Eva Amurri Martino feared she was failing her son
Eva Amurri Martino felt she was "failing" her son when she couldn’t breastfeed him.
The 31-year-old actress struggled with stress and anxiety after her son Major James "suffered a fractured skull and bleeding on his brain" when he was dropped by a Night Nurse.
She said: "My breastfeeding journey got totally thrown off. While we were in the hospital with him, and in the next couple of weeks, my milk supply dipped big time. The stress was just too much for my body, and I had to start pumping to up my supply, as well as use lactation tea to increase it … But then, my post-partum anxiety began, and my milk supply has been so troubled ever since.
"What made this even worse is how much I would blame myself for it all. I would put so much pressure on myself to battle the anxiety so that my son’s food source wouldn’t suffer. When I would fall short (which you always do when you try to strong-arm anxiety!), I would feel even worse for ‘failing’ my son."
And the ‘That’s My Boy’ star – who also has daughter Marlowe, two, with her husband Kyle Martino – felt incredibly relieved when her son took to formula so well.
Writing on her blog HappilyEvaAfter.com, she added: "I was fighting back tears. I felt like a failure and was worried that he wouldn’t accept the change.
"But Major took a few gulps, and then he pulled away from the bottle, and looked up at me. He cooed a bit and then gave me the biggest smile. My heart just burst with gratitude. I felt in that moment like he was telling me it was OK – not to worry, and that he knew how much I love him."
