Pumping with a Purpose

While Spain was in hospital, I once again had the opportunity to become rather intimate with a breast pump, which I jumped on.The sweet husband and I agree that supplying our children with human milk is absolutely a priority. I won't say that breastmilk is best, I think that misleading. I will say that breastmilk is the perfect nutritional substance for infants. It actually changes with your baby to give them exactly what they need.

As soon as I could, I started spending quality time with the hospital's pump. 30 hours after birth, Spain's doctors were concerned that I wouldn't be able to produce enough (He was 30 hours old, but on day 3 of life), so we began to discuss alternatives. We agreed to use donor if needed. After intense calculations regarding the rate of production and frequency of pumping our doctors agreed with us, that we would only need one bottle of donor milk (3 oz), but to be safe we would order two bottles. Thus began the ordeal with trying to get milk form the Mothers Milk Bank of Austin. We were the first family to request donor milk, and as a result no one in the hospital had any idea how to go about getting it. Sweet husband and I called the milk bank for clarification on ordering protocol, the lady handling our case was AMAZING. She was so sweet and sympathetic. I remember thanking God while I talked with her. She assured me that she would call the doctors and they would sort everything out, so I did not need to worry about it. She did exactly that!

A few hours after we had talked. I was sitting behind a curtain practicing kangaroo care with Spain and praying that everything would fall into place, when I got the news that the milk was coming! The sweet husband and I were overjoyed.

Sweet husband I went to forage for food shortly afterward, We were waylaid by the dietitian they had sent instead of the lactation consultant I requested. She told us that she had placed the order for the milk. I asked how many bottles she had ordered, and to my horror she told me fifteen bottles (45 oz), because she didn't count on me being able to produce any milk until day of life six. Never mind that my milk had started to come in.

In addition to being horrified, I felt awful. We had gotten the milk as a safety net, and were given priority because Spain was in the NICU. To top it all off there was a milk shortage!

Spain received less than 1 oz of donor milk. I had no trouble keeping up with the demand. In fact we went home with 30 oz of milk I pumped and 39 oz of frozen sealed donor milk.

Even though Spain is solely breastfeed, I pump every morning after I wake up. This isn't an emergency supply of milk. It's not so that I can sleep in, or go out. This milk is for a baby who desperately needs it. This is my way of giving back. This is my way of thanking the mother who donated to us.

Current pumped total- 74 ounces

26 ounces to initial donation.

ETA: Shortly after I wrote this entry, I heard about a mom who needed breastmilk for her preemie. We were able to give her the leftover 39 oz of frozen milk that we received from MMBA while Spain was in the hospital.