Newborn’s low blood sugar leads to donor journey.

When our son Nash was born at SSM St. Mary’s of Madison WI, he was considered a happy, healthy, chunky baby. However, he kept failing his blood sugar checks, which was a cause for concern.

He was given donor breast milk several times to help boost him to where he needed to be, since my milk had not yet come in. Nash narrowly missed a trip to the NICU, because he finally passed.  (Shout out to the awesome Nurses for their dedication and persistence!)

I learned donor milk is used in the hospital setting to help preemies or other babies in need, like Nash.

I thought to myself, what an awesome thing for a nursing mother to do… to share her liquid gold with babies she’s never met.

Fast forward to discover I had been blessed to be an “overproducer” of that liquid gold that makes our baby so chunky and healthy.

My husband and I were in agreement. What better way to give back than to donate those precious excess ounces?

I elected to use The Mothers’ Milk bank of the Great Western Lakes because not only do they supply donor milk to SSM St Mary’s, but also because every individual I spoke with via email or on the phone loves what they do. Their organization felt local, loving, and thorough.

The procedure to become a donor was very detailed, but the Milk Bank WGL staff made it as seamless as possible. They even had a cooler with ice packs shipped to my home for me to fill and later have picked up from my doorstep. No extra driving required!

Since Nash was born I’ve donated 2328 ounces to Mothers’ Milk Bank of the Great Western Lakes. My donation journey has since ended, but I’d do it again in a heartbeat! Maybe someday I’ll be a repeat donor if we’re ever blessed again.

It is our honor, and it makes us feel SO good to give back.