What have you done for your BM/FM lately?

I was surfing around the ol' interwebs...ya know, like I do and came across a really inspiring charity that focuses on one of the most ignored parts of the triad: the Birthmother/First mother. In all my research, I've come across many sites and groups supporting adoptive parents and adopted children but nothing that wasn't through an adoption agency for birthmothers. I haven't seen many pages that support the birthmother AFTER the adoption. She tends to just fade into the background while the new parents coo over their babies and that may not be what actually happens (so feel free to tell me what you did with/for/to your BM/FM in the weeks or first months of your adoption) but that is mostly what I'm seeing.
From the day we decided that D & I were going to adopt we knew that we wanted our BM/FM to be part of our family. My heart goes out to these women making a huge sacrifice and putting themselves through years of emotional pain and suffering to give their child a better life. Maybe it's just because I'm PMSing but it bothers me to think of these women tired from giving birth, riding the post-birth emotional roller coaster and feeling isolated or alone. Thankfully, Blessings In a Basket has their backs. BIB sends baskets to birthmothers with all kinds of thoughtful supplies like journals, candles, lotions and feel good products to be delivered to their hospital room or home or where ever. The baskets are FREE to BMs/FMs!! How awesome is that?! Ashley Mitchell, the founder of BIB, is a birthmother herself and knows what it feels like After and decided to take control of her life and make an impact on others. She also has a Big Tough Girl Retreat for these women to go to and heal, a Big Tough Girl 5K Run to bring awareness and support to her "Big Tough Girls", and Monthly Support Groups for these amazing women to get together and talk, share and heal.

Amazing, right?! Ok...so I need your help. To keep this amazing organization running it takes money. If everyone who has adopted would make a donation in honor of their BM/FM we could help make baskets available to all birthmoms/first moms. Consider sponsoring a basket for a birthmom/first mom for $100. Make a donation of ANY amount. Purchase a Big Tough Girl shirt for your Big Tough Girl. If you're that strapped for cash, send Ashley an email and tell her how wonderful she is. April is a tough month for her and we could make it a little easier. Let's go girls!! After the amazing sacrifice that has blessed our lives, shouldn't we return that ($)100 fold?!

One of the fabulous baskets that are given freely