Beginning 8/6/2009, Mommy has stored about 140 bags of breast milk with an average of about 5-6 ounces per bag. That’s equivalent to about 700-800 total ounces of breast milk!
Not only are we running out of freezer space in our kitchen refrigerator, we have completely filled our second freezer in the basement. The next step would be to pack the milk to bring to YiMa’s house for storage because they have 3 refrigerators. Frozen breast milk in a side-by-side refrigerator like ours lasts about 4 months, so Mommy’s first stored supply is about to expire.
This is why Mommy seriously considered donating her breast milk to charity. She was actually in contact with MilkBank, an organization that accepts donations of breast milk to process and ultimately used to feed premature babies in th U.S. or feed HIV-infected mothers in Africa. Some may question the validity of such organizations since they do NOT give the milk out for free. They charge for the milk, just like blood banks charge for units of blood they processed for use at hospitals and clinics. The processing is expensive and so by selling the milk or the blood, some of the costs are absorbed. In any case, Mommy just wanted to see if her breast milk can be put to good use and possibly help other babies.
Unfortunately, Mommy’s milk was rejected because of the carnitine supplements she takes for our carnitine deficiencies:
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From: Milkbank <Milkbank@capitalhealth.org>
Subject: RE: MILKBANK
Date: Friday, November 6, 2009, 1:56 PM
Dear Vivia, We just heard back from our medical director, and he stated that the dosage you are taking is considered a mega dose and would not be compatible with donation. We therefore would not be able to take any of your previously collected milk. Let us know if you are interested in pursuing becoming a donor and starting a collection for donation without this vitamin. Thanks!
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So, Mommy is back to square one in trying to figure out what to do with her extra breast milk. Every bag is at least 20 minutes of hard work. It just seems like such a waste to toss it down the sink. So far, here are some considerations:
1. Making mother’s milk soap. The thought of it sounds exotic, but Mommy wonders where she’s going to find lye which is apparently a key ingredient in making soap. Here’s the recipe from a midwifery website, http://traditionalmidwife.com/mothersmilksoap.html:
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Mother’s Milk Soap Recipe
32 (4-ounce) bars(you can use any amount of breast milk you like and substitute the rest,
just make sure your total fluid volume reaches 6 cups).
12 ounces pure sodium hydroxide (lye – Red Devil brand works)
1 ounce Borax
2 TLBS honey
1 ounce Essential oil – optional
Ice Cubes
Recipe:
3 lbs. vegetable shortening
17 ounces dark olive oil
18 ounces Safflower oil
6 cups thawed breast milk
Tool List:
Stainless steel pans
Wooden or stainless steel spoons
Newspaper to cover counter tops
Candy thermometer
Measuring cup
Scale
Blender
***Wear Gloves and protective eye-wear when making soap…lye burns!!
****Use only stainless steel pans for making soap – DO NOT use aluminum!!
Steps:
Melt the veg. shortening in a sauce pan (about 8 quart size)and add the oils. Bring temp up slowly until the shortening is all melted. Don’t over heat or scorch the oils.
Plug your kitchen sink. Fill half way with water and add about 3 dozen ice cubes.
Put thawed cold breast milk in a sauce pan (about 3 quart size). Place the sauce pan into the water. You *must* keep the milk cool when you add the lye to it or the lye will burn it and make it unusable, not to mention real stinky!
Slowly stir in the sodium hydroxide (lye) stirring constantly and occasionally circulating the outer ice water. The lye is going to heat the milk up as you stir it in. Avoid breathing the fumes by working in a well ventilated area.
Adding the lye should take at least 5 minutes, any faster and you will burnout your milk. If you accidentally splash any on yourself, rinse immediately!
Once combined, continue to stir the milk/lye mixture for just a few more minutes (3) and then remove from the water bath and set aside. You will notice that the milk/lye mixture steadily becomes yellowish in color. That is normal.
Add the honey and borax to your melted oil which should still be warm but not hot (115 degrees or so).
Now, slowly and carefully pour the milk/lye mixture into the pan of oil. Stir constantly until it is all mixed together.
This mixture must now be whipped in a blender (2/3’s full at a time for safety sake). Run the blender (with the lid on) at whip speed for 60 seconds each time. Pour off into a clean pan.
Repeat the blender process a second time. This is when you will add your essential oils.
Once the mixture has been blended twice, it will be ready to pour into a mold where it will saponify and be ready to cut after 24 hours.
**Make sure to set a few bars secretly aside for that someday when it could make a touching “Treasured Memory Gift” maybe when your child is all grown up. The soap will never go rancid (no matter what you may have read elsewhere), it will only improve with age. Mothering Soap has the unique potential of becoming something extra, special as the years roll by. But that’s just this mothers thought!
NOTE: The heavy duty molds I use for soap making are made of extruded vinyl. They are reusable and very easy to use – once it saponifies, you just slice the soap into bars, no fuss. These molds and many other soapmaking supplies are available at the Soap Shoppe page located at my Natural Soap Site –Killmaster Soapworks Natural Soap Company
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2. Watering plants with dilute breast milk. One of Mommy’s friends tried watering plants with residual breast milk from washing bottles and she swears the breast milk makes plants grow remarkably well.
3. Using it as a creamer for morning coffee. As macabre as this may sound, breast milk IS whole milk and should be quite tasty in coffee. Too bad neither Mommy nor Daddy drink coffee on a regular basis.
4. Making popsicles or smoothies for me when I become a toddler. Too bad I think by then the breast milk will be rather rancid.
5. Using it for home medical remedies to cure ear aches, diaper rash, rashes, and poison ivy. Somehow I don’t think this is going to fly with Mommy. Mommy’s not really into homeopathic medicine, but I guess it doesn’t hurt if I ever end up with one of these conditions.
6. Making body lotion with breast milk. Apparently, breast milk can be added instead of milk to unscented lotions and creams. This website sells some of the base lotions and creams. www.camdengrey.com
If you have any ideas for uses for leftover breast milk, please let Mommy know. Better yet…if any of you know of anyone who may want Mommy’s milk to feed their own baby, please let Mommy know. She would love to see her breast milk benefit another baby rather than use it in any of the numerated options listed above.
I can’t possibly drink all that milk, even though based on my size, you’d probably beg to differ!