Allison got emotional today. There's so many fears about this virus in our community, in the lactation world, and especially with our private clients (Yes, we've had COVID-19 positive clients.) 

My baby has a confirmed allergy to dairy (cow’s milk protein) and nobody caught it for months. Even after cutting out dairy for weeks and noticing an accidental intake of it would cause my son’s symptoms to return 12-24 hours later, I was told, “Oh, sounds like he might have a dairy allergy or intolerance.” MIGHT! HA!

At first, his symptoms were concerning but repeated trips to his doctor’s office left me with instructions to just keep putting lotion on him because it was normal and he would outgrow it. I believed them, although I often felt like they didn’t care, but what else was I to do? Surely his PEDIATRICIANS should know how to treat my son. I knew these doctors. I knew they were very smart people and well-educated physicians. I was also a first-time mom so who was I to question to their judgement?

Now I’m over 6 months into my dairy free diet, my son is symptom free and happy, and I’ve learned that dairy allergies are difficult to diagnose without allergy testing.

Nowadays, we can do EVERYTHING online. We can buy almost anything, pay bills and other banking, earn degrees, socialize, and probably a million other things (literally sitting on my laptop doing my VIRTUAL JOB as I write this).

Now you can even get breastfeeding support online, all in the comfort of your own home. Heck, I totally did it. I took the virtual prenatal breastfeeding class before I joined the Successful Breastfeeding team and I was so glad I did. I had access to ALL the information on my phone, which I accessed multiple times while I was still in the hospital after having my son. Because let’s be real, I wasn’t going to keep paper notes or pamphlets from an in-person class close by while in the hospital, but my phone was never far away. Okay, so the battery may have died and I might have lost it a lot in the beginning but I swear it still never got that far away.

One of our new segments on the blog is the Successful Breastfeeding Story Series, and the journeys we are capturing are absolutely blowing me away! This one is no exception.

This episode of the Successful Breastfeeding Podcast I had the honor of chatting with Gopika. She is a single mom, which is no easy feat (I've been there too!) and she is raising a beautiful daughter with some unique challenges.

Those first weeks of breastfeeding are the hardest. 100%. The first weeks of breastfeeding twins? That's a whole other journey in itself. Thankfully I connected with Julie who shared with me her best advice and resources for breastfeeding twins. You won't want to miss what she has to say!

Until recently, we did not have many resources for twin moms, and thanks to Julie Gordon  (badass twin breastfeeding, tandem baby wearing, BREECH twin natural birthing, magical unicorn mama). Seriously, you have to listen to the podcast below to hear her incredible story! We now have a whole lot of resources and an expanded love for twin breastfeeding moms. 

Scroll below to not only hear her story, receive her advice, but also check out the resources she has to share!

Successful Breastfeeding can mean so many things. Everyone's journey is SO different, and everyone's definition of success is different too. 

This is the first of a new series of posts. I want to celebrate successful breastfeeding stories. I want to share with all of you that no matter how long you breastfeed, how much, which way, or the path it took you to get there we are ALL successful and beautiful mothers. So, please enjoy Sue and Amelia's Successful Breastfeeding Story. 

"My name is Sue and my daughter's name is Amelia.  We recently celebrated her 1st birthday.  We also celebrated an entire year of breastfeeding!!  This is something I am very proud of.  It was not an easy journey, but it was a journey I am so glad we took.

Before Amelia was born, I didn't really think much about breastfeeding other than knew I wanted to.  I had read a few things here and there.  But nothing that prepared me for what was going to happen.  

Would you like to submit your own Successful Breastfeeding Story? I would LOVE to feature you. Please submit your stories and a couple of pictures to Kelly@successfulbreastfeeding.org