While Diana was working from home during the COVID-19 lockdown last year, she took time to pump each morning to become a milk donor (for the second time!). All of us at MMBA can’t thank mothers enough, who, like Diana, continue to support our mission to help save babies’ lives despite the challenging times.
Diana’s Milk Donor Story
Today I’m shipping my final donation, and it’s a little bittersweet for this part of my journey to come to an end. The sweet part is to gain back the time I spent pumping each morning. Because of the pandemic, I’ve been working from home. Since August, my baby hasn’t had a bottle; it’s easier for me to nurse her than to pump out a bottle for her but I kept up pumping in order to help others. The hard part is giving up that feeling of being helpful and maybe even saving a life.
Maeve is my second donor baby (Lana was my first donor baby). Shortly before Lana was born, my niece was born at 31 weeks gestation. When I visited her in the NICU, I had never seen such a tiny baby. I felt so useless, but it was there that I learned of the need for donor milk. With Lana, I found donating milk to be a way to make me feel useful. I was finally able to do something to help others like my niece. Lana is now four.
When I learned I was pregnant with Maeve there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to donate again. I started pumping one time a day beginning one week after giving birth, and I continued through that first year postpartum. I hesitated a bit when it was time to sign up as a milk donor because going out to get blood tests during a pandemic was scary. When my freezers were full, I had no choice, but it was fine. It was actually the first time I went out after the lockdown.
Now here we are a year later. My total donation with Maeve adds up to 1,800 ounces. It was 1,664 ounces with Lana, so together, we provided more than 10,000 meals for preemies. It makes me feel so good to have been able to help so many babies. I have made a difference in this world, and that’s important.
