I was determined to breastfeed, and was heartbroken to find out that I had a low milk supply. My baby lost 13oz and his doctor did not seem concerned till after 2 weeks. At this time, I was sent to the hospital to see their lactation consultant. They were helpful starting at 10am and not after 5pm. They were not available through email either when I had questions. I was introduced to Anne through my Bradley instructor. She was there around the clock for me. It has been a tremendous help to have someone who I can shoot an email to when I have questions, and as a first time mother I have a lot of questions. Anne has always responded quickly and has always seemed as concerned as I was, doctors have acted like my questions were not important and that is something I have never worried about with Anne. I have had questions about many things other than breastfeeding and she has always answered me. She had many suggestions, and now I have a much better milk supply. The hospital lactation told me to put him on any formula other than the store brand to supplement with. I did this and he because very fussy. Anne suggested that I get a hypoallergenic milk that is pre-made, and we have seen a huge difference in his mood. We have went from supplementing 1-2oz at every feeding down to supplementing 4-8oz throughout the enitred day. With Anne's suggestions we have greatly increased my milk production. I use to get 1/2-1oz of milk at each pumping and now I find my self getting 2-4oz. It has made me very proud to now have milk for my baby. I don't know that I still would be breastfeeding if it weren't for Anne. It is easy to give up, but when you have someone telling you that you are doing a good job and to stick at it breastfeeding becomes a lot easier. I am very fortunate to have Anne.
Jenni - mom to Larae - 13 months old
(Freeport, FL)
"Breastfeeding was a never a question in my mind. It was the right thing to do. What better nutrition and bond to give your baby than to breastfeed? I researched all techniques, watched a few videos and had a brief class on how to breastfeed. I had a high risk pregnancy and was induced one week early. My induction ended in a c-section. I did all I knew to do after birth.
I did not see a hospital Lactation Consultant for two days. When she did help me, I believe it harmed me and my daughter more than helped us. I was sent home from the hospital and still struggling to nurse. I could not get my daughter to the breast and called the hospital Lactation Consultant. She rented a pump to me and sent me home to pump. I was told to give my daughter a bottle. After four to five days, my milk finally came in.
At two weeks, I was heartbroken, hurting and frustrated. I knew there had to be help out there.
I found Anne through an internet resource. She worked with me several times for several hours. She is the most knowledgable resource! Anne tried just about everything to get my daughter back to the breast. We had some success and progress some days. I made the painful decision to stop trying. My daughter was aversive at the breast and it only upset the two of us more. I was heartbroken.
Anne gave me enough encouragement to keep trying to breastfeed, but I did not have the support from home.
I am proud to say that I am still pumping, 13 months later. Breastmilk is that important!"
- Jenni, mom to 13 month old
Mindy – mom to Parker – 5 months
(Fort Walton Beach, FL)
"After being unsuccessful breastfeeding my first son, I was determined to give it a better shot with my second son. The first time around I felt that I did not have a strong support system and the only resource that I had was the hospital lactation consultant which ended up not being much of a resource at all.
This time around I read all of the books, had the Boppy and the Lansinoh ready in my hospital bag and was so excited to put the baby to the breast and start our wonderful nursing relationship but then…he was here and it didn’t go as planned, he didn’t latch on very well and it hurt terribly at each nursing but I was determined. So, I consulted with the hospital nurses, who all had a different opinions on bottles, pacifiers, supplementation, etc. I was getting worried that we were starting down the same path as before so I called the hospital lactation consultant in to help and was keeping my fingers crossed that maybe in the last several years since my first son had been born she might have become a bit more helpful…no such luck.
So off I was sent with this little itty bitty baby, sore nipples, a bag of free formula and no one to turn to. I just happen to have a friend who highly recommended Anne and so I called her over the weekend. I was at my wits end! I had cracked nipples. Parker was not latching correctly. I had been starting to supplement with the free formula and to top it off I had a yeast infection in my milk ducts. Anne came to my house and spent several hours one on one with me and Parker and answered all of my one hundred questions. When she left I had a renewed sense of hope that maybe, just maybe, I could be a breastfeeding mother. So over the next several months Anne was there as my support system answering questions and phone calls and emails and just encouraging me the whole way to take it day by day feeding by feeding and now 5 months later here we are.
I am back to work part-time as a dental hygienist pumping in the boss’s office in between patients and still nursing at home! To which I owe it to Anne because without her support and advice I would have never made it past week one.”
Jenn - mom to Maddox - 7 months
(Santa Rosa Beach, FL and now Italy)
"I always knew I wanted to breastfeed. I knew it was the best choice for me and my child for nutrition and bonding, not to mention the many other advantages. For me, breastfeeding came somewhat easy. I did attend a class and meetings before my son was born, which I think definitely played an important role in our success.
I met Anne at our local La Leche League meetings. She gave me her card and told me to call her with any problems or questions. She helped me through my engorgement when my milk came in by offering me suggestions and different things to try. I knew I could call her with any problems and she would be there to help.
When Anne told me about the ABC - After the Baby Comes - class she was starting I was excited to attend. Being a new mom you need all the support and information you can get! Since babies don't come with instruction booklets this was definitely something I wanted to do. Anne had lots of information on baby wearing, natural baby products, cloth diapering, of course breastfeeding, and my favorite.... swaddling! A friend had given me "The Happiest Baby on the Block" book before my son was born. With all the many things I was trying to get done before his birth, it got lost in a pile with all my other baby shower gifts and forgotten about. When Anne mentioned we were going to talk about the book at the next meeting I got it out and started reading. At our next ABC class we went over the book and she showed us how to swaddle 'correctly' and showed us the steps to help calm and soothe a crying baby. Let me tell you it works! It was nice to know I could comfort my son when he was upset and not to mention he was sleeping longer during his naps and at night. If it wasn't for her and the ABC class I would probably have a fussier baby and I would have been a lot more stressed out. Thanks Anne!"
Jenn, mom to Maddox now (almost) 7 months
Sabrina- Mom to Nate, 1 year old
(West Palm Beach, FL)
"I was determined to breastfeed from day 1. I knew it might be more challenging than I expected, but I also knew that when it came to breastfeeding, I had infinite patience. When my son was born, I immediately attempted our first feeding. It didn’t go so well. He had a very difficult time latching on. It looked like he was going to latch, and then he’d quickly let go and start wailing. This went on for almost three weeks and I had my moments of wanting to throw in the towel. Especially at 3 AM when it would sometimes take us over an hour to get him latched and feeding. Unfortunately, I do not live in close proximity to Anne, but I was able to call her and she was tremendous! She really helped us to identify the problem and between our phone conversations and some helpful information she sent me through email, we got my son breastfeeding like a champ! He just turned one a few days ago and we are still breastfeeding today. Thank you so much Anne!"
