When Pepa arrived I was able to nurse her immediately. Like I was on the operating room table being sown up, immediately. Despite a proper latching struggle, that I quickly rectified, my milk came in and she’s a great eater. I quickly developed a nice reserve of milk for her. In the first week I started giving her bottles so JR could feed her. He asked me, “Are you sure you want to be dipping into the reserve already?” To which I replied, “It’s not as if I can take it back to Riyadh with me.”
After JR came back to Saudi Arabia I nursed her for nearly every feeding. There was never a time we were separated. I began nursing her even when we went out. I didn’t have that luxury with The Gents when we had to take bottles everywhere. How could I possibly nurse two kids in public? (Yes, I’ve read that some women who have accomplished it.) As quickly as I built a reserve for Pepa, I quickly didn’t need it.
This now begged the question - what am I going to do with all of this liquid gold?! I worked hard to pump it and I did not want my efforts to be in vain. I was reading through a bunch of literature that I got while in hospital and came across some information on Bronson Mothers’ Milk Bank in Kalamazoo.
I then remembered, when The Gents were in the Georgetown University NICU the staff informing us of the option to use donor milk, in case my milk didn’t come in. We never had to use donor milk, but how great that it was available in case The Gents did need it. I didn’t give donor milk another thought, until I had more than Pepa needed.
Bronson Mothers’ Milk Bank is one of only 26 milk banks in the country and the only one in Michigan. It supplies milk to neonatal units throughout Michigan and the U.S. I was thinking this was done directly with hospitals, but I quickly learned that the hospitals don’t have the equipment to pasteurize the milk. Plus there is a massive screening process for each donor, which would be an undertaking for individual hospitals to oversee
Now after experiencing the NICU and having gone through almost a year of nursing C&R, this got me thinking about the struggles mothers and newborns face, like milk not coming in or problems latching or sick babies who need the benefits of breast milk. And with maternal mortality rates increasing in the U.S. there are children who won’t be able to have their mother’s milk. This was a no-brainer. I would gladly donate what I had - 270 ounces.
I had to undergo extensive health screening, fill out a bunch of paperwork and provide a blood sample to ensure I was fit to donate. The sacrifice pales in comparison to what it provides others. Bronson made the process for shipping the milk really easy. I was sent a Styrofoam container with a prepaid shipping label. I filled the container with the bagged frozen milk and off it went. I just feel bad that I could only donate once. Had we stayed in the U.S. I would gladly have continued. Hopefully other mothers learn of this service. It’s a wonderful way to give, if you have an abundance of milk of course. :)