Donor Stories
"I'm Christina! Mother of two beautiful boys, Joey (4 years) and Tommy (10 months), wife of an amazing, caring and loving husband Phil. We live in the Twin Cities (Minnesota) and have been here for 5 years. My biggest obstacle since becoming a mom was trying to figure out how to do it all alone.
We had just moved to Minnesota from Mississippi when I found out I was pregnant with my first baby. We are here by ourselves with closest family being a 6 hour drive away. My husband is awesome and supportive in every way, but being away from my own mom during pregnancy and beyond was especially hard for me. Thankfully she was always just a phone call away.
Breastfeeding came hard with my first. I am from a family of formula feeders so I had no idea where to even start and no one to ask! I read everything I could find on the internet and came so close to giving up so many times until finally one day, it just clicked and we were like professionals. :)
I breastfed him exclusively for 14 months. We were able to donate a couple hundred ounces to a local family in need. It definitely gave me a rewarding feeling. Now that I am on number 2, things are a lot easier.
I started pumping right away in the hospital because I knew I wanted to donate. I signed up for Prolacta and was put on a waiting list for about six months. During that time, I donated over 6,000 ounces to local families, one baby being diagnosed as failure to thrive.
With my milk, he began to gain weight and thrive! It was beautiful to see him make a complete turnaround and also to see the mom filled with joy. I
began my journey with Tiny Treasures when both families started introducing solids to their little ones and could no longer heavily rely on my donations. My best advice to anyone starting their donor journey is to get plenty of rest, eat healthy, drink lots of water and take care of yourself. That's the only way to be truly successful in your pumping/donating journey."