Shawn Johnson is a new mom to her baby, daughter Drew. Like many first-time parents, she's been struggling. We all do: I don't know anyone who nailed parenting perfectly from the get-go (or who is nailing parenting perfectly … ever).
Shawn recently shared that she's been plagued with a breastfeeding struggle, just like many of us have experienced. While speaking about breastfeeding Drew, she said, "It was a wrestling match every time. I would be bawling, she would be bawling and screaming 'cause she was hungry, but she wouldn’t eat and she wouldn’t latch anymore."
Listen, there are few things more challenging than having a hungry baby who just won't eat, no matter what you do. It stresses everyone out! So Shawn and her husband enlisted the help of a lactation consultant to see if they could get to the bottom of the issue.
Unfortunately, this visit didn't really go the way the pair hoped it would, and Shawn was left feeling even worse.
Shawn shared, "I had a really bad experience with a lactation consultant and I all but kicked her out of my house because she basically said that I had ruined my child’s life because I gave her a bottle and formula. I was like, 'You know what? I can’t listen to this anymore.'" And good for Shawn! No one should be shamed when they're doing their best to feed their child.
Shawn also said the entire episode was a "baffling experience of a desperate mom trying to take the best care of her child and getting shamed for it" and that the whole thing made her feel even more guilty and unsure of herself. Those are definitely two of the last feelings that any parent, new or experienced, needs to have to deal with.
She even went into detail about the guilt she felt: "You have this natural feeling of responsibility that you have to provide for your baby and part of it is supplying milk, and when you can’t give that to your child in whatever way or reason, you already feel a little guilty. You feel like you’re not setting them up for life, and when people give their opinions and say ‘breast is best,’ it just makes you feel like a failure. I hated that."
Shawn said that there is an upside to the continued ups and downs she's weathered in her few months as a new mom … kind of. She's learned to "trust [my] gut opinions that, as a mom, I’m doing the right thing for my kid."
That's pretty much all of any of us can do at the end of the day: learn to trust ourselves and to keep doing what we do.
This is just the latest in a series of dramatic moments Shawn has had to roll with since her daughter was born. A few weeks ago, many moms online whipped themselves into a frenzy when Shawn posted a video of Drew performing her "first flip." While it's clear that Drew was perfectly safe the entire time, many people just couldn't contain themselves.
It was as if people forgot that Shawn and her husband are both athletes and that if anyone knows how to make sure a baby is safe while doing a "flip," it's a gold-medal-winning former Olympic gymnast.
Bizarrely, people also took issue with the fact that Drew was not wearing socks … at the beach. One commenter said:
“While she may have been perfectly safe, sometimes you are a bit rough handling such a young baby, and not making her warm enough when you take her out. She needs at least socks if not shoes, as well, and hats.”
Shawn hit back at her critics in this instance. She posted a video on Instagram and directly confronted commenters. She said:
“Are you holding her? Have you physically felt her sweat when she wears socks? Or felt her strength when she stands? Or seen her fuss until she stands up because she hates laying down. Nope. You haven’t. I’m her mama. I know.”
The birth of Drew followed a miscarriage that Shawn has previously described as "the hardest thing I've ever had to go through." In 2018, she and her husband shared the news that they lost a pregnancy with their fans:
“When I found out I was [pregnant], it was the greatest moment in the world because it was basically God’s miracle of, ‘Yes, you’ve hurt your body for so many years, but this can still happen.'”
She said she dealt with a lot of guilt after the loss: "I had these guilty feelings of if, ‘I can’t even take care of child for a week in my stomach, I can’t raise a child on my own. I felt guilty to Andrew that I had lost his child, and I felt guilty to God that I lost his child. It was just this super emotional time. It was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through. I’ve never felt such loss like that, and I didn’t know how that was possible."
That's a whole lot for one person to feel.
However, she and Andrew were amazed by the support they received from others after sharing the news. Andrew said, "It was so cool to hear other people’s stories. To hear their encouragement of how to get through it, I think that made it all worth it. There’s nothing that can really help you through a hard time [more] than knowing the scripture."
Hopefully, Shawn and Andrew's fans will realize that the two are doing their best and that they love their baby, Drew. It's clear from the many videos and photos that they have shared that they are both dedicated parents who are focused on doing the best they can for Drew … and that shouldn't be too hard for everyone else to realize.
