As many of you know, I use donor milk with my 3.5 month old DD. I have suspected IGT (I believe I do have it but the LC I'm seeing disagrees) and in turn, have low supply.
I had posted on a different forum (donating breast milk) and received an email from a mom in VA. I had to share this mom's courageous and selfless act with others, partially in hopes to encourage mom's to donate their breast milk.
This mom had a baby on 1/20/09 (just a few days after my Bella was born). Her baby, Bethany, only lived for about 10 min after her birth. It was discovered that she had T-18, meaning she was missing an crucial chromosome in order to survive. She was born weighing just over 3lbs, despite being 37 weeks gestation.
What this mom did was incredibly selfless and completely heartfelt. When her milk came in, she pumped... She pumped from Jan to March and froze 500 oz. She did this to donate milk to another baby in need, hopefully another baby girl like her own. She blessed 2 families with her Bethany's milk.
She cried when she gave it to us. I have to say, this was by far the most emotional donation I have had and probably ever will have. I had to fight back tears. I cannot imagine... It was truly a bittersweet moment. It was all I could do not to break down myself.
We had an amazing connection with this family. I feel as though we were brought together by fate... Her son (technically her middle child) was born just weeks before my DS and his name is Caleb as well.
This is something that I will remember always... I hope to have a picture of Bethany to show Bella someday, when she's old enough to understand... In fact, it made me realize that I'd like pictures of all of our donors little ones to share with her.
Okay so now I'm bawling my eyes out... But I wanted to share this... Snuggle your babies a little closer tonight and thank God they are healthy. I cannot begin to imagine what this mom went through, from the moment of losing her daughter to sharing the only part of her she had left.
ADDED:
This is their video presentation of Bethany's 10 minutes after birth. It is beautiful thought incredibly heartbreaking...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k26q_GeT6Gw
I had posted on a different forum (donating breast milk) and received an email from a mom in VA. I had to share this mom's courageous and selfless act with others, partially in hopes to encourage mom's to donate their breast milk.
This mom had a baby on 1/20/09 (just a few days after my Bella was born). Her baby, Bethany, only lived for about 10 min after her birth. It was discovered that she had T-18, meaning she was missing an crucial chromosome in order to survive. She was born weighing just over 3lbs, despite being 37 weeks gestation.
What this mom did was incredibly selfless and completely heartfelt. When her milk came in, she pumped... She pumped from Jan to March and froze 500 oz. She did this to donate milk to another baby in need, hopefully another baby girl like her own. She blessed 2 families with her Bethany's milk.
She cried when she gave it to us. I have to say, this was by far the most emotional donation I have had and probably ever will have. I had to fight back tears. I cannot imagine... It was truly a bittersweet moment. It was all I could do not to break down myself.
We had an amazing connection with this family. I feel as though we were brought together by fate... Her son (technically her middle child) was born just weeks before my DS and his name is Caleb as well.
This is something that I will remember always... I hope to have a picture of Bethany to show Bella someday, when she's old enough to understand... In fact, it made me realize that I'd like pictures of all of our donors little ones to share with her.
Okay so now I'm bawling my eyes out... But I wanted to share this... Snuggle your babies a little closer tonight and thank God they are healthy. I cannot begin to imagine what this mom went through, from the moment of losing her daughter to sharing the only part of her she had left.
ADDED:
This is their video presentation of Bethany's 10 minutes after birth. It is beautiful thought incredibly heartbreaking...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k26q_GeT6Gw
:
I remember having a strange urge to put the bag of milk in her coffin with her when she was buried. It made me think of the Egyptian tombs filled with items for their afterlife. Strange I know. 
I don't like to think about those times..
:
Bethany
