Donor Stories
“My loving husband, Jim, and I have two little bundles of energy, Ava, 3 and James, 1. I live in Florida and love painting tropical landscapes, completing the most difficult puzzles I can find and decorating elaborate birthday cakes! Second to family, traveling is my true love - I've been to all 50 states and 20 countries, and am always planning my next adventure!
With both children, I had an abundant milk supply and knew that I wanted it to go to a good cause. I was unable to donate after having Ava, since I lost my freezer stash due to a power outage during a hurricane. It broke my heart to pour all that spoiled milk down the drain. After James was born, I very quickly filled up a freezer full of breast milk and started researching milk banks. I found Tiny Treasures Milk Bank and have been donating for just over 1 year.
The most rewarding thing about donation is the "feel good" aspect. I love knowing my milk is going to fragile infants and reading success stories about donations having an impact on babies and their families.
The compensation has allowed me to make a dream come true, by helping fund my kitchen remodel! I take great pride in our home, which we purchased as a foreclosure 12 years ago. Little by little, we have fixed it up and made it beautiful. The kitchen was the last project! As I intend to donate another 1.5-2 years, my next goal is to use donation compensation to help start my own rental management business, which would allow me to work from home and spend time with my children.
My biggest donation challenge has been maintaining what I like to call “proper breast health”. Early in my lactation journey, I wasn’t aware of the importance of consistently nursing/pumping every few hours and completely emptying both breasts each time. This led to issues with clogged ducts, thrush, and mastitis. After these struggles, I vowed to maintain my breast health by having the patience to commit to these practices. This is my biggest piece of advice to new donors – take care of your breast health!”