The Breastfeeding Diaries

Episode 12: Failure to thrive and parasites with Haley Laurence

I am once again sharing my personal breastfeeding journey, this time about my 2nd baby. I was right in the middle of starting my podcast when my baby was diagnosed with "failure to thrive" because of his weight gain issues. I had plenty of milk - had even donated! - but here he was below 1st percentile, struggling to gain weight. That was around 6 months, but before that we dealt with what I thought was a dairy allergy that turned out to be a parasite! I didn't give up on breastfeeding even when I had so many reasons to stop. We made it through and continued to nurse beyond 12 months.

Episode 11: Instinctive breastfeeding, nursing strikes, and cultural differences with Bente Riehn

When Bente Riehn was learning how to latch her first baby, a lactation consultant's advice changed the game for her. She learned how to feed in a natural, instinctive way, instead of a rigid position. From there, she went on to nurse her 2nd and 3rd babies for over 12 months each, even while struggling with an autoimmune disease. She talks about her move from the Netherlands to Texas, the cultural differences in birth and breastfeeding, and encouragement to not give up even when babies go on a nursing strike.

Episode 10: Bereavement pumping with Laurel Herron

When she was 14 weeks pregnant with her first baby, Laurel Herron received devastating news that her baby would not be able to survive outside the womb. She continued plans to carry the baby to term, but at 17 weeks, baby Elijah's heart stopped. Hospital staff gave her instructions for drying up her milk, but Laurel decided instead to pump and donate her milk. She was able to pump for 3 months and donate to a milk bank. Today, a year later, she is nursing her rainbow baby, equipped with the lessons she learned about breastfeeding from that time, and continuing to remember and celebrate the life of her first child.

Episode 9: Pregnancy after loss and breastfeeding after the NICU with Brittany Suell

With her 4th baby, Brittany Suell suffered a stillborn loss at 40 weeks, despite having an otherwise healthy pregnancy. She entered her 5th pregnancy with new fears, focused on having a living baby no matter what. At 29 weeks, she found herself back in the ER waiting for the doctors to tell her if the baby was OK. She was rushed to an emergency c-section, and her baby was taken to the NICU for a 6-week stay. She had to keep track of pumping on top of driving back and forth to the NICU daily, but she was able to build a milk supply. When her baby got out, she was able to transition him to exclusive nursing successfully and continued to nurse into toddlerhood! Today she helps women stay fit and healthy even while breastfeeding. Her story is one of healing, mentally, physically, and spiritually.

Episode 8: Surprise babies, body image, and donating milk with Jane Howell

With her first two babies, Jane Howell barely made it to 12 months of pumping and nursing - both times finding out she was pregnant and having to stop suddenly and use up her freezer stash. On top of that, her weight loss goals also took a hit to her milk supply. But with Baby Girl #3, she was able to continue long past 12 months, nursing at home, pumping at work, and even having so much leftover milk she donated to another mom in need! She discovered that "bouncing back" was more about her mental acceptance of her body, and even though she didn't force weight loss, she felt fitter the 3rd postpartum than she did before.