Donor Stories
Quick facts:
“My husband and I are blessed with two babies, Jensen, 3 and Kinslee, 15 months. During my pregnancy with Kinslee, I learned that she would likely be born with an extra chromosome. Initially, I was shocked by this news and feared the unknown. As a postpartum nurse and lactation consultant, I knew of the struggles associated with nursing a child with Down syndrome. However, I also embraced the importance of providing breast milk to babies in this vulnerable population.
Thankfully, Kinslee was healthy at birth and did not require a NICU stay. Nursing Kinslee was difficult, due to lip, tongue and buccal ties which restricted her mouth from getting a good latch and because her head was in the 4th percentile, creating a mismatch in size. To ensure she was getting the milk she needed, I started pumping within hours of delivery and attempted to nurse her repeatedly in the early weeks.
After being unable to successfully nurse her consistently, exclusive pumping became part of our journey. I developed an oversupply of breast milk and heard about Tiny Treasures Milk Bank through a donor’s social media post. Kinslee’s good health was truly a blessing, and I wanted my breast milk to benefit others who might not be as fortunate.
I love being able to ‘give back’ and provide nutrition to other babies who can benefit from our journey. I plan to continue donating until I’ve pumped enough milk to get Kinslee to her second birthday. The compensation from donation has allowed me to be a stay-at-home-mom, and that’s priceless. Kinslee is now almost 15 months old and thriving. She can furniture walk and has begun signing several words as we work on her speech. She loves music, food, her family and making people laugh. She’s such a ham! Her smile truly lights up the room.”