Her Story.

Michele’s dad was in the military so she calls herself an army brat. She lived in several different states and was in several different schools by the age of ten. She has two sisters and she is right in the middle. She was born in Virginia and raised in Sacramento area. When she was younger she always knew she wanted to be a Dr. she started off thinking she wanted to be a pediatrician because I love kids. But when she was in college she was a live-in nanny and took care of newborns and saw that they were struggling at night and calling their physicians in the middle of the night.Michele realized pretty quickly that this would not work out well for her when she did become a mother. She knew that she wanted to be more available to her children and getting called out in the middle of the night would not fit in well with her idea of motherhood. So, she started looking into other areas of medicine and eventually decided on podiatry. When it comes to choosing a school, she knew she wanted to go somewhere warm so she chose a school in Miami.

Her mom did breastfeed all of her girls. She breastfed the recommended 3 months for 2 of them and could not with 1 of them and only breastfed for 1 month.

Michele always knew she wanted to breastfeed her baby because she knew of the health benefits. Her mother tried to be helpful but her mother in law and her mother both had different ideas and knowledge base about breastfeeding. She continually had to fight the sentiments that her baby was not getting enough. Michele felt that she and her daughter were doing just fine, but unfortunately had to deal with the moms in her life thinking they knew better. Michele read a lot of books during her pregnancy and she did have an LC come in and talk to her and make sure things were going fine. I took a few classes on breastfeeding that was offered from the hospital she was having her baby.

Michele had been practicing medicine with a medical group for 3 years and then branched off on her own and then 2 months later she became pregnant. This was a lot to take on at that time in her early pregnancy. But owning her own business helped her a lot so that she could set up the office so that it was very baby friendly. She also hired a nanny who helped her a lot and watched the baby in between patients. Michele was very happy to be able to bring her baby to work with her every day. She did pump a few times so her Dad could feed her milk from a bottle when she stayed home with him. This did not happen to often and Michele thinks this was a good thing because she feels she was “not the best pumper”.” Pumping for her was hard and breastfeeding was easier.

Funny Breastfeeding Story: She breastfed for 19 months and she does has a funny story to share. Michele taught her daughter baby sign language. The one for “more milk” was the easiest for her. When she did it in the office and her nanny did not know what that was, I had to explain it to her. My nanny said: Oh, so it is just like squeezing the udders on a cow. Michele thought this was funny and embarrassing all at the same time.

Breastfeeding confessions: Michele shares another story about breastfeeding her daughter. In the beginning her daughter did not sleep that much, so she found a way to breastfeed her laying down in the bed and we both would fall asleep. When Michele shared this story with someone she knew, they were appalled and worried about- well what if she rolled onto her and smothered her. Michele explained that it is as a mother she had instincts and when it was time to roll over, she just pickedd her up and they both rolled over and it just felt natural to her. When you are not sue to this, and when you are not used to this it sounds kind of weird. People are fearful about bed sharing. Michele is one of the many mothers who secretly sleep with their babies. They are closet co-sleepers. It was a matter of survival. She was sitting up in a rocking chair and realized that she kept falling asleep and realized that was dangerous. One of her staff members talked to her about side-lying nursing and Michele feels that this was a life saver for her as she feels she might not have slept for weeks had she not co-slept.

Michele tells us about her current business and what she is doing.

Michele had a traditional podiatry practice. She was trained in surgery and was doing diabetic wound care and surgery. She still does some of that now, but has shifted her practice to more of a holistic practice after having her own health issues. and really searching out different f forms of holistic medic and that is what brought her to ayurvedic and yoga. She has incorporate this holistic medicine into her practice. I work with my patients in giving them different ways of eating and exercising that will work for them to try and get them off medications and off the idea that they just need prescription or surgery to get better. They are coming to her for their foot but a lot of times there is really a systemic problem. so something other health issue is going on. So they could have a swollen foot and that is why they are coming to me and yet but actually it is because they have high blood pres Their primary care doctor will usually prescribe medication, but the problem still continues. sure or congestive heart failure and this has not even been diagnosed by their primary care doctor because many health concerns show up in the foot first. So, they change their diet and exercise in a diferent way and doin things different. primary care has not addresss just given a script and come back in a motnh and that is not working for them their feet are still swollen and that is when I can address the problem

I have an online program where I can coach people over the phone about their daily habits caled body wisdom it is a group coaching system that we do over the phone and do We do Skye and Google hangout.

Michele’s message to new moms is – trust your intuition and your gut and you are going to know what is right for you and your family and your child.

Link: Co-Sleeping With Infants: Science, Public Policy, and Parents Civil Rights, with James McKenna, PhD

Books:The Family Bed

Contact Michele – drmichele.com FREE consultations which are located on the  “Work with me Page”.