When Kadynce was a couple of months old one of my favorite bloggers posted on her blog that she was helping collect breastmilk donations for a baby whose mother had passed away shortly after giving birth. The mother had been very passionate about wanting to nurse her baby and when she passed away her husband wanted the baby to still be able to have breastmilk. He began excepting donations from women that were willing to give this precious gift. I was not able to nurse Kadynce for long because of various complications, but when I read this story I remember saying "if I ever had a surplus of milk I would without a doubt want to donate it." It's crazy awesome how the Lord works. When I was pregnant with Isaac I realized one day that I was going to have that "surplus" because more than likely my baby would not get the chance to have it himself. I wondered if even thinking of pumping and donating my milk made me crazy and didn't mention the idea to anyone, but a really close friend. When my midwife mentioned it to me at a routine prenatal appointment I knew that was exactly what I was supposed to do. She told me that sometimes it actually helped with the emotional healing process after losing a baby and she gave me the information to contact the Milk Bank to see what steps needed to be taken to become a donor.
This may sound strange, but in the last few weeks leading up to Isaac's birth donating my milk actually gave me something to look forward to. I felt that even though I couldn't help my baby this was something I could do to help other little ones struggling for their life. After Isaac was born I started pumping and continued to do so for 6 weeks. Pumping 3 times a day allowed me to be able to donate 170 ounces to The Mother's Milk Bank for sick babies. I had originally intended to do this for longer, but my body and my heart were ready to let go.
This post was in no way to say "look what I did" or to be thought of as bragging. I was not able to find much information about donating breastmilk after losing a baby prior to Isaac's birth. I wanted to put this out there in case someone in a similar situation happens to stumble upon this. I feel like this really did help me emotionally in the weeks after losing our precious boy. I still felt like a Mommy. I felt like a part of Isaac was still with me. I am so glad I made the decision I did. If anyone has any questions about donating breastmilk please feel free to contact me at kaciehunt@gmail.com. I would LOVE to talk to you!
