Milk twinning

My husband finds the stock of milk in the freezer more of an inconvenience than anything else. I do too, I must admit. The bottles fall out whenever we open the door. They roll into the cat food. It's hard to explain that I actually enjoy pumping milk because it means I have extra to give to the local milk bank.

When S was about 3 months old, I called the milk bank - partly out of desperation - because my freezer was overflowing with frozen milk. They came that same day and took the milk (about 3 liters!) even though it wasn't sterilized and I hadn't even had my blood test. That's how much they needed it.

For a while, I was freezing 8+ ounces of milk a day for the milk bank. And the nurse would come by or I'd drop the milk off every couple of weeks. When I go to drop off the milk, I get a warm feeling inside. There are pictures of babies, nursing mothers and a couple dozen freezers. It reminds me that I'm saving little babies' lives by sharing S's milk. And the nurses are always so thankful for my donation.

Now that S is eating solids, I have less milk to give. When I dropped the milk off yesterday, I told them that it could be the last time. The nurse asked if she should archive my file. And I said NO! Archiving my file would mean no more donations but it also means that I'm coming to the end of nursing S.

If anyone else is interested in donating breast milk, it's easy and painless (except for the blood tests). Here is the list of lactariums in France. It's also possible to donate in the US, but doesn't seem as organized as here.

I will be proud to tell S that she shared her milk with other little babies, that she has "milk twins".