01/31/2026
I found a photo of me bottle-feeding April 5 years ago and it brought up so much. 🍼
Her feeding journey was hard. Suspected bovine allergy. Struggling with weight gain. The stress of elimination diets so I could keep breastfeeding. And the guilt… especially because my eldest never touched formula. So many voices in my head telling me what I should be doing. 🤯
At 4 months, I stopped listening to my body. Or maybe more honestly, my body was already telling me no and I didn’t want to hear it.
My hormones were off. I felt itchy, uncomfortable, not at ease in my own skin. Breastfeeding no longer felt right (it made me gag), and that was hard to admit. 😢
I remember creeping into her room, making that first bottle of formula (the German imported brand I researched for days) feeling nervous and almost ashamed. And then she drank it. Calmly. Easily. Like it was exactly what she needed. That’s when it hit me: I was the only one judging. My daughter just needed to be fed.
April turns 5 next month, and I’m realizing how important it is to collect these moments instead of burying them. These milestones. These memories that still carry weight, even years later.
My kids are no longer babies, but it was those moments—the worry, the guilt, the mental spirals—that shaped my motherhood. They also shaped the health coach I became. These are the stories I can’t keep to myself, because if sharing them helps another mother quiet the noise in her head and trust herself, then this is my purpose with Health Coach Mama. 🌿🙏
