My name is Julie and I am a milk momma to baby E. Becky asked me to write a guest post for her blog about milksharing from the donor’s perspective for World Milksharing WeekJ I’ll start with how I came to have an excess amount of milk to be able to donate: I thought (as I’m sure many mommas do) that I might not be producing enough milk for my baby (L) so at about 2 weeks I started pumping to increase my supply and increase it did! Then, when my deep freeze started filling up with breastmilk I wasn’t sure what to do with it.
One night while on The Bump I read about Eats on Feets [now known as Human Milk for Human Babies/HM4HB] and decided to do some research. I was thrilled to learn that I could possibly find a local momma that wanted my extra milk for her baby! I posted on our state's page that I had extra milk and right away Becky responded that she wanted it.
At that point I was nervous and excited…I worked hard for that milk and I wanted to make sure it went to a good family. I remember reading her blog about her family and donor milk and crying because I was so happy to be able to be a part of it. The first transfer was like a mini first date with some questions and answers on both parts. Transfers since then have been very quick and sometimes done by my brother (except for one time when we nursed our baby boys at the same time which I thought was beautiful)J
Milksharing makes me feel very warm inside, like I’m making someone’s life better. I feel so lucky to be able to help a fellow momma give her baby the best because I too believe that breast is best. I feel a special connection to Becky and baby E and find myself very protective of my extra milk (meaning I never have more than a few sips of beer because I do not want to pump and dump). I hope that milksharing becomes more popular so that more babies get the chance to have the best because sometimes… it takes a village!
Today's lesson - There are so many wonderful people in the world. We never know when we may meet them, or under what circumstances. Thank you, Julie, for being one of those people in our lives. It does indeed take a village, and you are one of the awesome villagers in ours.
P.S. Julie - I, too, loved when we nursed our boys at the same time. It is one of the few times I've nursed together with another momma. And to do so with you, whose milk was feeding baby E - it was feeding both of our boys at the same time - was amazing! Also, hubby says to feel free to take a few extra swings of beer (or an Ambien) if it'll help baby E sleep through the night ;)
P.S. Julie - I, too, loved when we nursed our boys at the same time. It is one of the few times I've nursed together with another momma. And to do so with you, whose milk was feeding baby E - it was feeding both of our boys at the same time - was amazing! Also, hubby says to feel free to take a few extra swings of beer (or an Ambien) if it'll help baby E sleep through the night ;)
3 comments:
Thank you for sharing your story, my daughter has been a donor baby for a year next month ab's I have treasured every precious ounce
This year has been one of the best years for me. As admin for HM4HB~Kentucky I have been blessed on meeting the most unselfish, loving and giving womyn
Beautiful. I love reading stories about milk sharing! It does help that I was a donor, and feel lucky enough to have become friends with one of the mama's I donated to.
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