My Journey
For starters, I feel it only fitting to welcome you before I just jump right into the wild yet an amazingly blissful journey that I embarked on in which led me here. So WELCOME, and most of all THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE!Β
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I hate to sound cliche but, this all started for me when I became a mother! A moment I had been hoping and praying for; for years had finally arrived, & I just wanted every possible second I could get with my baby. I knew instantly I wanted to try & breastfeed, but little did I know about the wild ride that I was actually in for!! Through the ups & downs, I tried my best to hold onto every up there was, because I definitely had my share of downs. Nonetheless, we thankfully made it a little over six months on Mommaβs milk!!!
Now comes the transparency that I like to maintain... Those six months are a major accomplishment TO ME, but that accomplishment would be just the same if it was three months, one month, or even just a day that we made it! I know it wasn't easy for us and I don't want to take away from anyone's experience in talking about my own.
Now comes the transparency that I like to maintain... Those six months are a major accomplishment TO ME, but that accomplishment would be just the same if it was three months, one month, or even just a day that we made it! I know it wasn't easy for us and I don't want to take away from anyone's experience in talking about my own.
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While my baby boy was a natural thankfully, it was my own body that was seeming to fail me most of the time. I wasn't producing enough milk or producing it fast enough, and of course, I was so worried about not being able to provide the way I had envisioned for my babe that it in turn only affected my supply even more. Somehow someway, we came across breastmilk donations in those trying times, and we got even luckier to find so many of them to be local! I couldn't believe all the breastmilk that these stranger mama or familiesΒ were donating to us, just to help our baby. (Everything is safe & legit I swear) I still get chills thinking about it, I'm more grateful to those mamas than I could ever explain!
While my baby boy was a natural thankfully, it was my own body that was seeming to fail me most of the time. I wasn't producing enough milk or producing it fast enough, and of course, I was so worried about not being able to provide the way I had envisioned for my babe that it in turn only affected my supply even more. Somehow someway, we came across breastmilk donations in those trying times, and we got even luckier to find so many of them to be local! I couldn't believe all the breastmilk that these stranger mama or familiesΒ were donating to us, just to help our baby. (Everything is safe & legit I swear) I still get chills thinking about it, I'm more grateful to those mamas than I could ever explain!
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My firstΒ Mother's Day had approached andΒ surprisingly I had no idea what I wanted when asked. Then someΒ late-night scrolling and a few nights crafting in my basement later, I made my first breastmilk necklace! I wore this thing EVERYWHERE, heck I still do! Before I knew it, everyone was asking me to make one for them or their sister, or daughter, and that's all I needed!
I was struggling more than I still like to admit or even think about with PPD &PPA. Something else that I was not fully awareΒ of or even prepared for at all. Being aΒ stay-at-home mom just took a toll on me that I didn't expect it to honestly. I was so happy to have found and created something that was giving me my sense ofΒ independence back, I wanted to feel needed in more aspects than motherhood or being a wife. Areas that I had already felt so fulfilled in, but I felt I wasn't giving anything to myself.Β
Estelle's gave me all of that and some, & I am forever grateful for this entire experience, alongΒ with each one of you.Β