Our son was born March 17th. While in the hospital he was latching most of the time without difficulty. During our stay we did consult two other lactation consultants, both of whom were nice and they were able to get him to latch quickly. The days following our discharge from the hospital proved to be a bit of a challenge trying to get our son to latch. While visiting with friends they reminded me that I could call the number that we were given at the hospital to follow up with a lactation consultant. This was now the Saturday after we left; I called the number and got an answering machine and I left a message thinking that I probably wouldn't hear back from anyone until Monday. Low and behold, that was not the case. Katy called me back about 30 minutes after the initial call. When talking to Katy she gave me some advice over the phone and try to assist with the latching problem, and we also began to talk about scheduling an appointment. The soonest she had an official opening was Tuesday. I asked Katy if I could call on Monday and see if anyone cancelled their appointment due to a snow storm approaching so that I could be seen sooner. Hearing the concern in my voice Katy offered me the opportunity to come in to see her on Sunday afternoon after she checked on all of the patients that were currently on the Southview maternity ward. I was appreciative and took the appointment without hesitation. This isn't where the story ends.

We met Katy, who has a wonderful bubbly personality with a contagious smile. As a new parent that is worried about her child feeding this in a way helped with the stress of the situation. Over the next 2 and a half hours, my partner, my son, Katy and I tried the different holds for breast feeding with little success. Katy wouldn't give up, so she recommended that we use the Supplemental Nursing System. Katy was wonderful with her explanation of this system and helped set it up while explaining each step so we could repeat them at home. She even told us a story of a patient that she used this system while the patient was in the NICU. She really has a way of keeping the stress low and your mind at ease. By the end of the two and a half hours, my son was breastfeeding with the use of assistive devices. Katy told us that this is a process and we can't expect everything overnight. This was the reality of the situation, but we managed to accomplish the first step of latching.

Over the next few weeks we met with Katy to continue working with our son and his latching and amount of breast milk transferred. Each appointment was a positive meeting, and very helpful. She made sure to keep our pediatrician and OB/GYN informed of our son's progress. One visit, she was heading out of town on vacation and asked that we call and leave her a message reporting our son's weight from his next pediatrician appointment so she could continue to track his progress. This just shows her dedication to her patients and their progress.

Katie is very encouraging, positive, and caring. Thanks to Katy and her willingness to go above and beyond, I'm happy to report that our son is a healthy, happy 1 month old that is latching and gaining weight without a hitch. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.