Pump Like a Pro – Closed System or Bust

by Wendy Bell, CLE
Editor’s note: A big thanks to Snugabell for their support of TLB and all breastfeeding women; please be sure to take a moment to thank Snugabell on their Facebook page  for their show of support! You can also follow Snugabell on Twitter and Instagram: username @snugabell. Be sure to check out their special at the end of this article.

 

Breast pumping tips Snugabell PumpEase

 

One thing we know about pumpin’ mamas is that they love to share. They share their experiences. They share their wisdom. Heck…sometimes they even share their milk.

Pumps themselves can be safely shared, provided they’re the right kind. Be sure to know the difference before giving or receiving a previously-loved pump!

The two types of pump are open system and closed system.

Open system allows the milk to come into contact with the internal workings of the pump. This makes the pump impossible to sterilize, and thus not an option when it comes to sharing. Closed systems, on the other hand, can be shared safely, provided that each mom has their own set of tubes, flanges, and collection bottles.

As an added benefit to closed system pumps, they will also prevent expressed milk from coming into contact with impurities drawn in from the surrounding air.

So feel free to accept or pass down that closed system pumps though it is important to note that not all closed system pumps are FDA approved for multiple users. It’s a great way to save money on one of the pricier items on the average registry and each mom can make it her own with a personal set of accessories (maybe including a PumpEase and stylish wet bag or two to keep it all together!) and though most insurance companies now days are required to cover a breast pump with each pregnancy, the loopholes and red tape can make that challenging. So for those that need a pump and can use a friend’s closed system or even for those that would benefit from having two pumps (full time work out of the home moms, like having double the parts, having double the pumps can really simplify things and reduce the chance of being stuck should one break or even of causing damage by regularly transporting it) can be a huge help.

PumpEase, Snuggabelle, Closed System to Bust

To celebrate their SUPER exciting collaboration with Destination Maternity and A Pea in the Pod, Snugabell is sending PumpEase customers one of their fabulous Wet Bag absolutely FREE.  Details hereThe PumpEase design will securely hold your pump in place and is guaranteed to accommodate any breast pump on the market. The PumpEase bra like the one shown above makes multi-tasking a breeze for busy moms. Visit www.snugabell.com for more information about PumpEase.

 

Breast pump

Pump Like a Pro – The 300 Hour Rule



by Wendy Bell, CLE
Editor’s note: A big thanks to Snugabell for their support of TLB and all breastfeeding women; please be sure to take a moment to thank Snugabell on their Facebook page  for their show of support! You can also follow Snugabell on Twitter and Instagram: username @snugabell. Be sure to check out their special at the end of this article.

 

Breast pumping tips Snugabell PumpEase

 

Just like any of the other mechanical doodads that we rely on day-to-day, a breast pump is not built to last forever. As a general rule, you should be able to expect about 300 hours of active use out of a good, high-quality pump. Now before you worry too much, keep in mind that if you’re pumping for around 15 minutes each sitting, your 300 hours should still get you well past the 1,000 session mark.  Think of all that milk!

If you’re an especially active pumper, are using the same pump through multiple babies, or have inherited a pump that already had some mileage on it, keep alert for warning signs like poor suction, a straining motor, or what seems like an unexpected dip in supply. These could all be indicators that your pump is reaching the end of its life and could stand to be tested by a pro (a local lactation consultant might be able to take a look for you).

Regardless, wherever your pump is in its lifespan, make sure it’s working properly and take steps to resolve any issues right away.  Your milk is too precious not to!

 

300 hour breastpump rule

To celebrate their SUPER exciting collaboration with Destination Maternity and A Pea in the Pod, Snugabell is sending PumpEase customers one of their fabulous Wet Bag absolutely FREE.  Details hereThe PumpEase design will securely hold your pump in place and is guaranteed to accommodate any breast pump on the market. The PumpEase bra like the one shown above makes multi-tasking a breeze for busy moms. Visit www.snugabell.com for more information about PumpEase.

 

Breast pump

Sexy Oatmeal

by Carrie Saum

Sexy Oatmeal

 

When I was exclusively pumping, I lost interest in oatmeal around month four. Completely. It went the way of my sex drive. Gone. Poof. The end. Oats and penises were unwelcome guests in my body, and it took a while to come back around to both.

As it turns out, I just needed to spice things up a little. Well, okay. That’s not entirely true. I needed to spice things up more than a little. I needed a major boost to my palate, my milk supply and my sex drive.

After doing some research, I discovered a small amount of maca root might boost my sex drive, as well as my milk supply. After having a chat with my doctor and midwife about the possible side effects of maca in breast milk, I felt safe trying it in very small quantities.

I bought some organic maca powder from my favorite local health food store and tasted it. It was pretty gross. I tried mixing it in my coffee. That was worse. I added a half teaspoon to my oatmeal. It wasn’t bad. In fact, I couldn’t taste it.

I choked down quarter of a bowl of oatmeal with the maca. I was still weary of eating oats, so I needed to reinvent them. But what can you do to oats? I mean, at the end of the day, oats are oats, right?

I pumped an hour later and got two ounces more than I typically did at that time of day.

That night, my husband and I were watching TV after putting our son to bed. I had the sudden urge to jump his bones. And I did.

Obviously, the next morning I was determined to make my oatmeal taste decadently delicious. Because it was doing good things for my baby, my body, and my marriage, I needed to make it do good things for my palate. I played with some spice combinations, continuing to add (barely more than a pinch of) maca to my breakfast bowl, and tried dousing it with Indian spices, fresh fruit and nuts. I wanted my oatmeal to taste the way I felt: warm, complex, and sexy.

I know. HOW CAN OATMEAL BE SEXY? But I wanted to dress it up in its most alluring dress with a bra straps slipping, biting it’s lip with smoldering eyes. Ancient maca root and lots of spices do just that. My post-partum body NEEDED me to do that.

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups liquid (milk, water, or combination of both)
  • 1 cup steel cut oats
  • 2 Tbsp butter or coconut oil
  • 2 Tbsp ground flaxseed or flax meal (they’re the same)
  • 2 tsp raw honey or maple syrup
  • ½ tsp maca powder
  • ½ tsp of the following spices:
    • ground coriander
    • ground cardamom
    • ground cinnamon
    • ground tumeric
    • ground ginger (or sub minced candied ginger if you want a little kick and sugar is not a problem for you)
  • pinch of salt
  • dash of vanilla extract

Directions:

  1. Combine liquid, salt, oil and spices and bring to a boil in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil. (If you are using milk, you will need to stir constantly.)
  2. Add oats, vanilla and flax meal, and stir well.
  3. Cook over medium low heat for 20 minutes, stirring often, until thick and creamy, or it reaches your desired consistency. Add maca powder in at the end and mix well.
  4. Top with sliced almonds or pecans, sliced bananas, and a little raw honey or brown sugar.

Disclaimer One: Too much maca might make you a little testier than usual. It can ramp everything up, including your emotions. It stokes the fires. ALL THE FIRES. So, use restraint when adding it to your oats.

Disclaimer Two: Maca has been used for centuries to naturally support hormone balance, and but you might want to run it by your doctor to be on the safe side. If I took too much, it revved my son up for a few hours. If you or your trained medical professional person feel uncomfortable with the maca, you can omit it. It will still work great with the flax and oats.

Disclaimer Three: Be sure to stock up on condoms or your favorite birth control. Or don’t and make another baby. Either way, this could possibly boost your libido, so be prepared.

Disclaimer Four: Sex after baby can be tricky (some tips from HIM on better sex after baby here, some tips from HER on better sex after baby here.). While a little maca helped my struggling libido, it doesn’t work for everybody. Because everybody’s body is different. So, go easy on yourself, and know there is support for you wherever you’re at.

_______________________

If you love this smoothie recipe, you might like this recipe for Paleo Chocolate Chip Granola or these Gluten-Free Strawberry Shortcake on Our Stable Table.

_______________________

*Note: It’s important to point out that most women aren’t going to need to eat food with the intention of upping their milk supply, if everything is working the way it is supposed to, your baby will know how to up your supply just fine themselves. Skin-to-skin and feeding on demand are the best ways to increase breastmilk supply to meet your baby’s needs. (Concerned you have low supply? Read this to help figure out if it is something you need to be concerned about.) For those women, galactalogues just happen and they don’t need to think about it. But some women, like me, do need a boost. As a mom who ended up exclusively pumping and indeed having low supply such that I ended up on medication solely to increase my milk production, I know what it’s like to look for anything, anything at all that would help my body make even just a little more milk to help feed my baby. With the support of my health care providers, we tried everything. It becomes “I will eat all the cookies, I will drink all the shakes, I will eat all the parfaits!” if it even just makes me feel like I’m doing something to address the low supply struggle, it is worth it.

_______________________

IMG_2895Carrie Saum brings a passion for wellness and over a decade of experience in health care to her clients. A certified Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor (AWC) from the Kerala Ayurveda Academy, she empowers individuals and families to achieve health and balance through time-honored practices and health knowledge.
Carrie has extensive first-hand experience in vast array of medical and service fields. With background in paramedic medicine, Carrie spent ten years serving in the non-profit sector managing organizations, programs, and orchestrating resources to meet health needs of people across the United States and abroad in countries such as Guatemala, Mexico, Kenya, and Zambia. As an AWC, Carrie currently coaches her clients and their families about topics including nutrition, weight loss, and stress management. In addition to her work as a wellness counselor, Carrie is a passionate “foodie” and author. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and young son and writes atOurStableTable.com.

Pump Like a Pro – Add a Session

by Wendy Bell, CLE
Editor’s note: A big thanks to Snugabell for their support of TLB and all breastfeeding women; please be sure to take a moment to thank Snugabell on their Facebook page  for their show of support! You can also follow Snugabell on Twitter and Instagram: username @snugabell. Be sure to check out their special at the end of this article.

 

Breast pumping tips Snugabell PumpEase

 

If you’re looking to boost your supply, consider hitting the ground running (so to speak) first thing in the morning.  Lots of moms find that a little early morning pumping can have a BIG impact on supply.  It’ll take your body a bit of time to get used to the increased demand, but you’ll be seeing the benefits before you know it. 

Of course, as any sleep-deprived mama can tell you, swapping precious minutes of shut-eye to sneak in an extra pumping session doesn’t always sound like the best deal.  The good news is that you just might find that starting your day off pumping puts you in a much happier and well-balanced frame of mind than the typical morning routine. 

Want to do yourself one better?  Turn that early-a.m. pumping routine into a personal ritual that just might become one of the peaceful highlights of your day.  Take your pumping time and turn it into something more…think morning beverage and maybe a little quiet reading time or web scrolling.  We hope you enjoy your new morning routine!

(And keep in mind that PumpEase is one way to get even more out of any pumping session.  Take your bliss to another level by pumping hands free!)

Add a Session
To celebrate their SUPER exciting collaboration with Destination Maternity and A Pea in the Pod, Snugabell is sending PumpEase customers one of their fabulous Wet Bag absolutely FREE.  Details hereThe PumpEase design will securely hold your pump in place and is guaranteed to accommodate any breast pump on the market. The PumpEase bra like the one shown above makes multi-tasking a breeze for busy moms. Visit www.snugabell.com for more information about PumpEase

 

Breast pump

TLB Comic: Leaky Trouble

by Jennie Bernstein

TLB comic, funny friday


Pump Like a Pro – Bring on the Dirty Clothes

by Wendy Bell, CLE
Editor’s note: A big thanks to Snugabell for their support of TLB and all breastfeeding women; please be sure to take a moment to thank Snugabell on their Facebook page  for their show of support! You can also follow Snugabell on Twitter and Instagram: username @snugabell. Be sure to check out their special at the end of this article.

 

Breast pumping tips Snugabell PumpEase

 

There’s nothing quite like that indescribable mini-rush you get from catching a deep whiff of baby smell.  Well it turns out that unlike the stuff they spray inside of new cars, new baby smell has a serious purpose — a biological one!

Picking up on your baby’s unique smell can actually help you let down and get that mama milk flowing.  It’s all part of the biological response mechanisms that have been ingrained in us to help make this whole breastfeeding thing work.  But what happens when it’s time to fire up the pump but your little one isn’t close by?

Trick yourself!  (Or at least trick your boobs.)

Take a deep whiff of some recently-worn baby clothing for a similar letdown response to the one you get from soaking in your baby directly.  You may also notice an accompanying feeling of general peace and relaxation, which isn’t too shabby in the middle of a long day either.

Toss a gently worn onsie or other article of baby’s clothing in with your pump supplies and always have it handy.  Rotate the item from time to time to keep that new baby smell nice and fresh!

baby smell, baby clothes, breastmilk pumping, breast pump,
To celebrate their SUPER exciting collaboration with Destination Maternity and A Pea in the Pod, Snugabell is sending PumpEase customers one of their fabulous Wet Bag absolutely FREE.  Details hereThe PumpEase design will securely hold your pump in place and is guaranteed to accommodate any breast pump on the market. The PumpEase bra like the one shown above makes multi-tasking a breeze for busy moms. Visit www.snugabell.com for more information about PumpEase

 

Breast pump

Pump Like a Pro – Double Your Parts

by Wendy Bell, CLE
Editor’s note: A big thanks to Snugabell for their support of TLB and all breastfeeding women; please be sure to take a moment to thank Snugabell on their Facebook page  for their show of support! You can also follow Snugabell on Twitter and Instagram: username @snugabell. Be sure to check out their special at the end of this article.

 

Breast pumping tips Snugabell PumpEase

 

You’ll be amazed at how much stress you can eliminate from your pumping routine just by making sure you have all those various supplies and accessories in order. Investing in a full set of extra pump parts — tubes, flanges, bottle, valves — can make all the difference as you work pumping into your day.

Two sets mean that when one is dirty, the other is ready to go. It also means that if you pump in more than one location (like maybe at home and at the office) you can leave one set in each spot and just transport the pump itself back and forth.

It’s amazing how small favors like having an extra set of pumping gear on hand right where you need it can turn a frustrating escapade into a piece of cake. (Just ask any mom who’s been up the creek without her pump flanges and had to miss a session!)

We love our Snugabell wet bags for keeping all your bits and pieces organized because they’re functional, stylish and a piece of cake to toss in the wash when you need to. We also recommend bringing an extra PumpEase into the mix as well. Give it a try and we’re sure you’ll agree!

 pumping-pro-tip6

To celebrate their SUPER exciting collaboration with Destination Maternity and A Pea in the Pod, Snugabell is sending PumpEase customers one of their fabulous Wet Bag absolutely FREE.  Details hereThe PumpEase design will securely hold your pump in place and is guaranteed to accommodate any breast pump on the market. The PumpEase bra like the one shown above makes multi-tasking a breeze for busy moms. Visit www.snugabell.com for more information about PumpEase

 

Breast pump

Pump Like a Pro – Double Up

by Wendy Bell, CLE
Editor’s note: A big thanks to Snugabell for their support of TLB and all breastfeeding women; please be sure to take a moment to thank Snugabell on their Facebook page  for their show of support! You can also follow Snugabell on Twitter and Instagram: username @snugabell. Be sure to check out their special at the end of this article.

 

Breast pumping tips Snugabell PumpEase

 

Have you heard moms complain that they just don’t let down for the pump? Or they do, but they don’t get as much milk as they think they should?

These are pretty common complaints! Never fear, we’ve got you covered.

First, if your instinct tells you that there’s something bigger at play, connect with someone trained in breastfeeding support. (This starts at the grassroots with organizations like Breastfeeding USA and La Leche League, which offer trained volunteer peer counselors, then escalates to moderately trained pros like CLCs, CLEs, etc-, and the very best, top-notch support you can get comes from an IBCLC. Asking your OB, midwife, or any other provider may leave you with dated or incorrect info, so try and connect with someone who’s got breastfeeding-specific training.)

Next…if you feel like you’re doing ok with breastfeeding in general, but you’re just not getting along with your pump, you’ve got options! Check out our other tips – there are LOTS of ways to get into a good pumpin’ groove. One of the BEST ways to help your body let-down for the pump and (sometimes!) yield a little more milk is to pump on one side while your baby nurses on the other. Your baby will work that sweet suckling magic that gets your letdown going, which will carry over to the pump side. Tandem pumping and nursing is a great time to do a visualization (like we described here), so that you can repeat the same visualization and experience those same cues when your baby isn’t present and you’re pumping on both sides.

You’ve got all the benefits of the baby at the breast, AND your body is learning to get along with your pump. Win-win!

 

Pumping Pro Tip 5

To celebrate their SUPER exciting collaboration with Destination Maternity and A Pea in the Pod, Snugabell is sending PumpEase customers one of their fabulous Wet Bag absolutely FREE.  Details hereThe PumpEase design will securely hold your pump in place and is guaranteed to accommodate any breast pump on the market. The PumpEase bra like the one shown above makes multi-tasking a breeze for busy moms. Visit www.snugabell.com for more information about PumpEase

 

Breast pump

Pump Like a Pro- Get Hands On

by Wendy Bell, CLE
Editor’s note: A big thanks to Snugabell for their support of TLB and all breastfeeding women; please be sure to take a moment to thank Snugabell on their Facebook page  for their show of support! You can also follow Snugabell on Twitter and Instagram: username @snugabell. Be sure to check out their special at the end of this article.

 

Breast pumping tips Snugabell PumpEase

 

Getting hands ON (even with a hands-free pumping bra)

Okay, Pumpin’ Mamas. You know better than most just how valuable every last drop of your milk really is. Sure…maybe when your baby nurses at the breast that little bundle of joy thinks no drop is being left behind, but nobody knows better than a mom eyeballing a pump bottle just how much is making it to daylight.

We all know what it’s like to watch that milk level rise and try to rally those last few splashes of the good stuff before calling it a session. But did you know that you can lend yourself a hand and score a bit more of that precious milk?

One of the many bonuses of pumping hands free is that you can easily and effectively do simple breast compressions to help you eke out just a bit more each session. You’ll find that it’s much easier to do when you aren’t simultaneously holding flanges in place (but of course it’s entirely possible to do compressions with or without a hands-free bra).

Give it a try and see for yourself just how far a few extra squeezes can go!

This video gives an excellent demonstration.

PMPT4_Get_Hands_On

To celebrate their SUPER exciting collaboration with Destination Maternity and A Pea in the Pod, Snugabell is sending PumpEase customers one of their fabulous Wet Bag absolutely FREE.  Details hereThe PumpEase design will securely hold your pump in place and is guaranteed to accommodate any breast pump on the market. The PumpEase bra like the one shown above makes multi-tasking a breeze for busy moms. Visit www.snugabell.com for more information about PumpEase
Breast pump

The Real Problem With Breastfeeding is How We Are Talking About Breastfeeding.

By Kimberly Seals Allers

Spoiler Alert: We are Losing the Story War

The Story War Changing the Narrative and Winning the Story War on Breastfeeding

Lately, when my Google alerts on “Breastfeeding” appears in my Inbox, I literally hold my breath as I click to open the email and glance at its contents. If it’s not another mother being kicked out of a public place where she was breastfeeding, there are mothers staging nurse-ins in protests, or twitter wars in response to mistreatment of a nursing mother—words like “banned” “fight back” “lashes out”, “demand” “forced to apologize” are everywhere in the breastfeeding media narrative. Increasingly the language of breastfeeding is the language of battle. Sides are taken. Fights ensue. Women resort to resistance protest measures on social media and in real life. And so it has me thinking, whether the real problem of our continued embarrassingly low-for-a-world-leader breastfeeding rates is not about breastfeeding at all. After all no one can deny its immunological benefits and unparalleled preventative health properties. But perhaps, the problem of lackluster duration rates is directly related to how we are talking about breastfeeding. There is no question that we are in a story war when it comes infant feeding norms, but the language of the war we are in is all about fighting.

In this environment, everyone loses.

Perhaps in our zealousness to “defend” breastfeeding we are actually turning people away, creating more divisions and essentially shooting ourselves in the foot. After all, who wants to take up an activity that requires battle techniques or civil rights era tactics? Or may cause you to be kicked out of a public place and in the middle of a media maelstrom? And so I’m forced to ask, whether the language of breastfeeding which includes scientific terms like “evidence-based” and overly simplistic slogans like “breast is best” combined with a protest background is actually inflicting more harm than good. Is this how we win? And by win, I mean, increase breastfeeding initiation and duration rates and thereby improve the health outcomes of mothers and babies.

In the breastfeeding world we often see the “enemy” as the deep-pocketed infant formula marketers who peddle misinformation and insidious ideas masquerading as mother empowerment. With such a formidable competitor we see no way to battle such a behemoth and actually be victorious, and our frustration with their deceptive tactics often leads to anger. And rightly so. And while this may be a valid human response, it may not be the best tactical response. The biblical story of David and Goliath comes to mind. David did not attempt to battle Goliath on his strengths, but he exploited his weakness and his arrogance.

In The Art of War, Sun Tzu says “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” Truth is, we can win the breastfeeding story war without engaging in the language of battle. We have a more powerful tool at our disposal and historically it has won wars time after time. I know you’re asking yourself right now, well, what is it? That brings me to my excitement over the July 13th debut of my dynamic, new live stream presentation, Be The Shift: Changing the Narrative & Winning the Story War in Breastfeeding and my not-to-be-missed keynote at the upcoming MILK: An Infant Feeding Conference in Los Angeles on July 31 & August 1. In both presentations, I will be drawing on my decades of experience as a media professional, expert story teller and communications strategist and applying that knowledge to one of the greatest public health issues of our time—breastfeeding. For months, I’ve been intrigued by this topic and I have been studying the art of war, the phenomenon of story wars and combining it with what I know as a media professional and a big ideas person with a passion for breastfeeding. One thing is clear, today’s story wars are not the story wars of yore because frankly our oral tradition has changed—today it is more digitally powered. And that can’t be ignored. But winning the war means the strategy needs to work on the policy, professional and people level—I’ll detail how.

On July 13th, I’ll be streaming live from the uber chic Neuehouse NYC and it is going to be an eye-opening game changer for anyone who cares about infant health. I can’t wait to share these new learnings with you. You can get more information and register here. And then on July 31 and August 1st, I’ll bring the essence of that presentation to the west coast, along with exclusive worksheets and interactive exercises to the MILK conference. I hope to see you there where we can work IRL and one-on-one in shifting your personal or organizational story to improve our breastfeeding outcomes.

Aristotle said “It is not enough to win a war; it is more important to organize the peace.” By shifting our language and understanding the elements of a winning story narrative we can organize and maintain the kind of peace that improves maternal and infant health outcomes for generations.

Now, there’s a battle, I’m willing to get behind. Please join me.

In motherhood,

Kimberly Seals Allers

Changing the narrative and winning the story war on breastfeeding

__________________________

 

KSA Hi resKimberly Seals Allers is an award-winning journalist, author and a nationally recognized media commentator, consultant and advocate for breastfeeding and infant health. A former writer at FORTUNE and senior editor at Essence magazine, Kimberly is widely considered a leading voice in the counterculture movement in infant feeding. Last year, her online commentaries on the social, structural and racial complexities of maternal and child health issues received over 2 million page views. Kimberly’s fifth book, a groundbreaking analysis of the social, political and economic influences on the American breastfeeding landscape will be published by St. Martin’s Press next year.
 As a consultant, Kimberly has led innovative community-based projects in the southeast and Philadelphia that explore the impact of “first food deserts”—communities that severely lack or have inaccessible resources to support mothers who choose to breastfeed—and examining how to transform these areas into more breastfeeding supportive environments. Kimberly is currently the project director of the First Food Friendly Community Initiative (3FCI), an innovative pilot project funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, designed to understand the impact of “place” as a social determinant of breastfeeding success and to create multi-pronged community support for breastfeeding. Her advocacy work has also centered on connecting breast milk as the most healthful first food to the broader “good food” movement and rethinking childhood nutrition and preventative health as beginning at birth.   
In addition, Kimberly specializes in issues related to African American motherhood and breastfeeding and is the former editorial director of The Black Maternal Health Project of Women’s eNews. In 2011, Kimberly was named an IATP Food and Community Fellow, funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and works to increase awareness of the first food—breast milk, in vulnerable communities. She currently leads nationwide workshops for health care professionals on cultural competency and breastfeeding and is a prominent speaker on community-based strategies to reduce the racial disparities in breastfeeding and infant mortality rates. 
 Kimberly has appeared on Good Morning America, CNN, Anderson Cooper, the Tom Joyner Morning Show, Fox News and featured in various international and national media outlets, including The Guardian (U.K.), U.S. News & World Report, Essence, Black Enterprise, Pregnancy and in various online media properties.
Kimberly is a graduate of New York University and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. A divorced mother of two, she lives in Queens, New York, with her children and two turtles. Follow her on Twitter @iamKSealsAllers