Editors’ note: As most breastfeeding mothers will tell you, the support of doctors, family and friends is important when learning to breastfeed. Even milk donors who eventually “overproduce” breastmilk may struggle in their early days of breastfeeding. Here donor Kristie Wilson explains how her husband played an important role in her routine.
Kristie Wilson
Hometown: Longview, Texas
After our middle child was born, nursing was awful. He had jaundice, which made him even more tired. I could not get him to stay awake to eat, and I tried everything. He was also a very lazy eater. I was about to give up because I was exhausted!
My sweet husband supported me so much. He knew it was best for our son to have breastmilk, and he sat by my side, Googling websites and looking up ways to help me. He was able to learn how to help our son latch on, and then, our son learned how to nurse.
It was probably two months until he learned how to latch on properly, and then I felt good about our routine. I decided to pump my milk to create a stockpile, in case I needed it.
After nine months, I had so much breastmilk in the freezer. I learned about milk banking from a friend who is also a donor to the Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas. I’d never heard of that before, and I thought, “That’s really cool.” After giving it more thought, I decided to donate my extra milk. It was an easy process.
Plus, I have an awesome husband who supported me the whole way. He feels proud that we made it that far and gave our babies the best. And we gave other babies the best, too.
He even tells his friends about our experience – all the time. He once saw a woman wearing a Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas t-shirt and said, “My wife did that, too!”