I was a distance runner when I had my first baby. I ran throughout pregnancy, and started running about 2 weeks after he was born (I DO NOT recommend that, BTW). It was important to me. I was a little surprised when I got pregnant with Nathan, and I was determined to keep life as…
A few weeks ago I received a random text from Missy. Missy has been my bestie since we were in Girl Scouts at the age of 8. “Matthew is trying to tell me that we are NOT the only species that drinks a different species’ milk. Tell me he’s wrong” the text read. “Matthew is…
Nipple confusion. The cryptic puzzle that has plagued my lactation practice for years. To me, nipple confusion is like the Loch Ness Monster or Big Foot – some swear it exists, yet I have never seen or met anyone who has experienced it. So lets talk about nipple confusion. It is a common fear for so…
I cringe whenever a new mother tells me that her baby’s birth was awful, but all that matters is that her baby is healthy and well. I want to scream “NO! That’s not all that matters! YOU matter just as much!” Somehow, society has decided that what happens during the birth is obsolete, and all that matters is a…
When I had my first baby, I wasn’t quite sure what to do. I was so unprepared for the whole experience and I didn’t know how to ask for the help I needed – if I could even articulate what that was. I figured people would just know what to do. They don’t. If you…
Sometimes we get some pretty great questions from listeners of the podcast. Recently we had a mom email us with questions about traveling with a breastfeeding baby. This is a pretty broad topic – there are a lot of variables here. We covered several, but I really think this is one of those things that…
You finally get on a roll with breastfeeding. It felt like it would never happen – then all of a sudden your sweet baby is breastfeeding well, is more efficient, even sleeping longer stretches. And then it happens – distraction. Distraction sets in around 4 months or so. One day your baby is breastfeeding just…
I have been a lactation consultant for about 10 years now. More than that if you want to count the years I was working towards my certification. I have talked to so many mothers and heard so many stories about childbirth and breastfeeding and extended nursing…some heartwarming and some heartbreaking. I feel so honored when…
Skin to skin is a practice that has become so widespread in the last few years. When I first started working with moms and babies, skin to skin after delivery wasn’t a “thing”. In fact, I remember attending a birth as a doula several years ago and I requested that the baby stay with mom…
I have told my story about how I got into the world of birth and lactation many times. If you don’t know, I’ll summarize for you – it was completely an accident. I didn’t know anything about lactation when I had my kids. I learned a lot when I was a new mother, and then…