I grew up knowing that I wanted to be in the medical field, helping others. I originally went to college pursing a medical degree to become a pediatrician, but soon knew my passion was bedside care so I switched to nursing school. While in nursing school my high school sweetheart (now husband) and I became pregnant with our first child.

My own personal journey in breastfeeding my children is what led me to become a lactation consultant. My first breastfeeding experience was with the birth of my son. Breastfeeding was a struggle at first due to my son’s poor weight gain. I thankfully had a great lactation consultant that saw me after we were discharged from the hospital, due to his weight. Together with the pediatrician and the lactation consultant, we were able to manage my son’s acid reflux and he went on to be a chubby, roly-poly baby! I was able to exclusively breastfeed or provide pumped breastmilk (while I was in clinicals to become an RN) for a year! My second child, a daughter, was born with a tongue tie that was not identified, nor corrected. When I say to moms that I know what it feels like, I really truly mean it. She and I suffered from an array of issues like thrush, plugged ducts, and mastitis (just to name a few) due to the restricted range of motion of my baby’s tongue. But, yet again, I had the same great lactation consultant that helped me through our challenges and I was able to nurse my daughter for 2 years! She too, was a chubby, roly-poly baby! Seeing how this lactation consultant helped me, really sparked my passion for helping other mothers.

Thankfully, while still in nursing school, I was able to join the OB department where this said (now retired) lactation consultant worked. I immediately asked if I could start training with her, she took me under her wings and I soon became a Certified Lactation Specialist (CLS) and then later an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). I have been an IBCLC for over 6 years and I still get excited about the opportunity to impact families through this work. It is an honor to be a small part of such an important time in parenthood for these families.