"I had a lot of anxiety about breastfeeding. Some of my family members had long expressed a lot of negativity and misconceptions about breastfeeding. I had always wanted to breastfeed my babies and subsequently put a lot of pressure on myself to ‘prove’ that breastfeeding would work.
The first few days were stressful. My milk was slow to come in and my baby wasn’t gaining weight. Thankfully I had a incredibly supportive husband, midwife, and friends who helped and supported me immensely.
My milk finally came in, and Jaxson started packing on the pounds. It was such a amazing feeling to see him ‘milk drunk’ after worrying that he wouldn’t be getting enough. Even more than being amazed that my body could grow a human life, I became amazed at it’s ability to sustain life.
I was blessed to have an abundant supply, and knew I wanted to donate it to families in need. I watched as my sister-in-law worked so incredibly hard to produce milk when my niece was in the NICU. Breastfeeding was hard enough with a healthy baby, I couldn’t imagine the challenges when faced with the anxiety of having a sick baby. Being able to donate not only provided me with reassurance and confidence to override the negativity surrounding breastfeeding that I had long faced; but provided an immense sense of satisfaction being able to help families in need. "
-Tara, April 2020