The Longest Shortest Time

EPISODE #31: How to Brag to Your Mom Friends

Remember Kate Bowman-Johnston from episode 11? She’s the one who spent hours jiggling her daughter Adelle in her arm, with a finger in her mouth, in an effort to avoid having Adelle cry-it-out.

Last time Kate and I talked on the podcast, our girls were just barely a year old; now they’re four. And Kate has had another child—a boy named Jack. Kate and I have kept in touch over the years and become real friends. But all this time I’ve been keeping something from her. I haven’t told her how guilty I feel over the fact that in our last interview, I smugly said that I felt responsible for making my daughter Sasha a good sleeper because we chose to cry-it-out. In this episode, I finally fess up to Kate that I feel bad about this, and I make her tell me her parenting triumphs.

Turns out, she has two: 1) she was able to breastfeed both of her children—she is especially proud of her efforts with Jack, who suffered green, bloody poops because he was allergic to proteins in Kate’s breastmilk and 2) she was able to give birth twice without drugs or surgery. Guess which one was harder for me to hear? Hint: listen to episode 27.

Together, Kate and I tackle the question: Is it possible for moms to share their triumphs with each other without making the other mom feel bad?

Kate’s Resources for Green, Bloody Poo
The condition Jack had is called allergic colitis. Kate says that, other than her GI doctor and her lactation consultant, her resources to handle the stress of Jack’s bloody poops were mostly other moms. She also took Jack to this craniosacral massage therapist. She tells me she is usually a skeptic when it comes to massage therapies, but that it improved Jack’s latch and gut issues immeasurably.

Breastfeeding Throwing You For a Loop?
Please consider submitting a question for Nancy Holtzman, the lactation consultant joining us for our upcoming breastfeeding Google Hangout.

Dying to share one of YOUR parenting triumphs?
Tell us!

Black & white photos: Leah Hood