A Priceless Connection Between Two Donors
Thursday, 3/10/2016
Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas (MMBNT) summarizes each year in a newsletter called “The Bank Statement” (pictured right). This publication, featuring photos, events and human interest stories, arrived in mailboxes this week. For our online community, we are republishing a particularly touching story about two of our milk donors and how they united for a common cause.
Tracy’s family is no stranger to pumping. Her first child, Samuel, couldn’t latch appropriately and had to receive breastmilk solely through pumping. Tracy found support, resources, and community along her journey through a Facebook group called Exclusive Pumping: Breastfeeding without Nursing.
When Tracy was pregnant with daughter Evelyn, she connected with MMBNT donor Joyce through this Facebook group. Joyce’s son, Cooper, was stillborn, and Joyce’s role as a donor helps save the lives of babies while honoring her son. Tracy felt inspired by Joyce and Cooper’s story, and when Evelyn was born on Cooper’s due date, they felt an even stronger connection. The meaning runs even deeper: Evelyn’s birthday and Cooper’s due date, October 15, is a worldwide day of recognition for infant loss and miscarriage. “When Tracy posted how our story touched her, my journey as a grief donor went full circle,” Joyce said.
Joyce is proud of the impact Cooper’s tiny footprint is making. Her goal of donating for one year is in sight, having accomplished eight months of pumping so far. And whenever she gets the chance to shed light on being a grief donor, Joyce takes it. “I can’t begin to say how healing pumping for Cooper has been,” Joyce said. Today, Tracy is also a proud MMBNT donor. As a resident of Conway, Arkansas, she drops off her milk at one of our depots, Baptist Health Medical Center, in Little Rock. She credits her oversupply of breastmilk and ability to donate to her history of pumping. “Without Samuel’s latch issues, I don’t know if I would have been able to produce enough to donate,” Tracy said. “In hindsight I’m grateful.”
An experienced pumper, Tracy has her freezer storage method down to a science. However, she knows that being flexible, forgiving, and loving is key to the breastfeeding experience. She also has her husband, John, to thank for his help in the process, from researching pumps to bagging the milk. “To me, donating means life, it means healing and connecting with other women and their babies,” Tracy said. “It provides me with an additional sense of purpose.”
For more information about the milk bank or how to become a donor, click here.
