What Kind of Bees Make Milk????

BOO-BEES!!!

Yes, I'm aware that that joke is SO second grade, but I couldn't help myself. I didn't know it would flop that badly though! Man, I think I even hear a few crickets chirping in the background (probaby those little Tubre crickets all the way from the swamp).

Mooooving on.... This post is dedicated to celebrating the fact that this milk well has FINALLY dried up. It took about a month to do, but I am SO over it and have in fact, "hung up the shields".

Okay, so call me anal (although inquisitive is a better word choice) but I have kept track of how much I've ever pumped from about 1 week after delivery to present. That's right, folks...8 months of being milked like a cow. My kids better thank me someday. Maybe when they're at some Ivy League school and earning their 4th Nobel Prize.

There have been many people who expressed interest in learning more about what we fed the babies in regards to breastmilk or formula. The truth is...we've used both since the babies were around a couple months old. Before that, they got all breastmilk with enough formula powder added to make it higher in calories. Then the little piggies figured out that eating is fun and we went down to "regular" breastmilk, which is typically calculated at about 20 kcals per ounce (the same as regular formulas). Well, around that time they started eating more than I was making. And I wasn't about to add even more pumpings into my day just so I could meet their demand. These ta-tas were overworked as it was and shoulda been making double time for all their efforts! So, we started making their bottles with "mostly" breastmilk and then added in mixed formula to bring it up to their current volumes at that time. As they started eating more and more, the ratio of breastmilk to formula became more and more inversely proportionate. By that time, I was almost done weaning myself off the pump.

Anyway, after keeping track of my pump volumes (NOT including the times I would actually nurse the babies) I totaled 8+ months worth of numbers up. Here are my stats:

November 25, 2007 to July 15, 2008 Total Milk Production:

337,120 mL (or cc's)

about 337 liters

about 11,238 ounces

around 88 gallons

Now for the monthly, weekly, daily AVERAGES....

1606 ounces per month

402 ounces per week

54 ounces per day

And just for fun, I went back and looked up my most productive day. On May 26th, I totaled 2120 mL, which is almost 71 ounces, in a 24 hr time period. Moo, moo, baby! I guess watching the Olympics made me want to see what my record was set at. Michael Phelps....You've got NOTHING on me (except maybe one meel-li-yon dollars. Mwah,ha,ha,ha! - to be read in the style of Dr. Evil).

Also, for shits and giggles, I approximated the savings by not having to buy as much formula. 88 gallons of milk is equivalent to about (125) 12.9 oz cans of Similac Advance. With tax, each of those cans runs about $14.00. So that was around $1,750.00 worth of savings. Not too shabby (but I'll admit, I thought it would be more than that).

Not to say pumping that long with quadruplets wasn't challenging. But it was MY time that I learned to appreciate. I read several books (in 20-30 minute intervals) and had lots of time to think about things. Overall, it was a good experience, minus the 2 bouts of mastitis and the ginormous melons I had to deal with. I would do it again and would encourage any new mom to do it, as well.

Well, that's really about all I have to say about that. Of course, I couldn't do a post without showing off our babies! I've been meaning to post the pictures from their 6 month (turned out to be more like 7 month) photo shoot. My nurse co-worker at the hospital, Gary, also does photography on the side. When he lived in Japan, he was an underwater photographer as well as fashion photographer. He's got mad skillz. And what's even better, he brought his wife, Tatiana, with him to OUR HOUSE and so the babies were in their comfort zone and we had extra hands to help. They're a great team. I asked Gary if he'd mind me putting his studio web address out here in blog land, and he gave me the okay. So look him up if you're needing any portraits taken and want great pictures at very reasonable prices (plus you get the rights to all the photos he takes - he even burns you the CD). The address is: http://www.shiohirastudio.com/.

Here's a sampling of the hundreds we had to choose from....

Danna with 2 of her bodyguards, Forrest and Laine

Just the boys

Until next time, we'll be anxiously awaiting your comments!

Love,

The G to the R to the A to the F's (gearing up for football season - Go Broncos!)