Bye, bye, breastmilk

Well, I did it....Saturday I packed up two coolers full of most of the breast milk I had left, and sent it on a plane. A little wierd, yes. I'll rewind a bit so you will follow the bizarre set of events that led me to do such a unique thing :)

A few weeks ago, just shortly after we discovered Summer's allergy to the cow's milk protein in my breast milk, I was talking to a girl at church. The subject of babies, my past experiences, and girl talk in general, led us to discuss my current status. She had just recently had a baby herself and her sister in law is now in the process of adopting preemie twin boys. Her sis in law requested she pump extra milk to share with them, but this was not possible. She told me the sis in law was very anxious to find milk to give the boys, as breast milk has so much needed healing power. I had not done anything with the still 1/2 full freezer of breast milk, so I mentioned this to her. A few days later, I received an email from the sis in law. We have been trying to figure out the best way to get the milk to her in Utah... In the process, her sister, who has also just adopted a baby girl, contacted me. She wanted to share the milk...great. This has truly been an answer to my prayers....strange as it may sound.

I couldn't stand the thought of throwing it all out, and wanted to find someone who could use it. Sell it on Ebay? Open up my own "Breastsicle stand"? Maybe I could paint my van like a cow and drive through the neighborhood playing some type of twisted ice cream truck song? Since none of these options were realistic, and it is still way too cold for breastsicles, I have been just ignoring it all.

After some time and brain work, the sister of the sis in law and I came up with a plan. My friend, who happened to be flying to SLC this last Saturday, graciously offered to "Mule" it for us. We found out all the critera for a checked bag and away we went. I went to REI and called to have the sis pay for two soft sided coolers over the phone. Then I went home, got out a bathroom scale and crammed as much milk I could into them. We could only have 50 pounds in each....when they were weighed one was exactly 50 pounds and the other 48.5....wow, did I REALLY feel like a jersy cow! It's not every day you get to pack, label, and ship off something like this! I still have a good size shipment leftover, I am going to Fedex the rest to them soon.

The sisters are so excited....it made me feel great....a little sad too. It had an unexpected effect on me the last few days. I haven't cried for about a month (ok, not so true), so made up for lost time. A day doesn't go by that I don't think of Brooke....as Summer has starting doing so well, it has made things a little easier. I am so grateful that all my hard work and love (believe me, if you have never pumped before, it is a real tedious job!) was not in vain. I have been sent pics of the cute little ones that get to enjoy many milk mustaches...so sweet :) Heavenly Father truly has a hand in many things...gives us opportunities we would have never expected...isn't it great? Okay, rambling stops here :)

I have now decided to create a seperate blog for Summer's progress, www.somuchsunshine.blogspot.com and a memorial blog for random thoughts and special memories for Brooke www.justtendays.blogspot.com Just another chapter in my home spun therapy :) Feel free to check them out...not quite up and running yet, but it should be nice to have a seperate place for this. As you can see, my normal life has started in full swing and doesn't mix so well with all the other stuff :)

As always, thanks for all the great support!