My surro baby, Alexander, made it out of the NICU July 8th and then headed back to his home July 13th. He is doing so well and is even up to six and a half pounds! One of the issues with international surrogacy is that you can't ship breast milk (it would melt and go bad during shipping/in customs). However, I was able to pump for Alexander for the first two weeks.
Here was my final gift of breast milk before they left
And here is the last time I got to feed him
Now, anyone who has ever breastfed knows how much it sucks when you stop. Your boobs get rock hard and hurt so bad! This time I decided instead of "cold turkey" I'd slowly start pumping less and less and then finally end it. Since my own surro babe has left the country, I asked my surro group if any of them needed my extra milk.
Tomorrow, after eleven more days of pumping, I'll be sending over 3500mL to a precious baby girl who was born to two marvelous dads several weeks ago. She will be heading back to her home (also International) in about a week but not before I get to supplement what her own marvelous surrogate has been giving them since her birth.
Here she is with her Dads'
I started to get it all packaged up to ship
After this, I have eleven more days of my breast pump rental. I am down to pumping only 2-3 times a day now and by the first week of August should be completely finished. I do have plans for any milked pumped during the final days, a friend of mine is going back to work and is a little worried about her own pumping, so I'm planning on giving the milk to her and her wife to help supplement. Just call me The Milk Lady.
5 comments:
I think it's so great you are donating it :) I plan to do that as well--just need to research a bit on who/where/what, etc.. :) May I ask how you found the new family to donate to?
Good job Milk Lady.
To try to excuse my sappiness I'm going to say my crying after reading this post is due to the lack of sleep for the past four months. But, I have to say that I LOVE how generous of a surrogate you are. It's so great that you are able to help out so many babies!
I had such a hard time pumping for my kids, but they were nursing practically around the clock. I really hope I have the ability to provide some milk for my surro baby when the time comes.
You are an angel. I began reading your blog last November, mainly out of curiosity. My partner and I aren't considering our options right now, but we might in the next five years. So, I had been interested in more information about surrogacy at the time. When I stumbled upon your blog, I immediately bookmarked it because when we do decide to consider our options, I hope our surrogate is as lovely and wonderful (and articulate!) as you. Anyway, I've always believed that there angels on Earth, and you are absolutely one. :) ~Nick
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