Actress Troian Bellisario, who welcomed her first child last fall, recently got candid about the struggles she’s encountered with pumping and breastfeeding.
The Pretty Little Liars alum turned to social media to voice her experience in honour of World Breastfeeding Week. “I would never have thought something so simple would be so complicated,” she wrote to her following.
The star went on to explain that, while breastfeeding initially came easy to her, it wasn’t long before she realized it can be an uphill battle. “My milk came in immediately (so lucky!) my daughter has always eaten well (little bit of reflux but all good) and breastfeeding her was never painful or frustrating (SO RARE),” she wrote.
Troian continued, “But the mastitis, waking up in the middle of the night to pump, pulling off on the freeway to pump, or hiding in dark corners of houses while pumping or else I can’t sleep it’s SO PAINFUL.”
She went on to say that she’s tried a variety of solutions to make breastfeeding and pumping easier for her, including trying CBD, melatonin, and medication. Troian also says she’s tried to abstain from alcohol. Despite the struggle, however, the actress said she’s trying to enjoy every moment of breastfeeding her little girl.
“Not every mother gets that. I don’t know if I will have it for much longer, but I will always take care of her and do what is best for us,” she wrote.
Troian also hinted that her history with disordered eating has also made breastfeeding a bigger challenge. In her social media post, she explained, “No matter how much I HATE pumping or how complicated MY relationship with food is, it has been a joy, an honor and a no brainer to feed my daughter this way.”
"I found there were so many people who thought that it was about losing weight or being skinny, and I couldn't quite get them to understand that it was about control on a very, very literal level," she said in 2017 about her experience with an eating disorder.
Troian is married to Suits actor Patrick J. Adams. The couple met in 2009 on the set of Equivocation and Patrick even went on to have a brief stint on the actress’ hit show Pretty Little Liars. They also worked on the 2012 short film The Come Up together. The pair married in 2016 and Troian gave birth to their daughter last October. The couple has yet to publicly announce the name of their little one or post full-face photos of her to social media.