Friday, February 28, 2014

National Nutrition Month!


March is Nutrition Month!

I don't believe I've ever celebrated National Nutrition Month before but considering how important nutrition is in all of our lives, today I shall begin!


Just a few days ago I concluded Heart Month by being a Guest on Marie Biancuzzo's show "Born to Be Breastfed" which is featured on the VoiceAmerica Health and Wellness channel. This was the perfect way to conclude Heart Month and bring in Nutrition Month since we talked about breastfeeding a baby with a heart defect!

Since it's been a while since I have nursed my baby, I decided to talk to my Facebook Heart Mamas to see if any of them would like to come on the show with me. To my delight, when all was said and done, two wonderful moms came on the show with me -- Amy Gerrish Bennett and Nancy Sands.

I "discovered" Amy when I stumbled across her contribution to a blog for an organization she created -- Sisters by Heart. Even though she wrote this article last year, it's still completely relevant today: Sisters By Heart: Nutrition Month Breastfeeding an HLHS Baby. I was overjoyed when she agreed to come on the show with me.

Perhaps the greatest surprise in the course of the show was to discover that all three of our children had the same heart diagnosis at birth -- hypoplastic left heart syndrome. I didn't realize this when I first asked them to come on the show with me!

Marie Biancuzzo was an excellent Host and she did a terrific job of drawing our stories out of us, finding pertinent information to comment on and asking important questions. I hope everyone will tune in when it airs on March 31st at 5 p.m. Central Time on the Health and Wellness Channel at VoiceAmerica.


Nutrition, especially when it pertains to a baby with a congenital heart defect (CHD), is of the utmost importance. I'm so glad that Ms. Biancuzzo could debunk some myths regarding breastfeeding a baby with a severe congenital heart defect. Many problems arise from incorrect information told to brand new moms who don't even know what to ask. Marie takes the mystery out of breastfeeding and helps everyone understand why it's even more important for our CHD babies to have mother's milk and why breastfeeding is easier on babies than feeding from a bottle.

Find out some of the common problems we mothers face when we have children having multiple open-heart surgeries in infancy, find out what nursing mothers can do when obstacles present themselves and finally, find out what the truth is regarding CHD babies and the effort needed to nurse on Marie's show.


Since you have an entire month before the show airs, I hope you'll try a new fruit or vegetable this month. Eat some foods you've never eaten before and discover that healthy food can be fun and delicious. I love to visit Whole Foods in Austin whenever I get a chance because it's easy to discover something new or a fun new way to cook or prepare healthy foods.

I hope all of you enjoy Nutrition Month. Bon appétit!


Please visit Baby Hearts Press at http://www.babyheartspress.com for resources for the congenital heart defect community.

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