Darillyn  you wanted to know more about the mother who was
pumping  large amounts of milk before her baby came. I now
have the mothers permission to tell her story.
"J"  first contacted me last June to ask about pumping milk
for a baby that was expected in October. Her 2 sisters are
both LLLLeaders and she had been exposed to many
years of nursing babies. I shared my experience with her
of having worked with many adoptive mothers over the last
20 years or so. I explained to her that some mothers
produce large amounts of milk and some hardly any at
all but that most agreed that it was a worthwhile and in
many cases a wonderful experience. I also shared some of
the not so positive experiences( ie the mom who pumped
for months and had a high need baby that never did latch
on, although did receive some breast milk)
In August "J" began double pumping (with a Nurture lll)
five times per day  and she began taking motillium.
In October the birth mother decided she was keeping
the baby  but  "J" meanwhile had heard of another baby
due beginning of December so she kept on taking
the medication and pumping.  By December she was
pumping  5x3ozs per day. This mother also kept her
baby and of course "J' was very discouraged. At this
point she cut down the pumping to twice a day for
a week but then heard of another baby due in
January so upped the pumping again. The baby
was born Jan 19th and  "J" was able to go to the
hospital and nurse at 36hours. The birth mom
(aged 17) then took the baby home for 5 days
but incredibly wanted "J" to visit once a day and
breastfeed. In the meantime she used  "J" s
ebm with a bottle. "J" was naturally worried that
this one would not work either but at 5 days
she took him home and he nursed well although
with a little nipple confusion for the first few days.
He was 7lbs 15ozs at birth, dropped to 7.8 and
now weighs around 9lbs 8ozs.  She knows that
there is a possibility that she may need to
supplement but so far it has not been thought necessary.
In any case she has lots of  breastmilk in her freezer.
Incredible story  don't you think !!
Ruth Bacon  IBCLC  Ontario