mama story: my baby couldn't drink my milk, but I kept pumping anyways

Amanda from Beverly, MA we are in awe of your mama story, your dedication and your tremendous generosity. No doubt the mamas receiving your donated milk are too!

I've been breastfeeding my third for over 17 months now.

It's funny because I only had intentions of nursing her until she was 9 months. The plan was to pump a huge stash so I could stop at 9 months and she could continue to receive my breast milk through a bottle until she was a year. Well it didn't quite work out like that: I found out around 3 months that she had a milk protein allergy.

I had to remove all dairy from my diet and I donated all the milk I pumped previously to a local mom with a foster baby.

I did reach my goal of pumping for 9 months, but not a drop of it went to my baby because she refused to take a bottle. I wanted to keep donating to the foster baby and other moms in need.

It felt really good to donate and know that my stash didn't go to waste, especially because my breastmilk was dairy and soy free. Allergy formula is EXPENSIVE and I wanted to help as many moms as I could from having to buy a can of formula.

If you find yourself in a similar situation and are looking to donate, I highly recommend the Facebook group #humanmilk4humanbabies .