Aaron Paul’s wife Lauren got mastitis twice in 3 weeks since she had her baby

We were just talking about mastitis in regard to one of Kristen Bell’s TMI stories, about how her husband Dax Shepard had to help her with that issue. Mastitis is the infection of a milk duct when a woman is nursing. It can lead to debilitating flu-like symptoms and of course it’s especially inconvenient for a new mom, who is already sleep deprived and overworked. Lauren Paul, who welcomed daughter Story Annabelle three weeks ago with her husband, actor Aaron Paul, has already had mastitis twice. Lauren’s infection was so bad that her fever spiked to 104. We know this from Lauren’s heartfelt post, in which she described how much she loves her new baby, but how hard it’s been to get so sick from breastfeeding. She wants other new moms to know about potential issues and to be prepared.

I always heard things like “you have never known a love like this,” or “it’s like your heart is living outside your chest,” from different parents while I was pregnant. It was hard for me to wrap my head around how deep that love could really be. Well, it’s all true. She is everything. My world. Sometimes I just stare at her and cry over how precious and pure she is. But let me also talk about some other real stuff here. This post labor chapter has been rough at times. Recovering from labor is no joke. I’m definitely on the mend in that department but…breastfeeding. Oh man. While it’s been one of the most beautiful experiences of my life, I have developed Mastitis twice within 3 weeks. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s an infection from breastfeeding that creates severe flu-like symptoms. Yesterday I was fighting a fever that almost hit 104. It was the sickest I have ever felt. The pain and aches were unbelievable. For the mammas who have been there, I know you feel me. What I keep coming back to is the fact that I feel like all these very common issues that can come up immediately after having a baby are not really talked about and being here now, I’m feeling a responsibility to share this so that any new mamma-to-be reading this is aware of these potential issues. If I could give an upcoming mother any advice for this chapter it would be to become well educated about breastfeeding. Take a class, do your research or have conversations with other mothers. There are so many things that can happen…an oversupply of milk leading to infection, your baby having trouble latching, having an undersupply… being aware of this will be so helpful so that you will know how to avoid or handle these things. So with that, I wanna give a big virtual hug to all the mammas out there who have had any type of issue breastfeeding or are dealing with anything physically or emotionally difficult, be it with you or your child. You are not alone. And because it’s been on my mind, to all the single parents out there raising babies and children, you are an actual superhero. You are THE superhero. Never forget that. 💛

A post shared by Lauren Paul (@laurenpaul8) on Feb 28, 2018 at 9:07am PST

That’s so sweet that she gave credit to single parents. I’m touched by how open and thoughtful this was and how she made it about other moms, even though she was so ill. Lauren runs a charity with a friend from college called The Kind Project. They travel to schools around the country to brings awareness to girl on girl bullying. Honestly I got a little choked up looking at the photos on their website.

I didn’t get mastitis until my son was over a year old and I was lucky in that milk wasn’t his main food source and I didn’t get very ill. It was still tough and I can’t imagine what that’s like for someone with a newborn at home. Also, I did go to local La Leche League meetings but we didn’t discuss mastitis. (I’m sure if I came to them with a problem they would have helped though.) I only vaguely remember how hard the first few weeks were. New babies sleep a lot but it’s a massive adjustment and it can feel like you’re trapped caring for them. Lauren said it much better than I can and I hope she has some relief today and plenty of help at home.

Aaron stars on The Path on Hulu, an incredible and underrated show about a modern cult. It costars Hugh Dancy and Michelle Monaghan.

Photos credit: Instagram/Lauren Paul and Aaron Paul