Snow Day!! Snow Day!!

I know that we kind of skipped Thanksgiving, but hey everyone is busy this time of year right?

The snow that came on Sunday is still on the ground and it just started to snow again. We took the kids out sledding and stuff on Monday and I just couldn't resist putting these clips up! Enjoy!

Halloween 2008

Going on a Pumpkin Hunt!

The Saturday before Halloween we went to the Pumpkin Patch. Heavenly Harvest had lots of activities like hayrides, a corn cannon, and a hay bale maze. As you can see from these pictures, Grace and Liam really got "in" to the corn boxes!

All dressed up for Halloween, Grace and Liam are ready to score some serious lute! Grace raked it in with at least 6 or 7 full size candy bars and even one King Size! As a Halloween bonus Tim ran into an old childhood friend while trick or treating with Grace.

Liam didn't mind the costume, but sitting still for pictures was not very fun!

A ballerina princess with all the right moves! Check out her video below:

Growing Growing Gone?

Everyday life can really add up to big changes.






Grace started preschool at the beginning of October. As she walked into the room her face lit up. She immediately went to play with toys and friends and forgot all about me. When I told her I was leaving she said, "Okay bye!", and kept on playing. I walked out the door feeling great that she was so happy to be there. About 50 feet from the door however, my feeling changed to sadness. I felt like this was just one more step she was taking away from me, and she didn't even need help. She didn't even look back. I called Tim and teared up as I retold the morning to him. Now she is a full flegded preschooler and loves every minute of it. When I pick her up she is a fountain bubbling over with exciting news: "We had cheese for snack!" "We played with play dough!" "We had a story about a dog!", and some days I am sad that "we" doesn't include me. I am starting to feel better about letting go, because I can see all the ways she still needs me, and a little glimpse of the woman she will be.

First Day of Preschool

So, as I send one off to school, the other one starts letting go a little too. Liam has started crawling!! He has been up on hands and knees for almost a month, so we have been waiting for mobility for awhile. It is exciting to see him finally getting to his destinations! The first time he took off, Grace and I cheered him on enthusiastically. He stopped, and looked up at us with a look that said, "Yeah so?". This is just so typicial with him. When he acheives something new he acts like it is no big deal. It is so funny to see this little guy playing it cool, "What, I meant to do that!"

A Mobile Man!

Next up for these two:

The search for the perfect Halloween costumes! Update to follow (hopefully).

Yummy, a Flower Girl!

We started Liam on Rice Cereal this week, and he acted like he had been eating it his whole life. He smacked his lips and waited for more. He has since decided that he likes it really thick. I also put him down in his crib for the first time two nights ago. He is only sleeping there for about 3 hours, but that's pretty good for a transition. Up until this point he had been sleeping in his swing (an ABSOLUTELY necessary item for any baby). I feel like these two events should have been more momentous, but Liam acts like he has been waiting for them to happen. He just gives me that gorgeous little grin and melts me every time. Check out his eating debut below:

Just so everyone knows, we now have an official girly-girl in our midst. Grace is going to be the flower girl in a wedding this weekend, and the preparations have been extremely enjoyable for her. She was trying on dresses, and after the fifth one said "I really like doing this Mommy. All the pretty dresses, yeah I like it alot!" She has even been letting me train her hair to curl. I tried it with the curling iron, but it didn't stay very long. Now every night I have been putting it in a combination of foam and rag curlers. The curls are staying in, and she keeps letting me do it! I am constantly amazed that my little girl likes this kind of thing, as I spent most of my childhood/teenage years trying to avoid it. I'm afraid that my girl knowledge is going to run out before elementary school, and Grace will have to ask her aunties for help!

A Jumperoo is Heaven

We were at Toys R Us one day and put Liam in a Jumperoo. He was completely taken in by the music, lights, and other play things. About 10 minutes later Tim took him out, and we found out how much he really liked it. He cried for about five minutes, until we found something else that caught his attention! So.....we had to get one. Here is the little guy enjoying, or being scared of (it is hard to tell) his new jumperoo. Enjoy!

More on the MilkFront

Here is the communication I've had with Two Maids A'Milkin'


From: Suzanna Bennett
To: twomaids@nationalmilkbank.org
Sent: Thursday, July 10, 2008 3:39 PM
Subject: Question about Milk Donation
I have a few questions about the milk I might be donating: -how much do you charge hospitals per ounce of milk? -do you and/or Prolacta make a profit on this milk? -how is the milk changed? In your paper work you said it was partially pasturized, but does it have things added to it? -is any of the milk used strictly for research purposes or is all of it sold to hospitals? Thank you for your prompt reply, Suzanna Bennett Donor: 6727

From: twomaids@nationalmilkbank.orgTo: suzannabennett@hotmail.comSubject: Re: Question about Milk DonationDate: Fri, 11 Jul 2008 10:02:04 -0700
Hi Suzanna,
Thank you for the questions, and we have some answers.

1. We do not charge hospitals per ounce. We work with prolacta bioscince who is responsible for the distribution of the milk. The milk is then sent to hospitals who have preemie babies with a prescription from their NICU doctor. As with any prescription, insurance covers the cost.

2. Yes, we and Prolacta are for profit organizations due to the fact that we are not established under a hospital or medical facility. Government regulations make it extremely difficult to be a non-profit. The profits we make allow us to provide all of our donors with a cost free way to donate giving them pumps, endless storage bags and cost free shipping.

3. Here is a list of the processes the milk goes through before distirbution:
1. The milk is received at Prolacta Bioscience in reusable bio-friendly soy-based polyurethane coolers.
2. Once at Prolacta Bioscience, the milk is sampled for certain bacterium that does not die in pasteurization. If the certain bacterium is present, the milk goes towards research.
3. The milk is then tested for the presence of drugs of abuse.
4. Next, the DNA of the milk is matched to the donor’s cheek swab to ensure that the milk received came from the mother we tested. Our DNA machine matches 16 points of DNA, which is just enough to identify a person.
5. The milk of several donors are pooled together.
6. The milk protein is concentrated to over 7 times the protein that occurs in human breast milk.
7. Minerals such as calcium are added based on the guidelines set out by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
8. The concentrated milk is pasteurized (We follow the FDA guidelines called the Pasteurization Milk Ordnance.)
9. The milk is filled into bottles and frozen.
10. After filling, the product is tested for a full panel of bacteria (total bacteria, e. coli, staph, salmonella, bacillus cereus, coliforms, yeast, and mold.)
11. The product is also tested for viruses using PCR (polymerase chain reaction). This test checks for viruses by searching for the RNA of the viruses. It is much more accurate and can detect the viruses much earlier then the standard testing.
12. A full nutritional analysis is done on the milk (total calories, protein, fat, carbs, minerals, vitamins).
13. The product is shipped to NICUs (in the USA) in reusable bio-friendly soy-based polyurethane coolers and is used only under physician supervision. The human milk fortifier will be mixed with the premature baby’s mother’s milk. This is a great solution for the babies because they receive their mother’s milk while getting much needed extra protein from an all-human source.
4. Milk that is received and has become unthawed during its travel or if it has been donated for research strictly goes for research purposes. Otherwise the milk is used for preemies in the NICU. PLease note that the milk donated must go through such intense screenings to ensure safety for the preemies receiving it and the extensive processes do incur a cost that someone must pay for. Do we wish this was a non-profit? Yes. But for now there is no way around it. The milk donated cannot and is not sold to whomever thinks their baby needs breast milk. It is not in pharmacies for mother's off the street to pick up and purchase and we feel this is a much better option than mothers selling and purchasing milk on Ebay.

If you have any other questions, or need anything else, please email or call. Have a blessed day.

Danielle
National Milk Bank

From: Suzanna Bennett
More questions for your answers:
1. How much does prolacta charge for the milk? What is the cost of processing vs. the price it is sold for? How do you know that insurance is covering the cost? Most if not all prescriptions are only partially covered, or not covered at all. I have had this problem myself many times, as I'm sure you have.
2. I know the government can make things difficult, but aren't there other milk banks that ARE non-profit? So there must be a way if you really want to be non-profit. I was surprised that you provided pumps, etc. Does it take all of your profits to provide these things?

3. The processes seem to really help regulate the milk and make it safer for the babies. What is the bacterium that Prolacta tests for, and what research are they doing with that milk. Would I be informed if this bacterium is found in my milk? How is the protein concentrated? What other minerals are added? Doesn't the milk already have these minerals, isn't that why it is better for babies than formula? Isn’t the breast milk better, because it's minerals are absorbed much easier than those found in formula? Could adding these in effect the absorption of the naturally occurring minerals? If the human milk fortifier is added to Mother's milk, what about babies whose mother's do not have any milk? Do they mix it with formula?

4. What kind of research is done with the milk?

I am asking these questions because I feel I have been misled by you. Your information packet did not state these things. You say on your website that "We strive to make quality human breast milk available to all premature and critically-ill babies." Available is a very vague word, it definitely does not imply that it is sold for profit. I think that you are leading women like me to believe you are non-profit, even though you are not. By omission you have misrepresented your company. Even if you are truly dedicated to helping these babies, you are not being honest with your donors. To be clear: I do NOT have a problem with breast milk being sold. I think that if someone wants to give their child another mother's milk, and is willing to pay for it, that's fine. My problem here is your lack of forthrightness. If you are selling milk for profit, you need to compensate your "donors", at the very least they need to know EXACTLY what you are doing with their hard pumped milk.

Thanks for your prompt response,
Suzanna Bennett

From: twomaids@nationalmilkbank.orgTo: suzannabennett@hotmail.comSubject: Re: Question about Milk DonationDate: Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:58:50 -0700
Hi Suzanna,
Many of the questions you have asked, we do not have answers for. We are strictly the facilitators for Prolacta in getting qualified milk from qualified donors from one place across the U.S. to another. In response to your questions please see the list below.

1. We do not know how much prolacta charges for the milk, that is something you will have to contact Prolacta with. Their phone number is 626-599-9260 and their web address is www.prolacta.com. They should be able to answer this question better than we can. Again, the same goes for the cost of processing vs. price sold for. We do not know these things and Prolacta should be able to help. I have actually never had a problem with insurance covering all costs of prescriptions, but again this is something Prolacta has worked out with the hospitals it distributes to as well as insurance companies.

2. Yes, some milk banks are non-profit, but like I mentioned before they are already established under a hospital or medical facility. The existing medical facilities besides government also make it difficult to set up as a non-profit if they do not want any competition in the area.

3. We do not know what bacteriums Prolacta tests for and again that is something you would have to contact them for if you would like more information about the specific bacteriums. We are notified however of any problems, concerns or questions about the milk and are then able to notify the donor. This is very rare. The remaining questions, all still refer to Prolacta knowledge not ours. We are just the facilitators.

4. Research again is in Prolacta's knowledge department. I am sorry you feel like you have been misled. We consider ourselves an open book. Please know that this is not my personal company and have not misrepresented anyone. Please also know that we, the National Milk Bank are not the ones selling the breastmilk directly to the mothers and therefore do not have the monies to compensate our donors. The breast pumps are theirs to keep and worth a substantial amount to be what someone else may consider compensation. The donor supplies do not take all of our profits, but we do have employees that are working for us and need to be paid as well, just like a blood bank and even the American Red Cross.

At this point if you would like to continue the donation process with us, we would be glad to have you on board, but if you are feeling any different, you may want to consider the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA). They are able to sell the donated milk to whomever is in need.

If you have any other needs, please let us know.
Have a blessed day.
DanielleNational Milk Bank

Today I sent:
Danielle-
I appreciate you taking the time to respond to me. It is unfortunate that you do not know the information I requested. It seems like important knowledge to have considering you "facilitate" for Prolacta. If you are their link to donors it would behoove both Two Maids and Prolacta for you to have all of the facts. I didn't expect you to admit to misleading me, but your "open book" has alot of missing pages. Apparently Prolacta doesn't know the answers to these questions either. I called them and got less help than from you. This all seems so deceptive and calculating. I think I need to take my milk somewhere else...maybe ebay.

I was so disappointed, but I should have known the responses would be like this. I did take her advice and I called Prolacta. The woman I talked to said she had no idea how much they sold the milk for, but she could give me the phone numbers for hospitals they supply and ask them. She didn't know what research is done with the unusable milk. In order for me to talk to a sales team member I would need to leave my phone number, because they were "outside". I finally got out of her that she was not in a building with any of the researchers, sales people, or anyone else that knew about the company. So the Two Maids are in their own building, the receptionists for Prolacta are in their own building, I wonder how many buildings it takes to process the milk? No wonder they are for profit...that's alot of overhead!

Milk Moochers

When I found out that there was a National Milk Bank that I could donate my breastmilk to I was ready to help those little NICU babies they said would be getting the milk. "Two Milk Maids", based in CA sent me paperwork stating the milk would be "given" to NICU babies who needed it. I sent in blood samples, DNA samples, mine and Liam's doctor signed off on our health, and they sent me a breast pump to get started. I have been pumping an extra bottle or two a day since, so that I can get 25 bags of frozen milk ready for the bank. All of this milk is in addition to the stores of milk I have for Liam. Then I found out the awful truth!

My sister learned about milk banks that take donated milk and use it for research and/or sell it for 10 times what it costs to process it. I was stunned and thought that The National Milk Bank would not be a part of this. None of the literature they sent me contained any hint that they would be selling milk for profit, or that they would be using the milk for other purposes.

I went online to do some research and was devasted to find that The National Milk Bank and Two Milk Maids were indeed the culprits in this milk scam. Click below to read the article in the San Diego Tribune
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060212/news_lz1n12milk.html They are not only for profit companies, but their affiliate Prolacta Bioscience is also altering the milk to make even more money. Their defense is that these alterations make the milk more uniform and therefore more beneficial to severely underweight babies. It is probably better to have nutritional facts for this milk, but that is not the point.

My problem with this situation is NOT that Prolacta, The National Milk Bank, and Two Milk Maids are selling the milk. My problem is that they give the impression that they are a philanthropic enterprise trying to help babies. They are luring women who want to give sick babies better nutrition into making them money. Here is my stance: If they intend to profit from the milk, then they need to compensate donors who are providing this awesome food. At the very least they need to be honest with donors from the start, so we know what we are involved with. If I had known that they were marking up my milk for their own gain I would NEVER have signed up!

I emailed Two Milk Maids today and asked them a few questions:
-How much do they sell the milk for per ounce?
-Do they or Prolacta make a profit from the milk?
-Is there anything added to the milk?
-Is all the milk sold to hospitals or is it used for research purposes?

I will be posting their response, or lack there of. Keep watching!