An old acquaintance / co worker made a Facebook post regarding her breastfeeding journey, pumping, and an oversupply. She added a trigger warning at the beginning, and I should’ve known better, but I read the post anyways.

She struggled to breastfeed, despite the number of lactation consultants she saw, her daughter’s mouth complications, and a few other factors, she was never able to breastfeed her daughter. She ultimately decided to exclusively pump. In her post, she described what a great journey it was and how supportive her husband was. Sounds great, right? Cool! I wasn’t prepared for what came next…

She had an oversupply and a BAD one at that. She said she faced mastitis three times, took antibiotics, had severe pain and vasospasms. Interestingly, she said she was “blessed by God to have had an oversupply.” She created a massive breastmilk stash. I mean massive. She calculated to have been able to pump 6,800 ounces and donated milk to seven babies.

While this sounds great and all, as a FTM who is struggling mentally and physically to produce enough for their child, this post was mortifying. I wish I had known better and avoided the post. For heaven’s sake, she even added a trigger warning. After reading her post, I cried. I felt like a failure to my son. I can’t compare with 6,800oz. I thought 40oz in my freezer was an accomplishment. In the first few days to few weeks post partum, I received some pretty AWFUL advice about breastfeeding— hey, MIL, I’m talking about you (and f— you). I was so discouraged in the beginning of my breastfeeding journey that I almost stopped completely because of self doubt and poor advice. After reading the Facebook post and crying, I immediately jumped down a wormhole of googling — “How do I increase my supply” and ”How to increase supply quickly” and “Top products to increase supply.”

After a bit of googling and adding random “breastmilk enhancing” supplements and vitamins to my Amazon cart, I quickly closed all tabs and emptied my cart. An oversupply is NOT funny. An oversupply is NOT something to joke with. There are consequences and pain associated with an oversupply. The girl literally described all the pain she endured. An oversupply is not a blessing from God — it’s a pain in the ass and in the breasts.

And you know what? I am enough. I am feeding my son who is as happy as a clam. I am proud of my little 40oz freezer stash. I learned to not listen to poor advice from uneducated MILs. I have accomplished so much over these last few months. I don’t need a deep freezer of 6,800oz to feel good about myself. I have a gummy smile that brightens my day, and that’s all I need to know I’m doing good.

So mamas, don’t listen to stupid social media posts or take bad advice from MILs (or anyone for that matter). You’re doing good. You’ve got this, and you’re powerful.