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Here is the thing. I am in-network with them, ask anyone! My name is listed, and your policy representative will tell you I am in-network all day long! However, there is a catch. I found out today that while I am in-network, most individual policies have a clause that excludes my provider type (Non-RN IBCLC) from rendering lactation services.

So, what this means is, that as an “in-network provider” I will bill your insurance directly for my services, but most likely, I will also have to charge the credit card you have on file for services rendered and you will have to battle it out with BCBS for this shady practice.

I apologize for the inconvenience and I hope you choose me to take care of your family!

I am an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. I have had extensive classes in hand expression. I have been teaching women how to hand express for the past 7 years in a clinical setting. I have handled my breasts on a daily basis as a teaching tool for seven whole years. I am also 2 days postpartum. Last night, at 4:37am, I finally was able to express 1ml of milk for the baby I just birthed (please see previous blog for story). My hand was cramped, I was bleary eyed, my breasts were sore, and I was so proud of this HUGE accomplishment. And then, I immediately spilled it ALL OVER MYSELF. It was then I realized, I have to come clean about hand expression.

For seven years, I have been telling new parents who are struggling to get their babies to latch, “just hand express your colostrum” for extra food. For seven whole years, I counseled them in how to do this. Massage the breast, juggle the breast, nipple stimulation and then voila! instant syringes full of milk. I treated it with the cavalier attitude of a woman who has never been separated from their newborn. I acted as if handling ones own breast and assuming it would cooperate, a few hours or days after a traumatic birthing, or even a good birthing experience for that matter was no big deal. I was so wrong.

Let me tell you now, I am sorry, hand expression is a big deal, and it is HARD TO DO. Even if you are well taught in how to hand express (which many birthing people are not), you may not be able to do it. Colostrum is sticky and stubborn and pumping will feel completely defeating – keep doing it anyway, you need the stimulation, use coconut oil for lubrication so you don’t blister.

Sure, Colostrum may flow in the first hours after birth because you are riding high on that oxytocin wave, giving you false security. It may then crash along with your hormone levels and you get less than drops and your confidence in your ability to make milk for your baby will be crushed. You may look at the tiny syringe in your hand and think, “this is surely not enough!” Tablespoons doesn’t look like a tiny amount, it looks like an insurmountable barrier to providing your baby with what they need.

Things that have helped me through this stage:

• Look at the colostrum as a vaccine, not food. There are MILLIONS of anitbodies in every single tiny drop.
• Pumping is for you as much as anyone, it will help your uterus shrink to the correct size and set up your supply for later.
• I really like the thin 1ml syringes for sucking up the milk the thicker ones are hard to manipulate and make you feel like you’re not doing enough.
• Pump for 15 minutes every two hours during the day, 1-2X at night and then hand express for 15 minutes. You get what you get, then get some sleep.
• USE LUBE WHEN YOU PUMP DRY
• Pumping will not get the colostrum out. It just won’t.
• Use both hands to hand express, keep trying, and get comfortable with your syringe.
• Suck it up after every drop is squeezed.
• You will mess it up, you will spill it, you will.
• This only is for 3-4 days tops.
• You can do this, you ARE doing this.

And to that sweet mama I saw during my first year in private practice, who’s hand squeezed colostrum I accidentally spilled, I am so so so so sorry.

Surprise! I am going on maternity leave…sorta. It is true that I am 35 weeks pregnant, and it is also true that I am no longer taking new clients as of now. I will continue seeing current clients as needed, because I don’t want to abandon any of you, and also because I struggle with professional/personal boundaries.

So why is this maternity leave “sorta”? Well, it isn’t my baby! As a gestational surrogate I am carrying a baby for some friends of mine (their bun, my oven!), and even though I won’t be getting up in the middle of the night to feed and change and rock this time around, I will be preparing my mind, heart, and body for the next four weeks for this final step. And after the birth I am embarking on a journey I have never taken before, that of exclusive pumping.

I don’t have to tell most of you that this is not a journey that will be easy, but it will be so worth it for this precious baby I have been entrusted with for these past 9 months. It will be difficult, and labor intensive, and exhausting. I will be healing! And while my workaholic personality says I should work until birth and get back to it as soon as humanly possible, I must take the advice I give all of you. Rest. Recover. Give yourself grace and time because you matter too! Put your oxygen mask on first!

Therefore, I can not in good faith keep serving you, my precious parents, to the best of my ability while also splitting my time in this way. I can not wait to serve my community again doing the thing I love the most when I am at 100% again. See you in December!! Below I have listed the names and numbers of referrals to AMAZING IBCLCs in the area who I have absolute faith in who will help you reach whatever feeding goals you have for your infant.

Naya Weber http://itsmorethanmilk.com/index.html

Naiomi Catron https://www.milkdiva.com/

Wonderful news!

Milk Maven is now an in-network provider for BlueCross BlueShield of Texas! Book your appointment today and I will take care of all your billing needs!

In light of recent events, we have updated our cancellation policy for illness. We want all of us to be safe. In addition to continuing to practice good hygiene when we are in your home, we are adding the following safety measures to our home visit prep list:

– I will be washing my hands as often as necessary during the consult. Please have liquid soap (dish soap is fine) and paper towels available in your kitchen and/or bathroom.

– I will use a clean swaddle blanket on my scale. I will wipe down the scale before every appointment.

– I will offer to wear gloves for the entire visit, but I will continue to wear gloves any time I touch baby’s mouth, or any skin that is open.

– I get a flu shot every single year and my entire family is fully vaccinated to keep you and your little one safe.

– I prefer not to conduct the visit in your bedroom. I will teach you how to adapt any position I show you to do in your bed. If you are not mobile, I will conduct the visit in your bedroom, in this case, please have a table available to put my scale.

– Please let me know in a timely manner if you or anyone in your family is symptomatic for any illness.

– If you or anyone in your home is sick with the flu, fever, vomiting, or diarrhea when we arrive at your home, the visit will be canceled and your credit card will be charged a $75 fee.

– If you or anyone in your home has symptoms of illness, please disclose them to us at your earliest convenience so we can create a plan to keep us all safe and illness-free. No cancellation fee will be charged if you communicate illness in a timely manner and we choose to cancel or reschedule.

– In case of our own illness or family emergency, we will communicate with you in a timely manner and will make every effort to reschedule you or refer you to another IBCLC, and no cancellation fee will be charged to you.

I am proud and excited to announce that Milk Maven is now an in-network provider for Aetna! Aetna will cover up to 6 visits (prenatal included) with me. So if you are one of my Aetna clients, book your appointment today!

Being successful is part of who we are as a culture in America. We want to be successful in all our endeavors, especially that most important one of parenting. So, it stands to reason that I get a lot of questions from new parents regarding how to be successful at breastfeeding*. Things I hear a lot:

• “I wasn’t successful at breastfeeding my first two kids.”
• “I am so worried I won’t be able to successfully breastfeed.”
• “How many of your clients are successful, I mean, what is your success rate?”

Our culture is one that praises the Type A overachiever. We, as a culture, like weights and measures, and we measure productivity as precisely as we can, because that is how we can tell if we are being successful. When we are in school, we strive to get good grades. In sports, we aim to be  the fastest or the strongest. At our jobs, we put in those extra hours to impress the boss and we fill every moment of our days with meetings and planning and cram sessions.

This is not how breastfeeding works. Despite what you may have read, despite what your mother/grandmother/sister/best friend/wife of the guy who works across the hall may say, breastfeeding is not all or nothing. Success in breastfeeding is not determined by whether or not your baby has never had a drop of anything other than milk from your teat since the moment they were delivered into your arms. I have seen breastfeeding success mean so many things to so many people.

• A mother who induced lactation for her adopted baby, and her surrogate baby…at the same time.
• A father who uses an SNS to feed his baby at his chest.
• A mother who has insufficient glandular tissue and decides to nurse at the breast for comfort but to give formula in a bottle for the majority of her baby’s nutrition.
• A working parent who pumps during the day for bottles, and then breastfeeds at night and in the morning.
• A parent struggling with PPD who decides to wean early.
• A parent struggling to wean her 4 year old.
• A baby who was in the NICU for several weeks before latching for the first time at a month old.
• A mother who survived cancer, who pumps to increase her supply on her remaining breast to satisfy her baby’s needs.

I will never give a potential client  my “success rate”, because I am not the one who defines what success means to my clients. I will sit down with them, evaluate their situation, their life, their home and their goals. Together, we will come up with a plan to help them define, and in many cases, redefine, successful breastfeeding. Sometimes, this doesn’t involve a breast at all, and that is ok. No matter what happens in your early parenting journey, I will help you feel supported, loved, and empowered. With me, parents define their own breastfeeding success.

*I use breastfeeding, for brevity’s sake, but this includes all forms of lactation, including chestfeeding.

Milk Maven has been helping babies and parents learn how to breastfeed for 3 whole years! To thank my community, I am offering an amazing deal! My original pricing, from when I first opened shop for initial consults! $100 flat fee, and have all your burning questions answered (pun intended)!

This offer will only be offered in the month of October, so ACT FAST and book an appointment today!

It is my birthday month, and yes, I do celebrate all month long! This year, for my 35th birthday, I would like to give a gift to all of your June babies. For the entire month of June, I am offering $50 off my usual prices to make sure all my fellow Gemini/Cancer babies get the best start in life!

Give me a call and set up your home consultation today!