I don’t tend to have much in common with celebrities.
While Us Weekly does their best to make the general population feel bonded with the rich and famous by pointing out the fact that they occasionally look like slobs or eat at basic fast-food restaurants, I can’t get past their lavish lifestyles, glamorous vacations, and the fact that they are, in fact, famous.
Celebrities, they’re NOT just like us.
But I have to say that when I read Chrissy Teigen’s tweet about normalizing formula, a little soul sister alert went off in my brain.
Maybe we DO have something in common
Chrissy sang her support of nursing and the “normalize breastfeeding” movement. But she also pointed out that breastfeeding doesn’t work out for every mom — like herself — and that these moms often feel shame and guilt because of it.
“People have surrogates, people have trouble breastfeeding, and all you hear as a new, anxious mom is how breast is best. ‘Normalize breastfeeding’ is great. ‘Normalize formula’ is great, too!”
“The stress of it combined with the guilt that you cannot do nature’s most natural thing for your own baby is too much. I dunno why this is my crusade now. I just remember the sadness I felt and want you to know you are doing it right if your baby is fed, mama.”
That one statement about all of the stress involved when breastfeeding isn’t working out or going smoothly, made me feel seen.
Hey, Chrissy? Are we having a moment?
While I’m sure Chrissy’s tweet will evoke a variety of feedback, from me, she will just get a standing applause.
That one quote sent me spiraling back to the days of being a new mom when my visions of sweet night feedings and baby bonding while my body nourished his body were demolished by the reality that it just didn’t work that way for me.
I remember the anxiety I felt four days after my son was born, after we had to take him back to the doctor because he had jaundice and wasn’t getting nearly enough milk from me.
I remember sobbing as the doctor told me that I needed to give him formula to help him thrive.
I remember feeling like a failure and hating my “broken” boobs for not being able to do what they were meant to do.
I remember pushing my body and brain to the point of complete anxiety-ridden exhaustion by pumping 12 times a day and taking every supplement and old wives’ tale brew known to mankind, just to try to increase my supply a miniscule amount.
I remember the shame I felt as the huge can of formula made its way down the belt at the grocery store.
All of these feelings came flooding back
I wish that formula had been normalized back then. I wish that I could get those first few months with my son back. I wish I would have cut my losses, given him formula from the get-go, and known that it was the best for us. Because I’d rather have given him formula and been a mom who was present and calm rather than stressed and depressed.
If that’s not a positive trade-up, I don’t know what is.
So let’s join forces with our celebrity friend (who maybe is more like us than we realized) and “normalize formula” right along with “normalizing breastfeeding.” Because even though breast might be best in some situations, it wasn’t for me — or for Chrissy, my new celebrity bestie.
