Tag: Fed is Best

I Had Asymmetric Tubular Breasts; My Breastfeeding Story

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Written By Rachel

 As a young girl, I knew something was wrong with my breasts when they began to develop.   I had asymmetric tubular breasts, and it quickly became my biggest insecurity. At the age of 20, I saw a doctor who told me a breast augmentation would “fix” them. Trusting her medical opinion I had breast augmentation surgery. Now they were double the size and sagging from the weight of the implants. It was worse than what they originally were, making my anxiety and insecurities heightened. After a few years, I decided to get them removed by another doctor who specializes in reconstruction surgeries. I got the implants taken out, a lift of the skin and fat removed from my stomach to fill the empty pouches. With two surgeries comes many scars and of course trauma to the breast tissue. 

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The Loss Of Our Son Has Devastated Our Family – This Time I Will Be Supplementing With Formula After Every Nursing session

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I had a beautiful, healthy pregnancy with Bryson, with the help of Clomid (a fertility drug), like my first pregnancy with my daughter. After about 31 hours of induced labor, Bryson was here. Seven pounds, twelve ounces, and seemingly healthy! He latched like a champ immediately, and we had zero complications of any sort while in the hospital. He had wet and dirty diapers and was breastfeeding well, every 2–3 hours. His discharge weight was 7 lbs, and I had a follow-up appointment scheduled for two days later.

NEWT is the first tool that allows pediatric healthcare providers and parents to see how a newborn’s weight during the first days and weeks following childbirth compares with a large sample of newborns, which can help with early identification of weight loss and weight gain issues. Bryson was discharged with a weight loss of 9.7 percent at 36 hours of age. The NEWT graph indicates his weight loss was excessive.

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Why I support #FedIsBest And Safe Sleep Practices As A Breastfeeding Mother Of Twins

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In October of 2017, I was skimming Facebook and came across a question in one of my favorite Infant Safe Sleep support groups.  A new mother was having a hard time with breastfeeding and was looking for an evidence-based breastfeeding group that supported safe sleep for infants. When she got very little feedback, I began to think about creating a Facebook support group for safe sleep practices and breastfeeding because I knew there were plenty of mothers who wanted to exclusively breastfeed while practicing safe sleep.

As a mother of exclusively breastfed twin girls, I practiced the ABCs of safe sleep according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, and I felt confident that I could provide current evidence-based resources while providing practical tips and support, but the only real experience I had with breastfeeding was with my twins. I began to search for like-minded group moderators who wanted to help compile up-to-date scientific resources for which we called Breastfeeding Without Bedsharing & Evidence-Based Feeding.

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Dr. Christie del Castillo-Hegyi and Jillian Johnson Speak at the 2020 USDA Dietary Guidelines Meeting

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July 17, 2019

 

Washington, DC — On July 11, 2019, Dr. Christie del Castillo-Hegyi, Co-Founder of the Fed is Best Foundation and Jillian Johnson, Fed is Best Advocate and mother to Landon Johnson, who died from hypernatremic dehydration while exclusively breastfeeding, traveled to Washington, DC to provide testimonies to the 2020 USDA Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. This is the first year that the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) have included pregnancy and birth to 24 months.

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I Begged for Food for my Baby and I Begged for Nipple Relief at my BFHI Hospital

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It was on December 13th at 2:30 in the morning. My water broke as I was sleeping. I woke my husband up and the panic set in. My son was a scheduled C-Section due to the fact he was breech and he was going to be a big baby according to all the scans. I was scheduled for the 18th, which was my birthday, but he decided to come early. My husband and I rushed to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tacoma, WA. This hospital was a “Baby-Friendly” hospital, which meant they push things like exclusive breastfeeding, no pacifiers, and no nurseries. I didn’t think much of these things at the time, as I was a first-time mom and hadn’t pondered on them much. On paper, this all sounded great, and I was excited to go there. I had a simple birth plan: no circumcision and I wanted my husband in the operating room. That was it really. I trusted the doctors and nurses there to help me out.

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