Breastfeeding Essentials LLC

07/25/2023

Join me for the 2023 Baby & Family Expo at the YWCA in Bristol! I am collaborating with two other local IBCLCs, Heather Hutton, IBCLC and Cassandra Brickey IBCLC, for our table and we will be offering a baby weighing station, teaching TummyTime Method and Rhythmic Movement for babies, and we'll also be giving away several really cool baby related items!

07/25/2023

"Breastfeeding now feels gratifying, pleasurable, and anxiety reducing. The longer I do it and enjoy it, the more radical it feels. I’m saying I can do with my body what I want."
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It eases my anxiety. It is sentimental, sensory, and sensual. It fills me with love.

05/14/2023

Hope your day is wonderful!💖

10/07/2022

For your entertainment! Not breastfeeding related but how adorable is this little peanut?!!❤️❤️❤️

08/01/2022

Let's celebrate all month long! Happy Breastfeeding Awareness Month. ❤❤❤

07/26/2022

Yep! Google be crazy sometimes! Reach out if you think you aren't making enough milk.

I hear this worry from pregnant and new moms almost every day. They say, "I'm worried I won't be able to drink enough to make milk." I'm really not sure where this myth came from, but it's causing unnecessary anxiety for my clients and making me angry.

DRINK TO THIRST! Drinking excessive water does not increase milk supply. In fact, if you're drinking a really crazy amount, it can lead to problems like electrolyte imbalances. If you notice your urine is getting darker or smells strongly, drink a little more water. Listen to your body.

If you want to increase your milk supply, reach out to a professional for guidance cause Google be crazy.

07/23/2022

Parent friendly workplaces are an imperative for our society. What a lovely example! Also becoming a parent and breastfeeding are gateway behaviors to other healthy behaviors like minimalist shoes. ❤️😁😂

07/01/2022

Seriously! I could study for the rest of my life and NOT know everything there is to know about lactation! But I do have ~50,000 hours of working with breastfeeding dyads so I do know more than the average person. 🙃
Reach out if you need support!

I remember oh too well my first year after starting my IBCLC program. Not only I thought I know it all - I also felt that I know what’s best for my patients.

I was being ignorant of my own ignorance. My inexperience casted the illusion of expertise - I just didn’t know enough to accurately assess my ability. And since the first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is that you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club... well 😉

Our brains hide our blind spots from us. Because Dunning-Kruger effect is most invisible to those experiencing it, it requires taking a step back to realize that your own self-assessments are largely biased and likely incorrect.

You can avoid being ignorant of your own performance by listening and gaining insight into the performances of others. That’s why I LOVE our Lactation groups!

We can’t reach a high level of competence without actively seeking feedback and knowledge. It takes an open mind to gain the experiences that help us see our mistakes and grow from them 💜 there is ALWAYS more to know.

07/01/2022

People tell us...❤️❤️❤️

People tell us not to feed for comfort while they sip their sleepy-time tea.
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People tell us to not cuddle our children to sleep while they spoon their partner.
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People tell us our child is too old to breastfeed while they sip their cow's milk.
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People tell us not to nurse or rock our babies to sleep while they sell us the latest gadget that’s supposed to do the exact same thing.
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People tell us to let them cry, while they go comfort a friend.
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People tell us responding to our child is creating bad habits, while they smoke and drink.
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Man, do they tell us! But I’m not them and neither are you. Because we hear our instincts loud and clear and they will not be silenced.
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Because even though we are exhausted, we know our baby’s cry is not a protest, but a communication.
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Because we know their need for us at 3am is not a manipulation.
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Because even though our backs and hips ache from sleeping in that dang c position, we know that little indent on the right side of our bed will soon fade away - and we would welcome that pain in our body just to feel them latch one more time.
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People tell us, but we know. we know this is important, we know that this is right for us and our baby, and we know this is just how it’s supposed to be.
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We know mama, they may tell us, but let’s rest in our know.
-Melissa Ostroth
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Absolutely adore these words by

📷 .photography of beautiful mama and babe

via and 💞

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💞Raising Humans Kind: http://t.co/T8goym3P6Z 💞
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Please respect the work of authors, photographers, and artists. You are welcome to share provided you include appropriate credit and do not crop out author’s names from quote memes. Thank you. 🙂
www.LRKnost.com

Fighting a rare, incurable cancer, but I'm still here!💞 L.R.

06/25/2022

Every human bond in their own time. ❤️❤️❤️

These are my five crepe myrtles.

They were all planted at the same time and have received the exact same amount of water, sun, and nurturing. They should all produce white blooms annually.

This week, I suddenly became concerned that two of them aren’t blooming and the other three are. I got all worried, and posted to FB asking my friends what I should do to intervene.

One friend shared that this happened to her crepe myrtles and it was a pest problem. Another confidently recommended fertilizer, and one suggested they won’t likely recover from the 2020 Texas Snowpocalypse. Another added his two cents that these were all planted too close to the fence.

I researched online and found even more conflicting information and advice.

A day later, a wise friend stated simply, “They’re beautiful. Be patient. They won’t all bloom at the same time.”

I exhaled.

A week later, sure enough, the last two trees bloomed.
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This is parenthood in a nutshell. We compare, we solicit advice, and we try to intervene so that our kids develop at the pace their peers are developing. We worry when they don’t produce what our friends’ kids produce. We get conflicting advice and unsolicited opinions. We put undue pressure on ourselves, our kids and our partners.

Sometimes we just need to be reminded that our children will grow and bloom at their own unique pace. Some plants don’t bloom at all, and they’re still beautiful and perfect just as they are.

Guess what? When the last of the five trees finally bloomed, I was surprised to discover it had PINK flowers!? 😮 I guess I had never slowed down enough to even notice.

Just like each one of our children, it is a one of a kind, bringing its own brand of beauty to this world… in its own time.

🌸

Side note: This wise friend has raised kids and grandkids who adore her. She is known for how she breathes life into her plants and into her people. When a friend solicits parenting advice, let’s all be more like her. ❤️



{Image description: My backyard where five crepe myrtles are planted in a row along the fence line. The second and third have no blooms but the others are covered in white flowers. Also, I know most Northerners spell it crape, but down here we spell it crepe. 😉}