‘Little People, Big World’ Alum Audrey Roloff Gets Candid About Postpartum Issue She’s Dealing With After Welcoming Baby No. 4

Audrey Roloff is getting real about motherhood. The Little People, Big World alum shared a touching Instagram picture of her cradling and smooching her newborn daughter on the family ranch. And while she’s basking in the joys of motherhood for the fourth time, she says there are many challenges. She says her family is happy and blessed to be adjusting as a family of six, it has taken its toll in the newborn stage. 

“The early postpartum days really take me down. It’s always the hardest part for me. I LOVE labor and birth (cannot wait to tell you her wild birth story! [heart eyes emoji]) and have great pregnancies, but that first week after birth is a doozy,” she explained in part. “My Dolly Parton milk supply that’s thicker than honey, accompanied by babies with severe tongue ties has been the unfortunate recipe for mastitis in the first week postpartum 4/4 times. And getting mastitis so quickly after giving birth when you’re already so depleted and trying to heal/recover is just brutal.” 

According to Mayo Clinic, a tongue tie or ankyloglossia, “is when an unusually short, thick or tight band of tissue tethers the bottom of the tongue’s tip to the floor of the mouth. The band of tissue is called the frenulum. When it is too short or tight, it can restrict the tongue’s range of motion.” It can severely impact babies feeding and cause breastfeeding to be painful due to the baby’s latch. In most cases, the tie will have to be clipped, which can be done in the early days of life.

Audrey suffers from mastitis, which also impacts feeding, as it causes cause pain, redness, swelling, warmth, and tenderness in the breasts for women who are breastfeeding. There are different feeding positions that can ease this. But normally, a private lactation consultant will have to be enlisted.