I honestly don't know how I would have survived the first three months of parenthood without Robin!
I knew I wanted to breastfeed my baby, but even after asking for help from every single nurse and available lactation consultant at the hospital where I gave birth, we just couldn't get the latch right. A couple days later, my pediatrician determined that my baby had jaundice badly enough that we had to take home a bilirubin blanket and help him to eat and gain weight FAST. After struggling with the latch at home AGAIN for a few days and suffering with massive nipple pain, I called Robin, who was highly recommended to me by several friends, my pediatrician, and my sister, who is a postpartum nurse. During our private consultation, Robin was able to show me how to get my baby to latch on in a way that nobody else had. I was finally able to breastfeed my baby properly PAIN FREE! He started gaining weight quickly and got over his jaundice!
Over the next couple of months, I struggled with other issues including mastitis, oversupply, a fussy/gassy baby, silent reflux, fussing at the breast and pulling away, my ability to pump only about 10 drops at a time, and MANY other breastfeeding/parenting challenges. I'll be honest: I thought about quitting (breastfeeding, not parenting) more than once. However, I knew that Robin was there for me and rooting for us, so every time I ran into an issue, I would email her, a service that she includes with private consultations. For every issue I had, even if it wasn't directly related to breastfeeding, she replied within a day (usually within hours) and with extremely straightforward, helpful advice presented in a very kind way.
Today, my baby and I are still exclusively breastfeeding, and it is going WONDERFULLY. Not only is it the best thing for his and my health and future, but it is such an amazing bonding experience. On top of that, he weighs 18 pounds at 3 months of age! I guarantee that this would not have been our outcome had we not met Robin.
The other awesome thing about Starfish is Forum. This amazing group of moms meets every week to discuss both breastfeeding and parenting topics. Since there are babies of all ages, I've heard moms ask questions that haven't applied to me YET, but I always file the information away in my head, and it's come in handy so many times.
To sum it up, if you are planning on breastfeeding your baby, you MUST meet Robin. She is not only an amazing educator but one of the kindest, most caring people I have ever known. She sincerely wants every mom and baby to succeed and devotes herself to this cause every single day! read more