The Gift of Life

A little over a year ago Ariela Cadence was born, she is a wonderful gift to us. We feel so blessed everyday by her presence. Around this time a good friend of mine was having trouble feeding her son who was born 3 months prior to Ariela. (Joe was born the day before my birthday to be specific) So my friend Jill emailed Darren's mom about getting goat milk to make her own homemade formula. 

Baby Joe was allergic to the formula he was on and Jill did not want to use soy because of the high levels of estrogen in it among other things. For those of you that don't know Jill and I have this crazy lucky past where we help each other out and God orchestrates both our lives to be to the others advantage. And as things went it happened again. Martha (Darren's mom) was more than happy to share her goat milk but suggested that Jill approach me about pumping extra human milk for Joe, because it is truly the best thing for him. Martha warned me and it took a few days for Jill to ask but I was totally willing! Jill and Joey are family and so it was an easy decision. Our concerns were that Ariela get everything that she needs first from me and that it be convenient and not burdensome. So as Ariela's 1 month birthday approached I started pumping. I never new whether I would be able to fully supply Joey, but the human body is amazing and I had convinced mine I was feeding twins. So as Joey started eating solid foods and was drinking one less bottle a day I had upped my supply enough to feed him. 

As the gift of life goes it is amazing to be able to create a life. And then have the supply to continue to feed it is even more mind boggling. Then to be able to also help another is truly a blessing! Jill called me after Joey had his first bottle of my milk, she had tears in her voice. "Katie, he is so happy, he is sitting there so mellow and content, You milk is magical" Joey had been experiencing a handful of health problems due to the formula and was not always a happy boy. Then as the weeks went on he and Ariela were gaining weight at exactly the same rate. Ariela was continuously in the 90%s at her appointments and Joey was climbing the charts to. My milk got labeled "Mammas Magical Milk" As a bonus we got to visit once a week when we did milk drop-off. 

The whole situation is a succession of gift after gift. The pump I had was given to me by my a wonderful family I nannied for in Philadelphia  and whose daughter I started watching at 12 weeks old. She was my practice for Ariela and the reason I was so excited to find out I was having a girl of my own. 

Along the way people found out what I was doing and had questions or sent articles about women doing the same. The restaurant in NYC selling human milk cheese on a salad was at little strange. There are milk banks at hospitals and organizations where you can donate excess milk to help orphans in 3rd world countries. I think doctors should suggest finding a supply of human milk proir to suggesting formula. I found many friends and friends of friends that had so much they didn't know what to do with it. If there we some way to connect a friend with surplus to another in need. I don't know about hiring a random person to be a wet nurse but the way I did it was a total success and Jill knew I was free from disease and ate well and took care of my health. I was a good milk donor! There are screening processes and disease checks, and hippie ladies that do it w/o reservation. I never tired to let Joey latch on but it would have been funny to say the least. 

read these articles I would love to hear what you have to say. the-return-of-wet-nursing and Liquid Gold

On my birthday this year we went as a family down to the Long Beach Aquarium and on the wall I read this Blue whales: new borns can weigh up to 5,962 lbs and drink up to 100 gallons of their mother's milk each day, and they nurse for 7-8 months. The milk fat content is 50% and they can gain up to 200 lbs  per day while nursing.  So interesting since I could now identify closely with this. I am definitely glad I don't have to feed a whale or carry one around. 

Alright to finally today I took the time to sit and total what I had logged as milk I gave to Baby Joe. I pumped and froze some for Ariela before I stopped pumping altogether in November. There was a few weeks I must have been busy because I didn't write it down but I figured out the number based on the average I was pumping. As a routine I had it worked out I would pump both sides in the morning after Ariela went down for nap and then both sides again after she went to bed. This way I knew she would not need to eat again for a while. They it would go in to storage bags in the freezer in 8oz portions. Breastmilk storage bags come in 50 packs. Drum roll please:

milk shared: 6,309 ounces = 49.2 gallons = 186.5 liters

milk bags used: 788

I decided I would get Joey to a year since that was a healthy long time. Jill never put any pressure on me, she always said I can stop when ever I am done. I pumped from February 1st to October 1st and was getting mostly 32oz from Mid march on. 

While I was lucky to get paid, it definitely helped the grocery bill, and the babies sucked all the fat off my body so I got my body back fast, the benefit for Joe and Jill and the heart warming goodness far out weighs it all!

I am so very blessed to have this gift, and to have had the experience to share the gift of life with others!