Milk, Milk, Milk

Yesterday I was determined to get out for a walk with the babes...and I did! During which, I listened to an interesting "Stuff to Blow Your Mind" podcast about milk.

I learned some interesting facts:

• It didn't surprise me that some men can produce milk, however many male WWII POW veterans who were malnourished started producing milk after they were rescued and started to eat again
• Giraffe milk (and meat for that matter) is kosher
• By 6 months, women in the US have their babies fully weaned (and a majority as early as 3 months)

In my case, I tried to breast feed but it took a long time for my milk to come in (even with drugs and herbal supplements). My breasts rarely hurt (even during pregnancy) or leaked (maybe occasionally in the morning). When I did pump, I had as much milk if I pumped 3 times a day (morning, late afternoon and before bed) as I did if I pumped 6 or more times a day - so I didn't see the point of pumping any more than 2-3 times a day.

When my milk eventually did come in, I didn't have anywhere close enough to sustain two growing babies - so I had to supplement with formula.   I did have a kind woman donate a cooler FULL of fresh breast milk to me - so that helped in the beginning.

As I am sure many of you find too, as a full-time working-mom who was quickly sucked back into a large project and 10-12 hour (or more) days when I returned to work, breast feeding and pumping was not feasible beyond eight weeks.

Here is a link to the web cast:

2012-08-30-stbym-mothers-milk.mp3

Enjoy!