Olympic athlete Shawn Johnson welcomed her first child- a girl! - last month. But the athlete admits that motherhood has been taking some getting used to.
Johnson and her husband Andrew East welcomed their little girl, Drew, in November. While speaking to Us Weekly recently, Johnson admitted she didn’t expect for breastfeeding to be the hardest part of caring for her newborn. “I had more meltdowns trying to breast-feed than I ever had in my entire life,” the 27-year old told the publication.
She explained that first her daughter seemed to be feeding fine, but things went downhill after her first week at home. “Nobody prepares you for how frustrating and hard that can be. She was an amazing eater for about a week and then just said, ‘No, thank you,’” Johnson explained. “I joke it’s like World War III with her trying to figure that one out […] A lot of meltdowns a lot of tears on both parties.” However, she added that baby Drew is luckily an “amazing bottle feeder.”
Johnson went on to say that she believes her struggle with perfectionism has made her adjustment to motherhood all the more challenging. “I was like, ‘I’m failing my child. I’m not doing it this stereotypical, perfect way,’” she continued. “My husband had to hold my hand and walk me through that and be like, ‘It’s fine, she’s fine, she’s healthy and it’s all good.’ My pediatrician even had to, like, coddle me.”
The celebrity added, “Perfectionism is really hard cause every mom wants to do it perfectly. And there’s truly no such thing. However, you do it is perfect for your baby.”
Previously, Johnson made headlines for speaking out about her emergency c-section and feeling guilt for having had the procedure.“I went in with such a stubborn mindset of thinking the only way I could bring our baby into the world was naturally,” the new mom revealed via Instagram last month.
“No meds no intervention. At 14 hours when I chose to get an epidural, I felt guilty. At 22 hours when we were told I had to get a c section, I felt like I had failed.” She continued, “But after holding our sweet girl in my arms and being told everything went well and she had made it to us safely I could have cared less. My/our world no longer has anything to do with us but everything to do with her.”
Moms needs to stop feeling guilty! Whether a baby is breastfed or bottle fed, whether mom had a c-section or natural delivery, or whether mom has a Pinterest-worthy home or it’s all gone to shambles; it doesn’t matter. All the matters it that mom and baby are healthy and happy!