Big Brother 18 winner Nicole Franzel is a new mother and has opened up about one of the tough topics of raising a newborn.
Nicole was candid about the struggles she faced during her pregnancy and seems to be doing the same for her journey into motherhood.
She took to Instagram to issue a heartfelt post about the ups and downs of breastfeeding her newborn son Arrow.
“Being able to breastfeed my baby is one of the biggest blessings I’ve had in my lifetime,” she wrote in the post’s caption. “I emphasize often that it is a full time job because I wasn’t prepared. I saw photos like this & thought that it seemed pretty simple! ? I was clueless how much it takes to feed your baby, when someone can’t step-in to help you!”
She confessed that there are times that she questions whether to stop breastfeeding or not.
She wrote, “There’s been times where I want a break or thought about stopping but I don’t because it’s not about me, it’s about Arrow.”
In the post’s pictures, Nicole is breastfeeding Arrow during her professional photoshoot.
She expressed that she had fed him 15 minutes prior to the shoot so they could get through the shoot uninterrupted, but Arrow was ready to go again just 15 minutes into the shoot.
Nicole expressed that she is grateful that the photographer captured the moment and also grateful for the moments she gets to bond with Arrow like this.
Nicole Franzel sympathizes with new mothers
In her post, she was sure not to discriminate or shame mothers who can’t or don’t breastfeed their babies.
She stated that she has respect for all mothers “whether you breastfeed or bottle feed or formula feed.”
She also expressed that she doesn’t blame mothers who never attempted to breastfeed or stopped partway since she considered doing that herself.
Nicole Franzel’s post may be in response to social media backlash
This post came after she made a comedic post about breastfeeding a “full-time job.”
In the video, she is breastfeeding Arrow and used popular audio that says “take it off” and mouthed the part, “I can’t take it off!”
While most people seemed to find her post amusing and were able to relate to it, it’s possible that some people took it the wrong way.
In addition to explaining what she meant by calling breastfeeding a “full-time job” in her followup post, she also wrote “I want to make clear that I’m NOT complaining” and “I just don’t want my playfulness & honesty to ever come off as ungrateful. That’s why I wanted to share this post.”
Perhaps Nicole thought people who can’t breastfeed wouldn’t appreciate her venting or making light of it.
There isn’t much evidence of that in the post’s comments but perhaps she got DMs about it, people in her life talked to her about it, or she just wanted to preemptively clarify she didn’t mean any offense.
Regardless, it seems like Nicole is enjoying raising baby Arrow and will likely keep sharing adorable pictures along the way.
Big Brother Seasons 1-23 are available for streaming on Paramount+.