Last night on "Little People, Big World," Jeremy and Audrey Roloff gave fans an intimate look at their first days of parenthood. Jeremy and Audrey, who are very active and engaging on social media, have previously opened up about the challenges of being new parents. But what they didn't tell their fans was that their daughter Ember had to get a scary surgery just a few weeks after she was born!
As "LPBW" fans learned last night, Audrey was having a terrible time making baby Ember latch onto her to feed. As it turned out, the newborn was born with a condition which, if left untreated, could pose other problems in the future.
Read on for our full recap!
Baby Ember's first few weeks
The "Little People, Big World" family welcomed its second grandchild, baby Ember Jean Roloff, on Sept. 10. While the Roloff Family celebrated her arrival, Jeremy and Audrey really struggled during Ember's first weeks.
Audrey was insistent that she would exclusively breastfeed her baby, but the first-time mom suffered repeated bouts of mastitis. Not only did it make breastfeeding incredibly painful, the infection also tested Audrey's patience.
"By far, feeding has been the most difficult for me," Audrey revealed in a confessional. "It takes Ember 10 to 15 minutes to latch, which is the most frustrating part for me."
Jeremy and Audrey started to become really worried when they noticed that Ember was not gaining weight after she was born.
In fact, she was even losing weight. They brought her to a specialist and they discovered that Ember was born with her upper lip tied to her gum. This was the reason why she couldn't properly latch onto Audrey to feed.
The poor baby needed to get a surgery to fix the problem. Though they were assured that the surgery would be short and simple, Jeremy and Audrey couldn't help but worry.
Jeremy said that it was so "traumatic" to see their new baby undergo so much pain. As for Audrey, the new mom revealed that she "felt robbed" of those sweet moments between mommy and baby she was expecting.
"I was not prepared for how hard it would be," Audrey said.
Audrey Roloff gets slammed for 'formula is like sin' comment
Little Ember bravely triumphed over her difficult early days, and now the eight-month-old is a healthy and "chunky" baby, as her mom calls her. However, Audrey Roloff did not escape criticisms from some "Little People, Big World" fans due to a comment she made about moms who don't breastfeed.
As In Touch reported, Audrey was sharing her feeding struggles on last week's "LPBW" episode when she was advised by her doctor to supplement her breast milk with formula to keep baby Ember's weight in check. The 27-year-old mom was adamant to exclusively breastfeed, and uttered, "Formula is like a sin."
This line did not sit well with some viewers, especially mothers on social media.
Many argued that Audrey should not shame fellow moms for their choices on how to raise their babies.
"Oh, Audrey. Formula is not a sin," wrote one viewer on Twitter. "Fed baby is all that matters."
"Little People, Big World" airs every Tuesday, 9 PM on TLC.
