Got milk?

With Michael receiving a limited controlled amount of breastmilk in ICU, I found myself sitting with a whole lot of breastmilk going nowhere except down the drain. This was fun for the first 2 days because I allowed myself a glass of wine and I could finally eat a bit of dark chocolate.

But then the novelty wore off and I wondered what to do with all the milk I had to continue expressing. And that's when I decided to donate my milk. I called Milk Matters and made arrangements with them to become a new donor. They told me I could collect bottles from them and, by the following morning, I was well on the wagon for milk donation. After just 3 days, I've filled almost 15 bottles and my freezer looks like a milk depot LOL!

So why donate?

It occurred to me that the reason I was continuing this crazy routine of pumping every 3-4 hours was to give my baby the best nutrition possible. For many moms and babies, this isn't possible and there are helpless little babies who would benefit greatly from receiving breastmilk. With my own child in ICU, I wanted to be able to do a small bit to help another baby and all it would cost me is the time expressing which I was already doing. Donating was a win-win situation for both me and Milk Matters.

Now my routine is to express for Michael in the morning and then my donated feeds are the afternoon and evening. I am hoping to continue donating for as long as possible because I only discovered Milk Matters shortly after Wren went on to formula feeding and it's something I have been wanting to do since then. While I never know where this milk will go eventually, it does brighten our situation to know that I am doing just a small bit to help other children grow big and strong.