Audrey Roloff is putting her breastfeeding woes behind her!
The Little People, Big World mom shared with fans on her Instagram story that after months of repeated mastitis diagnoses, she’s finally able to feed her baby with ease after giving birth to her and husband Jeremy Roloff‘s first daughter, Ember Jean, in September.
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“Just a little encouragement for anyone struggling on their breastfeeding journey,” Audrey wrote in an Instagram story alongside a photo of pumped milk. “I was only able to pump MAYBE one ounce the first two months after having Ember. I fed 15 hours of my day and it hurt and was so hard. But here we are at five months pumping eight ounces like it’s nothin [sic].”
In a different video, the new mom added, “It took me a solid two months, maybe two and a half months before I really started to see an increase in my supply and breastfeeding became a lot easier.”
She continued, “Since delivering Ember, I struggled with mastitis on and off. I was severely engorged. On top of that, Ember had a really severe tongue tie that we had to get surgically fixed about two or three weeks after she was born. Before that, I was having a lot of blistering and bruising.”
Mastitis is the inflammation of the breast that is caused by an infection after bacteria enters the breast through the nipple via a cracked or sore nipple. It can cause fever, chills and other unpleasant symptoms, according to WebMD.
Audrey has been open about her problems breastfeeding in the past.
“l always thought breastfeeding was a choice,” she captioned a photo of her cuddling with Ember in November. “People would often ask me if l was going to breastfeed when I was pregnant and l always answered with a determined yes. But after Ember was born, l realized that for some people, it’s not a choice.”
She continued: “My breastfeeding journey has not been easy. After sharing with you all a little bit about the struggles l have had feeding Ember, l realized that so many of you have gone through, or are currently going through, similar pains, heart aches, and challenges.”
She also has detailed how her infection affected her first days as a new mom.
“About 24 hours after Ember was born, l became severely engorged,” she said. “The nurses at the hospital admitted to it being the worse case they’d ever seen. l couldn’t put my arms at my sides or hold Ember – except to feed, and feeding was so painful because l was also badly blistered/bruised … Not to mention, what they had to do to ‘get me flowing’ was excruciating. l thought the pain was supposed to be over once they laid her on my chest? But people just don’t talk enough about the after labor pains.”
Three days after coming home from the hospital, the TLC cast member came down with mastitis, which caused her milk production to “completely tank.”
“l was devastated and even told by a pediatrician and lactation consultant that l would probably not ever be able to exclusively breastfeed Ember. She was having trouble gaining weight and they were concerned. They also thought l had insufficient granular tissue,” she said.
If only she could have seen the easy pumping the future would hold!
Photo credit: Instagram/@audreyroloff
