Her Story.

Stephani is the mother of 2 daughters ages, 2 1/2 and 7 1/2. She works as a web accessibility consultant,is a budding entrepreneur and has her own pod cast, The Audacious Life. She was 1 of three children, her parents divorced when she was less than 2 years old. This was in the 70’s and her mom spent time living in a somewhat alternative lifestyle so this meant that she spent her earlier years growing up in a beautiful Christian commune. As a young adult, Stephanie graduated from Emerson. She was drawn to the internet and studied New Media and Film and soon became employed with MIT. She started creating educational products for online learning that corresponds with programming at PBS. She is currently building an audience and interviewing great speakers for her newest endeavor a podcast called The Audacious Life.

Stephani had two very different breastfeeding experiences and shares with us how they were different. She learned so much from her experiences with her first baby, that she felt much better prepared with her second baby. Learning how to be assertive and asking for help and being prepared helped her have an easier experience with her second baby. She was told her position and latch were great with her first baby and yet when she came home, everything seemed to fall apart. Latching was difficult, and her baby was not gaining well. She remembered feeling like a failure as a mother and a woman. Stephani was glad that she persevered, met with another lactation consultant and ended up being quiet successful and breastfed her for over 20 months.

Lesson learned: Taking care of yourself. You are the one producing the milk. Hydration and Sleep are important.

Words of wisdom: Breathe. You are going to get through his. Your baby is beautiful. One way or the other you just need to love her and just be in the moment. I was that person, staying up late, sleep deprived. So to just allow myself to just chill and enjoy every moment with her and not focus so much on getting every piece of the nursing just right. Enjoy being a Mommy.

Happiest memory: The very first time she nursed, unlatched and looking up at me and had the most satisfied smile on her face. Just remembering how sweet her little face was and how she looked so completely content. It was the most beautiful heart filling experience.

Funny stuff: Tale from the breast – My older daughter makes jokes about it and I think sometimes she wishes she could still do it. She sometimes curls in my lap and makes the motion and pretends to nurse.

Contact info: theaudaciouslife        steph@theaudaciouslife.com      accessibilityreviews