The fabulous Jessica FuQua with her boys Jayden (8) and Jaxon (6 months). Jessica got pregnant with Jayden when she was just 17. Her boyfriend at the time didn't want to be a parent so she moved home to seek the support of her family. Due to her families faith, they frowned upon having a baby out of wedlock and she struggled with whether or not to keep him. When she was about 6 months along it was suddenly clear to her that she wanted to raise him and her family was able to stand behind her decision. Something shifted in Jessica after viewing her body postpartum, she felt dirty and broken and thought that she needed to look differently in order to be a good mother. She began to struggle severely with disordered eating which has had her in and out of treatment several times over the course of Jayden's life. When Jessica met her now husband, he helped her get into treatment again. She knew she wanted another baby and felt that if she was carrying another life it would help her to have a reason to eat and stay healthy. Still, she struggled her entire pregnancy with providing enough nourishment for both her growing baby and herself. At 36 weeks it was determined that Jaxon was only measuring 34 weeks so the decision was made to deliver early. His lungs were not fully developed and he had to spend several days in NICU on CPAP learning to breathe on his own. Jessica really wanted to breastfeed but had difficulty here as well. While she began pumping right away she wasn't able to feed him directly in the hospital, then struggled to latch, then had to work through a tongue tie revision, but now, at 6 months old is finally able to nurse Jaxon directly without complication. Being able to feed her son gives Jessica continued purpose to take care of herself which she bravely admits is something that she takes one day at a time. She hopes that she can continue to heal from her illness and that by speaking out about disordered eating, which many still find stigmatized and shameful, she can provide hope and connectivity to other women walking similar paths.
