MAGIC. MILK.
🌷“It takes a village to raise a child.” Our baby girl could not have a better one to welcome her into this world.
When I thought about pregnancy and having children, I always knew I would breastfeed (or at least try.) When I accepted I would never be able to carry, I had to grieve the loss of ever being able to do this. As a woman, this was very difficult. A very female experience was taken from me. Women can try to induce lactation via months and months of hormone treatments, but it doesn’t always work, and the side effects can be awful. I made the decision not to try this, knowing that being in a good mental and physical state was the most important thing for our daughter.
One of the discussions we had with Kimmy early on in our journey (before our transfers) was whether she would provide breast milk, (but there is cost to this – rightfully so). She was very open to pumping, but sadly, as our journey continued, we felt like it was not in our best personal (and financial) interests to go down this path. While this saddened me, I also have so much confidence in science. Because I have so many formula-fed babies in my life who are thriving, I was comfortable with this decision.
Enter my superstar, badass, brilliant, kind, remarkable, selfless friend, Rachel. Anyone that knows this woman knows she is truly wonder woman. Not only is she a well-regarded surgeon, a wife, a mother of three humans and two dogs, she is the woman who offered to provide us breast milk for many, many months.
Being in Rachel’s home, surrounded by her family, and having her hand me two freezer bags of frozen breast milk is one of the most surreal experiences. I met Rachel at a wedding over a decade ago. She was in her residency, I was a baby attorney. We would go on long walks, celebrate birthdays and holidays together. She was the person I turned to in tough times, and I got the honor of being her first daughter’s godmother (who would later become my and Phil’s flower girl.)
Life has a funny way of bringing the people you need, into your life. Sitting at that wedding table so many years ago, I could never have imagined that the beautiful woman sitting next to me, would someday help, in such a profound way, to feed my baby girl.
As we see the light at the end of this very dark tunnel, I can’t help but reflect on all the remarkable people along the way that helped make this little lady’s existence a reality.
And now, as I stare into a freezer chest full frozen breast milk, I am overwhelmed with so much emotion. Rachel has been by my side throughout this journey (and before,) and to know she is helping our baby grow strong and healthy, is simply so, so beautiful. Knowing that Baby will have the same people circling her that surrounded me before and during the darkest days, gives me so much peace. Bringing this baby into a world of loving, sweet, generous, kind, brilliant, people, is more overwhelming than I can possibly put in writing.🌷
