Heather Rae Young shared some of the joys and struggles of being a new mom this week, including the difficulty in breastfeeding her 3-week-old baby because of his tongue, cheek and lip tie.
"I had many tearful nights in the beginning because I’d be up at 3am trying to feed him & felt so defeated," she admitted on Instagram Monday.
"Have been in mama hibernation mode for the past couple of weeks but soaking up some fresh air today with my lovey," Young, who is married to HGTV star Tarek El Moussa, wrote at the beginning of a lengthy caption along with a picture of her sitting outside with their son Tristan.
She continued, "As promised, I want to talk to you guys about my breastfeeding journey because it’s definitely been a journey !! I thought…. I’ll just pop him on my boob and feed him anytime. Ya no!!!"
The "Selling Sunset" star went on to explain that Tristan had a tongue tie, cheek tie and lip tie, which made it difficult for him to latch to her breast and suck. The newborn also had jaundice.
Young said the ailments were caught "very early on thanks to my incredible lactation specialist and @tonguetietribe, they’re literally baby fairies."
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Tristan was using up so much energy trying to feed that he was losing weight, she explained.
"We’re now 2 weeks past getting his tongue tie fixed and he’s latching so well on the left side and we’re still working on the right side using non-traditional positions which were shown to me by the baby fairies," she said, recommending a lactation specialist to moms choosing to breastfeed.
She said while there isn’t "a ton of time of take care of yourself," she suggests breastfeeding moms focus on "nutrition & hydration."
Despite the stresses, she said, "I genuinely love breastfeeding. I love the skin to skin connection and think it’s such a beautiful bonding experience. It might be hard and challenging at the moment but it is such a special experience that I get to share with our baby boy and we’re working together to make it easier like we’re a little team."
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Tristan is Young’s first baby and she is a stepmom to El Moussa’s two kids – Taylor, 12, and Brayden, 7 — whom El Moussa shares with ex Christina Hall.
The couple announced they were expecting last summer.
