Donation needed for vacation to Leesburg

Hi,
I live in Gainesville, FL, which is about 1 1/2 hours north of Leesburg--it's kind of a drive, but I have plenty to donate if needed. Contact me JenneyKellogg@gmail.com if interested, we can exchange more info.

Jenney

Just wanted to touch base and see how you're doing? We set our flight for March 4-9. If you don't have extra milk we are just going to ship our supply but I wanted to check just in case (=


take care
Erika

Oh and go ahead and get the bloodwork just in case we need it!

Oh please do not apologize if anyone can understand milk supply issues its me! Have you tried acupuncture and/or chinese herbs? You can find a licensed practitioner at www.nccaom.org. I am an acupuncturist myself so I've seen it help many women! Anyhow I appreciate your desire to help my family out and your care and compassion on the issue but please do not feel badly. Take care of your supply and your family's needs and stay in touch with me if things change we'll work something out. Things will work themselves out some way or another and at worst I'll just mail what I've got up here from my donors down there. I haven't even set my flight yet. We'll talk again as it gets closer and I'll see if his needs have changed too and maybe the smaller amount will be fine. Either way take care and don't stress about it (-:

Well stay in touch and we'll see what works itself out!


Take Care
Erika

Erika -

I apologize for not posting sooner. I wanted to have definate information for you before writing back...

For some reason in the past 10 days my milk supply has decreased slightly (I suspect I may be starting my monthly, which may account for the drop in milk). Not a huge decrease, but enough to make a difference. And, at the same time my son seems to be in a growth spurt and is eating much much more then usual. I only have to pump once a day, 5 days a week for my little guy. Until recently, I was able to pump enough each night for him to drink the next day. Lately, my husband has had to dip into our frozen reserves to satisfy my boy's new appetite. As a result, our supply has diminished. My husband and I calculated what we have, and after much discussion came to the decision that AT THIS TIME we can only commit to donate about 40 ounces to your family. I'm so sorry. I'm not even sure if that's worth your grandparents time to drive all this way...

I have begun taking Fenugreek to increase my milk production. I used this herbal supplement over the summer and had GREAT results with it. I expect to see results within a week. I anticipate being back up to "full steam" soon, to the point that I am again producing enough for my son's next night (without having to use any reserves). Once that happens, I will continue to use the Fenugreek to produce as much as possible, so I may have as much as possible to donate to you. I don't know how much extra that will be though. Best case senerio, if you come down closer to March, I may have another 80-90 ounces for you. But I cannot guarantee that (I'm just basing my calculations on how much my milk supply increased over the summer with this supplement). I know that's still not enough for the time you will be down, and I'm so sorry.

If you find someone else that can help you, no problem at all. If not, I will be happy to keep on squirrelling away as much extra milk as I possibly can, to give to your beautiful little boy.

So you know a little about my habits... I do not drink (alcohol), I do not smoke nor do I use any drugs (obviously!). I rarely drink caffeine. I even more rarely take over-the-counter medication, to include tylenol, etc. Any prescription medications I have had to take have been rated either L1, or rated L2 and I have waited the appropriate amount of time prior to pumping (per the LactMed schedule). I have tried to eat well-balanced meals while breastfeeding, although much of the milk I will be donating to you will be "dairy-free". My son had a milk sensitivity and as a result I was on a dairy free diet up until about 6 weeks ago. I have made every effort to ensure I am not ingesting or exposing myself to anything that could potentially harm my baby though my millk. This is probably more information that you really need, but as a mother I would want to know as much as possible!

It is absolutely our pleasure to give as much of our milk as we can to your Kingston. I commend you for taking the much harder route of searching for breatmilk for him, when I'm sure it would be much easier to hop in your car and pick up a can of Similac!

Sharing my bloodwork is no problem at all. I see my midwife later this month and I will ask for a copy of the latest testing for you. I think I was tested at least 3 times for just about everything while I was pregnant Just let me know if you find someone else, or if you would still like our help.

Rebecca Bahret

Well that might just work! We have not set our exact dates yet. I make this trip every year... first time with baby (-: So I'm still figuring out logistics before I book the flight. We plan to be there 4-6 days and he can sometimes eat up to 40 ounces a day (on heavy eating days) typically around 25-30 oz per day. However in the weeks to come we are going to introduce rice cereal and more solid foods (he is almost 6 months old!) so his need will possibly go down. So far I'm thinking of coming either late Feb or early March (fingers crossed for nice weather we are freezing up here brrr! I need to thaw my little guy ou (-

I cannot thank you enough for your kindess in offering such a precious thing to my family. Any help with milk supply is grealy appreciated!

I have asked my donors before to share blood work with me. All of them have just supplied me with their workups from pregnancy or from the past 6-8 months. Basically I need to check my bases cause you can never be too safe with baby but I don't want to cause you too much undue work.

Okay let me know your thoughts on the above and I'll talk with my grandparents.


And thanks again I truly cannot express gratitude with words,
Erika Sullivan

I have some milk available for you - not sure if I'll have enough though. If you can tally up about how much you will need, I can see if I have enough for your little guy. I have some extra that I'm not expecting to need. The milk was frozen within 12 hours of pumping (refrigerated prior of course) then transferred to our deep freezer. It is all in Lanisol bags, with the date and amount clearly indicated. It was frozen in small amounts (1oz to about 4oz) to limit waste. The milk I have was pumped in August 2009 and September 2009, when my son was 9 - 10 months old.

Let me know how much you need and I will see if it's worth the trip for your grandparents. I live near Clearwater, which is about 30 minutes West of downtown Tampa.

No reimbursement needed. I'll be happy to see it go to good use!

I am planning a trip to see my grandparents in Leesburg (north of Orlando) sometime in late Feb or March. I get donated milk from my home area on Minnesota however think it will be quite the hassle to bring frozen milk with me... will probably have to ship. Does anyone in the area have extra to donate? My grandparents could pick it up before my arrival so anytime before now and then is greatly appreciated. It will not go to waste my little man, Kingston, eats a lot!!

Thanks!