Liquid Gold Lactation

03/07/2026

A sweet mama shared that she’s been worried her baby isn’t getting enough milk, and that the nights have been especially hard.

So my Friday night was a 45-minute drive to do a weighted feed and bring her some reassurance. 🤍

Sometimes that’s all a mom needs—to see the numbers, take a deep breath, and hear someone say: You’ve got this. And we’ll always be here when you need us. ✨

03/04/2026

It's IBCLC day!!! 🤩 We're breaking out the cheesy gratitude post to thank our amazing families for trusting us as you maneuver postpartum life!

If you've had an IBCLC help you along your journey, give them a shoutout today! 💗

03/03/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/1AmiD6oQwD/?mibextid=wwXIfr

🚨 Recent research is challenging the CDC's strict guidelines on breast milk storage—especially for partially used bottles after feeding.

The CDC currently recommends using or discarding leftover breast milk within 1–2 hours after a baby finishes feeding from the bottle, to limit bacterial risks.

A 2026 German study (preprint on medRxiv, with 44 healthy full-term infants) tested this directly by measuring bacterial growth in leftover human milk after actual bottle feeds.

Main findings:

• Bacterial levels rose after feeding due to contact with the baby's mouth, but showed no meaningful further increase at 4 hours or 8 hours—whether kept at room temperature (~20°C) or refrigerated (4°C).

• Significant growth appeared only after 24 hours at room temperature.

• Refrigerated leftover milk stayed low-risk and stable for up to 24 hours.

For healthy, full-term babies, this suggests it's generally safe to:

• Refrigerate a partially used bottle and reuse it within 24 hours, or

• Leave it at room temperature for up to 8 hours when needed.

Unused pumped milk also proved more stable than the CDC's 4-hour room-temperature rule, with very little bacterial growth even up to 24 hours in many cases, consistent with other recent studies.

The current guidelines are understandably cautious, especially for preterm infants, NICU babies, or those with health issues, who should stick to stricter rules and check with a doctor.

For most parents with healthy babies, though, this new evidence provides real relief: less wasted breast milk, fewer stressful discards, and guidelines that better match actual safety data and everyday feeding life.

🔗 Full preprint: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.13.26346179v1.full-text

02/27/2026

After a vaginal birth, the natural surge of hormones, especially oxytocin helps signal the body to begin milk production. With a cesarean birth, especially an unplanned one, that hormonal shift can be interrupted or delayed. With surgical stress, IV fluids, blood loss, pain, and sometimes delayed skin-to-skin contact it’s common for milk to take a little longer to transition from colostrum to mature milk.

Here’s what can help:
• Immediate and frequent skin-to-skin, even in the OR when possible
• Early and frequent milk removal (nursing or pumping 8–12 times in 24 hours)
• Hand expression in the first hours after birth
• Managing pain effectively so you can comfortably feed
• Extra lactation support in the first few days

Most milk comes in around day 3–5 after a C-section instead of day 2–3.

If you had a cesarean birth and your milk felt delayed, you didn’t fail. Your body had major abdominal surgery and is healing while learning to feed a newborn. That’s powerful.

With support, information, and early stimulation, breastfeeding after a C-section can absolutely thrive.

02/20/2026

Low milk supply happens. And there are several factors that can cause it! Often times, parents are dismissed and told "oh well".

We are trained to look at the whole picture. If you feel like you are in this situation, reach out! We will look at all the things and try to come up with solution!

02/12/2026

A little AI fun! How do we look?? Haha! 🤣 🍼🤱🏼

02/11/2026

If baby is having feeding trouble (with any method 🍼🤱🏾), it means that a full assessment of their oral function needs to be done. 👄

If a baby has limited oral function you might see:

⚖️Slow or no weight gain
😫Latching pain for mom
🤏Pinched or creased ni***es
🤧Gassy, Reflux symptoms, showing signs of food allergy 
🤱Uncoordinated or frustrated/ upset at breast
😷Breath holding, panting, sputtering, leaking, choking, gagging
🍼Unable to latch to breast or bottle
👶🏼Unable to stay attached to breast or bottle
🥤Dimpled cheeks/straw sucking
❌Unable to drain the breast or bottle well
🤒Frequent blocked ducts or mastitis
💤Unable to stay awake for a full feed
⏰Extremely long or short feeds

When trying to resolve breastfeeding and bottle feeding challenges, a comprehensive oral assessment by a certified lactation consultant is the key!

02/06/2026

We are spending the weekend in Las Vegas learning all about airways, tongue ties, jaw and face development, infant feeding issues, sleep disorders etc. This is an amazing opportunity for us to continue education for our patients.

01/13/2026

Parents without a village live a completely different reality.

There’s no safety net beneath them. No one to call when plans fall apart, when the babysitter cancels, or when exhaustion hits a breaking point. Every decision has higher stakes because there’s no backup… only them.

They don’t get spontaneous breaks or last minute help. Rest has to be scheduled, earned, or postponed indefinitely. Sick days don’t exist. Burnout is carried quietly because the kids still need dinner, baths, bedtime, and reassurance no matter how empty the parent feels.

Parents with no village become hyper independent out of necessity, not choice. They learn to show up even when they’re depleted, to push through moments others might be able to hand off. Love is constant, but so is the pressure.

So when you see a parent who never asks for help, who rarely shows up, who seems stretched too thin understand this: they aren’t choosing distance. They’re surviving a version of parenthood that requires them to be the village themselves.

12/24/2025

We wish you all a Happy Holiday!
🎁🎄🎅🏼🎁🎄🎅🏼🎁🎄🎅🏼🎁🎄

12/22/2025

This is Megan....
Thought I would share this as it's "the season".

My baby was hospitalized for 10 days when he was 5 weeks old. It's scary!

He was breathing funny and my momma gut felt like something was off. I took him to the Drs office, saw an NP and she said he's just congested and to get him in a steam shower and run a humidifier. So I did that for the whole next day. I watched him like a hawk and finally said nope something is not ok.

Took him straight to the hospital. They admitted us immediately. (Mercy Gilbert who had a PCH wing). They poked him 4 times trying to get an IV in. They even went in a vein in his head. Talk about freaking a mom and dad the hell out! They put him on oxygen and it wasn't helping or improving his levels. After 10 hours of trying to stabilize him, they determined he needs to be sent Via ambulance to the main PCH campus where they had "wet oxygen" to give him.

Him and I spent 40 min in an ambulance where his heart rate dropped 2 times. I'm literally sobbing. Looking out the back window at my husband who is following close behind.

We get to PCH, they are running with him to the area he needs to be where 2 doctors and 5 nurses are there and ready for him. It was the most chaotic scariest part of my life.

They took him in, got him all hooked up to everything imaginable and we spent the next 8 days there as he was up and down for a while.

He made it out ok and has no known lasting effects. But let this be a lesson.....RSV is a nightmare of a virus to infants. Please please please, protect your babies.

👶🏻 Limit visitors
👶🏻Don't let them kiss baby
👶🏻Hand washing to the max!
👶🏻Never be afraid to keep people away
👶🏻If anyone is sick, say no thanks

12/17/2025

Finding the root cause of reflux is necessary!
Throwing medication at it (ie. Famotidine/pepcid) is only masking what's really going on!

Reach out to an IBCLC or Feeding specialist who can help guide you to that root cause.