Whitney Port on Painful Breastfeeding: “It Feels as Though Someone is Slicing My Nipples with Glass”

Whitney Port has gone from starring in The Hills to pushing her baby boy, Sonny, up and down hills in his stroller near her Los Angeles home. Things have definitely changed in her career and personal life, and she's stayed positive through it all.

What's her secret? Port, 34, recently sat down with Health (check out the video above!) to share the motto that keeps her going on good days and bad.

"My mantra is, 'There's no way out, but through,'" Port says. "I've used that in all different aspects of my life."

Port added that she kept her mantra close when her father died, and again when she was dealing with her first year of motherhood.

"There's always going to be something, and you just really have to work through it in order to get out of it," she says.

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While she may no longer star on The Hills, she hasn't left the entertainment world behind. Port documents the reality of first-time motherhood in her video series I Love My Baby, But… which she produces with her husband, Tim Rosenman.

One of the most powerful moments on her show was when she talked about the pain she felt during breastfeeding. “It feels as though someone is slicing my nipples with glass,” she said. As a result, Port stopped nursing her son after five months, and she wants other moms to know that’s okay.

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“It was really the longest I could go without driving myself crazy,” she explains. “It was a very hard thing for me, something that I didn't know was going to be as hard as it was, because not a lot of people talk about it. . . . I think a lot of people were yearning for that kind of information and support.”

Port says taking care of yourself and taking care of your little one go hand in hand. “I just hope that new moms stop putting so much pressure on themselves,” she advises. “If you're not in a healthy mindset and if it's so hard for you, the stress isn't good for the baby either.”

On her series, Port tackled a subject most new moms don't discuss: post-baby sex. “It's one of those things women obviously think about because you're worried that your body's totally gonna change and for a while, it does,” she says. “If you're breastfeeding, your boobs look a little bit insane and they're tender, and if you have a natural labor, that can switch up things, but just to know that things do go back to normal.”

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She's also revamped her daily routine so she feels healthier, and when she’s not sweating it out in her favorite yoga class, she brings her husband to the gym or takes Sonny along for the ride.

“Working out with a buddy is important,” she says, adding that her go-to recovery drink is a Lactaid smoothie. “It definitely helps keep me accountable. . . . If I don't have time to get to the gym, I'll usually take Sonny out in a stroller and just walk up and down the hill and break a little sweat.”

And while she’s loving her new role, Port says it’s important for moms to score some me time.

“A lot of moms want to do it all and be it all,” she says. “But whether it's asking a friend, a mom, or your husband just to babysit for an hour or two to get out and get some fresh air or go get a manicure and pedicure, [don’t] feel guilty about those moments, because you'll come back such a better mom.”

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