Her Story:

Brandi Walerius grew up in a traditional household for the time. Her Dad worked outside the home and her mother was a stay at home mom until she returned to school years later and became an RN. She feels good about being brought up in a family with strong work ethics and with a philosophy that said:  “family is everything”.  She is the middle child, with  a brother 4 years older and another brother 4 years younger than her.  Brandy made me laugh when she revealed that as a youngster she  wanted to own a candy store. As a young adult, she wanted to be a lawyer, however, ultimately went to school and became educated in HR work.  There was something about everything being black and white  that really attracted me to the law.  However, I eventually became involved with HR  and started my own content writing firm and Mom-mentum became a client of mine. I had my first baby and everything went very well. I did not feel the need for a support group.  After my second baby was born, I experienced more of a challenge and I looked for the support of like minded mothers.  I needed help through this confusing and challenging time of my life.  I fell in love with the organization.  I think the second time around, I found it harder to have control.  I wanted to be supermom, you know the one who did pinterest crafts and had dinner on the table every night and I just wanted to do it all.  But after my second child, reality just hit  me really hard. This is why I joined Mothers Center.  Brandy was surprised to learn that her mother did not breastfeed her.  I am a planner.  Things don’t come naturally to me and I like to practice learning things.  Because I could not practice breastfeeding ahead of time, I read and researched and took classes, taking notes and highlighting articles.  I had pictures and arrows and diagrams.  I was really nervous about not being able to “get it” largely because I could not practice it at first.  With all of my anxiety, my early breastfeeding went really easy.  It was comfortable, my baby thrives, gained well and met all the developmental milestones.  Brandy returned back to work at 10 weeks postpartum.  This was another transition that she became anxious about.  Listen to the show as Brandy shares how she prepared for this next transition