05/15/2023
Philip was born at 35 weeks and spent 13 days in the NICU for help regulating his temperature and bilirubin levels. For mom Christine, Philip’s time in the NICU was incredibly challenging emotionally. She said, “Seeing him hooked up to monitors in a temperature-controlled environment receiving light therapy hurt my mommy heart. All I wanted to do was hold him and never let go - but I had to let go for him to get the treatments he needed so that he could come home.”
Christine spent as much time at the NICU as possible and made it a priority to attend as many “care times” as she could. This gave her the opportunity to change Philip, take his temperature, and feed him. Because Philip was premature, he struggled with nursing, but they started working on latch and nursing while in the NICU and supplemented with donor milk. Christine’s own milk supply came in while he was in the NICU and it became clear to her early on that she was over producing compared to his nutritional needs.
Christine, grateful for the option of donor milk in the NICU, learned about the option of donating if her oversupply continued. It did, so Christine went through the donor process and made her first donation a couple months after Philip’s birth.
What does donating mean to Christine? She shares, “It means both Philp and I are supporting babies and families in need; it means we are doing what we can to make sure all milk is utilized; and that babies are given the best there is for their little bodies. I am honored and humbled to be able to donate. I have unexplained infertility and recurrent pregnancy loss, it took my husband and I four rounds of IVF to have our miracle baby. Through all of this it has felt like there is a lot my body has struggled to do, but I do produce milk and that feels like a blessing.”
After over a year donating her extra breastmilk, Christine made her last donation in May. She shares, “Earlier this week I donated the frozen milk I had stored in the deep freezer. I was keeping it to make the transition from nursing to whole milk easier for my kid, but turns out he only wants it direct from the source and won’t accept anything else. So, it was time to donate it to NICU babies and medically fragile little ones.
My final donation was 1,008 ounces for a total donation of 2,057 ounces to the milk bank.
I love that we came full circle. Philip started his little life on donor milk while in the NICU himself until my supply came in. I feel honored to be able to donate and pass it on to those who need it now.
Feeding babies is hard work no matter how we are able to do it, and anything that we can do to support each other and our babies is worth doing. Donating my milk is one way I have been able to help the village.”
Christine and Philip donated over 2,700 ounces to the milk bank! A beautiful full-circle milk donation story!
