The Major Breastfeeding Lie 1 Mom Learned the Hard Way

When Jaymie Johnson was pregnant, there was one thing that she kept hearing from everyone. From other moms to doctors and nurses, they all told Jaymie: "The weight will melt right off of you when you breastfeed!"

After she finally gave birth, Jaymie was pleased to see how quickly she lost the weight. "All 20 pounds I had gained were gone, plus another three or four," she shared on Birth Without Fear's Facebook page. "I'm sure you could imagine my excitement about this and I totally expected that trend to continue."

However at 11 weeks postpartum, things took an unexpected change even though Jaymie is still breastfeeding. "I'm doing moderate-high intensity workouts 4-6 days a week, eat a well balanced diet with a slight deficit in calories (but still enough to keep my supply up), drink a gallon of water a day, am getting great sleep and . . . I'm GAINING weight?!" she wrote. "The truth is that some women just have a very difficult time losing weight while breastfeeding due to various reasons (hormones, appetite, stress etc.), and it can be VERY discouraging, especially when the society we live in today pushes for women to 'bounce back' right after having a baby."

Even though Jaymie's body isn't reacting the way she expected it to based on what she saw and heard from everyone else, she hopes that her message empowers other women. "My advice to all momma's out there struggling with this issue is to find comfort in the fact that the little miracle that once dwelled inside of you doesn't care if your stomach is rock hard, with defined abs," she wrote. "They love you unconditionally regardless of what you look like . . . "