It’s an experience many women have: first, miscarriages. Then, joyfully, delicately, pregnant again. Then, complications throughout the pregnancy. The emotions are overwhelming every moment of every day for months. Then, you hear your baby cry– the best sound in the world because it means he’s alive, healthy, perfect. However, in our case, things weren’t perfect. Everything wasn’t ok.

Within the first few months of his life, my son was diagnosed with failure to thrive. No doctor could explain what was causing him not to thrive. I felt like our doctor was putting so much pressure on my son to gain weight that it was causing my son to throw up. It was just too much for him, and for me. My son seemed to be thriving, joyful in all things, except for eating. was thriving in everything but not with eating.  He hated everything involving eating and weighing.

I felt like I was failing as a parent and no doctor was noticing or validating just how hard I worked to feed my son. I cried a lot. I felt alone, and I started getting really depressed. I had no one telling me I was a good mom, I had no one I could relate to, and I felt so alone and isolated. I left my job to focus on taking care of my son, making me even more isolated, and forcing my husband to work six days a week to make up for the income we were losing. I felt like I was horrible parent, a failure. I continued pushing doctors for a diagnosis but I did not get one until my son was 2.5 years old. My son was diagnosed with having delayed gastric emptying. 912 days of his life was spent in discomfort, fear, and anxiety. This should not have been…

After the diagnosis, I knew I needed help, and I knew that someone had to be going through something similar. I went searching online for a support group and came across Feeding Matters. Within a few minutes I had requested a family coach / mentor. I was quickly matched with Amber and from the moment we connected it was a game changer for me mentally and physically. Amber reminded me I wasn’t alone, I had someone validating my feelings, and Amber let me know I was a good mom.

Not many people talk about pediatric feeding disorders, and it’s rare to find another child going through this in your normal day to day life. Amber reminded me that I have a story to tell and because of that, I became a family coach to support other families who are going through this as well. Unless you are going through it, you really don’t realize the impact and support feeding matters offers. This has been a lifesaver for me to have a family coach / mentor.