Breaking Bad: Lauren Paul shares her newborn breastfeeding struggle
Lauren and Aaron Paul (Aaron played Jesse Pinkman in popular TV series Breaking Bad) just became parents for the first time, and Lauren’s opened up about the battle she’s waged to stay well enough to breastfeed their little girl.
Welcoming baby Story
The pair’s daughter – named Story – was born on 6 February, and the couple naturally fell head over heels for her. We can’t say we blame them. She’s truly one of the cutest babies we have ever seen!
“I always heard things like ‘you have never known a love like this,’ or ‘it’s like your heart is living outside your chest,’ from different parents while I was pregnant,” Lauren explained.
“It was hard for me to wrap my head around how deep that love could really be. Well, it’s all true. She is everything. My world. Sometimes I just stare at her and cry over how precious and pure she is.”
Beautiful and painful
But after this besotted and quite idyllic start Lauren says things went downhill very, very quickly. She developed mastitis, a condition which will be painfully familiar to mums who have breastfed, not once but TWICE in just a few weeks.
Lauren took to Instagram to detail exactly what had happened, encourage more dialogue on postpartum health – and warn other mums of mastitis’ symptoms.
“This post labor chapter has been rough at times. Recovering from labor is no joke. I’m definitely on the mend in that department but … breastfeeding. Oh man,” she posted. “While it’s been one of the most beautiful experiences of my life, I have developed mastitis twice within 3 weeks.”
“For those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s an infection from breastfeeding that creates severe flu-like symptoms. Yesterday I was fighting a fever that almost hit 104 (40 degrees). It was the sickest I have ever felt. The pain and aches were unbelievable. For the mammas who have been there, I know you feel me.”
Let’s talk about it
Lauren said she wished there was more awareness about the specific struggles mums with newborns experience, and especially more detailed information about breastfeeding red flags.
“What I keep coming back to is the fact that I feel like all these very common issues that can come up immediately after having a baby are not really talked about and being here now, I’m feeling a responsibility to share this so that any new mamma-to-be reading this is aware of these potential issues,” Lauren said.
“If I could give an upcoming mother any advice for this chapter it would be to become well educated about breastfeeding. Take a class, do your research or have conversations with other mothers. There are so many things that can happen … an oversupply of milk leading to infection, your baby having trouble latching, having an undersupply … being aware of this will be so helpful so that you will know how to avoid or handle these things.”
“You are the superhero”
Lauren was keen to not only share how bumpy her adjustment to new mum life was, but also to send a message of love and solidarity for other women going through similar things – especially single parents.
“I wanna give a big virtual hug to all the mammas out there who have had any type of issue breastfeeding or are dealing with anything physically or emotionally difficult, be it with you or your child.”
“You are not alone. And because it’s been on my mind, to all the single parents out there raising babies and children, you are an actual superhero. You are THE superhero. Never forget that.”