Questions, Answers, and Signs
I find myself praying to Kat more than God. My prayers to God have been on-and-off since we found out (more on this in a separate entry). So since then my prayers have all been coursed through Kat.
I can't enumerate the many instances that we prayed for her help and she gave it to us. Whether financial or emotional, she sent a reply right away. Parang email lang! We would ask, and right away we would have what we needed or an answer. Or at least a sign. We could be looking into things too closely. But it sure is damn comforting. Sometimes it's even funny. Like the rain would stop every time we go down the car to visit her. Or herds of assorted animals coming to say hi while we're crying at her marker. Bio Research Zoo is right behind the fence beside her marker, if that's any indication of why Snoopy, Garfield, and perhaps soon, Madagascar characters are her friendly visitors. I'm pretty sure she's behind our dog Ashley getting pregnant. These animals, it's like some practical joke gone wrong! We now have a tally of 13 dogs, 2 birds (purchased from the cemetery), 3 turtles, a chicken, and a partridge in a.. hahaha! Baby Kat sure is one heck of a joker...
Anyways.
A few days ago, I was thinking about how long the pumping and donating should keep going. A friend advised me that the donated milk was only optimum until 4 months after giving birth --- after that, the milk content is different, and not best for premies. I asked our neonat over text if she would still need me after 4 months (as I was currently on my 4th month of donating), and she answered that breastmilk at "any age" (meaning milk even 8 months, 1 year, etc after delivering) is still so much better than formula, and it was just a bridge until the mother, hopefully, has her milk supply in control. In other words -- my milk is more than welcome at anytime, but it will not be in its "prime" anymore.
I had also just read a blog by a breastfeeding mom, who mentioned that she does not wish for moms to be pressured into pumping and pumping milk, since this is time away from their children. It struck a chord with me, and I considered the hours I missed with my children, the minutes that my husband would patiently wait for me to finish up, the hurried drives home to get me to my pump when I was engorged. I was spending a total of 3-4 hours a day pumping, cleaning the bottles, labelling, time which I could spend tutoring Little M and Little J (whose grades were very hmmm hmmmm). I used this time to work, type blog entries, but still. Our family's current life revolved around 3-hour intervals. Must wake up in 3 hours. Must finish grocery in 3 hours. Kids have to be ready to go home in 3 hours. J must buy batteries for the pump since I ran out and we're in the car in the middle of nowhere. I have to be home in three hours! Three three three. (It eventually became four four four). For your own baby, yes of course you wouldn't mind the three three three. But I was starting to wonder if I was missing out on my own children, who would ever so patiently wait for me to finish each pump session.
It had been days since anyone needed my milk. I even posted in HM4HB, but no takers. The freezer stock was piling up. I was this.close to taking it as a sign to stop or set a deadline soon....
And just like that, my phone beeps several times. Over the course of 24 hours, I got text and calls from doctors from MMC and UST, and two other families. This was the first time UST contacted me; they were referred by Cecille. Cecille's baby stayed for a total of 100 days in UST, and racked up a very high bill (if you are interested in helping them, please email me). They needed milk for 2 babies. They came all the way to Alabang, and I gave them half my milk stock. They left a file with pictures and details of the babies, since they knew I keep those. A MMC family got the rest of the stock the next day. And just like that, the freezer was empty.
These are the times I feel like my angel answers my questions. Coincidence maybe, but I always feel like they're answers, because they're so quick. It's like she's telling me, "Just a bit more, Mommy."
If you would like to help the babies in UST, please email me or leave a comment so I can give you the contact information of the doctors there.
I can't enumerate the many instances that we prayed for her help and she gave it to us. Whether financial or emotional, she sent a reply right away. Parang email lang! We would ask, and right away we would have what we needed or an answer. Or at least a sign. We could be looking into things too closely. But it sure is damn comforting. Sometimes it's even funny. Like the rain would stop every time we go down the car to visit her. Or herds of assorted animals coming to say hi while we're crying at her marker. Bio Research Zoo is right behind the fence beside her marker, if that's any indication of why Snoopy, Garfield, and perhaps soon, Madagascar characters are her friendly visitors. I'm pretty sure she's behind our dog Ashley getting pregnant. These animals, it's like some practical joke gone wrong! We now have a tally of 13 dogs, 2 birds (purchased from the cemetery), 3 turtles, a chicken, and a partridge in a.. hahaha! Baby Kat sure is one heck of a joker...
Anyways.
A few days ago, I was thinking about how long the pumping and donating should keep going. A friend advised me that the donated milk was only optimum until 4 months after giving birth --- after that, the milk content is different, and not best for premies. I asked our neonat over text if she would still need me after 4 months (as I was currently on my 4th month of donating), and she answered that breastmilk at "any age" (meaning milk even 8 months, 1 year, etc after delivering) is still so much better than formula, and it was just a bridge until the mother, hopefully, has her milk supply in control. In other words -- my milk is more than welcome at anytime, but it will not be in its "prime" anymore.
I had also just read a blog by a breastfeeding mom, who mentioned that she does not wish for moms to be pressured into pumping and pumping milk, since this is time away from their children. It struck a chord with me, and I considered the hours I missed with my children, the minutes that my husband would patiently wait for me to finish up, the hurried drives home to get me to my pump when I was engorged. I was spending a total of 3-4 hours a day pumping, cleaning the bottles, labelling, time which I could spend tutoring Little M and Little J (whose grades were very hmmm hmmmm). I used this time to work, type blog entries, but still. Our family's current life revolved around 3-hour intervals. Must wake up in 3 hours. Must finish grocery in 3 hours. Kids have to be ready to go home in 3 hours. J must buy batteries for the pump since I ran out and we're in the car in the middle of nowhere. I have to be home in three hours! Three three three. (It eventually became four four four). For your own baby, yes of course you wouldn't mind the three three three. But I was starting to wonder if I was missing out on my own children, who would ever so patiently wait for me to finish each pump session.
It had been days since anyone needed my milk. I even posted in HM4HB, but no takers. The freezer stock was piling up. I was this.close to taking it as a sign to stop or set a deadline soon....
And just like that, my phone beeps several times. Over the course of 24 hours, I got text and calls from doctors from MMC and UST, and two other families. This was the first time UST contacted me; they were referred by Cecille. Cecille's baby stayed for a total of 100 days in UST, and racked up a very high bill (if you are interested in helping them, please email me). They needed milk for 2 babies. They came all the way to Alabang, and I gave them half my milk stock. They left a file with pictures and details of the babies, since they knew I keep those. A MMC family got the rest of the stock the next day. And just like that, the freezer was empty.
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| Faces blurred for privacy reason. |
If you would like to help the babies in UST, please email me or leave a comment so I can give you the contact information of the doctors there.
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