WMW- Tuesday's Milksharing stories!

Today I read 4 wonderful stories about milk sharing from two different blogs- "Gilligan's All Natural Island" & "The Crunchy Side of Me".


Carlie, author of "Gilligan's All natural Island" writes about her journey to inducing lactation for her new born adoptive daughter in her article "Adoptive Breastfeeding".

"At first, I didnt get anything out. Not even a drop. I was a little stressed, but all along I told myself not to have any expectations. After a few days of pumping, I started getting drops..then we got the call that the baby was going to be born!..We jumped on a plane to NYC, ready to meet our baby. Since I didnt have much time to pump (protocol calls for 1 month to build up milk supply), we took a cooler full of donated breast milk with us. Trying to educate ourselves on how to pack it, and finding a place to stay with a full size freezer is a whole other story in itself. Somehow, someway, everything totally fell into place.
I continued pumping every 3 hours, taking my domperidone, and herbs. We were unsure of how the hospital was going to go, we assumed the baby would get formula for a few days, and then hopefully be able to switch over to breastmilk. Well, Hallie's birthmom graciously decided to breastfeed her for the first 3 days of life, so it made the transition very smooth. She knew exactly what to do when I nursed her for the first time. (in the bathroom of the hospital lobby, while waiting on our car to arrive:)
I quickly realized once we got her back to our rented NYC apt and settled, that she was not satisfied with what she was getting. So, we pulled out the good ol' SNS. Supplemental Nursing System. Its a device where you put the breast milk in a container, then you attach these 2 small tubes to the breast with a piece of soft tape, and the baby sucks. That way they are still nursing at the breast, but getting more than what the breast can provide.
It worked great! Joe was such a good helper. He would get it set up every single time, warm the milk, and just do whatever he could...I would nurse Hallie Rose (we joked it was her appetizer), while he got the SNS all set up. We worked as a team. Hallie was doing great and so was I. Jalen was definitely exposed to alot of things(boobs) he had never seen or known about. He did great and has learned alot though."

HERE to read the entire article.


And Carlie continues her story about feeding her daughter donated breastmilk in her article "MilkSharing":

"I pump twice a day, and usually get about 6-8 oz each time (see my entry on adoptive breast feeding). All of her other feedings are that of donated breast milk from generous women in our area.
We have a deep freezer FULL of it!!
I know, some of you are thinking, "thats gross", or "what about the risks involved"?
To those people, I would ask, "do you think it's gross to drink milk that was expressed out of a cow"?..An animal of which is not even close to the size of a human, and who's milk is made for baby cow's.
And "do you not think there is a risk in feeding your baby formula, of which was made in a factory, and has been recalled numerous times because of infant DEATHS,  bug particles found in the formula, and tons of other negative aspects to it"?
To be honest, in our opinion (and the opinion of LOTS of other women and men out there), the benefits of feeding our baby donated breast milk,  far out weigh the risk.
These women who donate, **do not ask for a dime**. They do it solely out of the kindness of their hearts.
They are feeding the same milk to their own baby, and most of them are VERY health conscience.
A Dr's screening is provided, if requested by the recipient, showing that the donor mother does not have any illnesses, and is healthy.
I feel very confident we are doing the right thing by giving our daughter donated milk. She is very healthy and happy."

HERE to read the entire article


The Second blog I read today is from "The Crunchy Side of Me" .  The first article is Amber' story of how she struggled with fertility issues due to PCOS, and then began the rocky road to nursing her twin daughters , over coming all obstacles and not only succeeding in breastfeeding them both, but became a Breast Milk Donor for two other babies!!!! 

"My girls turned one year and I still had this crazy stash of milk. I was so afraid it would go unused. I just wanted all my hard work to be for good. My girls were still being breastfed and I knew they would never use what was left. I was producing exactly what they needed and we didn't ever need all the pumped milk. I posted on Human milk for Human babies and found a 4.5mo old in need. I donated the remaining 110 bags. Her mom breastfeeds her but needs to supplement as well. She didn't want to use formula and was desperate to find her baby breastmilk. Another bonus was that the remaining bags were all dairy free because my girls had a dairy sensitivity early on. Her daughter did as well. We were a perfect match! Her mom is so sweet and lets me know that her daughter is thriving on my milk. She says its such a relief to open her freezer and see that her daughter will be fed.
I am so proud of what I have accomplished when the odds were so against me. My twins are 17 months and breastfeeding is still going strong. I get many comments from people wondering when we will wean and to be honest we have no end date! My girls are so healthy and I'm just so thankful of what my body has been able to do. I always felt like my body let me down with all my infertility issues but now I feel like some how I beat it all. I have nourished not only my twins but two other babies. I am so happy that I have been able to do this and only wish I could do more! I always share my story with others because I would love to break the taboo of milksharing. To be honest I would have never thought of donated breastmilk for my girls in the beginning...I probably would have gone to formula. Ick.  I love how women can unite and help one another. It's time to break the silence and bring back what was done since the start of time."

HERE to read the entire article "Nourishing Her Twins and Two Other Babies!"


Having enjoyed reading the first article on The Crunchy Side of Me so much I decided to peruse their page and read this next story.....and I strongly suggest a tissue or two!  Erin's story is one that resonated with me so strongly, because her experience mirrored what I went through with my youngest son: Tongue Tie and the massive drop in milk production that follows when the babies latch just isn't right.  Erin's story of her fight to help her baby boy Gryphon gain weight and get a REAL diagnosis for his latch issue is inspiring!!!

"The next week he had a 2 mos check up and I brought up the tongue tie again, I said "Look, I know you said that he doesn't have it, but I think he does. Our symptoms match up, I mean EVERYTHING matches up, and from what I've been reading you can't base your complete diagnosis on JUST the appearance of the tongue, but you have to look at the mother baby pair, the mother's nipples (mine are flat) and their experiences." She said, "No, he doesn't have one, I think there might be something wrong in his esophagus because he's not really sucking well from the bottle either. I will give him a barium swallow test with speech so they can look at his mouth just to tell you that it's fine."  I was okay with this, because surely they would see that his mouth was NOT fine, and then I got the referral... barium w/out speech. I had had it with her. I was done, unfortunately at this point so was my milk, so I reached out to other Mamas on facebook, and immediately that night I had 40 oz of donated frozen breast milk and the link to HM4HB. I wasted no time in posting, and was instantly rewarded with another 150 oz of donated breast milk. Through the networks I was able to find a short term "Milk Mama" for my little boy.
On human milk by son thrived, and grew and became happy and healthy and gained weight, LOTS of it very fast. In three weeks he'd gone from 8 lbs 6 oz, to 11 lbs!! He has since continued to receive donor milk from Mamas all along the east coast, we've driven to get milk, we've had milk shipped to us and we've even tried wet nursing. Through HM4HB I gained a whole lot more than just breast milk, I got my son back, I gained a whole network of friends; supportive, loving and wonderful amazing women who are selfless in donating to make sure that MY son is healthy and that he is getting what I cannot provide for him. As of today, my son is 4 mos old and weighs about 14 lbs. During all this time I never stopped fighting to get him the help that he needed for his tongue and when he was 14 weeks old we were finally able to find a doctor who would clip it (after two peds, three states, four lactation consultants and a conversation with Dr. Kotlow in Albany NY)." 

 

Gryphon starting to thrive on breastmilk - Left 7 weeks & Right 10 weeks

 Please click HERE to read all of Erin's wonderful story in "Thriving due to donor milk" on "The Crunchy Side of Me"


I hope you enjoyed these stories!  If you have your own story about a personal adventure into the land of milksharing, feel free to tell me about it! Leave a comment here and I'll get in touch with you asap!! I'd love to post it here as we continue to celebrate World MilkSharing Week!!!!


For more information about World Milksharing Week please go to 
http://www.worldmilksharingweek.org/


And for more information about donor breastmilk- either as a donor or a recipient- please go to:
http://hm4hb.net/

Milk Treats: A tasty way to boost your supply!

As many of you know, I've struggled with my milk supply since our youngest son was born just over 9 months ago.  The short story:  Kael was born with a tongue tie- I realized early on that his latch wasn't "perfect" but because I didn't have any pain I figured that it was fine..... then when he was 3 months old my milk supply almost completely tanked out and I was suddenly faced with a serious problem.  Kaels absolutely refused to nurse on my right breast, which had slower flow than the left, and the left breast wasn't not able to keep up to his voracious appetite.  Luckily I had an excellent support system and had lots of previous breastfeeding experience to fall back on to help me out.  My partner at Natural Mothering, Helen, is currently studying for her IBCLC at the Newman Breastfeeding Clinic & Institute with the world famous Dr. Jack Newman.  As soon as I realized how serious the problem was Helen immediate drove almost 2 hours to come see Kael and I and she discovered his tongue tie issues.  I am also lucky because I know Jack  and Edith Kernerman quite well and I was able to get into the clinic to see them right away.  At the NBCI Clinic Jack released Kael's tongue tie- which is a 10 second minor surgery called a Frenotomy- you can see a video clip of a TT release at the Newman clinic HERE.  Immediately Kael's latch improved significantly, but now the really hard work began:  to rebuild my milk supply.  I started taking Domperidone  and the recommended herbal supplements of Fenugreek and Blessed Thistle, and we worked on improving Kael's latch which would stimulate my breasts to produce more milk.  It was a long long journey that continues right to this day.

I learned some facts during all of this that have greatly changed my outlook and directed my steps to where I am today:
1- that it is a lot of work to change a baby's latch once they get to be older than a month or two- retraining the baby to latch is hard work!  This makes GOOD breastfeeding support immediately after birth so vital: we need babies to learn to latch the RIGHT way right from birth.
2- That if milk supply issues are not dealt with right away, it becomes far more difficult to rebuild a full supply.

I have had to finally admit that I will probably have to take Domperidone for the rest of my nursing relationship with my youngest son to support my milk production, But.... I have a few tricks up my sleeves that I'd like to share!!!

First of all, one of the most important things I have had to watch to keep up my milk supply is my water intake.  W.a.t.e.r.... not juice, not tea, not milk.... WATER. Every person is different and has different needs so what works for me might not work for everyone, BUT...... It's worth it to try my tricks!!  I drink about 3-4 litres of water every day, and if I don't - for whatever reason- I immediately notice a sudden drop in milk supply within12-18 hours. Another miracle milk maker is oatmeal!!  In previous times while breastfeeding my other children, if I ate a couple of bowls of oatmeal I would wake up the next day with melons on my chest!

A few months ago Peaceful Parenting posted a recipe for "Lactation Cookies" and I thought "Hmmmmmmm... I have a wicked granola bar recipe and I bet I could tweak it to make the perfect "Milk bar"!!!"  And so, that is what I'm going to post for you now: my tried and true "Milk Bars"!!!!  I have a hungry household that loves these granola bars so I always double this recipe.  You can also store the uncooked dough for a couple of days in the fridge, and a friend of mine has also stored uncooked dough in the freezer with excellent success.

Dani's Milk Bars

Cream together:

3/4 cup of butter or coconut oil and butter mix- half and half, or butter and peanut butter half and half
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar (or whatever sweetener you prefer- honey etc,)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp molassas
1 egg
3-4 tbs milk (if the mixture is too "dry" add a bit more milk one tablespoon at a time)

Mix in:

3/4 cup of flour
3 cups of oats- large flake- NOT quick oats!  or 2 cups of oats and 1 cup of steel cut oats
1 cup of ground flax seed
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup of sesame seeds
1/4 cup of dried coconut
1/4 cup sunflower seeds (or pumpkin seeds)
1/8 cup dried brewers yeast
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
Add:

1 cup of chocolate chips
1/2 cup of nuts- optional
1/2 cup of dried cranberries/raisins/dried chopped fruit

This is a heavy dough to mix!  (hence the fact that my hubby gets to do this part of the job!)

Press dough into a parchment covered cookie sheet- about 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick and try to keep the thickness even, lol,  and bake at 325 for 15- 20 minutes- depending on the size of your cookie sheet, the thickness of your bars  and whether you like them chewie or crisp.  Not only are these granola bars full of milk making goodness, they are delicious and full of protein and energy- a great snack for a busy nursing mother .... because we all know that we moms have a tendency to miss the odd breakkie and the occasional lunch!!  Having these handy has kept me from blood sugar crashes many many times!  (and my hubby loves them as a mid- afternoon snack for work!)



Another great way to add oatmeal into your daily meal plans is making your own granola cereal- it's very easy and is delicious by itself with milk, or on top of yogurt or fruit salad.  I even put some on my hot oatmeal to add a bit of crunch!


Dani's Coconut Granola Cereal


7 cups of large flake oats
1 cup ground flax seed
1 cup wheat germ
4 tbs brewers yeast
1 cup dried unsweetened coconut
1 cup of chopped nuts
1/2 cup of coconut milk (I use canned milk- taking the thickest coconut "cream" from the top to use)
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup butter
1 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup dried cranberries, or rasins, or chopped dried fruit
1 cup of sunflower seeds
1/4 cup of sesame seeds

 - heat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)

- In a large bowl, stir together the oats,and dry ingredients (exclusing dried fruit/rasins/cranberries). Divide between two large baking sheets, and spread into an even layer.
   
-Bake for 7 or 8 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly toasted- half way through shake the pan to stir up the mix.. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then return to the large bowl.

- While the oats are toasting, combine the coconut milk, coconut oil, butter and honey in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring until it comes to a boil. Low boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in the vanilla. Pour the syrup over the granola in the bowl, and stir until the dry ingredients are fully coated.

-Divide between the two baking sheets, and spread evenly. Bake for 8 minutes in the heated oven, or until fragrant and toasted. Cool in the pans, then mix in the dried cranberries. Store in an airtight container at room temperature....guaranteed to be yummy!!!



These are tasty ways to help boost your breastmilk supply!!  Combining with making sure that your baby has a good latch and following Dr. Jack Newman's instructions for herbal and natural supplements   should ensure that you have an excellent milk supply!!  For more information about achieving a good latch and how to initiate good breastfeeding positions, please visit  www.nbci.ca where you can read Dr Jack Newmans excellent hand outs and watch video clips of babies latching and nursing!!