Human Milk: What to do When You Have Extra

Dash is the 3rd baby I have been lucky enough to nurse.
4th, if you count the two times I nursed my nephew.
With my older daughters, my milk supply always seemed to be barely enough. While working, I had to get up in the middle of the night to pump, even though she was sleeping through the night by 8 weeks. If I didn't, she would not have had enough milk for daycare the next day.
I was always stressed about it and I know that didn't help.
With Dash, my milk supply is so much better! I believe some of that is due to having her ties fixed early on but the rest is that I've been more proactive about drinking teas that claim to increase milk production.
Something is working and I am grateful for that!
So what does a woman with extra milk do?
It depends on the woman. Some stock pile it in the freezer for use after returning to work while other want it "just in case".
A few go to human milk banks and complete all their required bloodwork to donate their milk. Many diseases (including hepatits B & C) can pass though breastmilk so the milk banks screen carefully the mothers then pasteurize the milk they receive.
Others seeking to share their milk have created networks on social media to offer or request human milk.
It is well known that breastmilk is best for babies. I could include an almost limitless number of studies that prove this but will simply state my three favorite reasons: gut microbiome,  immune system, and cost.
Human milk is free.
The World Health Organization also lists baby feeding preferences as mother's milk first, then donor milk, and formula as the last option.
It should not be the first thing when breastfeeding fails, but it is what doctors in the US push if there is the slightest problem.
I know this first hand because each of my girls' pediatricians has told us the supplement with formula when they started developing jaundice.
Because milk banks only offer milk to very sick babies and NICU babies, I chose to join a social media group and watch for someone local who could use my milk.
Within a couple days, a mother in my town requested milk for her baby. I responded with my general location, a list of the supplements I take, and my personal dietary guidelines. Two days later her husband came and picked up 33 ounces of my frozen milk.
Wednesday the mother again contacted me, telling me her baby had tolerated the milk well and that they'd love more if I had some.
So last night, for the second Friday in a row, I watched as 30 ounces of my miracle liquid was given to a baby, allowing him to avoid (or at least minimize) the use of formula.
I am grateful that I have the ability to help this mother and baby. If I had supply issues, I would hope that another mother would help me out, too.
If you are ever in a breastmilk conundrum, research Human Milk for Human Babies on Facebook and find a group near you.

First Binky

6 weeks and 2 days old and she finally has a binky.

I've never waited until 6 weeks to introduce a pacifier before. My first daughter didn't really take one until she was in daycare and my second never liked them at all; she'd scream every time we put on in her mouth.

It became fairly apparent early on that Dash loves to suck but because of her lip and tongue ties, I wanted to make sure she knew how to suck properly for nursing before introducing a pacifier and I'm so glad I waited! I can now tell simply by her sucking pattern whether she is tired or hungry, something I may not have been able to tell had I given her a binky early on.

She loves her new toy and sucks on it hard when we give it to her. When she needs to burp, her suck pattern reverts to the "pre-lazor" pattern that bloodied me so badly. This is easy to identify now!

I read a book about newborns back when DD2 was a newborn. Although I can't remember the title or author, the book mentioned that in parts of Europe, a pacifier is known as a "dummy" and the name is fitting because it is a device parents use to hush their child without any efforts at figuring out why their child is crying in the first place. It turns the parents into dummies, but also limits the baby's ability to communicate as well.

Dash won't use a binky for long, a few months at most, because I don't want it to become a tool that desensitizes me to the specific needs of my little girl. In the meantime, it may allow me a little more time in the evenings to get my older children to bed and for my husband to have a little time when I'm tutoring, rather than constantly soothing her with a bottle.

5 Weeks Postpartum and Counting

My baby is now almost 6 weeks old and I wish time would slow down a little!  My Dash is no longer a newborn, but an infant.  Not only is she past the 4 week mark, but she's growing leaps and bounds and getting stronger.
If you're familiar with safe practices for infants, you know that one of the biggest rules is to keep the crib free from stuffed animals, blankets, etc. The reason for this is that babies can suffocate if their faces get smushed up against items in the crib. It is the same reason why quilted/padded crib bumpers like this aren't recommended.

I don't remember my other daughters wiggling in their sleep as much as Dash does. However, they were also in a much smaller bassinet until they were 3-4 months old. Dash is in her crib, where there is plenty space to wiggle around.
And wiggle around she does!  Even fully swaddled I can put her in one place in her crib and when I go get her a few hours later, she's moved over a foot.
Swaddling is necessary to get her to stay asleep, but she's a Little Houdini and manages to get both of her hands out at least a little bit. On a few occasions she has succeeded in getting an entire arm out of the swaddle. I'd love to see just how long it takes for her to wiggle out, but I never catch it.
Last Monday she had her one month well-baby visit at the pediatricians' office. She weighed in at 8lbs 5oz, which puts her average weight gain over her 2 week check-up at about an ounce a day.
An ounce that comes straight from me. I love that!
Sunday, March 1st, we blessed our baby. As I had mentioned in this post, I really wanted to do the baby blessing outside of Sacrament meeting. We were given permission a couple of weeks ago to do so, which also would allow several out-of-town family members to participate via video conference.
I am so very glad we decided to do it at home! Had we not, there would have been a mad scramble to do it that way anyway! We had an ice storm blow through that left traveling to church precarious, so the bishop cancelled church for the day.
In addition to the two families we had planned to include using various video technologies, we had 3 others join in when they couldn't make it to our home. One family was home with a stomach bug and since they'd accidentally shared it with another, she was "home," too. This third member had travelled all the way from California to be a part of the baby blessing and I felt absolutely awful that she couldn't be here to enjoy it, but I also couldn't risk the baby and I catching the virus. When an infant gets a pukey bug, IV fluids are almost inevitable. I went through that with my first daughter when she was 5 months old and my milk production never fully recovered. This early on, and with mastitis to boot (keep reading because I'll talk about this), I couldn't risk it.
The last to join was an extended family member in California. Almost every person present had their phone connected with someone else to participate. It was quite a site and a photo of it would have been pretty amazing, but inappropriate to take given the sacredness of the event.
In my home was my husband and daughters, my father and his wife who were in from California, one of my husband's sisters and her husband and 3 children who travelled 5 hours to be here, my uncle and aunt who came up from 3 hours away, the bishop, my parents-in-law, and our "best man". My home is small, so we were packed in pretty tight!
In the wee hours of Sunday morning, I noticed I had a clogged milk duct. It was tender, but not too sore. Dash managed to nurse it down pretty well but by mid morning it had swollen again. I noticed around noon that the underside of my breast, where the clogged duct was, had turned pink and was getting warm. Try as I might, I couldn't seem to get the clog to clear and by 6pm, I was in a significant amount of pain and my poor breast was bright red and hot to the touch. It looked something like this but much darker:

Not Mine, but a random internet photo to give you a sample

I knew I needed medical intervention when the headache and body aches set in and I could no longer converse with all of my house guests so I asked my step-mom if she would come with me to Patient First. She agreed and we eventually made it out the door with Dash and drove carefully on the ice to Leesburg. I saw a physician's assistant, and the look that flashed across her face confirmed what I could feel: mastitis!
Unfortunately, the only pharmacy open later on a Sunday night was 10 miles up the road, so we slowly made our way there to pick up my antibiotic.
It was quite a trip but very nice to have some "alone" time with my step mom. She'd been visiting for just over a week but we hadn't had much time together to just talk. It was comfortable, in spite of my hyper-focusing on road conditions!
I am thankful that modern technology allowed so many of our wonderful families, family that prayed for us each day over the last year and a half, to be apart of such a special event in our lives. And to each of them (and others who didn't participate yesterday) I say a heartfelt

Thank You!