More About Me TLDR
Learn my origin story, my passions, my achievements, and my thoughts on how babies should be fed.
I warned you that I was wordy!
If the WHOLE story was too much for you Here’s the TLDR.
However, there is a lot more detail where you can get real insight into who I am on the original post.
〰️ NICU BABY
〰️ NIPPLE PAIN
〰️ FUSSY BABY
〰️ TONGUE TIE
〰️ BREAST REFUSAL
〰️ LOW SUPPLY
〰️ MENTAL HEALTH
〰️ INEQUITY
〰️ NICU BABY 〰️ NIPPLE PAIN 〰️ FUSSY BABY 〰️ TONGUE TIE 〰️ BREAST REFUSAL 〰️ LOW SUPPLY 〰️ MENTAL HEALTH 〰️ INEQUITY
I have been in lactation since 2003 and have been an IBCLC since 2009. My passion for supporting families with finding bliss in feeding their babies was born from my own personal experience. To be completely honest, when I was pregnant for the first time, I didn’t think I cared that much about if I breastfed or formula fed. In fact, I was actually very concerned that I would hate breastfeeding. The whole idea of it kind of made my skin crawl. Fortunately, even though there was some pain when we first started, it did not feel as “gross” as I worried that it would. In fact, it turned out that I had big feelings about being successful with nursing my baby. I was shocked to find that it felt deeply personal and I was very emotional about figuring it out.
I was privileged to have great support that enabled me to experience breastfeeding my first baby in 2002. That left me feeling frustrated that other people had grief about not breastfeeding. So, I decided to become a lactation consultant.
I started working in lactation in 2003 as a peer support person, birth doula, and postpartum doula. I became an IBCLC in 2009. It was hard to do and I'm proud of that.
When I had my second baby in 2005 we struggled a LOT even though I was working in lactation and had a big ego by then. It turned out he had a tongue tie. That left me passionate about helping others identify and overcome issues with their babies cause by tongue and lip ties. It was also humbling in really important ways.
That passion led me to get involved in founding an international multidisciplinary tongue tie organization named ICAP that now has members all over the world and from countless related fields. I was elected to the Board of Directors from 2023-2026. I will stay involved after my term expires. I've spoken about tongue ties at many international conferences because I believe in holistic care, which means being sure treatment is necessary -as well as that people are well supported before and after treatment. I also developed a model for integrative tongue tie clinics that is used all over the US, including in the clinic I am part of in Cary NC.
With my third baby in 2007 I experienced breast refusal and also learned a ton about infant behavior, nervous systems, brains, and co-regulation. I grew my skills at helping people understand their babies as well as overcome breast refusal.
With my fourth baby in 2012 I became inspired to learn about addressing low milk supply on a deeper level. I developed tools and knowledge for looking at people's labs to see if hormone issues are affecting their milk supply. I did this because nothing like that was available yet. I've now spoken all over the world on the subject and often teach other professionals. I also learned that bottle feeding can be as beautiful as breastfeeding. I love supporting people in bliss with a bottle, too.
I enjoy mentoring people to become IBCLCs, but saw that it was much harder for some people in some communities. I got involved in NLCA's Center for Lactation Equity because of this.
I am a passionate, neurodiverse person who thinks everyone should get to define what infant feeding success means to them. I believe in making support all about about the person I'm supporting, and not me.
I absolutely love the role I have in the lives parents with their new baby and honor the trust, vulnerability, and weight of that responsibility. I think finding joy as a parent is about resilience and adaptivity, not being perfect, getting the grind, or submitting to discomfort. There are many beautiful ways to feed a baby. I want to help them find how to nourish their babies physically in a way that increases joy and connection mentally, emotionally, and spiritually as well. That’s all it really comes down to.
The 4 silly good humans that I made.