Get Your "Freshly Squeezed" Here

Did you know that selling and buying breast milk is big business? If the postings on various websites are true, there are some very desperate nursing mothers out there wanting to do whatever they can to ensure optimal nutrition for their babies. There are also other nursing mothers who claim that they are overproducing, have storage issues, and are willing to provide "free shipping", in some cases, if purchased from them. There are volume discounts, professional deep-freeze, next day FedEx delivery networks, and other facets of a burgeoning commercial trading market. They offer dietary diaries of what they've eaten before the "expressing" of milk as well as doctor-vouched medical records of good health and smoke/alcohol/drug-free state of being. Capitalism abounds!

Well, as for us, Lorraine is producing enough milk to rival a Wisconsin dairy farm and as we nurse and pump, we seem to be building quite a stock of our own. As frozen bags of breast milk take up increasingly more space in our freezer, the likelihood of me buying any more future frozen pizzas diminishes. Strangely, the thought of selling my wife's breast milk to strangers makes me feel like a organ broker - "yeah, I've got some of 'Mom's Juice' to sell. I'll even throw in a kidney if the price is right...". OK, perhaps I'm being a bit too sensitive but who knows what could happen? Maybe our diaper costs will get so high, I'll need to subsidize it somehow. Hmm. Gotta go now - I think I'll go consume the last of the frozen pizzas and check on the breast pump machine for increased production potential. Ya never know...

And yes, for the many of you who keep asking for more pictures...

BIG YAWN - 12/25: Just one of her moves in her complex wake-up routine; usually preceded by her stretching manoeuvres (see video from 12/19 entry below)...



FIRST CHRISTMAS - 12/24: Lauren slept through almost all of it despite receiving the most presents...



SHE'S GOT MAD SKILLZ! - 12/23: She usually gets one bottle a day, and usually tries, unsuccessfully, to hold the bottle with her hands; she got it this time (with no help from daddy, I swear)...



MY GIRLS - 12/22: Lorraine has been "glued" to this chair for feedings (see the "BOPPY" around her waist)...



WITH DADDY - 12/17: My little girl...



WITH MOMMY - 12/13: These stares we get back from her are just wonderful...



GETTING READY TO LEAVE THE HOSPITAL - 12/12: Hoag Hospital requires the baby to leave in mom's arms...



GOING HOME IN FIRST CAR RIDE - 12/12: I believe I may have driven home under the speed limit in the slow lane...