200

I suck at pumping, and not in a good way. Give me a baby, or two, or three. I can NURSE the friggin block. Pumping, not so much.

The thing is though, I believe in breast milk. Every baby, with rare medical exceptions, is made to be fed human milk. Sometimes, because of surgery or illness or really bad luck, Mom just cannot provide it. So I did something insane, something no reasonable woman with my relation to a pump would do. I decided to donate to a milk bank.

Now, I knew I could do it. I worked when my daughter was young, and she never had a drop of formula. I had to pump 3 and 4 times a day for 2 bottles. I went to nurse her at lunch so I had one less bottle to produce. I got up every day, EVERY day, at 5 in the morning to pump for months on end so I would have a bit of a fall back. I knew just a few ounces a week would add up, and I knew what they needed to add up to: 200.

Why 200? I never considered donating to any bank that was not a member of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America, or HMBANA for short. There are other "banks" out there. Many are associated with a company that sells human milk at a profit, and does research in an attempt to patent components and make large sums of money. HMBANA banks are different. While human milk is expensive even from a HMBANA bank, the expense does not even cover the cost of testing Moms and processing milk. And if your critically ill baby needs milk and they have it, the baby gets it, even if you can't pay for it. There was no way I was going to DONATE milk to a for profit company to make money off of, when I could donate to a non profit organization that would utilize my milk in the best way possible. But to do that, I needed to get at least 200 ounces together. Any less, and it is just too expensive for the bank to ship, and to do all the testing required on the Mom to make sure the milk is safe to use.

So I pumped, and pumped, and pumped some more. I pumped once every single day. Some days I got 4 ounces, there were not many of those. On days when the only time I could pump was at night after nursing E-1 to sleep, I got an ounce. Usually I got three ounces. I started a bit late, because of the allergy issues E-1 had, and the fact that the first bank I contacted closed unexpectedly and suddenly. I also did not realize many banks take milk pumped prior to contacting the bank. I did not save anything before getting in contact, since E-1 wanted nothing to do with milk unless it was straight from the source. Some days I wondered if I would make it.

And then, I did. About a month ago, I went over. I stopped counting ounces when I pumped, and I got my blood drawn and all the final paperwork approved. Two days after E-1's birthday, a big blue cooler landed on my doorstep.

Tonight, somewhere between here and North Carolina, that blue cooler is 2/3 full of my frozen milk and sitting on a FedEx plane. I hope one day my children will be proud that despite the difficulty in doing the right thing, Mama is someone who puts her money where her mouth is.

Or in this case, where their mouths were...

What a Bunch of Clowns

You know, I am trying HARD not to just let loose here. So I'm going to be brief. It seems that Ronald McDonald House in Houston, TX has asked a mom to nurse her baby in her room. Her sick baby. Her baby that is recovering from BRAIN SURGERY. Up three flights of stairs. Every. Time. He. Needs. To. Nurse. Or else she can find somewhere else to stay. Ever had a sick nursling? Do you have any idea how many times they need to nurse? Egads.

I am too saddened by all this to even be coherent on the subject. And plenty of folks have already said it better. So go check out The Lactivist for the skinny on the current situation, and The Reluctant Lactivist for some detailed info on what YOU can do about this, including a great sample letter in the comments section.

Then write a letter or three.

ICK, Breastmilk!

Okay, so does anyone have a shovel? Because, you see, I need something to scrape my jaw back off the floor. Seems that in Columbus, Ohio, the Buckeyes are not the only complete NUTS.

If you are a breastfeeding Mom looking for day care in Ohio, don't bother looking at City Kids. Your milk is not welcome. Biohazard, don't you know. I mean, they will take it, grudgingly, if you pay an extra 50 bucks a week. Unless they are not taking it at all. I guess it depends on the month.

Good heavens, I wonder what they would have thought of me. H-3 , with her many suspected food allergies, took my milk to day care with her until 16 months of age when we moved and I decided to stay home. I nursed her nearly every day at lunch too. I had asked if nursing or bringing breastmilk would be a problem after a year. They said no problem, several children had brought breastmilk with them past infancy. At least one had continued until he left the center to attend kindergarten.

Read the full story over on The Lactivist. I am going to go nurse a baby and put a band aid on my chin...

Does Nestle Own an Airline?

There has been some news lately about air travel and breastfeeding.

Most of you have probably heard about the woman kicked off an airplane for nursing her young toddler. Apparently we are in such a state these days that offending the oh-so-delicate sensibilities of some uptight stewardess is now considered a threat to national security. After a huge uproar, it was disclosed that the rest of the crew had tried to talk some sense into said stewardess, and that she had been 'reprimanded', whatever that means.

And of course there is the dilemma of pumping Moms. For a variety of reasons, many Moms pump milk. Well, now that some nutcases hatched an ill-conceived and nearly impossible plan to use liquids to blow up a plane, you can kiss your breastmilk goodbye. Literally. Unless you have a baby with you, which in most cases would mean you did not need to pump, you will be asked to toss your liquid gold into the trash before boarding the plane. Yes, you can check it. But if you have been away from baby for a day or two, that is a whole lot of milk for the airline to misplace with the other baggage.

And checking the milk bags may not be an option in airports that require a trip through security when changing planes under certain circumstances. So all that milk you pumped on your 18 hour flight before changing planes? Trash it dear, would not want to risk national security. Quite a few chemists, you know, the people who actually know this stuff, have come out to say it would be virtually impossible to damage a plane using liquids. But since when has reality dictated airport security procedures.

And don't get me started on trying to get a flight attendant to provide enough water to keep a nursing mom hydrated on a long flight. I am surprised the airlines have not started charging for beverages. A recent change now allows you to bring a water bottle purchased at an overpriced concourse shop onto the plane. Oh yeehaw.

Hey, but we are keeping the terrorists at bay, since their goal is to so disrupt our way of living that we forgo our values and liberties. Oh wait...