The last time I breastfed one of my babies was almost 5-6 years ago. My youngest nursed until she was a few months shy of 4. I couldn’t believe how long she kept at it and frankly, on my end, it was a beautiful bond we shared and I was tired yet secretly hoping it didn’t end too soon.

In that journey, I had discovered the amazing folks who had created Etsy shops specifically to create keepsakes with your breastmilk, umbilical cord stumps, etc. I was intrigued and never really took the plunge to order a piece for myself but I did hang on to some milk for years after my daughter stopped nursing.

Seriously, every time I did a freezer purge, I'd run into those little baggies of pumped milk and think to myself that maybe I had put it off for too long already. Then I’d shut the door and forget for another 6 months.

So here we are, almost 5-6 years later and I finally did it!

I went on the search for a local business first and came across A Handmade Legacy. I messaged Jill and inquired about a ring and the whole process. Jill was super sweet and messaged me back right away. She gave me options, we talked about details and began the process. She met up with me soon after and collected a milk baggie from me and got to work. This process all happened over Easter weekend and she communicated so clearly when she would be working on my piece and gave me such realistic expectations for delivery dates.

When my piece was done, Jill reached out right away, we met up and I was beyond thrilled with her work. She did a beautiful job and I’m so happy with my ring. I think I have a bit more milk… maybe one day I’ll order a piece for my kiddos as keepsakes for the time they spent nursing.

I can’t tell you how wonderful it was to work with Jill. It’s easy to see that her heart leads her and she pours love into the art she’s creating.

On April 4th, Jill shares a post where she speaks about her own mother and how she is preserving her memory.

“I had the honor of creating these stunning sterling silver hoop cremation earrings.. these are extra special to me, as they were created with my mother in mind and her ashes. Today has been extra hard, missing my mom so much. Grief is so difficult to navigate.. Holding my mom just a little bit closer today, of course in something shiny.. if only she could see me now, not sure if she would laugh, tell me how amazed she is that I started doing this, or just sit there with a smile and tell me “ go get em magpie”.. either way I think she’d be pretty amazed and would definitely want something shiny made by me, even though I was her glitter, all shiny things obsessed daughter, if heaven wasn’t so far away I’d give it all to you momma.. ”

— Jill, A Handmade Legacy

Thank you, Jill. Thank you for sharing your heart with us and for creating such special pieces for families here in the RGV.

If you are hanging on to that little bit of umbilical cord, that pumped milk, the last placenta pill, ashes, a special memento… message Jill. She will create a beautiful custom piece for you and you won’t be disappointed.

This past Easter weekend, some doulas and birth workers gathered to brain storm and continue growing our local doula community.

You’d be surprised how often we all come across new clients who have never heard of us or didn’t know doulas existed.

Doulas have been around for many years here in the RGV but we have seen a recent growth in folks entering this field of work in the past 5 years or so. It makes this job a whole lot less lonely, I’ll tell you that much.

Birth work is never meant to be done alone, just like parenting. We need support when we process the work we do, we need guidance from peers when we are trying to serve our clients. We need new perspectives when we are troubleshooting hiccups with our businesses or family life. It’s a lot of behind the scenes work, as we often see for small business owners.

Recently, Brandi Kennedy (former doula - iykyk) started working for Holy Family Birthing Center and is currently the clinical manager there. In her new role, Brandi has reached out to local doulas to meet some new folks who are passionate about birth work. One of the lovely people Brandi invited us to meet was Claudia, originally from NYC. Claudia brings us excitement and passion with her ideas of growth and collaboration. With that said, Your RGV Doulas came together (we were missing a few faces) and got to introduce ourselves, share a little about what we do and presented ideas about how we can continue to serve the amazing RGV parents or soon-to-be-parents.

How can we let you know what we do?

How can we bring the right doula to you and your birth team?

How can we best serve you and meet you where you are?

Those are all very common questions we see from families and sometimes, families go through their entire planning process never finding us. We’d love to grow and show everyone how beneficial a doula can be for you and your family. Whether that doula is needed for your birth journey or your postpartum healing. Pregnancy is not always easy, it comes with hardship at times, and other times, with extremely difficult diagnosis or decisions to make. Having a doula who understands and can hold space for you would be ideal. No one should ever have to embark on a pregnancy journey alone.

If you have ideas on how Your RGV Doulas can grow, we’d love to hear them. In the mean time, here are some photos of this past weekend. Gathering is always so inspiring to me. I’ll cherish these photos for years to come. :)