Mother's MIlk Bank

When Alex was born, we lived in a 1000 sq ft condo with one small fridge and very limited freezer space. As I was preparing to go back to work, it quickly filled up with expressed breast milk and I was trying to figure out what I could do with the excess. "Liquid gold", they called it at my Mommy group, as you would understand if you knew how hard it was sometimes just to come up with a quarter of an ounce! After all the pumping, discomfort, leaking, and time spent trying to build up a little milk store, every drop is precious! Luckily, we did have a local Mother's Milk Bank so I was able to donate the milk to be used for premature, sick and hospitalized babies that needed it.

This time around, I started expressing milk even earlier, and ended up working less. Even with a 2800 sq foot house and two freezers, I ended up with a lot of extra milk I didn't have space for. The other day I dropped off 161 ounces at the milk bank, and I've got another 40 ounces in the freezer ready to go to them. I feel blessed that I've been able to breastfeed both of my healthy baby boys. Alex nursed for 14 months, and hopefully Josh will as well. Although I hate pumping, it's worth it to have a ready supply of frozen milk for Josh when I need it and to know that the extra goes to a great cause!

And a fringe benefit to breastfeeding... it's helping me get back to my pre-pregnancy self. Six more pounds to go until I'm at my pre-pregnancy weight and eight would be even better.

"Donor Human Milk: a gift from mother to mother."