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A True Supermom!!!
- Jul 17, 2009 at 12:39 PM
- By
- Comments (1) Total Views (47) Everyone can see this journal post.
I got this from a friend on Facebook and wanted to share here too!!
So the milkshare yahoo group was starting to get a little "off topic". So the creator of the milkshare yahoo group made another group called Milksharediscussions on yahoo. All non-donating/looking for milk posts had to be posted in the new group. (Great idea!) So anyway, this morning, I get an e-mail from another mom who forwarded another email from another group she was involved in. This is a blurb from a mom stationed in a combat zone that is determined to get her milk to her baby. I think it's wonderful and it said it was okay to share, so I am posting this all over the place.
*****************
Hi-
My cousin is stationed at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan and wanted to keep breastfeeding her 10 month old. Here are the two emails she sent. Next time a nursing mom is frustrated or tired of it use this as an inspiration! Isn't she awesome! Pass this along - she would love to share her experiences!
Kristine
******************
Operation Milk Drop:
I need a bunch of prayers coming my way to help me with the final stretch of something I've been trying to do since I left. I was so upset about leaving both of the girls but especially Layla...knowing that I would miss so many milestones. I was also very upset that I would have to stop breastfeeding much earlier than I wanted to and 4 months earlier than the recomended "at least a year" that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends to help boost immunity and to decrease the chances of many childhood and adult diseases like obesity, diabetes, allergies/asthma, and various cancers. So in my grieving of all that I would be missing out on with Layla I sort of grabbed ahold of the breastfeeding and thought that if I could somehow continue to get her breastmilk until at least a year I could put myself back in control and remove one thing from the growing list of "what Layla and I would be missing". So I became determined (maybe obsessed is a better way to word it) to see if there was any way for Layla to keep breastfeeding until a year (don't worry, I'm not looking for wet nurses!) I was able to pump and freeze enough extra milk throughout her early infancy to last the first two months that I was gone, and I've continued pumping and freezing since I left. It's been very hard, logistically, as I had to "pump and dump" for the 5 days until I got here, and I've had to figure out where to stash the frozen milk, wash the pump parts, etc. My supply has dwindled quite a bit, but over the past 7 weeks I pumped and froze 60 6ounce bags which will get us 1 month closer to that 1 year goal if I can just get it to the states. There is a DHL here on base that said they'll "try" to keep it in a cool part of the plane and it should make it to Maryland in 2-3 days. So, yesterday the cooler that I ordered finally arrived and I modified it a bit with some added styrofoam to the lid and bubble wrap around the inside. I packed up my milk this morning and jogged (carrying a 30 pound cooler) 1/2 a mile to the DHL and got a shoulder shrug when I asked if they thought it would arrive frozen. We have no dry ice or anything here so I'm just praying that all of the frozen bags packed together will keep each other mostly frozen. I just need all of you to send ice cold thoughts my way in hopes that this milk will get to Layla still frozen. It's probably a silly thing to cling to but despite the hassle that pumping/washing/ freezing brings it has made me continue to feel like a mom and if this crazy plan works out I can at least let go of some of the guilt that I am carrying about being away from such a young baby. And if it doesn't work out, I'll at least know that I did absolutely everything that I could to make it work, it's out of my hands now. It's funny because I didn't realize how huge of a deal it was to me as I got into the routine of pumping/washing, etc. until I actually handed the cooler over to the guy that looked at me like I was crazy...."you' re sending what?!" I am now all wound up worrying about this liquid gold that I've spent 7 weeks laboring over. So please keep my shipment in your thoughts/prayers and in a few days you'll get an update. I tell you what, being a mother is much harder than any other job that I've ever, or ever will have!
******************
Hey Everyone,
Looks like your prayer and cold well-wishes helped! After 3 1/2 days the milk arrived home mostly in good shape. I was quite anxious as it got stuck in the UK for 1 1/2 days and my calls to DHL did not give me any answers. I didn't know if the cooler was kept in a cool place or not. The milk traveled from Bagram to Bahrain, then London, then East Midlands, UK then to Ohio, then Maryland then D.C. It was taken by courier from D.C. to the house.
I sent 50 6 ounce bags, about 1/2 arrived at least half frozen and were put in the freezer; the other half was mostly thawed but still very cold and was put in the fridge.. Only 1 bag leaked. The plan is to get Layla to drink as much of the fridge milk as possible over the next few days. Hopefully, she'll be able to use about 80-90% of what I sent. Next time I think I'll arrange the bags a bit differently in the cooler and I've ordered some reusable "like dry ice" heavy duty ice packs to add as well. This should help with the next shipment. I'm also sure that if it hadn't sat for a day and a half in the UK many more bags would have arrived frozen. But for a first attempt, not bad. This shipment should get her 2-3 weeks closer to that 1 year goal. Another 2 good shipments and we should make it. I'm very relieved as I had feared that it would all arive thawed and unusable. Breastfeeding your baby from a combat zone over 6000 miles away...who would've thought it possible? Miracles do happen!
*****************
Hi-
My cousin is stationed at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan and wanted to keep breastfeeding her 10 month old. Here are the two emails she sent. Next time a nursing mom is frustrated or tired of it use this as an inspiration! Isn't she awesome! Pass this along - she would love to share her experiences!
Kristine
******************
Operation Milk Drop:
I need a bunch of prayers coming my way to help me with the final stretch of something I've been trying to do since I left. I was so upset about leaving both of the girls but especially Layla...knowing that I would miss so many milestones. I was also very upset that I would have to stop breastfeeding much earlier than I wanted to and 4 months earlier than the recomended "at least a year" that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends to help boost immunity and to decrease the chances of many childhood and adult diseases like obesity, diabetes, allergies/asthma, and various cancers. So in my grieving of all that I would be missing out on with Layla I sort of grabbed ahold of the breastfeeding and thought that if I could somehow continue to get her breastmilk until at least a year I could put myself back in control and remove one thing from the growing list of "what Layla and I would be missing". So I became determined (maybe obsessed is a better way to word it) to see if there was any way for Layla to keep breastfeeding until a year (don't worry, I'm not looking for wet nurses!) I was able to pump and freeze enough extra milk throughout her early infancy to last the first two months that I was gone, and I've continued pumping and freezing since I left. It's been very hard, logistically, as I had to "pump and dump" for the 5 days until I got here, and I've had to figure out where to stash the frozen milk, wash the pump parts, etc. My supply has dwindled quite a bit, but over the past 7 weeks I pumped and froze 60 6ounce bags which will get us 1 month closer to that 1 year goal if I can just get it to the states. There is a DHL here on base that said they'll "try" to keep it in a cool part of the plane and it should make it to Maryland in 2-3 days. So, yesterday the cooler that I ordered finally arrived and I modified it a bit with some added styrofoam to the lid and bubble wrap around the inside. I packed up my milk this morning and jogged (carrying a 30 pound cooler) 1/2 a mile to the DHL and got a shoulder shrug when I asked if they thought it would arrive frozen. We have no dry ice or anything here so I'm just praying that all of the frozen bags packed together will keep each other mostly frozen. I just need all of you to send ice cold thoughts my way in hopes that this milk will get to Layla still frozen. It's probably a silly thing to cling to but despite the hassle that pumping/washing/ freezing brings it has made me continue to feel like a mom and if this crazy plan works out I can at least let go of some of the guilt that I am carrying about being away from such a young baby. And if it doesn't work out, I'll at least know that I did absolutely everything that I could to make it work, it's out of my hands now. It's funny because I didn't realize how huge of a deal it was to me as I got into the routine of pumping/washing, etc. until I actually handed the cooler over to the guy that looked at me like I was crazy...."you' re sending what?!" I am now all wound up worrying about this liquid gold that I've spent 7 weeks laboring over. So please keep my shipment in your thoughts/prayers and in a few days you'll get an update. I tell you what, being a mother is much harder than any other job that I've ever, or ever will have!
******************
Hey Everyone,
Looks like your prayer and cold well-wishes helped! After 3 1/2 days the milk arrived home mostly in good shape. I was quite anxious as it got stuck in the UK for 1 1/2 days and my calls to DHL did not give me any answers. I didn't know if the cooler was kept in a cool place or not. The milk traveled from Bagram to Bahrain, then London, then East Midlands, UK then to Ohio, then Maryland then D.C. It was taken by courier from D.C. to the house.
I sent 50 6 ounce bags, about 1/2 arrived at least half frozen and were put in the freezer; the other half was mostly thawed but still very cold and was put in the fridge.. Only 1 bag leaked. The plan is to get Layla to drink as much of the fridge milk as possible over the next few days. Hopefully, she'll be able to use about 80-90% of what I sent. Next time I think I'll arrange the bags a bit differently in the cooler and I've ordered some reusable "like dry ice" heavy duty ice packs to add as well. This should help with the next shipment. I'm also sure that if it hadn't sat for a day and a half in the UK many more bags would have arrived frozen. But for a first attempt, not bad. This shipment should get her 2-3 weeks closer to that 1 year goal. Another 2 good shipments and we should make it. I'm very relieved as I had feared that it would all arive thawed and unusable. Breastfeeding your baby from a combat zone over 6000 miles away...who would've thought it possible? Miracles do happen!
Tags: breastfeeding, military, overseas, pumping, freezing, mailing, miracle, supermom
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I LOVED this. We only have four more weeks to go for our one year and it was always a struggle for so many reasons but, after reading that, I'll never complain again. I'm so amazed at what that woman went through. That is amazing.
Thanks so much for sharing.