Frozen in 11/09, still good in 7/10? (long, w/more ?'s)

[Headmeister]

I have a chest freezer that I bought exclusively for storing breast milk in when I had my DD who is now 21mo. I stopped pumping/freezing btwn Nov-Dec of last year, which is also when I got pg with the baby I'm carrying now. Btwn then and now, we slowly started using the freezer for overflow of what won't fit in our fridge-freezer, only opening it once or twice a week at most - and sometimes not even that much.

Once we ditched traditional bottles (which we used for daycare) when my my DD went to the toddler room at 15mo, she wouldn't drink BM unless it was straight from the tap... so I stopped pumping (and boy was I THRILLED to do so! LOL!) and donated what I *thought* was my entire stash to a friend. Well, I just checked the bottom of that freezer, looking for items that might be on their way to being past a decent time to thaw and use, and lo and behold, I just found 4 bags of BM from 11/9/09 and 11/11/09 that were lying flat on the bottom of the freezer, under something I took out.

I know that since I have GD and my DD#2 will be born on 7/27 and they will immediately give her formula to raise her blood sugar, as they did for DD1, my questions are:

1. Will this milk still be ok to give to my newborn on that day instead of the formula? Not only can I not recall how long that milk would be good for in a chest freezer but I don't know if I can give newly thawed BM to a newborn (not sure why I wouldn't be able to, but still not sure, period... lol)

2. Will they even allow me to bring in frozen BM for them to use? (it's a very conservative hospital and while they're BF'ing friendly, they're not at all what I would consider "pro" BF'ing at all based on my experience with DD1

I haven't yet found out whether or not I can BF in recovery (can't remember what they told me the first time but I didn't attempt it and wasn't encouraged to, either), but I also didn't see DD1 in recovery until after they'd already cleaned her up, tested her sugar, and fed her the formula - and I didn't even know they'd do that until after they did it. At the time it didn't even matter to me but now, it does. I'm not 100% against formula at all costs - I just believe and know that breast is best, and if they're going to give her something to boost her blood sugar levels, if they CAN give her my milk, then shouldn't it be my milk??? If I have no other choice than for her to get the formula then so be it, I won't throw a fit over it... but I'd like to exhaust all of my BF'ing & BM options first.

Sorry for the novel-length post.. if you're still reading, THANK YOU!

[amydiane]

Milk kept in a deep freezer is good for 6-12 months. I used some for my DS that was around 12 months (I think it might have been a little over) and it was fine. I had GD with DD and had some leftover milk from DS and the same plan as you, but when they tested her blood sugar, it was fine, so I was able to just nurse her without any arguments. FYI, I have read that the handheld glucometers (like what you're probably using at home) tend to read low in infants (inaccurately), so you may want to have them do the actual lab test before supplementing.

[greenbeanmama]

If the hospital won't let you use your leftover milk, could you find a donor who would be willing to spare a few fresh ounces if need be? Or even purchase some through the Human Milk Banking Association of North America. I know it's expensive, like $3 an ounce or something, but they really shouldn't have a problem with milk from them - they screen donors carefully (lifestyle and bloodwork), and the milk is pasteurized. It's prescribed for preemies in some situations, so it should be just fine for your baby.

Good for you for being proactive in this! I hope things work out where you won't need to worry about it at all, but at least you'll be ready if you need to be!

[ein328]

As long as you're fine with it, would the hospital even have to know it was frozen?

B/c bm is good for 24 hours once it's thawed. You could totally thaw it, put it in a new container, and likely no one would know the difference.

Just my 2cents!