[stretchmark]

Hi all, I felt sad today as I had to throw away all the rotten milk in my freezer. For some reason it didn't last as long as most things say it should have, even on the clodest setting in the back of the freezer.
My daughter was born 14 weeks early at 1 1/2 pounds. I pumped like mad and ended up getting kicked out of the NICU freezer because I was taking over. I wasn't really kicked out but had to take some home which was three hours away. I did that once on a trip home and it went bad really quick because I didn't know that I needed to have it coldcoldcold. The rest I had to throw away because it wouldn't fit. That was over 300 bottles filled with three ounces each.
Next my son was born one month early and had difficulty latching on. I pumped for him too and ended up with about 150 bags in my freezer by the time he got it at two months. I often thought about giving up and so intended to keep all my frozen milk. I never labelled it but kept it in bags labeled 1-10 so I could know where to start.
I offerred it for free locally but no one wanted it. It went bad pretty quickly. I finally tossed it today, it weighed about 30+ pounds.
The stuff I pumped for my daughter couldn't be donated because i had taken herbal tea to ensure that I had milk. I was already to send it to Denver when at the end of my 20 minute phone consultation with them they said the herb thing.
It is really heartbreaking to be throwing it away like that. There are so many women in this country that would have greatly used it and in the trash it went. I am happy to report, however, that DS did learn to latch on, after using a bottle for two months, and we are feeding with ease now.

 

[Victorian]

that is so terrible. I had donated milk with my ds and it was such a blessing. I am sorry that you couldn't find anyone to donate it to. If you are still pumping and need someone to donate to, let me know and we can brainstorm some ideas. that herb thing is so stupid. I would have taken it in a heart beat! You can't give a baby human milk from someone that has taken funugreek, but you can give them formula made from cows that have hormones and antibiotics. I bet that a high % of women that would be getting milk while increasing there supply would be taking it anyway. And don't get me started on the no-vegan rule.

That is so wonderful about your baby nursing well. WTG Mama, you should be so proud!

Victoria

 

[Slackermom]

Such a lot of milk! So sorry to hear that.

 

[mum2 4]

Nona Davis runs a Mom to Mom Milk Exchange and always has Moms looking for milk. User pays for shipping and Moms can decide if they can use milk with herbs and such. They deal with each other directly. Her e-mail is [email protected]. There is also a Mom who had a double mastectomy who provides her son with donor milk and is having another baby who will need it as well. She will cover you expenses. Human milk is a great natural resource and there is always an adopted baby who's Mom is in need of some to bridge the gap between her supply and her baby's ever growing need. You can find them at fourfriends.com/abrw...

 

[Quirky]

That is so sad! I know how heartbroken I was when I had to pitch my freezer stash after a power outage.

One thing....the reason your milk may go "bad" so quickly is that you may secrete excess lipase, which is the enzyme that helps baby break the fats down. No problem when baby nurses directly, but when you pump and then refrigerate or freeze, the enzyme, which is cold-activated, makes the milk break down and smell bad quickly. The smell is soapy/metallic. It won't hurt baby if s/he drinks it, and some will and some won't.

One way to test this is to pump, divide the milk into two samples, refrigerate one, and scald the other (i.e. heat it on the stove in a little pan just barely to the boiling point then turn the heat off) and then refrigerate. Label them so you know which one is which. Heat deactivates the enzyme. If the cold one is funky and the heated one is fine, you have your answer.

If it is an excess lipase issue, then you'd need to scald your milk after you pump it in future. Which is a huge PITA, but better than pumping all that milk that goes bad quickly. Yes, it will kill off some antibodies and so forth but it's far, far better than formula. (Milk banks pasteurize donated milk - same thing, it kills the antibodies but is still far better than formula).

 

[bethwl]

My supply has always been overabundant and I have thought that I would be interested in donating to a milk bank if it were not for the fact that I am taking Zoloft (even though studies have shown that the drug is very nearly undetectable in a baby's bloodstream, but that's another issue, I guess).

BTW, how do you know when milk has gone "bad"? My bags are taking over the freezer and I'm afraid that I'm going to have a lot that lasts past the general three-month rule.

-Beth
dd Annika 8.9.03

 

[CryPixie83]

I'm so sorry! All that precious milk!!! That must be truly heartbreaking

If in the future you are looking for someone to donate to check out www.feedmybaby.com

Jenn's a great mama and her freezer stash is extrememly low right now (she has to make his bottles with half formula, half bm). I'm working on expressing colostrum for her new baby (due in december) and hope to be donating milk once my baby is born (and our nursing relationship is established of course).

 

[loving-my-babies]

oh!!! I hate that feeling! I'm sorry you had to go through that!

 

[TadpolesMom]

bethwl,

This is Jenn, the Mom looking for bm for her son through private donations. I put up the www.feedmybaby.com site and I've gotten great responses so far! I am having to mix Grayson's milk 50/50 with formula, but I'm hoping that a lot of the women that have contacted me about donating milk will follow through and I'll be able to switch him back to 100% bm. If you are looking for someone to donate your milk to I will take it even if you have been on Zoloft. I believe the milk banks don't take it because some of their recepients are really sick or premature. Since Grayson is neither I spoke with my Dr. and she thinks it's fine that a donor Mom is on Zoloft.

SO - just thought I'd throw that out.

morebabies,

I'm so sorry that you had to throw out all of that milk. I know what pain it is to pump and that's why I'm so grateful to all of Grayson's donor mammas! It's such a proof of your love that you'd go through all of that to ensure that your son gets bm! You are a great Mamma!

Jenn

 

[spero]

I feel your pain. I had to dump my NICU freezer stash after six months (in deep freeze) b/c my DD absolutely refused to take a bottle.

I didn't know about donation then.

 

[stretchmark]

I guess there is a good chance that my milk wasn't bad, just secreting that above mentioned stuff and smelling bad. I was totally checking it out just a few days ago to send it to feedmybaby.com jenn but smelled it and tossed it.
I'd so love to help out and I am so thrilled to be off the pump. I had such a hard time regulating once ds started bfing exclusively that I can hardly fathom messing with my supply. But my generosity may overcome my difficulties and I may do it once a day. I guess I should get all my paperwork together in case I do decide to do it.
One way I deal with the sadness of throwing all that milk away is reminding myself that there are a lot of calories in the trash that could have stayed on my bum. Shallow perhaps but it helps.
Jenn, you're an amazing mom too!