Olivia Sheffield, MS RD LD IBCLC

02/08/2025

I had my first in home lactation consult today. 🥹
I cannot even begin to explain the joy I feel helping mamas with feeding their babies. Every one looks at breastfeeding differently but I see it as a true miracle that God gave us the ability to feed and literally grow our babies. It’s absolutely amazing. I am just so thankful that God led me back into this, I have found so much purpose in my career and I’m just so thankful!
If you need help or you have a friend or family member, send them my way. I’d love to help. 🩵

12/10/2024

I am in awe!!! I PASSED my International Board Certified Lactation Consultant Exam!!
This is God! I haven’t shared the story of my exam day so I will now that I’ve passed….
So the exam in a nutshell- It is only given twice a year, in April and September. It takes 12 weeks to get the results back. The exam is in 2 parts, the first part is just multiple choice questions. The second part are pictures/case study type questions. So back to exam day, I finished the first part and felt great about it. The second part is known to be harder and trickier. I am able to skip around and mark questions that I don’t know the answer to. I had about 1 hour left and I am down to about the last 5 questions of the exam, I had about 4-5 questions to go back and answer because I didn’t know them. I was SO CLOSE to finishing and the lights WENT OUT. It was a beautiful, sunny day outside- what are the odds?! 😩 I ended up waiting about 2 hours and the lights FINALLY came back on…but the computers didn’t. I waited another 2 hours to be told by IT that something was fried going to the computers. It almost goes without saying, I left the testing center in tears. I spent 11 months preparing for this exam plus countless hours of contact hours with clients, all while juggling my family and work, to walk away not able to finish. Plus the thought of waiting another 7 months before I could take it again! I emailed and called the commission begging them to still score my exam just so I’d have a chance! About a week later I finally heard back and they said they would!! 🙏🏻 I started telling people to PRAY that by the GRACE OF GOD I would pass. My friends, family, and my coworkers all prayed and encouraged me.
And look what GOD DID!!! 🩵🩵🩵

08/02/2024

Happy World Breastfeeding Week!
🤱🏻👩🏽‍🍼👩🏼‍🍼👩🏿‍🍼
I’m here to celebrate all of the mamas who just made the decision and decision alone to breastfeed or give their baby breast milk. Whether you did it for 3 days, 7 weeks or 18 months you CHOSE to give your baby nutrition that is truly only God given.
Every woman has a different reason for the length of time they gave their baby breast milk or breastfed. Some stories may be of heartbreak because they were protecting their mental health and just couldn’t do it anymore, some may be work related reasons, some may have struggled and just couldn’t figure it out. My heart goes out to those who wanted to breastfeed but for whatever reason couldn’t. I see you and I empathize with you, but you deserve to be celebrated too. That desire alone to want to give your baby breast milk is something to be proud of. 🩷

06/12/2024

Update: I registered for my IBCLC exam!!! (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant) So, lots of studying and preparing taking place over here. I will take it this Fall but it takes 3 months to get results back, unfortunately.
If you could, say some prayers for me in the days to come…the test, from what I’ve read, is a tricky one! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Stay tuned! 🩵

06/03/2024

You hear how important skin to skin is for moms and their babies in the early days …but WHY? Besides the fact that it regulates a baby’s body temperature, regulates heart rate AND also can help keep baby’s blood sugars stable🤯…skin to skin is what gets those hormones flowing to get milk supply off to a good start. Very specific hormones are stimulated and communicate with each other from your pituitary gland in your brain all the way down to your ovaries, telling your body to make milk! How amazing is that! 🩵

04/24/2024

Did you know that milk from a mother who birthed preterm infants is higher in protein, fat, minerals, sodium, chloride, and iron? 🤯
Our bodies truly know what our babies need. 🩵

04/22/2024

Hello everyone!
I have an exciting update! Last you heard from me on my page, I was working a full time position in dialysis. Dialysis has always been a favorite area of mine, however, it is very specialized field as well as extremely demanding. It was so difficult juggling my job and home life. I was experiencing extreme burn out and as much as I loved my patients, I knew that this was not a feasible career for me with as much time as I want to invest at home and with my family. My family is my number one priority and I could not be the mom or wife that I wanted to be. We live in a very small, rural area where there are not many local RD positions. I was very seriously considering changing careers to an educator to be able to have the same schedule as my kids. However, I prayed about it and God answered my prayers VERY quickly. I had an opportunity to go back to my previous position at Jasper Newton County WIC! It is less demanding, and so much less stress. So, I can focus more on my family. I am so grateful! I love my work family and I love helping the mamas, babies and children. I am so passionate about this particular population. It’s been a HUGE blessing!

Since I have been back at WIC, I have been given the opportunity to become an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC)! This entails completing a 95 hour lactation training course and accumulating 1000+ hours of one on one counseling with breastfeeding mothers. I am in the process of completing this and will continue to study through out the year until I am able to sit for my exam in the fall.

I have always been so passionate about breastfeeding. This is the first line of nutrition in our lives, and it is God’s creation. What I am learning in my trainings is absolutely amazing. God is so intentional and specific in his creation and this can be seen in pregnancy, birth all the way into a mom breastfeeding. I am so excited for this opportunity and I cannot wait to be able to serve the community with lactation services! I am not sure what that looks like just yet but it’s my intention to help woman meet their breastfeeding goals.

In the mean time, I will share with all of you amazing facts that I am learning about breastfeeding through my trainings!
Y’all stay tuned! 🩵🩵🩵

05/27/2022

This is what a working mom of 3 (or 4 if you count my husband 😜) cooks when trying to provide a balanced, healthy meal for her family- in a hurry.
Frozen corn, frozen broccoli, and seared steak cutlets in grape seed oil. I think it took me

03/05/2022

I have had some new likes here and some people I am not familiar with so, let me tell you a little background on my field, and tell you a little about myself. 😄

I went to Lamar University and received my Bachelor and Masters Degree in Family and Consumer Sciences with an emphasis in Nutrition and Dietetics. I attended the Dietetic Internship through Lamar University and became a Registered and Licensed Dietitian the summer of 2014.
Becoming a dietitian and going through a dietetic internship is probably one of the hardest things I have ever done- and I have twins. 😉😂
Nutrition is a very complex field of study, and is ever evolving. Through the dietetic internship, we shadow other RDs in a variety of settings. Those settings include but are not limited to long term care, diabetes education, intensive care, public health, dialysis, bariatric nutrition, pediatric nutrition and private practice. We worked shadowing RDs by day and studying for our in- class course work by night, for about 11 months. It was grueling. Then we have to pass a really scary test to become “Registered”. That is our educational background, in a nutshell. 🤓

Since I became an RD in 2014, I have worked in ICU, WIC, and dialysis. I also have a small consulting practice and I am contracted with long term care facilities in our area as well as a drug and alcohol rehab. Occasionally, I will consult privately with individuals who are needing nutritional guidance or counseling. If you are interested- DM me!
I am currently at a full time position at a local dialysis. I absolutely LOVE what I do and dialysis is my favorite! My favorite part is the education side of it and building relationships with my patients. Seeing my patients with a big smile on their face and overjoyed at their progress is my motivation and what brings me joy in my career. I also love when they meet with me and are discouraged, but by the end of our consult are motivated and encouraged. That is what it’s all about!
If any of you have any questions, comment below!
🍎🥦🍑🥑🧀🥨🌮🍳🥒🥗🍇🥛🫐🌯
📷: Honey “B” Photography

09/11/2021

I’ve had something heavy on my mind lately so here’s my thoughts…
There is SO much information out there about nutrition! It is overwhelming! Even as a dietitian, I often question my recommendations and feel intimidated! I also do not like being judged & I feel so bad for people who are shamed for their particular food choices.

Recently I’ve seen posts made by professionals, shaming others for choosing organic produce. 😳 Really??…Yes, organic produce is more expensive but if your’re passionate about that then go for it!

Balance guys. That is the key. As long as you are providing your body with a balanced diet and providing it with a wide variety of foods, then that’s the most important factor. If not, supplementation may be necessary! & that’s ok too!
It matters what YOU are passionate about and you yourself know your body better than anyone else.

08/11/2021

I’m loving all of the back to school pictures! I know that when your kids get home from school; they will likely be starving! I remember coming home from school and that was the first thing I did-grab a snack.

If your kids like peanut butter, try out this recipe. It’s full of good fats, protein, fiber and the chocolate chips give it a little sweetness. It’s easy to make, and easy to grab!

An Idea Pin by Renee Clark Designs