I’ve been blessed to have enough milk for my baby girl with more to spare. After consulting my doctor who pointed me to a laction consultant who pointed me to Mothersmilk, I started the process of donating on March 11. Today I sent in my first donation: about 245 ounces of frozen breastmilk. I already have over 210 ounces frozen breastmilk still in our freezer and my parents’ freezer (who will be helping take care of my baby when I go back to work), so I’m hoping to send in another donation soon. If you or someone you know has a surplus of breastmilk, I would urge donation. The milk saves lives. The video on this page definitely made me cry because it is so powerful and true. http://www.mothersmilk.org/donate

I really enjoy the show The Big Bang Theory, and as a new Mom, there are a lot of episodes in which Bernadette was written so well as a new Mom. The episode after her daughter is born, Bernadette has a hard time getting her baby to calm down and sleep. There’s a line she says to Howard (her husband, for those of you unfamiliar with the show) where she says “Why does she hate me?” As a new Mom myself, I totally related with the feeling and tears. My first several weeks, I didn’t know how to help my baby girl (and get her to stop crying), but it just took time. Bernadette was also apprehensive about returning to work, saying it was harder than she had thought it would be. I return to work on Monday, and I know the feeling. I love my job, and I love my baby. I’m glad I’m part time. I am ambitious and want to promote in my career, and I want to enjoy every minute I have with my baby girl. Do you have a TV character you relate to st certain times in your life?

I’ve been blessed with an abundance of breastmilk, with over 300 ounces in two different freezers because there wasn’t enough room in one. My mom told me that she donated milk when my older sister was a baby (37 years ago). So I queried my doctor who pointed me to a lactation consultant who sent me to mothersmilk.org. I started the process of getting cleared to donate March 18, 2019, and today I was cleared! They’re sending me a cooler for the 245 ounces I’m donating first. The milk goes to premie babies who cannot process anything else. This milk will be used to save babies’ lives. I’m so thankful this organization exists, and I can donate.

It is crazy all the hormonal changes you go through when you give birth. I’m almost 11 weeks postpartum, and I’m still experiencing hormonal changes. The smallest thing can make you so upset and then you don’t even know why you are upset. I expected it to get easier, but, mainly when I’m really tired, it hits. I didn’t get overly emotional in pregnancy until about week 36. So I’ve been overly emotional much longer postpartum than I was prenatal. There are no quick fixes or easy solutions. Just try to get rest, let your significant other know you’re emotional today, and have tissue handy.

My last post was right at the beginning of when I went back to school. It’s so interesting reading the posts I wrote back then. To say my life has changed is an understatement. In the past three and a half years, I’ve gotten two degrees (Bachelors and Masters), promoted three times (Library Technician II, Assistant Branch Manager, Librarian I), have eight books published, and had a baby girl. Needless to say, my life is completely different than it was during my last post. So I’m going to update my welcome now…
Hello. I am Tiffany N. Hayden. I was born in San Diego, and I have been there ever since. I got married May 19, 2012 to my amazing husband. Our baby girl was born January 13, 2019.
My parents have been married since 1976, and they are a true inspiration to me. They have supported me through this incredible journey. I also have a sister, brother-in-law, niece, nephew, and brother. My family is incredible!
I am extremely blessed with some great friends. Janelle (who has monthly, kid free girl nights with me), Rikah (my spiritual mentor who is also a writer), Jodi (my first supervisor as a permanent employee), Lorena and Caira (who are going through motherhood with me. All three babies are within five weeks of each other, and we’re all first time moms), and my mom group and coworkers.
Myself, I am a geeky, adventurous Christian girl. I am a huge Star Wars and superhero fan who loves to go spelunking, rock climbing, zip lining, horseback riding and have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. He has led me through so many things in life, and I am SO grateful for Him.
I decided the be an author when I was nine, and I've been working on it since. My very first book written was Mysterious Warriors. The original has been rewritten several times by now. My first published book is Child of Prophecy.
My favorite authors are Melanie Dickerson, Jody Hedlund, Johanna Lindsey, Tamara Leigh, and MaryLu Tyndell.

If you know anything about me, you know school has never been a priority in my life. Writing was always my passion, and that always took a higher priority in my book. This past January, after endless months of badgering me, my branch manager finally said the one thing to make me change my mind about pursuing my Bachelor's and Master's in Library Science. She said, "Do you know what would be a really good platform for a Young Adult Author? Being a Youth Services Librarian." And that was the moment everything changed for me. Now I'm pursuing my education with a vigor I have never encountered before. The only class in college in which I longed to go to was Novel Writing. While I really enjoyed classes, only Novel Writing gave me that super strong desire to do the absolute best in my class. I don't want to just pass my classes, but I want to do my absolute best in college now. I'm a junior at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, and I'm taking nine units while I'm working full time, and writing... Needless to say, I spend a lot of time at work and "in school" (sitting at the kitchen table which is set up as my desk with my laptop with my music blasting...) I almost want to laugh at my younger self, who would be so confused by my desire for school.

Tonight I logged onto my D2L (Desire to Learn) account and saw that two of my three classes were online and ready for me to begin. I eagerly clicked onto my Arthurian Legends and Intro to Librarianship courses to see what they had to offer. I printed my syllabus for each class, marked the reading I have to get done, and looked over my weekly assignments. Tomorrow I'm going to write down all of my due dates for my assignments, read what I need to, and access my final class. My school year officially begins, well technically today, but in several hours. I cannot wait to learn everything these classes have to offer, and eventually get my Bachelors and then Masters in Library Science! Here's to becoming a Youth Services Librarian and Young Adult Author!

I'm speaking at the Alpine Library this Saturday about my Mysterious Warriors series and what life was like as a teen who wanted to be a published author!