Becky proudly continues her third journey with Tiny Treasures

“My husband, Garrett, and I met at the age of 3, started dating at 14, and got married at 19. After completing our bachelor’s degrees, we welcomed three babies – Lilia, 5, Violette, 2 and Levi, 4 months.

I work part-time at a local university teaching biology lab and spend the rest of my time at home with my littles. We completed construction of our home and moved in 2 weeks before Levi was born, so all our free time is spent finishing the basement.

Lilia spent 5 days in the NICU following her birth, due to inhaling amniotic fluid during delivery, which resulted in pneumonia. As instructed by the nurses, I breastfed her every 3 hours and pumped every 2 hours. This very quickly led to an oversupply. After she was discharged from the NICU, I googled ‘what to do with excess breastmilk’ and Tiny Treasures was one of the first options that came up.

Initially, I did not fill out an application because I was intimidated by the cleaning requirements. After spending a few weeks changing my routine to see if it was sustainable, and making sure my excess supply was sufficient, I submitted my application. Five years later, I am on my third donation journey with Tiny Treasures!

I love knowing that the milk in my donation coolers is going to tiny humans who need it the most. Helping babies thrive while being able to support my family financially from home is a dream. The compensation from donation has helped us purchase baby clothes and supplies, pay off student loans and cover medical expenses. My compensation helped pay for Levi’s birth!

The biggest donation-related challenge I’ve encountered is needing to pump instead of using that time to nap with the baby. With each kid this has gotten easier, though, since the older ones aren't napping either! My goal for this donation journey is to pump until I’m 18 months postpartum. In the past, I’ve stopped at around one year postpartum – it’s so tempting to reclaim that time for yourself!

My advice for new donors: Find your routine. If you miss a cleaning or sanitizing step, don’t beat yourself up! Just hold onto that milk for personal use instead of sending it for donation.”