Breastmilk donation!

Breast feeding is a huge part of my life. I was lucky enough to feed E for 2 years and although the journey of breast feeding this time was quite difficult (ill chat about that at a later date) I've stuck with it and now have a happy and healthy 4 month old who enjoys his boobies. He enjoys them so much that I have a few litres in the freezer that i'm not going to get through.

So I searched for an alternate 

Breastmilk donation!!

Unfortunately that was not an easy thing to find in Victoria! I'm not sure what its like in other states, but here there aren't many options for women to donate their breast milk to bubbas who really need it! I had the luxury of doing a placement in a special care nursery and I wish I had the ability to donate to the beautiful tiny babies who's mothers weren't able to establish breastfeeding. 

The options for donation in Victoria are:

The Mercy breast milk Bank,

The mercy hospital for women fundraised 2 million dollars in 2008 to open a breast milk bank. The breast milk is collected from mothers who have given birth at the hospital, screened and then pasteurised and supplied to the babies within the NICU and SCN in the hospital. Its a fantastic foundation that supplies special little babies with breast milk from mothers who have a surplus!

I unfortunately did not give birth at the Mercy so I was unable to donate

Mothers milk bank

As above, mothers milk bank collects donated breast milk from mothers who have a large supply or excess milk and screens and pasteurises it. They then donate the milk to mothers and babies in need. From mothers unable to feed their babies or mothers trying to establish their breast milk supply, they have milk available! It is the first breast milk bank in Australia that is community based and is a wonderful foundation.

This is how I donated my breast milk and have set up an ongoing donation, meaning I will continue to give them my excess milk to donate to mums and bubs around Victoria

Human Milk 4 Human Babies

A fantastic Facebook page that is set up for women with breast milk, or mothers seeking breast milk post on the wall and then people are able to donate or receive donations. Im not saying this service is for everyone and I understand that people may be apprehensive about the lack of screening. But if the milk has been correctly stored and looked after and the mother can provide evidence that they aren't suffering from blood borne viruses then its a great alternative to donate your milk!

I am so proud that I was able to donate my milk to a family who truly appreciate it and I look forward to doing it again in the future! 

Have you ever donated your milk? Would you consider it? Would you use donated milk?

A small introduction

Please welcome to the world our new tiny creation Oscar.

He entered this crazy world on May 28th at 09:42 Weighing 8lbs 1oz.

I shall post a more detailed birth story at a later date but for now I just wanted to introduce him. He is the most relaxed baby i've ever had the pleasure of meeting and he is all mine! And Mr.T's of course. He sleeps like an absolute angel at night, sleeping from 10pm through to 6-7am then having a quick feed and heading back for another 3 or 4 hours. Considering my 3 year old has only just started doing this it is a welcome surprise. 

However he does not sleep during the day, rather he cat naps. Which isn't such a bad thing, he is happy to be awake watching the world go around.

He comes to uni with me during the week, I only have 3 weeks left of class and in a group of almost midwives, he is shared around the room happily until he decides he is hungry.

His brother is absolutely besotted with him. My heart grows daily watching the love the share together already. It is beyond anything I could have ever imagined. E is constantly helping me with Oscar, getting him nappies and replacing his dummy when it falls out and making him smile every chance he gets. Oscar just follows E around the room, smiling and babbling at him the whole time. It is just the best.

I feel full of love and happiness, I cannot take the smile off my face. 11 weeks later I'm still beyond smitten with my incredible little family.

That is not to say there aren't hard moments. There are days where I doubt everything, when Mr.T comes home to a bundle of tears and mess. But these days make the easy days so much more wonderful. And I shall share all of these highs and lows with you. 

How did you find the transition from one baby to two?

Pregnancy...Week 14

Week 14!

This week, I popped!

How I'm feeling?

Much better than I was 2 weeks ago that's for sure. I'm able to keep down my meals and have the energy to be able to properly interact with little E, which is amazing! This pregnancy has been much harder than my other, this is probably a mix of having a toddler to run around after and the fact my placement has called for some intense hours, all spent on my feet. But I still love it, even in the midst of regurgitating my meals and feeling awfully sorry for myself, I think about squishy growing inside me and I cant help but smile. It also helps when I have a little person there to pat my back and say
"Be happy, Mumma". Oh so many wonderful blessings!


What's Squishy up to?

This week is a wonderful week for the squish, I felt him or her (definite boy feeling) kick for the first time. Just little bubbles, but by far the most amazing bubbles i've felt! He also likes salty carbs, what a shame!
According to Baby Center this week, squishy now has he ability to frown, suck its thumb and wee! all such wonderful exciting things! 


How big is squishy?

Because everyone likes to know what size fruit or vegetable they are growing. So i'll join in the fun. This week I'm growing a lemon! 

Image from: https://www.organicfacts.net

So happiness all around this week. Enjoying every second of this wonderful gift .