Jeannie Mai Opens Up On Struggles With Breastfeeding Journey

Breastfeeding is no easy journey, and American television host Jeannie Mai can testify to that as she made a candid revelation about the responsibility.

Jeannie is an affectionate mother to her only child Monaco Mai-Jenkins whom she welcomed earlier in January with her husband, famous rapper Jay Wayne Jenkins, professionally known as Jeezy.

In a recent episode of her "Hello Hunnay" YouTube series, the onscreen star dishes her experience as a breastfeeding mother, revealing the challenges she often faces on the journey.

Jeannie appeared pretty pumped to share her journey as she admitted that she had no one to talk to for the past three months about breastfeeding.

Her breastfeeding journey did not start immediately, as she decided to take some time and get to know her child first before taking on the responsibility of wet nursing.

At the time of her daughter's birth, the attending nurse advised her to breastfeed the baby to trigger the "colostrum," which was news to the dark-haired beauty.

Jeannie further revealed that the nurse placed the baby beneath one of her breasts and directed it towards Monaco to suckle. That exact moment was when she felt she needed to take on the duty of breastfeeding.

During that period, she thought there was abundant milk in her, but that was not the case as she said that the first time she breastfed her child, there was only a tiny amount of milk oozing from her.

The nurse informed her that that was the quantity of colostrum she would be producing, which made the celebrity realize that every woman's breast product was important.

The episode triggered her decision to create "the most sumptuous, nutrient-dense, fully packed, yummy creamy, perfect temperature milk" for her baby, which unfortunately did not happen.

After getting home from the clinic, Jeannie tried to get her breasts to produce colostrum, even using a syringe, but all to no success.

She added that she had previously come across information advising mothers to place their babies closer to the tits as much as possible to trigger milk production.

This was because the mom's body worked harmoniously with the infant's such that the baby's saliva and slurping synced with her, and she could feel her uterus squeezing, alerting her body to produce more milk.

Jeannie experienced no milk production for three weeks, even with the constant practice of urging her child to feed. She did those eight times daily during the three weeks, but she was unlucky.

She also sought books and guides on finding a solution to her dilemma and was recommended some pills, a breast pump, and a special bra which unfortunately did not help. It was frustrating for her as she said: 

"Nothing was coming out; it was maybe about an ounce. This was really, really upsetting. You feel so defeated when your baby's hungry; you're not producing enough for the baby."

The California-born admitted that she began to give up, but she could not, as breastfeeding was not something a mother could quit once she started.

Stopping the procedure was an admittedly painful experience for her, and she had no choice but to continue. Nevertheless, her body could eventually produce more milk, though it took some time and practice.

Motherhood was a whole new experience for Jeannie, and it did not initially start so smoothly. The Blast recently detailed her honest conversation with an ET correspondent, to whom she revealed the difficulties.

She called motherhood a "beautiful privilege," which a part of her worried about and originally believed was not deserving of the reward.

The "Holey Moley" host said, "I honestly got a lot of anxiety because I thought, for somebody who said their whole life that they didn't wanna be a mom and here this gift was being given to me." 

She added, "I felt like, 'Don't put yourself in risky situations, like don't get on a plane or – you are the one to have taken this away from you because you didn't appreciate it when you had the choice."

Her worries did not end there, as she experienced another bout of postpartum depression after birthing her baby. Still, currently, she is "beyond grateful" to be a mother as she said it was "everything."