Three Thousand Four Hundred & Seventy

Tonight I donated my last box of breast milk. While M still breastfeeds some, I no longer pump. The last of my supply went out the door tonight making the grand total of donated milk

3470 ounces!!

I am pretty proud of myself. BF'ing was such a source of failure for me with the twins. I wasn't able to latch them, so I just pumped. Never made enough for them, so they were always supplemented with formula. Add to that thrush that wouldn't go away in both me and the twins plus 2 boughts of mastitis...all in a four month span (at which point I gave up) and it was a pretty negative experience.

This time I have to say that it went about as perfectly as it could have. M was an excellent nurser. Great supply, easy pumping, no infections. I am very grateful for this. If I have no other children I am happy that I was able to get a very positive BF'ing experience.

Another One Hundred Seventy Ounces

Another 170 ounces out the door. This makes a total of 3170 ounces donated. Absolutely awesome :0)

THREE THOUSAND

Ounces of breast milk that is :0) Today 300 more ounces walked out the front door.

The last 600 ounces has actually gone to a different family than the one I had comitted to in the beginning. I had posted how I just felt like my gift wasn't at all appreciated and how my request for $15 to replace the freezer bags was ignored. Well after figuring out that it had cost me about $125 to donate my breastmilk to her, I moved on to another mother who was more appreciative.

I only have about another 300 ounces left. I still nurse Max but only pump while I'm at work, and that doesn't really produce much. So, after this next box I think my donation days have come to an end. It was a good run and one that I am proud of!

2700 Ounces

With another 600 or so in the freezer :o)

Breastfeeding with Max is still going great. He nurses several times during the day and, if you ask me, too many times during the night. He still seems to love nursing especially when sleepy or needing some comfort. He has even figured out how to tell me he wants it. The only thing that drives me nuts is he wants to nurse for 2 minutes...then pops off and wanders off for a minute or two...then comes back to nurse again. I'm told this is very common for his age, but obnoxious none the less.

I have actually stopped pumping except for when I'm at work. I was so tired of that pump. Max never really used any of my pumped milk. It mostly went to donation and now that he's one and can have whole milk, I made the decision to say good-bye to the pump. So, this will also mean that once my 600 ounce freezer supply is gone, there will be no more donations.

I had donated 2300 ounces to the mom I had committed to way back when. Her daughter seemed to do great with a combo of my BM and formula. I had been pretty consistent with a monthly donation to her. Well when I emailed her this month saying I had a box, but to help with the cost of bags I was asking $15 to replace the cost of the bags (this is not close to enough, but I figured it would help). I never heard back from her. I am kind of miffed right now as I have donated this woman so much milk over the last 6 to 7 months. She was never overly appreciative, but did say thank you. I am trying not to jump to conclusion about her, but it sure does seem like she's uninterested now just because I asked for the $15.

So in the meantime, another mom I know mentioned she was out of donor milk. I made her the same offer and she jumped at it! She even mentioned that the $15 was not enough and was I sure I didn't want more. So today I donated 300 ounces of milk to a new mom with a 4 month old son. I mentioned that I had two more boxes in the freezer and to call me if she had a need again. This mom seemed so much more appreciative for the 300 ounces than the other mom with the 2400 ounces!

So, that means as of right now I have helped 3 other babies, besides Max, with their first year of nutrition. That feels very good. Kind of crummy that I couldn't do that for the twins, but I'm glad that I got this amazing opportunity.

2400 Ounces

Another box donated :0)

Who knew I would be so successful at this. Selfishly I wish there was a way to make some money off of this!

Two Thousand

As of today I have donated 2000 ounces of breast milk. All but 100 ounces have gone to one Mommy and her baby girl. I am very proud of this accomplishment and happy that I can help a mom in need.

Her daughter is 3 months behind Max. I hope that I can continue to provide her with breast milk until Max turns one. At that point I would really like to get off that miserable pump. I have a 1000 ounce reserve at all times in the deep freezer, so if I do decide to stop pumping at one, I would be able to provide her with that 1000 ounces.

We will see what the future brings :o)

Random Stuff

Just a few things going on here...

• Will start with the positive. K has had no pain medicine for a week as of today. This is incredible. I am beyond thrilled that the surgery went well, her recovery was quick, and everything seems to be a complete success. It's so wonderful when everything goes the way it's supposed to.
• For some reason my milk supply has dropped significantly. Different reasons could be the stress of the last few weeks with long days at the hospital (work and with K) and not being able to pump the way I should be. Also M's thrush could have affected it as well. I went and saw my lactation consultant and have started taking some things. Fenugreek (smells like maple syrup and will help in production) Supplements (with garlic and probiotics to help treat any potential thrush in my breasts) and a yummy batch of lactation bars (like granola bars with ingredients known to help production.) It seems to be working as I am pumping more milk. The pills are causing horrible heartburn though and when you are burping up pills that taste like garlic and maple syrup...well, let's just say it's interesting. I need to work on my feelings of guilt though, because I really only pump to donate milk and I am doing all this work to keep up a supply for the family I donate to. Sometimes I just need to take care of us.
• I work this weekend - boo. My mom is here spending the weekend and watching the munchkins. It should go well since I will be spending most of the waking hours at work. I really do appreciate her help like this though since it saves me a ton on babysitting.
• Next week will end on a busy note. Our twin consignment sale is next week and I have a ton of stuff to get rid of. I would love to sell everything because (1) I need the stuff out of my closets. I think I have 5 large containers plus big baby gear items, and (2) I would love to make enough money to pay for M's nine and twelve month portraits.
• And on a bad mommy note...M fell of the chair tonight and hit his head :( He got a big bruised goose egg right away. This is his first major injury and he was pitiful. Makes me feel so horrible to letting it happen. I hope when he wakes up in the morning it doesn't look too bad.

1600

Just dropped off another box of breastmilk. Not trying to consistenly brag here...but it's the easiest way for me to keep track of my total donation amount :-)

I'll make it up to you with funny kid stories

Tonight while nursing M was playing with his soother. We about 10 minutes into our session, he popped off, put the soother in his mouth, rolled over and went to bed. I had to chuckle. He know what he wants, doesn't he?

K is back to talking about getting married all the time. She asked me tonight if she could marry Max. I told her not likely. I mentioned the possiblity of her marrying a little boy-friend named D. She responded with disgust "No!" and I asked her why. Her response "D doesn't have brown hair. I need to marry a boy with brown hair!" She also required that I made sure I let my mom know that she was invited to the wedding.

One Thousand Two Hundred Seventy Five

I am giving myself a pat on the back. I dropped off my fourth box of donated breast milk to my mama of six, making a grand total of donated milk to be 1275 ounces!

Yeah me!!

600 Ounces

That's how much breast milk I have donated to moms in need. This is an amazing number since breastfeeding the twins never went all that well and I never made enough to feed them all breast milk.

Its amazing how much breastfeeding can change child to child. Nothing seemed to go right with the twins, and this time, nothing seems to be wrong.

Breast Milk

So, if you are a frequent reader of my blog, you know that breastfeeding the twins was a nightmare. They never latched, I had to exclusively pump, and I never made enough milk for the two of them. They were always on some amount of formula from the very beginning.

Well my breastfeeding experience has been the complete opposite with Max. He nurses great and I have had an abundance of milk. The deep freezer I have is almost full. I have approximately 1500oz of breast milk in the freezer and I freeze about another 70-100oz a week. I haven't had to touch my frozen stash at all. But with this abundance, I am experiencing a space issue. I was getting to the point of either dumping my milk, or buying another freezer.

Well I mentioned my dilemma to some friends and as a result, I am now helping to feed two more infants! Both moms suffer from inadequate glandular tissue so are unable to breastfeed. One mom just had her sixth child and has relied on donated breast milk for all of them. I was able to give her 200oz right away, and I have kind of committed myself to giving her all of what she needs. The other mom is pregnant with her second and also used donated breast milk with her first. I have offered her 100oz to help build her stash (the baby isn't due until June) but made no promises for further donations.

Just in case you are wondering, I am very upfront and honest about the meds I take and both moms are okay with them.

It's just kind of ironic that I didn't make enough for two babies when I had them, and now I am making enough for three (sort of ) :o)