With her first two babies, Jane Howell barely made it to 12 months of pumping and nursing - both times finding out she was pregnant and having to stop suddenly and use up her freezer stash. On top of that, her weight loss goals also took a hit to her milk supply. But with Baby Girl #3, she was able to continue long past 12 months, nursing at home, pumping at work, and even having so much leftover milk she donated to another mom in need! She discovered that "bouncing back" was more about her mental acceptance of her body, and even though she didn't force weight loss, she felt fitter the 3rd postpartum than she did before.

As a lactation consultant and nutritionist, Allegra Gast of Aloha Nutrition assumed breastfeeding would come naturally and easily. But with her first baby, latching and tongue tie struggles threatened to cut her journey short. She persisted, and once she got in her rhythm, she went on to nurse throughout toddlerhood, even while pregnant with her 2nd baby. Her 2nd baby also nursed into toddlerhood throughout her 3rd pregnancy with twins! Allegra explains that motherhood doesn't have to equal low energy or exhaustion. Even though she was nourishing 3 babies at once, she actually felt better because of the work she had done to have enough nutrients. And she shows that nursing twins beyond 12 months is totally possible!

The Breastfeeding Diaries host, Haley Laurence, shares her experience having her baby at 32 weeks via c-section and how she exclusively pumped while he was in the NICU for 4 weeks. Despite pump challenges and a low supply, she didn't give up, and, after he got out of the NICU, she went on to transition him to exclusively nursing. She returned to work full time and continued to pump and nurse beyond 12 months and weaning at 15 months. She shares tips and advice for transitioning to nursing after the NICU and some funny stories from nursing in public!