***annabananabelle***
Thanks for your response below to my mastitis post. I do have questions!
1) where do people get it from?
2) how do I avoid it?
3) my milk supply has gone way down in the infected breast, can I hope that it will return?
4) is it true that once you get it once, you'll likely get it again?
5) Everyone says take a hot shower and massage the breast to open up the ducts, but this does not seem to be helping at all. The breast is still very swollen and I hardly get any milk out of it.
6) I pump about every other feeding session while DD drinks breastmilk from a bottle, she nurses with a nipple shield in the intervening sessions (we've had a billions issues BF-ing, this is what we've been doing lately - better than not BF-ing!). So doing the different holds won't help empty the breast (DD has a terrible time getting milk out to begin with). So I've been just pumping like mad, holding the flanges slightly differently while pumping, in the spirit of trying to get all the different ducts to open up. No idea if that is helpful.
All in all I'm very frustrated by this. Breastfeeding with #2 has been ten times harder than with #1, and this is just one more thing. 
Re: ***annabananabelle***
Sorry I don't know what the nest is doing, I'll try again
1) From my understanding and from looking it up in the book, there are a several different ways you get a clogged duct or breast infection (mastitis can refer to just a clogged duct OR a breast infection, which is what you have when you get the fever and flu like symptoms) My guess, while not knowing your whole breastfeeding situation is that the frequent pumping (instead of nursings) and the shields are just causing that side to not empty enough. But, here is a whole list of causes:
Shirts or bras that are too tight, especially ones that cross over your soft breast tissue where the ducts are. Other tight things, like Baby Bjorn carriers that cross your chest, diaper bags/purses that cross your chest, etc can cause this problem too
Stress and fatigue (rest is so important to get better and stay better!)
Sleeping on your stomach, which can put pressure on your breasts and clog the ducts, or anything else that puts constant pressure on your breasts
Babies who are ineffective at emptying the breast
Missed or shortened feedings (this was part of our problem, DD was sleeping 5 hour stretches)
Oversupply issues (again not emptying enough)
Poor latch and ineffective suck.
Nipple damage
2) To avoid it you need want DD to breastfeed as often you can as long as she wants. When I was getting recurring mastitis I would let her keep eating and eating (we'd do each side twice fairly frequently). You should also avoid the other things above like tight bras, etc. Stay as rested as you can. If it's possible, just spend a day in bed with the baby.
3) I didn't find any info on this in the book. When I had mastitis it was on the side that always got engorged (my right makes way more than the left) and the supply never dropped. Are you avoiding using that side, or maybe it's still clogged and hasn't cleared yet?
4) If you completely clear the infection and follow preventative measures in the future, from my understanding, you aren't more likely to get it again. What does happen though is that the original infection doesn't clear up, and you get recurrent mastitis. For example, I got it, took antibiotics, 5 days after the antibiotics were done I got it again, then the same thing repeated again. The original infection was not getting cleared. They had to move me to a strongre antibiotic and I had to be extra diligent about emptying the breast (hard when I wanted to sleep that 5 hour stretch) and finally it went away. I haven't had an issue since then. Also, I was lax about taking the antibiotics on time, and I think that contributed. Sometimes the first antibiotic they give you a doesn't work b/c they start small since those are less likely to give baby trush/yeast problems.
5) Do you pump or nurse immediately after the warm shower or massage/warm compresses? I only took showers for comfort, b/c DD was doing a good job eating all the time and emptying the breast. It really sounds like you still have clogged ducts if it's swollen and not much milk is coming out. Have you tried massaging while your pumping. The LC showed me how - you start on the outside of your breast, gently pushing down towards the areola.
6) Can you get DD's chin to point towards the hardest/most swollen part of the breast. Wherever her chin points while eating is the duct that she is getting milk out of. On that same idea, you can put pressure on that area while pumping to get more milk from that duct.
Hope that helps!
VERY helpful - thank you!
Well, I definitely had the infection kind, as my fever was very high and the doc said the infection is usually either staph or strep (no way to tell which one). But I'm starting to think that as a result of the inflammation from the infection, I also have clogged ducts.
Of the causes you listed, the ones that leap out at me are:
1) Baby is ineffective at emptying breast - this is totally true and it is why I'm a pumping fiend. Believe it or not the pump does a better job than her, which I know is not supposed to be the case. Ah, if only I had a baby who could nurse a little better.
2) Oversupply issues - the LC's at Alex. hospital are totally amazed at the amount I can produce, they look at me like I'm a circus freak. Also a reason why I pump so much. Also the only reason why I'm bothering to stick to breastfeeding through all the LC visits, nipple shields, pumping and now this infection - I figure someone with this amount of milk should try everything to get the milk to the baby. Again, didn't have all this trouble with DD #1, though I did use a nipple shield with her.
3) Poor latch and ineffective suck - yeah, that describes my kiddo, that's why I use a nipple shield.
4) Finally, I DID sleep on my stomach for a little while Friday night, and Saturday is when I started to feel pain (didn't go to the doctor until Monday). I wonder if that is the root of all of this!!! I just wanted a few moments of bliss after not having slept on my stomach all through the third trimester, and I'm a total stomach sleeper.
I'm going to continue my pumping like crazy - again I think that's the only thing that comes close to draining the breast. Also rest - my mother had to fuss at me when I wanted to leave the house on Tuesday (Monday night was the really bad/high fever, I literally couldn't get out of bed) to go run an errand. I'm forcing myself to take it easy, though I could definitely be doing a better job with napping... DH is the one fussing at me "nap when the baby naps!"
It was been so helpful to go back and forth with you about this. I of course looked up mastitis on the internet and talked with doc, but for some reason it's 100 times more helpful to me to talk to a fellow mom and someone who has been there! So thank you.