There are certain things you suspect will be the norm when you become a mom - lack of sleep, changing diapers, and being able to breast feed until you make the decision not to any longer.
But as I learned, and as a LOT of moms learned, breast feeding for a lengthy amount of time is not always so simple, or even possible.
For Shawn Johnson East, she found that her now 3-month-old daughter with husband Andrew East stopped latching during breast feeding pretty quickly.
Baby girl Drew Hazel East was able to be breast fed during their time in the hospital, but within about a week, they found themselves needing to supplement with formula in order to get Drew the amount of food and nutrients that she needed.
Shawn, who was recently named the first-ever spokesperson for Enfamil, shared what her experience with breast feeding was like:
“It was a wrestling match every time...I would be bawling, she would be bawling and screaming ’cause she was hungry, but she wouldn’t eat and she wouldn’t latch anymore.”
Shawn and Andrew even enlisted a lactation consultant... but that experience didn't go as they hoped. Shawn actually shared that she "all but kicked her out of my house" after the consultant "said that I had ruined my child’s life because I gave her a bottle and formula."
Note to literally anyone who is speaking to or trying to help a new mom - don't blame them for the experience they are having with breast feeding. Or any part of motherhood for that matter. Everyone's journey is different and every piece of motherhood looks different!
Shawn admitted that she absolutely felt like a 'failure' because of her difficulty with breast feeding:
“You feel like you’re not setting them up for life, and when people give their opinions and say ‘breast is best,’ it just makes you feel like a failure. I hated that.”
I can tell you Shawn, I am WITH you there. And there are so many moms out there who experienced the exact same feeling. But we aren't alone and there are so many other women who struggled with breast feeding but are still some of the BEST MOMS!
So my note to all moms going through any part of parenthood: just be a little nicer to yourselves. We're all doing the very best we can!
Get more from Sisanie here!
Photo: Getty Images