG I need to throw up and pass out and where is a rock to crawl under because I am DYING' within a few hours. It moves very very fast.

2 days of antibiotics later I feel much better.

I have had small bleb like things on the side of my nipple since I was pregnant. As of yet they haven't caused me any trouble. I squeeze the stuff out of them occasionally (gosh that sounds gross) but they haven't really caused me any issues.

[Tonya]

I have had those white spots while nursing, and they tended to go away over time. However, since you are starting to get some localized pain AND not feeling well, etc, I would head to the doctor and get checked out soon. I've never had a bout of mastitis that didn't make me feel like crap, and quickly.

Hope you find a great destination for your trip, and that you feel better soon.

[MAZ]

Hi mare,

Not sure about the bleb - sounds a bit blocked like you say. But I reckon be off with you to the Dr's so that they can have a prod and poke!

You probably already know this site - but just in case, have you tried babyfriendlyboltholes.co.uk (not sure if this is the exact address, may require bit of googling)? Boutiquey type accomodation throughout UK - can search by ability to babysit, provide meals, activities and pooch accomodation.

[thalia]

I think i had something similar, and had the same experience as another karen. A needle and a bit of squeezing made it go away.

I really really hope you DON'T have mastitis.

[mellie]

The massaging milking thing works best with a hot shower to get everything loosened up first and then follow the instructions for hand expressing breast milk--you may need to have a go with a sterile needle first though to create a release point. It took a few rounds of this to get rid of mine but it was so painful that the tedium getting rid of it was worth it. Incidentally, I went to the doctor and he really couldn't do much with it, but I don't think he was very used to blebs.

[mellie]

Oh, and re-reading your post, mine would also seem to let milk out but there was some sort of thin layer of skin that kept the blebbiness in place (where else but the internet could a person write that without much embarressment!) So it was probably just partially blocked. That made it harder to get rid of--it would build up pressure and hurt, but the pressure wouldn't cause it to totally release, so it would just sort of stay there.