Many of us have heard of triple feeding, but have you ever heard of quadruple feeding?

Quadruple feeding is doing four things to try to feed your baby every day, and it’s exhausting!

Danielle Kawlewski's baby was born with Down syndrome and a heart defect.

In today’s episode, she shares the struggles of feeding, losing the sucking reflex, and then going straight from tube feeding to thickened breastmilk through a straw by eight months old… along with trying everything else under the sun in between.

Connect with Danielle online:

• IG-  Danielles_scrunchy_kids
• FB- Danielle Kawlewski

She Also Shares:

• 2:45 - Living in Wisconsin on 50 acres 
• 4mins - Had Daughter in Aug 2021. Born with Down syndrome
• 6:30 - Started to try to collect colostrum at 37 weeks
• 7:30 - Birth Story - Started as a home birth with a pool and a midwife
• 9:15 - Found out her baby was in breach position
• 9:45 - Decide to go to hospital
• 11:15 - At the hospital, ended up having a C-section (because the baby was breach)
• 12:15 - Baby went to Nicu at a DIFFERENT HOSPITAL for 30 days because of low oxygen, and her Down syndrome caused two holes in her heart. But, they stayed so long mainly because of feeding issues.
• 15 mins - learn she was transferred to Madison Wisconsin hospital 90mins away because that’s where they have all the Nicu resources for babies with Down syndrome
• 18:45 - Stayed at the Ronald MacDonald house around the corner. Baby got Donor milk for first 24hrs
• 19:20 -Able to use the colostrum she’d expressed before giving birth during the first 24hrs
• 20:40 - Explain all about a Ronald MacDonald House
• 23:30 - lactation cookies recipe
• 26:45 - Quadruple Feedings
• 27:20 - Sucking Reflex went away due to downs and the two holes in her heart
• 32:00 - Having a g-tube placed so they could go home from the Nicu
• 33:30 - How to thicken breastmilk
• 35:30 - Lactation consultants are the best
• 37mins - The Power of the Manual Pump
• 40:30 - Pumpin’ Pals Silicone Flanges worked well for her
• 42 mins - What happened when daughter lost suction ability
• 44 mins - Getting heart surgery
• 48:30 mins - Bottle to a straw cup at eight months old
• 49:30 - Resource Share: Honey bear cups
• 51 mins - Started foods at five months
• 53:30 - pumped for 11 months
• 55:30 - The unexpected joy of it all
• 57:30 - Journaling
• 59 - Dealing with all the emotions after birth
• 60mins - EMDR Therapy (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)
• 61:45 - Started an at-home daycare after her baby had heart surgery 65 mins - weaned off the breast pump with cabbage leaves
• 66 mins - Finding your voice after having a kid
• 69 mins - Scrunchy Kids
• 73 mins - Rapid Fire Question Round
• 74mins - Resource: Jill Rabin Book: Your baby can self-feed too.
• 78 mins - Resource: Breastfeeding and Down syndrome
• 79:45 - Resource: Badass Breastfeeder - Pumping Hacks episode is great

Today, I was really honored to interview the incredible Lynan Saperstein. Not only is she a new, older mom (she gave birth at 39. and she's breastfeeding at 40), but she is a soulful, heart-driven entrepreneur with a passion for energetic clearing. She offers group energy programs as well as private sessions. You can check her out at ElementalSphere.com.

Lynan's milk came in very fast. She described it as terrifying. She thought she had mastitis. Ultimately, she learned she was an overproducer, which was quite messy, actually. 

Additionally, she shares the traumatizing experience she had with a breast pump during labor, so it took a long while to try pumping after the baby was born. 

She also tells the story of her cracked nipple and how Lanolin nipple cream and Silverettes helped. 

Her daughter is 11 months old and  she is still almost exclusively breastfeeding on demand. Lynan shares how she is preparing for a long haul breastfeeding journey. 

We also learn about her experience co-sleeping,  night feeding, the first 40 days ritual, why we should give Dad's breastmilk and so much more. 

Resources: 

• Haaka ladybugs - https://a.co/d/2e2d5De
• Hand pump - https://a.co/d/2e2d5De
• Lanolin nipple cream - https://a.co/d/hOKstwH
• Silverettes - https://a.co/d/cOUsHhN
• Washable pads for the bed - https://a.co/d/f2MVHLl
• Wrap breastfeeding bras instead of clip ones

Today, I am really honored to interview an incredible woman, Barb Higgins. I’ve known Barb since I was in 4th grade and ran track and field with the local Parks and Rec community. In high school, she was my cross-country coach, and she led us to win our local Division, then State, and then The New England Championship. I have such incredible memories with this woman.

Barb is now 60 and on the show today because she gave birth to her fourth child at 57.

In today’s episode, Barb shares about her four pregnancies, starting with the miscarriage of baby Gordy at 25 weeks and the surprise milk let-down experience she had afterward.

She also shares what it was like to breastfeed in public with her second, Gracie, and then what it was like to get caught on a day trip without a breast pump while nursing her third, Molly. And having Jack, her  IVF baby after menopause.

Note: If you don’t know Barb’s story, Barb has lost two children. In addition to the miscarriage of baby Gordy, she also lost her daughter Molly at age 13. We don't go into the details of Molly’s death in the podcast, but you can learn more about her at the MollyB Foundation: https://mollybfoundation.org/ or by reading Barb’s book, Motherland: https://amzn.to/3vEIg5N

She also shares:

• 8mins - 25-week miscarriage of baby Gordy
• 13:30 - Gracie’s Birth & Latching
• 15:25 - Breastfeeding Gracie in public
• 17:15 - The Difficulty of Pumping and What Worked
• 17:45 - Co-sleeping & ‘Self-Serve’ Breastfeeding at night
• 19:45 - Natural Weaning - Being Pregnant with Molly, Gracie no longer liked the taste
• 20:05 - Molly’s Birth & Initial Latching
• 22:15 -Forgetting the breast pump on a trip from NH to Connecticut
• 25:20 - Advocate, Advocate, Advocate - Your Boobs, Your Baby!
• 28:10 - Jack’s Story as an IVF Baby after menopause
• 37:00 - Developing Preeclampsia at 35 weeks
• 41:00 - Suction challenges with a 35 wk old
• 42:39 - When a nurse tells Barb she’s too old to breastfeed
• 43:25 - The baby-feeding regime (Breastfeed, Bottle, Then Pump)
• 47:00 - The Ridiculousness of the ‘Failure to Thrive’ label when Jack was slow to gain weight
• 48:00 - Advocating for yourself in the hospital
• 50:00mins - Nurse provides game-changing support on breastfeeding
• 50:30 - Getting donated breastmilk
• 52:30 - Spilt milk story and the frustration
• 54:20 - Still breastfeeding at 2.5yrs old
• 56:00 - A culture that thinks it’s okay to tell women what to do
• 57:30 - Introduction of Book, Motherland
• 60:00 - What Child-loss feels like daily
• 61:15 - Postpartum Anger after Jack
• 64:15 - Always listen to your instincts
• 65:30 - Rapid Fire Round

Recommendations:

• The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding: https://amzn.to/3U3qGm0
• Human Milk for Human Babies - FB Group
• NH Breastfeeding Moms - FB Group

You can find Barb on Facebook and Instagram:

• FB: https://www.facebook.com/barb.higgins.96
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barb_444/
• Website: https://athousandtinysteps.com/

Today, I’m interviewing a very dear friend and fellow mama, Andrea Purjue. She was a huge support to me during my pregnancy and first year with my daughter. In fact, Andrea, came down from Seattle to join me on my first cross-country flight with Luna when Luna was only 3 months old. She was and is amazing.

In this Episode, Andrea shares about the joys and challenges of being a single mom while pregnant and during postpartum.

Andrea had to go back to work just six weeks after having her son and she shares what it was like to have to pump in public 15 years ago.

Andrea also shares:

• The struggle with latching she faced at home
• How she set up her pumping station to best support her
• Figuring out slow flow bottles
• The weird sensation of pumping
• How she handled childcare as a single mom goin back to work after just 6 weeks
• Pumping while commuting an back at work
• Her experience exclusively pumping for 7 months
• What it was like to pump in public 15 years ago
• Her continued recommended resources - Boppy, nipple cream, and try different bottles!

You can find Andrea on LinkedIn at:

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-purjue-2694b67/

Resources:

• Boppy - https://amzn.to/3NYauyB
• Badger Balm - https://amzn.to/3SefLVv
• Glass Bottles - https://amzn.to/3TY8Fpu

Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed today's episode, it would mean the world to me if you'd be willing to take 30 seconds to rate and review the podcast.

And, if you're interested in coming on to share your own baby-feeding story, head to mollyrider.com and click on "Share Your Story."

Today, I’m interviewing, Kelila Green Siciliano. She is a mom, a surrogate, a pregnancy loss survivor, a speaker, the founder of OursAndYRS, and the host of the podcast, “Pushing Through Loss” where Kelila speaks about her experience with surrogacy, pregnancy loss, and creating a survival toolkit in order to help her audience feel empowered to use their own struggles to work with them and not push against them. 

Today, Kelila shares about:

• The challenges of trying to learn how to breastfeed with her first.
• How she used a washcloth to get her first baby on the breast.
• Her experience using a nipple shield and the MyBreastFriend Pillow
• How her nipples chapped even though there was only 6 months in between breastfeeding her first and her second.
• The multiple healing properties of breastmilk
• Weaning her third at 17 months in order to become a surrogate
• Why she hand expressed for the surrogate baby
• The difference between night milk and morning milk
• Nipple flange sizing and how your nipple size changes during breastfeeding
• Breastfeeding and pumping in public
• Becoming a doula
• Pregnancy Loss - Kelila lost her second surrogate baby at 16 weeks, 5 days. From this created a pregnancy loss workbook you can find on her website

You can find Kelila at: https://www.instagram.com/oursandyrs/ or https://www.kelilagreenspeaker.com/

Resources: 

• Nipple Shield: https://amzn.to/3vm5FZA
• My Breast Friend Nursing Pillow: https://amzn.to/48vgiro
• La Leche League: https://llli.org/

Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed today's episode, it would mean the world to me if you'd be willing to take 30 seconds to rate and review the podcast.

And, if you're interested in coming on to share your own baby-feeding story, head to mollyrider.com and click on "Share Your Story."

In today’s episode, I interviewed Lily Kendall Wood, the one woman who absolutely transformed my baby-feeding story. She believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. She offered me her own baby-feeding stories so I felt normal and seen. In episode one, I talk about her endlessly because she shows up all over my baby-feeding journey.

Outside of supporting me, this fantastic woman, Lily Kendall Wood, is a Results Coach with Tony Robbins, a Mom of 2 boys, and absolutely passionate about lactation.

Today, Lily Shares about:

• Her two home births
• How her first son was born with a cleft palate, and that led her to decide to exclusively pump for two years.
• One of the most challenging moments of her 2-year pumping experience
• The SEVEN different pumps she used before falling in love with the Medela Symphony Plus
• How her second son had a tongue tie that wasn’t diagnosed for three days, so her milk supply struggled to come in
• How the milk pills from Canada doubled her milk supply within a day!
• Weaning Tips: What they did when her second didn’t want to wean (at 3yrs old)
• Her best recommendations to stay sane during the first few years

You can reach out to Lily at: [email protected] or on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lilykendallwood/

Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed today's episode, it would mean the world to me if you'd be willing to take 30 seconds to rate and review the podcast.

And, if you're interested in coming on to share your own baby-feeding story, head to mollyrider.com and click on "Share Your Story."

In today's episode, I interviewed a good friend and fellow mama, Laika Ottinot. Laika had her daughter, Erica, at the height of COVID-19, and in her story, she shares the pure joy of meeting her daughter after three miscarriages.

She also shared why she advocated for 24 weeks of Maternity Leave for herself and was granted the opportunity.

Laika works in a NYC hospital's open heart surgery department and doesn’t get scheduled breaks during surgery, so she also worked with her boss to get better pumping conditions than having to race to the bathroom!! 

Laika is a true inspiration! After listening to her, I hope you feel fueled to fight for your post-partum rights. 

You Will Also Hear:

• How shockingly painful breastfeeding was in the beginning. (Sore nipples)
• super pumping because she wasn’t the mom with a freezer stash
• How she pumped on the way to work sometimes
• How un-supportive the nurses were of her pumping
• The power of the doula in postpartum
• How Laika ultimately found breastfeeding to be BLISS
• It’s okay to be the mom that DOESN’T do everything
• Moms should get time for themselves on Mother’s Day

And so much more!

You can find Laika on Instagram at: @anaturaljourney [https://www.instagram.com/anaturaljourney/]

Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed today's episode, it would mean the world to me if you'd be willing to take 30 seconds to rate and review the podcast.

And, if you're interested in sharing your own baby-feeding story on the Pod, head to mollyrider.com [http://www.mollyrider.com] and click on "Share Your Story."

In today's episode, I interviewed one of my best friends and fellow mamas, Cora Poage. She and I have known each other since we worked together at a summer job in college, and we’ve been really fortunate that our growth trajectory has mirrored each other's in many ways. So much so that we both had our first babies in 2022, almost twenty years after we initially met. My daughter is seven months older than Cora’s son, Nico.

Today, Cora shares how she went from hoping to have an unmedicated homebirth in a tub with a midwife to a hospital birth with pitocin and an epidural thanks to high blood pressure and stalled labor.  She was so grateful to her friends who told her to have a birth plan but to be prepared to throw it out. This allowed her to stay strong and advocate for herself and her baby.

We Also Hear:

• How a Nurse Hand Expressed Cora's Breast To Get Her Colostrum to Flow 
• The breastfeeding, pumping, and bottle feeding regimen was around the clock for the first few weeks. 
• How Cora kept her sanity and fed her baby without having to get up every two hours in the middle of the night.
• How Cora released her pre-mama self and found surprising joys in motherhood.
• Gender role challenges
• What happened one night when her pump broke? 
• Breastmilk supply food recommendations like oatmeal, quinoa, and post-natal vitamins
• How to be gentle with yourself when you lose your shit!

And so much more!

You can find Cora at: https://www.instagram.com/coachcoco/ or CoraPoage.com.

Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed today's episode, it would mean the world to me if you'd be willing to take 30 seconds to rate and review the podcast.

And, if you're interested in coming on to share your own baby-feeding story, head to mollyrider.com and click on "Share Your Story."

TRIGGER WARNING: In this episode, Chloe shares how a resident assaulted her during her first birth. Fortunately, Chloe. later sought help and reported it to both the police and the hospital. The resident was thankfully dismissed from her residency. 

I am so excited to share the episode with you. Midland Doula, Chloe Adams, has an incredible story of knowing nothing before the birth of her first to becoming a certified doula by the time she had her second. 

Chloe shares great tips around:

• Using the Spectra 1 Breast pump
• The Haakaa
• The Power of Using a Hand pump
• Why not to use Dr. Brown Bottles
• Post Partum Depression, which she had after her first
• Tongue Ties
• The Body Ready Method

And so much more! 

You can find Chloe at: https://www.instagram.com/midlanddoula/

Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed today's episode, it would mean the world to me if you'd be willing to take 30 seconds to rate and review the podcast.

And, if you're interested in coming on to share your own baby-feeding story, head to mollyrider.com and click on "Share Your Story."

In today’s episode, I interview, Dr. Andrea Wadley. The owner of 127 Pediatrics in Colleyville, TX. As a pediatrician and lactation consultant she also provides lactation medical care in the comfort of her patients home, as well as online breastfeeding education. You can find 127Pediatrics on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Youtube. 

I am excited today to have Dr. Andrea Wadley share her own baby-feeding story.

In this episode you will hear:

• How and Why Dr. Wadley Used a Nipple Shield
• How She Survived Mastitis
• The Unspoken Superpower of Breastfeeding
• Her Breast Pumping Experience
• Her Weaning Experience
• Tips for Using the Haakaa
• 3 Truths and 1 Lie about Clogged Ducks
• Why Breastfeeding is Hard, Even for a Pediatrician

Links:

• Nipple Shield: https://amzn.to/3t5IQsh
• Haakaa: https://amzn.to/3t5IQsh
• More Milk Please FB Group for Strong Supportive Mamas+ https://www.facebook.com/groups/moremilkplease
• Molly's 10 Game-Changing Milk Production Tips: https://www.mollyrider.com/top10milktips
• Breastfeeding Education by 127 Pediatrics: https://www.youtube.com/@breastfeeding127pediatrics
• 127 Pediatrics on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onetwentysevenpediatrics/

Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed today’s episode, it would mean the world to me if you’d be willing to take 30 seconds to rate and review the podcast.

And, if you’re interested in coming on to share your own baby-feeding story, head to mollyrider.com and click on “Share Your Story.”